Thistle vs Livingston

[Albert's Ghost]

A good 45 mins v Airdrie.

A good 60 mins V Livvy.

Could have used more subs, earlier too.  But quite pleasing overall.  Not overrun in midfield for a change.  Well - not until late on.

[stuart_adam]

Best we've played all season for 70 mins, even in terms of effort and commitment. Gutted we lost a soft goal, but really should have had a 2nd and then the lack of subs when the team tired was a little strange.

Everyone played well but think we saw tonight what Martin will bring to us,  seemed to be everywhere and always where the ball was until he tired with around 20 to play

 

Gutted we didn't hold out but much improved 

Edited February 28 by stuart_adam

[laukat]

First time I have enjoyed a game at Firhill in many many months.

The effort, aggression and running was a million times better than anything I've seen this season and probably last season as well.  We actually had a proper midfield and I think Scott Martin looks a proper player.

Some of the stuff Chalmers was doing was delightful and his ball for Graham to score was inch perfect. Should have scored more 

We did tire and fitness does look like our achilles heel. I thought it was telling that Graham and Wilson only made a couple of subs, almost like they didn't trust some of the players in that type of game. Could have maybe done with Turner on when Crawford tired to see if we could get slightly more possession.

All in all a positive start for Graham and Wilson. 

[Jag36]

10 minutes ago, stuart_adam said:

Best we've played all season for 70 mins, even in terms of effort and commitment. Gutted we lost a soft goal, but really should have had a 2nd and then the lack of subs when the team tired was a little strange.

Everyone played well but think we saw tonight what Martin will bring to us,  seemed to be everywhere and always where the ball was until he tired with around 20 to play

 

Gutted we didn't hold out but much improved 

Agree but Doolan had a predictable 60 min 3 subs approach to every game. Think it was good to show the players you cant just expect to be taken off after 60 min if you tire. Good attitude and interesting change to the formation

[Third Lanark]

37 minutes ago, King Kenny said:

Thought we competed well and were certainly the better team for about 60-70 minutes. 

Livi's subs completely changed the momentum though and they deserved their equaliser. I'd need to see it again but it looked poor from Megwa, he had a lot of time to clear that ball, I don't think it was a foul. A great cross but disappointing that Ashcroft was caught under the ball. 

Our pressing was great for about an hour, Crawford and Martin played a big part in that but it's a big ask to do it for the full game. I thought our lack of subs cost us, a lot of tired legs due to a very heavy pitch. It would have been nice to see another couple of attacking players on as Graham was knackered but in the end a decent point as it seemed only one team were going for the win.

You'll never convince me that Stanway brings anything to the side, he'd have been my last choice to come on let alone first. A headless chicken, if he wasn't one of our academy players he'd be long gone. 

I though McBeth was great, he's brilliant at the back and dealt with Livi's aerial threat and strength well. 

Chalmers very good again and it was a lovely finish by Graham. He was unlucky with the one off the post but those are the chances you need to take.  

An improvement on recent weeks and a very nice touch by the Ultras with the banner for Doolan. 

We were pressuring them and then Stanway comes on and gives away a needless foul

 

[Jaggernaut]

Basically more of the same with these winless wonders. Actually, Doolan in charge would have fared no worse than our results in the past two performances.

To be fair, again there are some signs of improvement. Here's how I saw individual performances:

Budinauckas: Looks dependable enough, though we've rarely seen him under real pressure (thanks to the defence, maybe). Clearly belongs to that cult that believes in taking as long as possible before releasing the ball. One day while he's standing with the ball at his feet, teasing the forward to come for it, he'll get caught out by somebody who moves and thinks faster than him.

Megwa: Was having a kind of dream game, which turned into a literal dream for their equalizer. What on earth was he thinking? (Was he even earth at that moment?)

Reid: Contender for MotM. Think we've got a good one there.

O'Reilly: Standard, solid performance.

Ashcroft: Standard, solid perormance.

McBeth: For me, easily our MotM: The only one showing the will to take proceedings by the scruff of the neck and try to go at them. You can see his frustration with what's around him.

Martin: Decent performance. Looks like he has more to show.

Bannigan: Looks busy, actually does little. The King of "Stop immediately and see if you can pass it backwards!"

Graham: Did what he's paid to do as a player: scored one goal, missed more chances.

Chalmers: Excellent effort, especially in the first half. Another who I think has to lower himself to accommodate the limitations of his team mates. 

Crawford: I had to check the team sheet to see which player in the starting line-up I'd forgotten. Yep.

