Just In V Falkirk

[Stewarty]

 

I'd have to disagree with the 'unconvincing' part. I wish we were that unconvincing away from home. Also, it seems clear to me that Bannigan is a great footballer, wherever he plays. Forbes is a very good footballer too (lacking in pace) but does have a tendency towards, ahem, simulation I think. To be clear, I do NOT have a scunner on Forbes here - if I had a first touch like that I'd be on Twitter or in Nandos now. Erskine - I hear a lot about unplayable, and at Dumbarton last week I would have 'unplayed' him, but today....the second goal. How does he do that thing that he does? Welsh and Craigan looked good when they came on, particularly pleased with Craigan, who's loan has done him a power of good. Really tidy and technically excellent. And could Murray please get with the program like Archie has? So yeah, generally I'm pretty happy too!

 

Unconvincing *at times*. We were more than a tad ropey at the start of the second half.

 

I think Bannigan's fine in central midfield but I'd rather see Welsh there and Bannigan competing with Sinclair for LB or at RB when SOD is injured. Forbes I'm less convinced of, as he's utterly incapable of tracking back. His delivery is sublime though. If only he were more mobile!

 

Thought Murray's positioning was good even though his distribution let him down at times. Pates was quiet at first but really came on to a game. Agree about Craigan and hope he gets some minutes on the pitch.

[The Earl of Hathaway]

Unconvincing *at times*. We were more than a tad ropey at the start of the second half.

 

I think Bannigan's fine in central midfield but I'd rather see Welsh there and Bannigan competing with Sinclair for LB or at RB when SOD is injured. Forbes I'm less convinced of, as he's utterly incapable of tracking back. His delivery is sublime though. If only he were more mobile!

 

Thought Murray's positioning was good even though his distribution let him down at times. Pates was quiet at first but really came on to a game. Agree about Craigan and hope he gets some minutes on the pitch.

Yeah, but teams are ALWAYS going to come back at us in the first 10 minutes of the second half - soak it up and do the damage thereafter. Regarding Bannigan, I honestly have no idea where I'd like to see him play. At the end of the season, we will feel privileged (like a lot of this crop) to have seen him play football in the Red and Yellow. It's not about being convinced by Forbes - his delivery of a ball as you say is Sublime. Murray seems to get caught on the ball too much for my liking, but hey, he does a job. I'd rather have Welsh there, but come the sharp end of the season....

[King Kenny]

In the end that's exactly what we needed. Some goals at the right end and getting the confidence up!

 

I thought Murray started off fairly well and was putting in some decent challenges. He gradually got worse as the game went on and by the time he went off he was having a howler! His passing and movement are far too slow and he ends up getting caught on the ball as a result.

 

Craigen had a great 20 minutes or so, very comfortable on the ball and gets about the pitch well. Looks promising.

 

Bannigan did well at RB and Welsh looked comfortable when he moved back there as well. Didn't think Forbes was at the races when he moved up top but he came on to a game and his ball through to Bannigan was superb.

 

Craig could have had a couple today and seemed to have upped his work rate from recent weeks. He still seems to get caught on his heels at times though.

 

Balatoni took his goals well and him and Archie did a decent enough job on possibly the best striker in the division.

 

Good to see Foxy back and he had a decent save early on at 1-0. McGovern's save from Welsh's effort was superb as well.

 

Erskine's 2nd sums the guy up, not sure anyone else in the team could have done that.

 

Good win, confidence restored and hopefully we can push on now.

[Lenziejag]

No problem,Harry. I just think that this season Erskine has been so direct that his occasional misplaced pass or misjudgement means that he should play every week

[brodieboy]

Ok, some blatantly obvious observations today;

 

This is definitely the best Jags team I've seen in 25 years of watching thistle, in terms of ability.

 

Erskine cannot ever be dropped, ever. He's just too magical.

 

Bannigan is so good, he could play anywhere in any team in this country. He's probably the one with the brightest future.

 

If we had a Lyle Taylor, we'd almost be out of sight by now. A constant threat (apart from his sitter).

 

The Jags crowd is tremendous. The Shed has been a revelation. The number of kids attending is something the club should be proud of.

 

James Craigen is twice the player Hugh Murray is.

