kennymac29 Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 I wonder when teams will realise sinky has only got that one backward jink as a trick?? Comes on aaron, watch some messi on YouTube!! Granted I was pointing out the obvious on o' donnell but confidence player mind. Looking forward to seeing him rip section b apart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaggernaut Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 Just relieved to get the win. What a difference in class between the two teams last night. I can't remember seeing such a one-sided 1st half that ended goal-less. Possession must have been 85%-15% in our favour. Some of our passing sequences were terrific; one little three-man move on the left wing in the second half (Sinclair-Bannigan-Erskine) was just brilliant. But some of it was also pedestrian and seemed to serve little purpose. I thought that too often there was very little movement going on off the ball up front. Having said that their keeper had a couple of excellent saves from close-range, one in each half. How cool was Muirhead for the penalty! Fox: Did everything right. Had to look smart to turn around a shot in the 1st half after some *****ing around by the defence on the 18-yard line. O'Donnell: Great to have him back; some excellent runs, and good in defence. His reluctance to go on the overlap at times is a bit of a mystery, as he has the pace. Is he instructed not to, or is it just a question of not being 100% fit yet? Sinclair: Decent enough performance. Some woeful throw-ins in the 1st half, but a couple of great ones in the second half that caused them problems. This was also due to the players running into space better in the 2nd half. Paton: The engine room did its work. Muirhead: Deserved MotM; Mr Cool, Mr. Class. Balatoni: Another great display. I hesitate, but could he and Muirhead turn out to be the next Campbell-Anderson central defensive pairing? Welsh: Put in a shift, if not one of his best performances in midfield. Bannigan: As above, but some tireless work down the left in the 2nd half. Craig: Bullies and harasses defenders, keeps them occupied. Am I the only one to think that he sometimes looks like he can't be bothered chasing a ball that doesn't go right to him? Lawless: Love the wee guy. He torments defences constantly. Got caught dallying once or twice, but is a real menace. His corners were "varied" to say the least, but ironically, I thought that made them dangerous, as nobody had a clue where they were going! Erskine: Mr. Entertainment. Great work dribbling across inside the box to get himself tripped. The ripple of excitement every time he picks up the ball in midfield is one of the best things at Firhill these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jagtastic Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 I wonder when teams will realise sinky has only got that one backward jink as a trick?? Comes on aaron, watch some messi on YouTube!! You don't really need to rely on tricks when you can simply knock the ball past your opponent and breeze round them or get a free kick for obstruction 95% of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaggernaut Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 You don't really need to rely on tricks when you can simply knock the ball past your opponent and breeze round them or get a free kick for obstruction 95% of the time. I can't remember seeing any other Thistle player who does that so well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenziejag Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 It was a strange game. Had so much possession but only 3 or 4 chances ? Muirhead had a good game, but miss judged a couple of headers which is unlike him. MOTM, I think, only because he scored. Lawless was great for first 60 or so, then faded. Archie was probably a bit scared to make a substitution as it was only 1-0 and didn't want to upset things. I don't care that we didn't play that well, it was so important that we got 3 points. That puts some more pressure on Morton. Incidentally, Moore was there last night. Do they play Hamilton next, or does he just like watching Thistle ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinny Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 I can't remember seeing any other Thistle player who does that so well. Yes, he doesn't even need to change direction half the time, it's just a change in pace. I love it! However I wish he wouldn't try the 'pass it up the inside and run around the outside' trick, defenders should be able to read that at this level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stillresigned Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 (edited) Thought all things considered that the side played quite well last night. The defence coped for the most part admirably with the Italian-esque tactics of Maestro(?) Reid. We didn't resort to Mortonlike tactics and start lumping the ball upfield when our passing game didn't produce the rewards it did, Foe me Brannigan and Muirhead had good gamesand it was also nice to see Messrs Lawless and O'Donnel back in the fold. If the former were a wee bit rusty, if not at all bad, that's understanable. It bodes well for our remaining games as Dunfermline and Morton apart, with perhaps the honourable additions of Falkirk and Livingstone the majority of our opponents will adopt the same kind of dedfensive set up. As we showed last night remaining true to the priciples first deployed under Jackie, I see no reson to fear that Archies reign will be one of negativity or indeed predictable same old same old. Edited February 20, 2013 by stillresigned Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Willjag Posted February 20, 2013 Members Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 The big question from last night is...... how the hell did Stuart miss that chance!