Substitutes:

Turner: Committed a foul, got booked. Our free kicks and corners were no more feeble than the ones he serves up week after week. Wasn't missed, and apart from the foul and card, wasn't noticed.

Stanway: I think he should start: has more grit and two or three starters put together, and some good passes. Also got booked (again); congratulations.

MacKenzie: I remember one header and one blooter to nowhere. Enough to guarantee his place on the bench before his next 5-minute appearance as a sub when we are desperate.

Another observation: What the f*** is it with these goal kicks when we have two defenders on the 6-yard line and one passes it 3 yards to the keeper, who then has to do something with it as an opposition player bombs down on him? It's an absolute piece of sh*te, and somebody will need to show me convincing evidence of any team anywhere actually benefiting from this "tactic," which obviously has been copied from somewhere.

The playoffs: If we make it, surely we'll go out in the first round.

 

 

Edited February 28 by Jaggernaut

[Auld Jag]

Best we have played for a long time. Before the game i would've been happy with a point but imo we deserved 3points. Big improvement in recent weeks, let's hope it continues and if we go into the playoffs with a good run of form you never know what could happen.

[Auld Jag]

5 minutes ago, Jaggernaut said:

 

Another observation: What the f*** is it with these goal kicks when we have two defenders on the 6-yard line and one passes it 3 yards to the keeper, who then has to do something with it as an opposition player bombs down on him? It's an absolute piece of sh*te, and somebody will need to show me convincing evidence of any team anywhere actually benefiting from this "tactic," which obviously has been copied from somewhere.

 

 

 

Agree with this. I don't understand why teams do this, surely the idea is to get the ball away from your goal and closer to the opposition's goal.

[dl1971]

6 minutes ago, Jaggernaut said:

Basically more of the same with these winless wonders. Actually, Doolan in charge would have fared no worse than our results in the past two performances.

To be fair, again there are some signs of improvement. Here's how I saw individual performances:

Budinauckas: Looks dependable enough, though we've rarely seen him under real pressure (thanks to the defence, maybe). Clearly belongs to that cult that believes in taking as long as possible before releasing the ball. One day while he's standing with the ball at his feet, teasing the forward to come for it, he'll get caught out by somebody who moves and thinks faster than him.

Megwa: Was having a kind of dream game, which turned into a literal dream for their equalizer. What on earth was he thinking? (Was he even earth at that moment?)

Reid: Contender for MotM. Think we've got a good one there.

O'Reilly: Standard, solid performance.

Ashcroft: Standard, solid perormance.

McBeth: For me, easily our MotM: The only one showing the will to take proceedings by the scruff of the neck and try to go at them. You can see his frustration with what's around him.

Martin: Decent performance. Looks like he has more to show.

Bannigan: Looks busy, actually does little. The King of "Stop immediately and see if you can pass it backwards!"

Graham: Did what he's paid to do as a player: scored one goal, missed more chances.

Chalmers: Excellent effort, especially in the first half. Another who I think has to lower himself to accommodate the limitations of his team mates. 

Crawford: I had to check the team sheet to see which player in the starting line-up I'd forgotten. Yep.

Substitutes:

Turner: Committed a foul, got booked. Our free kicks and corners were no more feeble than the ones he serves up week after week. Wasn't missed, and apart from the foul and card, wasn't noticed.

Stanway: I think he should start: has more grit and two or three starters put together, and some good passes. Also got booked (again); congratulations.

MacKenzie: I remember one header and one blooter to nowhere. Enough to guarantee his place on the bench before his next 5-minute appearance as a sub when we are desperate.

Another observation: What the f*** is it with these goal kicks when we have two defenders on the 6-yard line and one passes it 3 yards to the keeper, who then has to do something with it as an opposition player bombs down on him? It's an absolute piece of sh*te, and somebody will need to show me convincing evidence of any team anywhere actually benefiting from this "tactic," which obviously has been copied from somewhere.

The playoffs: If we make it, surely we'll go out in the first round.

 

 

Your assessment of the individual performances is pretty accurate. Strange your ultimately negative on the collective performance. It was miles better than what we have witnessed this season. Ultimately we have a weak bench which will cause us problems, but tonight there was some signs of hope....if we continue in that vein. 

[dl1971]

2 minutes ago, Auld Jag said:

Agree with this. I don't understand why teams do this, surely the idea is to get the ball away from your goal and closer to the opposition's goal.

They do it because its how modern football teams play at almost all levels of professional football. Cruyff, Klopp, Pep have a lot to answer for.....

