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vs Alloa 20/4


elevenone
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3 minutes ago, sandy said:

Good 3 points today, but...

a) Caldwell got his formation wrong in first half and was too slow to see that

b) McGinty played like he had confidence, taking the ball forward to them 

c) I shuddered when Harkins came on as first sub, but he did have some good touches

d) let’s keep playing Sneddon as his confidence is growing 

e) Skippy is not a wee nyaff, he showed more commitment to win than most of our players; and was eloquent in the MoTM bit after. He has intelligence and will make a good manager one day.

 

So we stutter up to second bottom, probably still requiring 4 from 6 points in the Ayr double header. 

If we survive relegation, it will largely down to Skippy not Caldwell IMO.

 

If your going to criticise caldwell and there plenty to criticise him with, then it’s only fair to give him plaudits when he gets things right

Caldwell is the reason we got skippy and basically signed as good a striker as any Archie signed during his 5 years or so.  While Caldwell got his formation wrong he had the sense to change it, too many times over the last couple of seasons that hasn’t happened. 

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Mcginty outperformed everyone in a red and yellow jersey today..  Brave on the ball, strong in the tackle and won most of his Ariel duels. 

McDonald could play until he was 40 and still be an absolute nuisance at this level,  small strong and clever.

Caldwell got the team selection completely wrong today imo., but his subs were bang on the money .. I was pretty raging to see Harkins come in but him and Cardle were the only reason we won.

2 wins we stay up .. c'mon THISTLE

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25 minutes ago, sandy said:

Good 3 points today, but...

a) Caldwell got his formation wrong in first half and was too slow to see that

b) McGinty played like he had confidence, taking the ball forward to them 

c) I shuddered when Harkins came on as first sub, but he did have some good touches

d) let’s keep playing Sneddon as his confidence is growing 

e) Skippy is not a wee nyaff, he showed more commitment to win than most of our players; and was eloquent in the MoTM bit after. He has intelligence and will make a good manager one day.

 

So we stutter up to second bottom, probably still requiring 4 from 6 points in the Ayr double header. 

If we survive relegation, it will largely down to Skippy not Caldwell IMO.

 

I'm glad you're  enjoying your evening :lol:

Wee guy said what's the score? I said we won but a bit to go yet.

He shouted over, 'never be ashamed of the team you support.'

A few people should take heed of those words!

Edited by jagfox
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18 minutes ago, Third Lanark said:

If your going to criticise caldwell and there plenty to criticise him with, then it’s only fair to give him plaudits when he gets things right

Caldwell is the reason we got skippy and basically signed as good a striker as any Archie signed during his 5 years or so.  While Caldwell got his formation wrong he had the sense to change it, too many times over the last couple of seasons that hasn’t happened. 

Yip, give Caldwell his dues. I loved Archie, but....Pogba. Azeez....

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24 minutes ago, Thistle88 said:

Mcginty outperformed everyone in a red and yellow jersey today..  Brave on the ball, strong in the tackle and won most of his Ariel duels. 

McDonald could play until he was 40 and still be an absolute nuisance at this level,  small strong and clever.

Caldwell got the team selection completely wrong today imo., but his subs were bang on the money .. I was pretty raging to see Harkins come in but him and Cardle were the only reason we won.

Agree with all that.

McGinty was pushing forward like he did today early on in the season. Then for some inexplicable reason for most of the season he stopped doing that and just resorted to the big useless lump up the park. Today he reminded me a wee bit of Balatoni (12/13 model) in so much that both being centrebacks with defensive frailties but both offering something in attack. With Conrad it was goals from corners and quick distribution from the back. With Big Sean today it was driving forward with the ball.  Maybe if he'd been more positive (or allowed to be more positive) throughout the season we'd be more tolerant re his defensive errors like we once were with Balatoni.

I think we might have won the match a bit more comfortably, or at least seen it out a good bit easier, if McMillan didn't have to be substituted.  The game was crying out for us to introduce some width down the right. I'll give Caldwell a bit of credit and  suggest he would've brought on Fitzpatrick (tho' he might have gone for Storey). As it was I felt we didn't see the game out very well, inviting Alloa on to us too often and in the end relying on a couple of good stops from Sneddon.  Nervy stuff.  

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What a game. Insane. That's why I love and hate the game.  A game of 2 halves.

1st half was dreadful.  Wing backs were too deep.  3 centre halves marking 1 striker.  Huge gaps between defence-midfield and midfield-attack.  Only time we looked reasonable was McGinty breaking forward which created space and chance for Doolan.  We looked nervous and pedestrian.

2nd half much better.  I guess Caldwell knew the formation was not working but culturally it's difficult for managers to sub in 1st half.  Harkins and Cardle are a threat and were a big improvement.   Would love to see Harkins play futsal!  BUT Alloa still had chances.  The cross and volley that went straight to Sneddon was terrifying but good work by Sneddon who stood his ground.  Midfield still not working as it should with lots of talent but under performing.

Dools and McDonald played very well.  Doolan can keep hold of the ball when its sent long to his feet and McDonald is clever, demanding and that was a free kick.

Good crowd.  Good atmosphere.  Terrified of getting sunburn.  Anyway 3 more games to go.

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1 hour ago, Thistleberight said:

Yep. Agree with this. Not going to disagree with you re skippy celebrating in front of the away fans but..........it is very refreshing to have a player like him. We have been way too nice for way too long. We need this type of player, a little dirty, a little nippy, a little, well, get it right up ye sort of guy. I am loving it. 