 

We're the best team in the league and if we can pick up more points away, especially at Crappilow, we'll be champions.

 

Get me another Beer!

[Gordie]

Great team.

 

Bannigan did well today, much better on the left, the lad can play anywhere, as someone said earlier, very like Bobby Law, but i think Stuart is better.

 

Welsh did well today, ESP at right back.

 

Archie and Ballatoni awesome.

 

Special mention to Craigan, excellent 20mins.

 

Craig played well today worked hard, big difference from last week.

 

Last but not least. Lawless was on fire ,before going off.

 

No failures today.

Edited January 19, 2013 by Gordie

[briogadh]

Good win, not a great performance. I thought we were poor at the back, but that was to be expected with a makeshift defence. Going forward we were good though. Erskine's second goal was ******* beautiful, words cannot describe. I thought Bannigan had a game game considering the position he was playing. Erskine was a constant threat, eapecially in the second-half. Everyone else played well apart from Murray. It probably seems as if I have some sort of agenda regarding him, but I just don't see what he brings to the side. Yes, he's experienced but he's also a liabilty and his passing was dreadful.

 

Great win. The bus is back up and running.

 

The only negative on today was Lawless. The boy who was doing the holding the speed camera thing at HT and who I think is a youth coach, was sitting a few seats along from me in the second-half and he said that Lawless looks as if he's fractured his jaw. Hopefully not though.

Good score line. Not neary as comfortable as the 4 - 1 suggests. At the beginning of the second half, with us really struggling I found mysrlf asking myself, " Why do I put myself through this every second week?" Then, hey ho - they miss a sitter and then we score a couple in as many minutes! Agree on Murray. Don't see he contributes much and was very happy when he was subbed. However, there remains a mystery. 34 goals at home in 10 outings - only 8 away from home in the same number of starts. Anyone have an answer that I can understand ?

[kennymac29]

Thought jackie got it wrong when lawless went off and we had basically 5 in the midfield and if Taylor hadn't missed that sitter it was a diff game but balatoni and Archie were immense and erskines goal was worth the £17 alone. I'm sorry but shug Murray is too slow and backwards for our style of play but its all opinion.

 

Mr Pressley, gies lyle Taylor. Quality player and only threat.

 

For all those that say Archie's done, in your face. Total rock.

[Rid Skwerr]

Mmmmmm....Murray - bit of an enigma.

 

The first part of the season with him in the team we cruise it.

Murray goes out of the team and we cannae kick wer arses.

Murray is back in and we look good again.

 

Is it just a coincidence? I honestly can't decide.

Maybe he's just our lucky Talisman.

[Winter of '63]

Bit of a strange game...I veered from thinking we would give them a real pasting to fearing Falkirk would get back level...it all made for an entertaining day.

 

An ideal start with the early goal and Erskine's header right after their equaliser was crucial. Fox had to make three very good saves in the first half and Taylor's miss was unbelievable...he looks a really good player too...as has been said , if he played for us we would be out of sight.

 

I didn't think there was much wrong with the challenges on Erskine which led to their goal or by their keeper when Lawless got injured...hope the wee man's injury is not as serious as reported.

 

For such a young guy, Bannigan plays like an experienced pro but Hugh Murray looks like an experienced pro who is past his best. Craigen looked good when he came on...we have excellent options in midfield.

 

Some of Forbes' passing was magnificent and Erskine's second goal was magical...yet another for the growing collection of outstanding goals this season. Both have flaws but I would rather watch players like them playing for Partick Thistle than 110% effort running & tackling journeymen.

 

 

[Mr Bunny]

I agree with most of what has been said. However, I didn't think Murray was bad. I think he ran out of steam and that was why he was subbed - maybe he is only a 60 min player now. Also, I am not getting Bannigan as a right back now. He has no right foot and has to keep checking back, which loses the momentum. He was ok as right back. Welsh was ok there too.

 

At last someone who talks sense. Yes he Banigan was adequate - didn't let us down defensively - but never offered much going forward due to his left footedness. He's a favourite player of mine and i believe he'll be a very good player one day for a bigger team than us but he still has his limitations. He looked to be a wee bit two footed in midfield but it would seem it's more a case of him not being afraid to use his weaker foot - which is good - rather than being really good with it. Perhaps it was being in a position where he was expected mostly to use his right foot that he didn't have the confidence to use it properly.

