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First quarter


dl1971
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So far it is all or nothing for us this season. We have beaten the bottom 5 in the league and lost to the 3 teams above us plus Arbroath. If i had to make a prediction of where we will end the season i would say 5th at worst. I hope we can get top 4. Last night showed just how good our front players are, but in other games we have missed chances which ended up costing us at least a point. Start taking more of our chances and we will make top 4. 

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I guess if you had a glass half empty opinion before the season kicked off you're going to be kinda chuffed. Our wins exceed losses and we've beaten all the likely rivals in the bottom half of the division. Conversely if you were glass half full you may be a bit miffed we've fallen short against the top of the table clubs. I feel up until last night we've been blessed with some excellent individual performances but perhaps the overall teamplay fell short too often.

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Top 4 at the end of the first quarter (just). Not bad considering we’ve been missing Brownlie and Bell in an inexperienced central defence. If we’re still there come January and can add a bit of experience and a steadying influence plus maybe a defensive midfielder then who knows..

Kilmarnock are favourites but so were Falkirk last season. Converting a couple of defeats into a win and a draw in the coming quarters would guarantee a play off spot.. or better. 

Dunfermline took a point off Killie today so although we cuffed them first time might be tougher next week. I’ll be approaching the game with the same reserved caution I did last night :hypocrite:

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Happy with what has been achieved so far.

Lots more to be happy about with this team than the negative aspects (although backing off Kirk ******* Broadfoot was unforgivable).

It's where we finish at the end of the season that is the ultimate objective, so being in touch going into the last quarter and a sprint to outdo them all similar to April this year will do fine for me.

Edited by Barney Rubble
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Its an interesting start to the season. Of the games we have lost (Arbroath, Raith, ICT and Kilmarnock) only Kilmarnock and ICT looked better teams.

Of the teams we have beat we have beat them all comfortably with the exception of QoS.

However I think we have improved since our last defeat by having Holt back at left back, Foster at right back and Smith providing a bit more balance in midfield. Sneddon looks more comfortable in goal now that the back 4 looks settled and in general the spate of goalkeeping errors that had a major influence in our losses to Arbroath and ICT have reduced.

When you add that 5 of our opening 9 have been away games and that we have ICT, Raith and Arbroath at home in the next set of 9 then there are reasons for optomism.

From what I can see the league is now made of 3 categories of teams.

1. Teams battling relegation - Morton, Ayr, QoS and Hamilton

Morton, Ayr and Hamilton were dreadful. Hamilton might be ok if they can get Templeton fit but they and Ayr have already changed managers so what do they do if they continue to circle the bottom? QoS gave us a decent game but I just don't see enough goalscorers in their squad to avoid a relegation battle. Morton were so poor they made Shea Gordon look good at rightback and I don't think they can go much longer without changing manager

2. Teams with a shot at the playoffs - Dunfermline (assuming they change manager quickly), Arbroath, Raith

Dunfermline have a reasonable squad but a terrible manager. If they bin Grant and get in Campbell I can see them getting up the league. Arbroath have had a great start but their squad size, potential to lose their manager and key players (Nouble is only on loan until January) makes it unlikely they will keep pace. Raith are probably best placed of these 3 teams to make the playoffs but they have so few strikers and such a small squad that an injury or suspensions could derail them more than most teams.

3. Teams who will probably make the playoffs and who may win the league - ICT, Kilmarnock, Us.

I thought Kilmarnock looked really good against us and didn't think they would drop many points. However their recent form hasn't been good and with such a weight of expectation you wonder if they might hit the panic button and bin Wright.

ICT look  a decent team and they have clearly had the best start. They now have a run of 3 games versus Raith, Arbroath and us which will tell us a lot about their prospects.

If we, ICT and Kilmarnock are still a few points apart at the of the end of the next 9 games then the league may well be decided by whoever can strengthen/ hold onto their best players in the January transfer window.

Whatever way you look at its great to see a Thistle team that scores goals and entertains. Hopefully the next 9 games will be as good or better.

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47 minutes ago, allyo said:

When you talk about some teams being short of depth, and over reliant on a few players, would you not have similar concerns if we lost Graham, Rudden or Tiffoney?

If we lost all 3 it would have a massive impact on us but any team in the league losing their 3 best players would struggle.

