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I’d start Robson but I’d definitely keep McPherson in for now. He had a tough game yesterday and yes he made a backside of the 3rd goal but there’s a right good player there and did a great job up at Arbroath last week and still offered options going forward. Bruce in comparison just looked so lost in almost everything which is understandable as he is literally only 17 just now

Thistle deserved that but I’m not leaving the match feeling too disheartened. Unfortunately despite some promising showings in the cup game, Bruce got absolutely roasted by McMillan and lawless and ultimately that cost us the game. Not a clue why Robson is sitting as a sub. Time and time again, lawless would cut inside and play an excellent reverse pass into McMillan who had all the space in the world. I was just relieved to go into half time 2-1 Second half was much more like ourselves and we had thistle on the ropes considerably for 10-15 mins but our final pass or shot was lacking. Thomson particularly should have buried his chance which he hit over the bar. Shot ourselves in the foot with the 3rd goal and ultimately the game was gone at that point Thought Tizzard, Fox and Spong all had decent games although I’d question Tizzard’s concentration levels for Graham’s goal. That’s the difference for these guys playing in a proper 1st team environment now compared u23 football down south. Tizzard has all the attributes to be a top player but he has couple moments of stupidity now and again. I’m sure it’ll be coached out of him, he’s here for 3 years It’s a team that’s only going to get better but we need to accept that having several inexperienced players comes with moments like today, errors will be fairly apparent across the season.

Had a wee look and if my maths is right, we dropped 31 points from winning positions that season. Madness Not a clue how that team got promotion, everything just seemed to align in the playoffs

Yeah similarly to the right back issue we had, I’d rather make sure we take our time to find the right player stylistically and financially. Being patient for the appropriate right back allowed us to get Ben Mcpherson who is 19 going on 29 with the maturity in his early performances so far. There’s no point blowing a shed load of wages on someone who most likely won’t start. It’s a completely different case if we didn’t have Paton up top but we’ve got a guy who scores goals already, Beuker will have a big list of players shortlisted no doubt about it for who’s gonna play 2nd fiddle. I’m going to presume it might end up being a loan deal on deadline day id imagine

I was certainly very reserved regarding league expectations given our early cup performances and majority of the recruitment consisting of players nobody had heard of from academies and that we had a 16 year as our 1st Choice keeper. Naturally on paper, that looks fairly daunting going into the league campaign. Even on the predictions thread, loads have us between 7th and 8th, even a few at 9th. Think after the way we ended last season also, people may have thought our bubble might of burst Seeing us properly in the league now has reassured any early panic regarding potential dogfights for relegation across the season (early days still but there’s 2 or 3 teams immediately I know we’re better than). A push for promotion play offs or above will suffice for me

Having just watched the highlights, I would recommend anyone who may of missed it to watch McKenna giving it to the arbroath fans at the full time whistle. Glorious scenes. Aye some might not agree when you’re the opposing side but he’s 16 and has got all the confidence in the world. I sincerely hope thistle isn’t his last game with all the teams linked

Buzzing for this one. We’ve started very positively in the league so far and we’ve shown to be a real force going forward, whilst having some more resilience about us (or just an actual structure defensively now). Arbroath and Inverness appear to be sides that might be down the bottom this season but you still need to beat what’s in front of you. 9/9 still exceeded what I thought we’d get from those games massively Seems like a very slow start for thistle and not many if any of their new signings are standing out as of yet reading online. Not taking anything for granted as they have the likes of McMillan, Graham, Lawless and Mcinroy, who have shown to be excellent against us in recent times Play with the same bravery and desire and there’s no reason why we can’t get 3 points. Seems potentially a great time to play thistle

I love the way McKenna gives it back to the support. Go on Callan ! Love a bit personality in our players and felt we’ve maybe missed that over the last couple years. McKenna did nothing wrong. He was in situations where it could have ended horribly but he dealt with it with minimal fuss cause he has so much confidence and ability in himself. That’s not someone being ropey. There’s a reason Brighton, Arsenal and Southampton are after him. He’s going to the very top

Arbroath certainly had a bit more bite about them this game and created some half chances but their only real chance was the header straight after the goal which Bird should have buried Not in a mocking way but Arbroath are honking. Simply can’t see them being better than some championship sides over 36 games We weren’t great but we wouldn’t have won of that game last season. So much more dig about this time

You can’t really say you failed to take full advantage when you still leave with the 3 points. Ultimately we did what we needed to do. Frustrating we couldn’t score more but I’d be more worried if weren’t creating anything or getting into dangerous areas. We’ve scored 2 goals in each league game so far so if we carried that across the season, i won’t be too worried You may well be correct about us not challenging for playoffs and tbh it’s not a dire need for the club to do so (although much preferred) but that is an incredibly bold comment from someone who seems to constantly try reinforce this Arbroath side being one or two additions away from being a team that will win matches in this league. You won 6 out of 36 games last season and have won one game out of 6 in all comps so far. There is zero indicator as of yet that there’s any marked improvement Ready for the humble pie when we inevitably make a backside of it on Saturday at Gayfield