 

That may seem a lot to say about a minor point as he was OK as right back but to say he was one of the best players as some are is just nonsense - to say he's better at right back than midfield is just crazy.

 

Quite a few good performances, in particular from Erskine, Balatoni, Forbes and Archibald. But we still seemed to switch off at crucial times in the game. Hopefully the result and the goals and chances we made give the boost to the team to set it off on another good run.

[Auld Yin]

 

 

I didn't think there was much wrong with the challenges on Erskine which led to their goal or by their keeper when Lawless got injured...hope the wee man's injury is not as serious as reported.

 

The wee man is going to be out with a broken cheekbone for at least 6wks.

[lady-isobel-barnett]

I thought McGovern's challenge on Lawless was fair but a friend who was in the JHS square to it thought it was reckless. I guess the video will clear that one up. If Falkirk had scored early in the 2nd half they possibly could've got a result but, given that their goal came from a blatant infringement on Erskine, they can't complain at the scoreline.

One of the most encouraging aspects of our win was that once our third went in the result was never in doubt. Such was the way we closed them down if someone had just walked in to the game for the last 25 mins you wouldn't blame them if they thought Falkirk were playing out a draw.

Without the services of Muirhead & O'Donnell, two of our best players this season, and denied our top scorer for most of the game I would've willingly taken the scrappiest of wins. Winning in style is so much sweeter.

Disagree with an earlier poster who thought the referee was consistent. I felt the lion's share of dodgy decisions went against us. For once at least I couldn't give a toss.

[thornwoodjag]

 

 

The wee man is going to be out with a broken cheekbone for at least 6wks.

well,that's a boot in the balls!

[uberteeb]

Bannigan did really well at RB, Balatoni was tremendous in defense never mind his goals, Archie was solid and it was brilliant to see the big man try and control the ball like Ronaldo when he found himself with a chance to score in their box, Erskine was fantastic and his chip was out of this world, Paton and Forbes were both very good. Hopefully we win next week to get some momentum for our 3 away trips.

 

Think I may have been the numpty close to Lenziejag , apologies my friend , but lets be honest , Chris has not been at the top of his game for a while now, he did redeem himself somewhat today but still not convinced that he shouldn't be rested and given a bench role for a few games , agree that the Falkirk No 9 (Lyle Taylor ?) would fit in perfectly with our game plan

 

[1 John Lambie]

Mmmmmm....Murray - bit of an enigma.

 

The first part of the season with him in the team we cruise it.

Murray goes out of the team and we cannae kick wer arses.

Murray is back in and we look good again.

 

Is it just a coincidence? I honestly can't decide.

Maybe he's just our lucky Talisman.

 

Last week, v Dumbarton?

 

I only saw the second half today but Murray had a stinker, passed the ball to the opposition on numerous occasions & dallied a fair number of times too, also gave away a silly free-kick at the edge of the box by diving in unnecessarily.

 

He'll play more games before the end of the season but he needs to seriously need to get more consistency in his game regarding playing a simple pass & not pissing around with the ball putting us in danger, he doesn't have the recovery pace to risk losing the ball in dangerous areas.

[Lenziejag]

Re the challenge on Lawless. If the centre half had gone in for a challenge like that I would have been a free kick at least. He just launched himself at it. Also, did anyone see Pressleys reaction when Stevie had to come off. I am sure he was celebrating. That's twice this season Falkirk have cost us long term injuries.

[Alan Murray]

We really needed that win today – could not afford to lose any more points to Morton.

 

We had enough chances to win 3 games; Craig missed 3 or 4 good chances. Erskine’s took his two goals well, his second as good as his goal against Hamilton last season. Conrad took his goals well; his movement in the box for corners is exceptional. It will not be last goal he scores this season either.

 

Hugh Murray played well first half when there not much pace to the game – second half the pace picked up and he struggled. I thought we looked a lot better when Paton went to the holding role and for me our man of the match.

