Big Dave Posted January 22, 2016 Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 I will never forget the day of Dools' debut. 10th January 2009 at Inverness. It will forever stare at me out of the paper copy of my driving licence. Daughter's hockey match in Glasgow delayed finish meant late start to the drive north and over eagerness to make up time on the A9. Got there for the start (Kris came on as a sub), but the inevitable letter arrived a few days later. Only time I have emerged from a cup tie with 3 points. Even Julius Caesar in his dying breath paid tribute to Kris Doolan. As the terminal blows rained upon him he gasped "Eighty two, ya beauty". So I can do nothing less. Here is my Dools Hall of Fame, a Golden Dozen in reverse order. There are so many magic moments, I have had to resort to dubious tactics to shoehorn a few more in. Even then there is no space for his Grand Slam against Stirling Albion, the goals against Falkirk that kickstarted our promotion campaign and his recent fine strike against Inverness at Firhill. No doubt there are others I have forgotten. I am relying on memory here and have not re-checked any of the details. So please forgive any inaccuracies below. 12) Dummy against Hibs. The only one which does not involve Dools scoring. Fine team move. Low cross from the right. Kris moves towards the ball drawing the defence to him. However, showing tremendous awareness he lets the ball run past him to the better placed Chris Erskine who lashes into the net from the edge of the box. 11) Typical touch at Tannadice. In our recent game against Dundee United, Kris had one half chance at best and he made the most of it.The deftest of touches to control, the quickest of swivels and the ball has been directed into the corner of the net before any of the posse of defenders around him can get near. 10) Headers against St Mirren at Firhill. Dools scores more headed goals than many of us realise, not on account of his height, but due to perfect timing and movement. Pinpoint crosses from Higgy at the south end and Stevie Lawless at the north end are duly despatched. 9) Double double against Killie. 4 this season so far and counting, all instructive examples of the strikers' art of being in the right place at the right time, losing the defenders and directing the ball well away from the keeper. The first two when we just could not score and the second two when the goals were free flowing. 8) Last Minute Winners. From close in at Cappielow, sliding in at the back post, and from far out on the final game of the season at Firhill against Queen of the South, with a lob volley. Flashes of genius to enliven dull days. 7) Rescuing Points at Raith. Twice Dools does it for us at Kirkcaldy, grabbing vital draws from games when the team was not at its best. The second was particularly important in preserving our unbeaten record and keeping us ahead of Dunfermline in the promotion race. 6) Double at Dingwall. This is when I began to realise we had a special player on our hands. The McCall promotion push had faltered with a dismal home defeat to Clyde. A difficult midweek fixture away to Ross County produced a comfortable and welcome victory with two clinical finishes from Kris. Good chances both but not easy. Confidently and efficiently taken and you just knew he was never going to miss. Was this where the trademark Doooooooooolan chant and finger point began to emerge? 5) Heavy First Touches. One of Kris' supreme skills is the featherlight first touch, taming the most unruly high ball on his toe. Yet sometimes he can use a deliberately heavy first touch to re-direct the path of the ball, eliminate the defence and create space for the shot. Two supreme examples in consecutive weeks in our first season in the Premier, away at Inverness and at home against Celtic. 4) Last Minute Drama at the Ramsden. If we had enjoyed better fortune in the penalty shoot out, this one might have been top of the list. A goal down and a man down with seconds remaining in extra time, who else but Dools is there to snatch the equaliser and send the fans into raptures. 3) After the Fog in Fife. Following the Kirkcaldy equaliser mentioned above, Kris had been relatively quiet as Chris Erskine, Stevie Lawless and Steven Craig came to the fore in the scoring charts. Yet cometh the hour, cometh the Doolan. The pressure was on, Morton were points ahead and our games in hand were two awkward encounters with Cowdenbeath at the idiosyncratic stock car racing track. Four goals from Kris inspired two precious victories. Along with Aero's penalty against Hamilton and the Bridge's stunning volley against Airdrie, these were the hard yard goals on cold winter days and nights, and without these we would never have won promotion. 2) Going solo at Easter Road. This has to be Kris' best goal ever. Long ball from defence comes to him with his back to a distant goal far out on the halfway line. An acrobatic back flick wrongfoots the two centre halves and he is away, but with an incredibly long way to go. Kris hares towards the box, showing great pace, keeping control of the ball and staying ahead of his pursuers. A slight change of direction disconcerts the defenders and suddenly Kris is one on one with the keeper. How he retained the balance and poise to dink the ball into the net I will never know. What a goal. A privilege to have seen it. 1) Masterclass against Hamilton. Four classic goals, one a routine striker's finish and the other three displaying supreme quality in all its facets. Another deliberately heavy first touch (see above), a cheeky but classy back heel showing amazing spatial awareness when all other routes to goal were blocked, and one more of these beautifully timed headers. DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLAN!!!. And there is more to come..... Great post my friend! He also got us a crucial point up in Perth after coming on as a sub he scored with the last kick of the game in front of his adoring fans. That was a very important goal in my opinion. Helped to keep us up that first season back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