However we do appear to have more matchwinners in our squad than some other teams which should allow us to cope with small periods were Graham, Rudden or Tiffoney are unavailable. For example Turner and Hastie are players that others in this league would love to have but can't get in our first 11. I think Cammy Smith is a very decent player but even he is playing slightly out of position to get in the team. Overall I think our squad is able to cope with injuries better than others on the edge of the playoffs like Arbroath or Raith. 

That doesn't mean we will finish above Raith or Arbroath as they could get lucky, keep all their key players fit and maintain their form. However Arbroath will already have to go without Nicky Low until December as he's injured. Raith have already lost Vaughan for the entire season so can't afford too many more injuries especially to key players like Berra or Tait.

 

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I'm very much on the fence. We have started better than I expected, Start of the season I would have been happy with 8th or above, so first 1/4 is ahead of expectations. I have doubts about whether we can keep this going. So much depends on keeping Tiffoney fit as pretty much all of our creative threat goes through him. I worry also that teams will start to regognise this and put 2 men on him to cut out the threat. If other teams get wise to this and we don't find an alternative then we might struggle next 1/4.

Getting Brownley back will certainly help the defense, but I'm not sure where Bell would fit in. I suspect that Holt, Akinola and Mayo are all ahead of him in defense and I don't see him fitting into the midfield. People talk about January window, but I'm not sure where they think we need players.

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On 10/17/2021 at 12:15 AM, laukat said:

Its an interesting start to the season. Of the games we have lost (Arbroath, Raith, ICT and Kilmarnock) only Kilmarnock and ICT looked better teams.

Of the teams we have beat we have beat them all comfortably with the exception of QoS.

However I think we have improved since our last defeat by having Holt back at left back, Foster at right back and Smith providing a bit more balance in midfield. Sneddon looks more comfortable in goal now that the back 4 looks settled and in general the spate of goalkeeping errors that had a major influence in our losses to Arbroath and ICT have reduced.

When you add that 5 of our opening 9 have been away games and that we have ICT, Raith and Arbroath at home in the next set of 9 then there are reasons for optomism.

From what I can see the league is now made of 3 categories of teams.

1. Teams battling relegation - Morton, Ayr, QoS and Hamilton

Morton, Ayr and Hamilton were dreadful. Hamilton might be ok if they can get Templeton fit but they and Ayr have already changed managers so what do they do if they continue to circle the bottom? QoS gave us a decent game but I just don't see enough goalscorers in their squad to avoid a relegation battle. Morton were so poor they made Shea Gordon look good at rightback and I don't think they can go much longer without changing manager

2. Teams with a shot at the playoffs - Dunfermline (assuming they change manager quickly), Arbroath, Raith

Dunfermline have a reasonable squad but a terrible manager. If they bin Grant and get in Campbell I can see them getting up the league. Arbroath have had a great start but their squad size, potential to lose their manager and key players (Nouble is only on loan until January) makes it unlikely they will keep pace. Raith are probably best placed of these 3 teams to make the playoffs but they have so few strikers and such a small squad that an injury or suspensions could derail them more than most teams.

3. Teams who will probably make the playoffs and who may win the league - ICT, Kilmarnock, Us.

I thought Kilmarnock looked really good against us and didn't think they would drop many points. However their recent form hasn't been good and with such a weight of expectation you wonder if they might hit the panic button and bin Wright.

ICT look  a decent team and they have clearly had the best start. They now have a run of 3 games versus Raith, Arbroath and us which will tell us a lot about their prospects.

If we, ICT and Kilmarnock are still a few points apart at the of the end of the next 9 games then the league may well be decided by whoever can strengthen/ hold onto their best players in the January transfer window.

Whatever way you look at its great to see a Thistle team that scores goals and entertains. Hopefully the next 9 games will be as good or better.

I agree with most of this except the bit about Campbell. I think he has one shot at managing a full time team which didn’t work out, maybe because of the expectation. Dunfermline would be no different.

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All in all above my expectations.  Showing we have enough to survive mid table with us beating all bottom 5 teams convincingly except QOS( but that was the 1st game). Last 2 games scoring 10 and conceding 1 is maybe showing McCall has found his shape. I was worried when we lost Holt the other night, but they cope well. This back 4 can only improve and Sneddon was flawless on Friday. As McCall said he is looking for better points total in the next 3 quarters. If we can get to grips with playing the 4 teams around us, we have a chance of top 4. And we have Brownlie to come back.

Edited by Garscube Road End 2
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