 

Got to mention Bannigan – did well at right back and when moved to midfield was excellent. He really is improving all the time and one of the fittest players in our squad. He has put on some upper body strength and for me he has more pace about him than last year. Looks like he has been putting in a lot of hard work in at training and we are seeing the benefit of this. I thought our best midfield 3 was Paton, Welsh and Forbes but on this form Bannigan has to start.

 

Was a little surprised to see the comments above about Archie and Conrad being solid – for me they were a little shaky and got to question them for the Falkirk goal and Taylor’s miss. Muirhead back at centre back for me.

 

Can’t believe no mention of the drop ball were the ref dropped directly to the Falkirk player! WTF!

Edited January 20, 2013 by Alan Murray

[Vladimir Putin]

Think I may have been the numpty close to Lenziejag , apologies my friend , but lets be honest , Chris has not been at the top of his game for a while now, he did redeem himself somewhat today but still not convinced that he shouldn't be rested and given a bench role for a few games , agree that the Falkirk No 9 (Lyle Taylor ?) would fit in perfectly with our game plan

 

He just scored two and almost got a hat-trick shortly after, one of which was a simply sublime finish that was worth the admission fee along, and we should now put him on the bench for a few games? I'm just at a loss to understand where you're coming from.

 

As for Murray - he's crap with the ball, but he is effective in breaking up the play and I think we need him in there.

Edited January 20, 2013 by Vladimir Putin

[Pie Of The Month]

As for Murray - he's crap with the ball, but he is effective in breaking up the play and I think we need him in there.

 

This is my opinion of Murray too. He was nowhere near great yesterday but was still useful to have in there.

 

In the first half in particular Falkirk pressed us high up the pitch through the middle and tried to give Balatoni and Archie no time on the ball whatsoever and Murray provided them with an option to get the ball away quickly which otherwise would've been an aimless punt up the pitch or being dispossessed in our own half. His passing isn't great but I believe we keep possession much better in midfield for him being there and giving players an option for an easy ball if they get into trouble and he has the intelligence to cover the spaces left by either full back or other midfielders going further forward.

[Mr Bunny]

Disagree with an earlier poster who thought the referee was consistent. I felt the lion's share of dodgy decisions went against us. For once at least I couldn't give a toss.

 

I think the balance of decisions over the whole game were about even but on the other hand I'd say a few of the wrong decisions against us were outrageous while the wrong decisions against Falkirk were all pretty minor and wouldn't have affected the game (two against us, one contributed to their goal the other two a player being taken off injured - OK in the end that didn't affect the result but it could have.

 

Re-reading what I posted, obviously it was their keeper who was responsible for the injury but it was certainly a dangerous bit of play and an outrageous decision by the ref to take no action, not even speaking to the keeper. I just can't understand anyone who thinks that was a 50-50 unintended incident ... to me the keeper had no other idea than to go straight through Lawless.

 

They have previous for this ... last season (I think) Erskine was in unplayable form against them as we took a half time lead; second half they took turns kicking him until we eventually had to take him off.

Edited January 20, 2013 by Mr Bunny

[Pie Of The Month]

That was Beaton's first game back refereeing since his howler at Ibrox where Elgin got a point and Harkin's brother got a harsh red. I think he was just trying to get through the game without incident and tried to avoid bookings at all costs.

 

There was a point in the game where he gestured to play advantage after a bad challenge on Paton and then after the ball was out of play got his notebook out as if going to give a booking before putting it back in his pocket without noting anything. It was almost as if he couldn't remember who went in late on Paton.

[lady-isobel-barnett]

Glad McGovern wasn't sent off. I'm fairly sure our recent poor results have had a lot to do with a collective lack of confidence. Winning against ten men playing a reserve goalie just wouldn't be the same.

[Lenziejag]

Ah,but yesterday was all about getting a win

[John Blutarsky]

Re-reading what I posted, obviously it was their keeper who was responsible for the injury but it was certainly a dangerous bit of play and an outrageous decision by the ref to take no action, not even speaking to the keeper. I just can't understand anyone who thinks that was a 50-50 untended incident ... to me the keeper had no other idea that to go straight through Lawless.

 

Even if the ref viewed the collision as a coming together he should have stopped the game immediately as it was clear that Lawless had got a face/head injury. A very poor call from the Beaton.