Leaderboard

Great to see the respects paid to Colin Weir, by fans, players and staff as his funeral cortege passed Firhill.

I don't get the clamour for binning Austin. The guy is just getting back to playing football. Give him a chance FFS! A lot of the squad are out of contract in the summer. No point moving them on unless we have a replacement in place.

"It is a matter of regret...to see the "in and out" form displayed by the cub with such tiresome regularity each succeeding Saturday. I would like to ask why it is that men who are totally unfit to acquit themselves with anything like credit are, Saturday after Saturday, included in the team. I will give...my idea of what would be...a strong and balanced team and bring back much, if not all, of its former football greatness. Well, here it is........................................" Letter to the Glasgow Evening Post 9 February 1889.

We are playing competitive professional football here, there is literally no point in even turning up if we don't think we have a chance of winning. Bigger upsets have happened in sporting history. Looking forward to it, and I'll always be proud to be a Thistle fan.

In fairness, I thought Bannigan made some well-timed tackles on Saturday - none of our other players did! A United Player had a wild swipe which Banzo skipped past as he was breaking forward in the first half and Clark injured himself in the challenge late on...I did think that Banzo would certainly have got a yellow and possibly a red if he had made either of these challenges.

I do remember Sneddon coming off his line vs Morton a year or so ago, some 20yards off it to be precise. After that outcome he is probably terrified to leave his line.

I don’t think Fox was ever one to come off his line. Sneddon doesn’t seem to either.

No need to be embarrassed. You won't be alone. Most of us will have mental images of Ryan fearlessly slide tackling wide players, herding and bundling opposition attackers out of play. Hardly surprising he's almost unrecognisable hiding behind Wee Joe Cardle.

The comparision with Dunfermline, Falkirk, Morton and Airdrie are interesting. Dunfermline has larger attendances on average than we do but is still recovering from chasing rainbows under Masterton. Which is similar to were we were after the "save the jags" season. I suspect Dunfermline will be back challenging for a spot in the SPL in about 2 or 3 seasons. Dunfermline have made 3 cup finals and played in Europe in the last 20 years so arguably the did better than us. Falkirk have comparible crowds to us and have similar ups and downs with owners. Right now they are underperforming and desperate for a new owner and chairman to take over. They would still probably be in the Championship if they hadn't experimented with importing non-league english players last season under Hartley. However Falkirk have made the Scottish Cup Final and qualified for Europe in the last 10 years. So their highs are aguably better than ours. Morton and Airdrie (current incarnation) are clubs that have less support and less financial backing than us. They are on a par with Hamilton and Livingston. However Morton have never dealt with Cappielow properly to develop the income streams that Hamilton rely on and the Hugh Scott era almost ended them so getting a benefactor like Douglas Rae wasn't enough to repair the damage caused so far. Airdrie overspent in the 90's to get to top league then went bust with a stadium thats now a white elephant and have never recovered. They could adopt a model similar to Hamilton and Livingston but it will take a long time for that to bear fruit and with crowds down its hard to see how they will be much more than a team that yoyo's between League 1 and the championship. Arguably Airdrie are more comparable to Clyde than they are to us. Personally I think there is a group of clubs outside of Rangers, Celtic, Aberdeen, Hibs, Hearts and Dundee United that we are in. That group contains Motherwell, Kilmarnock, St Johnstone, Dundee, St Mirren, Falkirk and Dunfermline. So if we are well run for a 15/20 year period we should be consitently in the top league and have the ocaissonal cup final appearance. However we have not appeared in a cup final or major European competition in nearly 50 years. All the others in the group I described have achieved that in the last 20 years or less. ICT and Ross County may in time be clubs that sit within our group but I suspect they are being financially supported beyond their true means and over the next 20 years may settle into being solid Championship clubs rather than yoyo clubs. However both of them have again appeared in a major cup final in the last 20 years and ICT have appeared in europe.

Jeez.. how embarrassed am I..... must be because I've got my head in my hands everytime he's on the ball

Really can't see any merit in keeping Cardle. On the occasions I have seen him he has made very little impact on the game in general play, even when we won. Also difficult to understand why anyone would want to keep Zanetta - another player who contributes very little and who seems totally disinterested when on the field. His attitude reminds me of Amoo! Anyone remember him? There are players 'inside' all of the players mentioned in this thread, I think that about Mansell, but it appears we need a magician to bring out their ability and commitment not a manager!

Very interesting topic & don't think there's an easy answer. However, I do think the size of the leagues has to be a factor - there's simply no 'hiding place' for a poor season (be it injuries, manager leaving, poor run of form) - and that leads to constant upheaval & uncertaintly. Can't help but feel we've missed the reconstruction boat now Rangers are challenging again, but for the good of the game in Scotland, it should never be far from the table. More clubs would be secure in their league position, likely to mean less chopping & changing of managers, more variety for the fans (not the same 9 teams all season), more youngsters being given an opportunity...) - what's not to like? Oh yeah, less OF games for Sky.

You've not met him. It was from his son !

Hopefully by adding some grit in the midfield Bannigan won't feel compelled to make as many daft tackles. Frustrating as anything as the whole stadium knows what's coming... Daft tackle, usually in the opposition half or as the ball is rolling out of play. Get him running the game, someone else breaking it up.

St Johnstone are interesting in offering McCart a PCA. Ross County are interested in signing Oli Shaw on a temporary transfer. This should progress our move for Brian Graham. Livingston are looking to sign Forrest in a deal similar to the one they struck with QoS for Dykes last season. Small fee to secure him in January but immediately loaned back to the selling team until the end of the season. Obviously this is immaterial if Forrest wishes to stay at Ayr then go to his choice of club in the close season. Rudden deal should be confirmed this week.

For the past forty years Thistle have been a lower leagues team with the occasional burst of overachievement. A more apt question is what do we have that Morton, Falkirk, Dunfermline, Airdrie, etc., don't?