[Jaggernaut]

16 minutes ago, dl1971 said:

Your assessment of the individual performances is pretty accurate. Strange your ultimately negative on the collective performance. It was miles better than what we have witnessed this season. Ultimately we have a weak bench which will cause us problems, but tonight there was some signs of hope....if we continue in that vein. 

Yeah, you're right. My frustration at yet another winless result spilling over. Even mentioned to my brother on our chat that it was the best we've played for some time (especially the first half).

[Jaggernaut]

12 minutes ago, dl1971 said:

They do it because its how modern football teams play at almost all levels of professional football. Cruyff, Klopp, Pep have a lot to answer for.....

At our level it's like children pretending to be pop stars; imitating and even sometimes comical, but ultimately just playing around; nothing original, and they'll never actually become pop stars (I'm speaking from experience here!).

[JAG1970]

1 hour ago, jagfox said:

Not all bad...

Given that one poster has labelled BG as Judas (FFS!), you will receive your payment in 30 pieces of silver.

As for the game, first 60 mins is the best we’ve  played in ages

[partickthedog]

30 minutes ago, Jaggernaut said:

Crawford: I had to check the team sheet to see which player in the starting line-up I'd forgotten. Yep.

 

You couldn't have failed to notice Robbie Crawford's new haircut! Looked a different player.

Not normally a fan of Crawford, but he was everywhere tonight, as well as putting in a strong shift in the left forward slot which helped Josh Rae have a really good game as well.

 

[Weebaw1]

Very encouraging tonight. Graham was a good role model for a change and showed that he’s still a pretty good footballer.

We played a team of hammer throwers and stood up well physically.

Substitutions were similar to rugby when they all emerged with fresh legs. I thought we should have matched them. Changed the game.

MacBeth motm for me

[jagfox]

42 minutes ago, JAG1970 said:

Given that one poster has labelled BG as Judas (FFS!), you will receive your payment in 30 pieces of silver.

As for the game, first 60 mins is the best we’ve  played in ages

Yes, maybe 70 at a stretch.

I've lost interest tbf.

Not a bad result overall,  it should have got the win.

 

[Jaggernaut]

54 minutes ago, partickthedog said:

You couldn't have failed to notice Robbie Crawford's new haircut! Looked a different player.

Not normally a fan of Crawford, but he was everywhere tonight, as well as putting in a strong shift in the left forward slot which helped Josh Rae have a really good game as well.

 

Yes, his performance might have been better than I gave him credit for; his usual anonymity is difficult to ignore.

[jagfox]

Funny when the site gets closed because of Zionist Jim...

Aka @Jordanhill Jag

[Lenziejag]

7 hours ago, Jaggernaut said:

Basically more of the same with these winless wonders. Actually, Doolan in charge would have fared no worse than our results in the past two performances.

To be fair, again there are some signs of improvement. Here's how I saw individual performances:

Budinauckas: Looks dependable enough, though we've rarely seen him under real pressure (thanks to the defence, maybe). Clearly belongs to that cult that believes in taking as long as possible before releasing the ball. One day while he's standing with the ball at his feet, teasing the forward to come for it, he'll get caught out by somebody who moves and thinks faster than him.

Megwa: Was having a kind of dream game, which turned into a literal dream for their equalizer. What on earth was he thinking? (Was he even earth at that moment?)

Reid: Contender for MotM. Think we've got a good one there.

O'Reilly: Standard, solid performance.

Ashcroft: Standard, solid perormance.

McBeth: For me, easily our MotM: The only one showing the will to take proceedings by the scruff of the neck and try to go at them. You can see his frustration with what's around him.

Martin: Decent performance. Looks like he has more to show.

Bannigan: Looks busy, actually does little. The King of "Stop immediately and see if you can pass it backwards!"

Graham: Did what he's paid to do as a player: scored one goal, missed more chances.

Chalmers: Excellent effort, especially in the first half. Another who I think has to lower himself to accommodate the limitations of his team mates. 

Crawford: I had to check the team sheet to see which player in the starting line-up I'd forgotten. Yep.

Substitutes:

Turner: Committed a foul, got booked. Our free kicks and corners were no more feeble than the ones he serves up week after week. Wasn't missed, and apart from the foul and card, wasn't noticed.

Stanway: I think he should start: has more grit and two or three starters put together, and some good passes. Also got booked (again); congratulations.

MacKenzie: I remember one header and one blooter to nowhere. Enough to guarantee his place on the bench before his next 5-minute appearance as a sub when we are desperate.