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenziejag Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 He thought it was a tap in and was far too casual. Hopefully, he learns from that an next time makes sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaggernaut Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 He thought it was a tap in and was far too casual. Hopefully, he learns from that an next time makes sure. I'd forgotten that. It was unbelievably casual, after some great work in the lead-up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jagtastic Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 Yes, he doesn't even need to change direction half the time, it's just a change in pace. I love it! However I wish he wouldn't try the 'pass it up the inside and run around the outside' trick, defenders should be able to read that at this level. They should, but there have been a few occasions this season where you can tell Sinclair just knows he has the right back on toast early on and it's just glorious watching him do the run around time after time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armand2 Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 First hurdle cleared. The first half was pretty much a domination and we were unlucky not to have a goal to show for it. Cuthbert always seems to perform heroically against us - the save from Muirhead was world class. Craig's movement in the first half was very good and he worked the channels well. I can't help but feel that, with the pressure we were putting on Hamilton, Forbes' set-pieces could have yielded an earlier goal. Second half, I thought we tired slightly as the game wore on and it allowed Hamilton to come into the game a little. Had they not completely isolated Stevie May, we might have had a more uncomfortable end to the game. Muirhead converted the penalty very well and Bannigan really should have doubled the lead. I'm still not quite sure how Welsh survived the game; a complete passenger. Conrad was my Man of the Match; composed on the ball, dominant in the air, won his tackles - excellent. Muirhead played well too and is far more comfortable at centre half. O'Donnell tired quite badly in the second half and probably should have came off but he had a decent first half and it's good to have him back. Paton was a bit wasteful in possession again but mostly recovered the ball when he lost it; not his worst game but we've seen him play a lot better. Bannigan was energetic but a bit quiet by his standards and, as mentioned, should have scored. Erskine came onto a really good game in the second half and did well to win the penalty. I felt Archie could have helped out by making substitutes earlier than he did. As mentioned above, O'Donnell was burst in the second half and Welsh should have been hooked. Squad management is going to be huge in the next few months with the amount of games we've got and I thought he could have spared some legs. We're now going to be asking, presumably, a very similar team to play again on Saturday and then again next Tuesday. Big ask if he doesn't make substitutions when we need them. One thing that has been very noticeable in the last two games is that we seem to be playing a lot narrower than under Jackie. The full backs appear slightly reluctant to overlap as willingly as they did earlier in the season and the third-man run in behind the opposing full-back hasn't been used at all. This has benefits defensively but it can funnel our attacks into central areas which will suit teams like Hamilton who come to sit in. I don't think it'll be the last hard-fought 1-0 that we will see under Archie which is, of course, no bad thing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meister Jag Posted February 20, 2013 Report Share Posted February 20, 2013 It wasn't a nice game to watch, but 3 points is all we need. Our goal difference is brilliant already. My worry was that our wing backs were not up to much today. O'Donnell doesn't seem to be quite on form attacking-wise and Sinclair was off the boil. Also feel we weren't enough of a threat at set-pieces without Forbes in the starting line-up. Agree with the above, thought the goal would eventually come but it was a frustrating night. Hamilton were clearly set up to detain and hit on the break - similar tactics as in past meetings. It's as if Reid knows that they can't compete so live off scraps. Anyone else notice that we're now playing more punt and chase long balls? Often lots of nice passing and switch play followed by enough of that and a big yahoo for Craig or Lawless to chase. Noticed a slight change at Cappielow as well so subtle (or not so subtle) change in tactics? But as said a win is a win is a win... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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