Yes in the main, I don't like, it but we need this just now. They were winding our fans up at every opportunity so try and see that as skippy sticking up for us.

For what it's worth, i think, like many others on here, Caldwell got his formation wrong first half but credit where it's due, his subs and change to 4132 with Harkins getting cover when he marauded forward was a thing if beauty at times. That was the harkins from the promotion season. Cardle gave a bit of zest and directness that was also lacking first half. If we play the last 3 games like the first half we'll hit bottom or play off, give it the second half and we'll be fine. Nail biting end to the season though.

This has been a recurring theme recently - at least at Firhill.

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I was worried at half-time, but fair play to Caldwell: he made the correct changes, and they were bold changes at that. Alloa were offering nothing in an offensive sense towards the end of the first-half. They were playing so deep that McGinty was having to charge up the field to create an overload situation, but as much as Sean's efforts were laudable, by bringing on Harkins we gained a 'quarter-back' with more creative ability. It was an obvious change but one that required a bit of bottle, as alongside the introduction of Cardle -- who was excellent -- it turned us into a very attacking side. As a consequence we played some excellent stuff in the second half and could easily have scored a couple more. My only quibble is that we lacked a bit of composure at times. Upon taking the lead we could have done with putting our foot on the ball and slowing things down. But hey - we needed those three points and Caldwell got us there in the end.

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Great win for us today - did not look great at half time but Caldwell made the necessary changes to the side. 

Both Harkings and Cardle changed the game for us when they came on. They managed to find the space that none of our players could find in the first half.  After the Alloa goal, they sat in and that meant with the 3 at the back were the ones with space to pass. 

The crowd really did help today - really got behind the team and gave us the momentum to go on and win the game. 

Jim Goodwin could turn out to be a very good manager - he has Alloa really well organized and Ian Flanagan was again really good for them today. Not sure if he too similar to Banzo but I would take him next season at Firhill. 

Sean Mcginty played really well - he has really turned a corner on his performances in the first half of the season. Got to keep his place in the side now.  

 

 

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1 hour ago, jagfox said:

I'm glad you're  enjoying your evening :lol:

Wee guy said what's the score? I said we won but a bit to go yet.

He shouted over, 'never be ashamed of the team you support.'

A few people should take heed of those words!

You been on the sauce?

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53 minutes ago, Duke Gekantawa said:

To be fair to Azeez, he played in every league game (at least up to the split) in our best season in decades. He might not of scored many, but his single season tenure was ultimately successful.

I always thought If he had scored some more of these great chances we really could have overtaken a poor Hearts team and St Johnstone to finish 4th and get into Europe

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2 hours ago, Thistleberight said:

Likewise sir. Are you managing to keep yourself on a tight leash by way of game comments so far? Safe journey home. Nice chatting to @Auld Jag (inspirational chap) and @partickthedog.

A tight leash, just loosened briefly, but re-secured! 

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15 minutes ago, Alan Murray said:

Great win for us today - did not look great at half time but Caldwell made the necessary changes to the side. 

Both Harkings and Cardle changed the game for us when they came on. They managed to find the space that none of our players could find in the first half.  After the Alloa goal, they sat in and that meant with the 3 at the back were the ones with space to pass. 

The crowd really did help today - really got behind the team and gave us the momentum to go on and win the game. 

Jim Goodwin could turn out to be a very good manager - he has Alloa really well organized and Ian Flanagan was again really good for them today. Not sure if he too similar to Banzo but I would take him next season at Firhill. 

Sean Mcginty played really well - he has really turned a corner on his performances in the first half of the season. Got to keep his place in the side now.  

 

 

Pretty sure Ian Flanagan was a player with us under McCall

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25 minutes ago, Alan Murray said:

Great win for us today - did not look great at half time but Caldwell made the necessary changes to the side. 

Both Harkings and Cardle changed the game for us when they came on. They managed to find the space that none of our players could find in the first half.  After the Alloa goal, they sat in and that meant with the 3 at the back were the ones with space to pass. 

The crowd really did help today - really got behind the team and gave us the momentum to go on and win the game. 

Jim Goodwin could turn out to be a very good manager - he has Alloa really well organized and Ian Flanagan was again really good for them today. Not sure if he too similar to Banzo but I would take him next season at Firhill. 

Sean Mcginty played really well - he has really turned a corner on his performances in the first half of the season. Got to keep his place in the side now.  

 

 

You would take Ian Flannigan in a team that would - presumably - be looking to push for promotion? Christ. Shall we see what Tommy Stewart is up to as well?

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17 minutes ago, Third Lanark said:

Pretty sure Ian Flanagan was a player with us under McCall

Aye same guy. Seen him play often enough for Alloa in recent seasons. Puts in decent corners from the left and technically not that bad a footballer but still the same half hearted player he was with us. Think I'd chuck it if that was the standard of player we were targeting..

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5 hours ago, dl1971 said:

True. He was appointed with the aim of promotion. We all get that but...to use a political analogy may was appointed to ensure brexit was achieved. Sometimes the possible becomes impossible. Most fair minded thistle fans now recognise that promotion was a pipe dream due to the squad built prior to Caldwells arrival. No matter how hard you polish a turd it remains a turd. The turds were removed in January ergo we improved. Fact.

 

8 of the team who started today were already here before Caldwell arrived.     Fact 

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