Another observation: What the f*** is it with these goal kicks when we have two defenders on the 6-yard line and one passes it 3 yards to the keeper, who then has to do something with it as an opposition player bombs down on him? It's an absolute piece of sh*te, and somebody will need to show me convincing evidence of any team anywhere actually benefiting from this "tactic," which obviously has been copied from somewhere.

The playoffs: If we make it, surely we'll go out in the first round.

 

 

Like you, I didn’t understand the goal kicks. 
However, on the playoffs, if we make them, and we continue to improve our fitness, we might have the chance to compete with Ayr or Livi.

We should have won that last night.

[Garscube Road End 2]

8 hours ago, madcapmilkdrinker said:

Given how relentlessly you posted about Doolan’s perceived inadequacies, it seems like you and BBG have a lot in common then. 

Maybe you don't understand the meaning of a Judas.  Was I involved in anyway of Doolan's dismissal?

[Garscube Road End 2]

As per the match. A good performance but just ran out of steam.

Which makes the late substitutions strange. We needed fresh legs earlier, particularly as Graham had alluded to fitness issues previously. 

Megwa had a brain fart and it cost us. At the end we were hanging on and credit is due to the players for their resolve.

There is a suspicion of the players downing tools under Doolan.

Maybe not. Perhaps the training regime , tactics, formations just didn't sit right with them.

We should have won that game. Graham missed a couple of sitters, but we move on and see if we get that 4th spot. Because it's realistically all about the money for us now.

[Jag]

I actually enjoyed the game last night. Yes, we should have won, but the improved performance was the most pleasing aspect. 

Good display by the defence, out with Megwa's moment . Ashcroft really solid in the air and O'Reilly's brilliant tackle set up the break for our goal. I've never seen a goalkeeper at Firhill that is as comfortable with the ball at his feet as Budinaukas. He's yet to be really tested shot wise so too early to judge him on that and he doesn't look the most commanding at crosses, but time will tell.

I thought the midfield were decent, especially without the ball. Crawford full of running as usual and Scott Martin showed why the Hamilton fans rated him so highly. He did tire but, if he can get fitter, he'll be a real asset. I was watching him for a bit during the game and, very like Ross Docherty, he marks space well and anticipates where the play is heading. I can see him being a very popular player.

Logan Chalmers is growing in confidence each game and is causing every team problems. We are seeing now what we expected when he was signed. Good showing again last night and superb cross for Graham's goal.

On Brian Graham - I don't think I've ever seen his link up play as good as I have over the last two games. Funny that. It shows what he is actually capable of when he puts the team first. Great finish for the goal and good efforts with his head in the second half.

I thought the game changed when Livi put on Stephen Kelly. He doesn't seem to have played much recently, not sure if he's been injured or not? I think it was a mix of him starting to control the game and us not using our substitutes at the right time. We definitely put a lot in to the first hour or so and fresh legs should have been used, and not just in midfield. We really fell off the pace the last 20 minutes could have ended up losing the game.

Regardless of result, it was a good feeling to enjoy watching a match again, something that I haven't been able to say at all this season. We should be OK for 4th, if we continue to put in the same effort in remaining games.

ETA - The referee really should be embarrassed with himself for that performance. Shameful.

 

Edited March 1 by Jag

[Jag]

Also - nice touch from the JLS with the Doolan tribute. Well done.

 

[Dick Dastardly]

The difference was that the players seemed to understand the roles they had been given, and tried to execute them to the best of their ability. It is a far cry from the aimless individuals of a few weeks ago. They looked like a team. Also credit to the management team for coming up with a tactic that very nearly worked.

How many headers did Banzo win in midfield ? He seemed to be first to every one of them until he tired.

Other than his cockup for the goal (was he shoved ? He fell forwards), I thought that Megwa had a decent game and certainly forced the Livvy left side onto the back foot. Also his head did not go down after the goal and he kept trying.

The defence looked very solid and with Kelly also available gives us a solid base to work with.

[JAG1970]

2 minutes ago, Dick Dastardly said:

 

Other than his cockup for the goal (was he shoved ? He fell forwards), I thought that Megwa had a decent game and certainly forced the Livvy left side onto the back foot. Also his head did not go down after the goal and he kept trying.

Unfortunately Megwa went to sleep, he seemed to take an eternity to realise the danger and by the time he woke up it was too late. No one claimed for a foul and  Ashcroft was rightly going mental at him. He needs to learn, that’s his second costly error in recent weeks. Other than that though I agree he had a decent game.