I’m sorry but if there’s actually people denying it was an incredibly one sided game then that’s just people with their Arbroath tinted glasses on tbh. Fair enough there was a 20 minute period where we didn’t have the freedom of Glasgow to move the ball about but other than the goal, a point would of been sheer robbery Will still be a different game at Gayfield. Would imagine Arbroath will get much more in our faces to see what we’re made of Also I was thinking, for a guy that doesn’t score an obscene amount of goals, I’m convinced Leighton Mcintosh scores against us all the time. He always pops up out of nowhere. I was saying that as he came on Saturday and typically scored 5 minutes later

Yeah on the face of it, I’d be incredibly satisfied to have Ure and Paton as our strikers especially if we could get Ure on a multi year contract like Paton. Hopefully the development fee isn’t too high but given he’s training with us, i’m assuming the club are already aware of the potential figure, therefore hopefully willing to pay it

Thinking about the lineup for Saturday, think the only change that’ll be made would be McPherson in for Longridge. Again, Longridge has done absolutely nothing wrong but if McPherson is going to be right back across the season, we need him starting in these types of games to see how he copes. I really liked what I seen of him on Saturday. Given that Robbie Ure is training with us, hopefully he’ll be signed up before Saturday. Desperately need another option up top to relieve some pressure off Paton as the season progresses

Including the amateur era, we’ve had some excellent loan players. Eamonn Brophy stood out like a sore thumb in a horrendous side that finished bottom of league 2. Dario zanatta was also terrific when we stayed up comfortably in league 1 back in 2016/17. Genuinely thought Zanatta would have became a Hearts regular after watching him then but how wrong was I. Malachi Boateng was obviously outstanding last season and in terms of consistent performances, he’s probably the best loan we’ve had. We’ve also had some woeful loans, most notably from the last 2 seasons. You could have your pick between Luis Longstaff, Connor Mcbride, Euan Henderson or Johnny Kenny. Longstaff and Kenny particularly stand out as my least favourite loans ever

You’d assume if we’ve brought him in for training, we’re already aware and possibly prepared to pay whatever is due if the management team ultimately decide to sign him Scored 17 in the lowland league with Rangers B last season from what I’ve seen so at least he’s got a taster of men’s football

I like Tizzard a lot. He’s quite clearly not the finished article which is expected but immediately after a couple games, he’s got the raw attributes to be a very very good defender at this level. I think the booking early doors affected his game a bit and taking him off after Arbroath’s equaliser was probably the right decision. It was key to not have players on the pitch with their head gone in that moment Thought Fox was exceptional yesterday and looks back to the player we all know he is. Knowing he’s now tied down for 2 years is superb

But but but we’re a squad of kids… Surely we couldn’t compete with such physical specimens in Arbroath ? I’m not joking but that’s probably one of the most one sided games I’ve seen QP involved in for a long time. Would of been a travesty had Arbroath took anything from that All round we were superb and a goal was nothing less than Paton deserved. He was outstanding today, as was Dom Thomas who was up against a right back that played like he was dragged from the stand to fill in Also Jack Spong might be the best footballer in the world. Absolutely faultless in the middle of the park This QP side are no mugs again this season I had my doubts when I seen some Arbroath fans say they have a squad that would be incredibly competitive in this league. Today reinforced my doubts by x100. They looked awful everywhere. Bird looked hopeless up top. I worry the bubble might have burst now for Dick

I still have flashbacks of that rotten 1-0 defeat at home last season when we were flying high so not taking anything for granted today (plus no Stephen Eze to an absolute backside of things) Would carry on with the same team. Of course McPherson has been signed but you simply can’t drop Longridge after his performance last week. Maybe it’s coming with regular matches but similar to Kilday last season, Longridge looks fitter, more mobile and generally looks a championship level player again. Think I heard he was hit covid pretty badly around 18 months ago which may have undoubtedly affected his performances as his legs looked gone at one stage but fair play to him, he’s been excellent so far

Scott Williamson now loaned out to Cove. Surely that must mean we’ve got a striker coming in today ?

Week 2 - Forfar

We were very fortunate with loans in the amateur era. Ralston, Brophy, Keena, Zanatta, Duggan and even Jack Iredale were all excellent for us My favourite personally was probably Chris Duggan. Was a lazy sod at times but he was totally unplayable when he was at it. The home game against Cowdenbeath in the year we got promoted through the playoffs, he could and should have scored about 5 that game. Pretty sure he tore his hamstring 2nd leg and that kind of summed his career afterwards

One is definitely Joseph Smith who’s listed in the first team squad on the official website I think the other one might be Kane Thompson? He played the very first game at lesser in the tester game and looked the best player out of the young guys imo. Certainly looked more physically developed than most

Seem very highly rated which is promising. Plays for the Scotland u21’s also which is nice to see Hopefully a lot better than our last Celtic loan..

That Dessers is absolutely atrocious

I think you only need to look at Regan Thompson as a prime example of moving down south too soon at Newcastle to play reserve football at 16. The guy looked like he had all the tools to make it as a full time footballer minimum but as of last season he was punted after playing 0 games for a dreadful Hamilton side and was then seen playing for our ochilview friends, Sygenta I’ve no doubts McKenna has a ridiculously high ceiling and the way Brighton play, that style of football is perfect for him. From a fans perspective, selfishly I’d love to just get a full season of him to see how good he can get at this level