p12tfc Posted January 22, 2016 Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 Always annoys me when people talk of Giggs and Scholes being loyal 1 club men....easy when you are earning 100k + a week. No doubt Doolan could have moved elsewhere throughout his time at Thistle and picked up a much healthier wage than he was earning at the Jags. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaggernaut Posted January 22, 2016 Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 Great catalogue by partickthedog; some great memories there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lady-isobel-barnett Posted January 22, 2016 Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 Great catalogue by partickthedog; some great memories there! a big ditto from me Fantastic reading indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Willjag Posted January 22, 2016 Members Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 Seem to remember his first goal for us was after he returned from a loan spell at Clyde where he never really done much (clever lad that Doolan!), was in the last minute of the last game of the season maybe against Stirling(?), an outrageous shot from distance to clinch the points in a 1-0 win! A taste of things to come if ever there was one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinny Posted January 22, 2016 Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 Seem to remember his first goal for us was after he returned from a loan spell at Clyde where he never really done much (clever lad that Doolan!), was in the last minute of the last game of the season maybe against Stirling(?), an outrageous shot from distance to clinch the points in a 1-0 win! A taste of things to come if ever there was one. It's on his Wikipedia page, it was QoS. I have a feeling I was there that day actually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veejag Posted January 22, 2016 Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 Leapt like a salmon for a header against QoS for his first goal. Remember his debut. Horrible day out in Inverness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armand2 Posted January 22, 2016 Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 Here's some footage of Dools' first half of Thistle goals. Been quite a few more since. Some smashing goals in there. Part 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allyo Posted January 22, 2016 Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 (edited) Always annoys me when people talk of Giggs and Scholes being loyal 1 club men....easy when you are earning 100k + a week. No doubt Doolan could have moved elsewhere throughout his time at Thistle and picked up a much healthier wage than he was earning at the Jags. You reckon? I think we talk ourselves down too much sometimes. I love Doolan because I think he's a perfect fit for Thistle. I don't think he's ever been too good for us and I think he's stayed because it suits him and he likes it and he's got enough sense to know where he's appreciated. Edited January 22, 2016 by allyo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
douglas clark Posted January 22, 2016 Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 allyo, I also think Doolan is a perfect fit for us. So does he, obviously. This was a man who's career had been in the Juniors and now he's playing Premier League football, and not too badly at that! I dunno,.but getting the opportunity with us probably means a great deal to him. It is rare these days to see a reciprocal respect between player and club and we should treasure it, because these days are largely gone. That said, I am delighted that our better players are on extended contracts. If Man U come in for one of them, then: We would be looking at millions: and Alan Archibald could find a similar, though rougher, talent from somewhere. His record on incoming players is pretty respectable, don't you think? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Earl of Hathaway Posted January 22, 2016 Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 Here's some footage of Dools' first half of Thistle goals. Been quite a few more since. Some smashing goals in there. Part 2 #11 Buchanan cross for Dools to score. The old to the new? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodstock Jag Posted January 22, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 Seem to remember his first goal for us was after he returned from a loan spell at Clyde where he never really done much (clever lad that Doolan!), was in the last minute of the last game of the season maybe against Stirling(?), an outrageous shot from distance to clinch the points in a 1-0 win! A taste of things to come if ever there was one. Queen of the South. Pinged it in the top corner from outside the box in a Dennis Bergkamp-style "not sure if he even took a shot" kind of way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
partickthedog Posted January 22, 2016 Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 Here's some footage of Dools' first half of Thistle goals. Been quite a few more since. Some smashing goals in there. Part 2 Thank you for that. So many great goals I had forgotten. Again surprising number of headers and frequent use of the deliberately heavy first touch to take defenders out of the game. Has someone done, or can someone do, a Part 3? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunky jag Posted January 23, 2016 Report Share Posted January 23, 2016 The best first touch I've ever seen from a footballer. Fckn hell yes to the Bergkamp comparison! doooooolannnn!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gingerjag Posted January 23, 2016 Report Share Posted January 23, 2016 Dennis Bergkamp comparison is spot on! cool, classy and clinical! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
partick monkey Posted January 23, 2016 Report Share Posted January 23, 2016 (edited) Queen of the South. Pinged it in the top corner from outside the box in a Dennis Bergkamp-style "not sure if he even took a shot" kind of way. I don't remember many goals but I remember this one. Last game of the season, pretty much last kick of the baw. Dools takes the baw on his left peg and loops an outrageous shot from outside the 18 yard box into the top left hand corner! Sublime! A lot of the time I don't think Dools gets the credit he deserves and also i dread to think where we might be right now if we didn't have him. Over the last 5-6 years we've not really had to worry too much about our striker situation because Dools has always been there for us. Others have come and gone with various levels of success (Taylor, Craig, Baird, etc) but all these years Dools has hardly been injured, he's been 2nd choice but always come back top scorer. The guy's a legit legend and without him we'd probably be a mid table, semi part-time championship side at best! Love you Doolan! Edited January 23, 2016 by partick monkey 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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