The Toun Clock

An enjoyable afternoon, first time I’ve seen us win in the flesh since mid November. First 10-15 mins we were on it, and I was a bit concerned we’d missed our chance to get a goal as the majority of the half was the just a bit scrappy. Great time to get a goal, Hammy has no right winning that header I think he’s 4ft 8 or something but we know he can do it. Was saying to my mates what a great time to score it was, when Chris Kane took the ball off the defender and scored, even better. Second half was fairly boring, pitch was poor infront of the main stand, really bobbly and cutting up which is just a result of weather and using the USH. Seems to be as soon as we use it once it takes ages to recover. It’s a shame because our pitch is normally really good all year round but it’s struggled since the the turn of the year. First time I’ve seen us play Ayr in the flesh this season and I expected a tougher game but could have just been a blip. I know he’s a big loddie but the boy Dowds looked like he’d hired Mark Yardley as a nutritionist. Thought Otoo had an off day yesterday, was still good but not his usual self. Hammy was solid again, Kane & Edwards very good, Hayes-Welch solid and got the sponsors MOM, but for me I’d have went with MFW, thought he was great, won everything in the air and done the basics right. Todd wasn’t at his best yesterday but didn’t have to be, which is good, we’re not solely relying on Matty, however he does add so much with those forward runs beyond the striker. Great to see such a strong bench, must be the first time this season we’ve had those sort of options and it showed, I think we made 5 subs yesterday.

Are you planning on going town centre? There are a lot of pubs and plenty good ones.

Home win, please and thanks!

Aye it's a weird one for us as well to be fair, this time last week it was fairly doom and gloom. Three home games in a row (Morton, QP and Arbroath) where most fans would have realistically been thinking nine points were a possibility, at worst six or seven, ended up with a point. Transfer business had been poor, signings looked to have made things even worse, then all of a sudden we rock up at Firhill with a couple of the injured boys back, mainly Matty Todd and get a victory, even if it did come with the controversy. Went to Inverness on Tuesday, usually a very unhappy hunting ground for us and got a point which I think most would have taken. Chris Kane missed out due to illness which had a big impact. Should be a good game with a lot to play for, the same with Airdrie and QP who will play tomorrow, all in that similar points category as ourselves. Tough game for Inverness going to Cappielow and I think Raith will beat Arbroath so a chance to build the gap that wee bit further.

No one really arsed for this? Big ol game!

Never know but I can't personally see anyone else coming in. I have a feeling Bene, Breen and Fisher aren't a million miles away. I'd have liked another striker too, as without Kane we're a bit toothless up front. I know he hasn't scored yet, but his all round striker play is so much better than the rest.

Raith Rovers fans liked him cause he stuck his fingers in his ears at East End after a win.

People get all glossy eyed about Millen because he could score from 12 yards. He was consistently found wanting when he played for us. Now I know he was just a kid, but he didn't fill me with any confidence, his attitude is also rotten. He got sent off in his last game for the club and I'm sure it was for dissent, a 3-0 pasting up at Glebe Park in that 7th place league one season. I was watching him in the New Year derby and if there was a player we were going to target as a weakness to get back into the game it would have been him. Could see as we pushed for an equaliser he was getting a bit nervous. Most of the Rovers fans will tell you, he's been okay for them but they're not overly fussed he's leaving. They said the away game where they won at Tannadice in December he was great but not much else.

I watched on a steam last night and it was a poor 0-0 with not a lot going on. We massively missed Chris Kane up front who is ill, not injured so should be fine for Saturday according to the manager in his post match. We've got you guys on Saturday then Airdrie at home on Tuesday so two absolutely huge games that will define our season. Great result for Ayr last night, was watching the scores on my phone and just when I thought Thistle had done us a turn, you guys went up the park and scored the winner. I don't think any of us seen Airdrie winning at Tannadice. Ayr have certainly enjoyed a good wee spell under Broony!

I watched it on the firestick, fair play to ParsTV it was actually a decent enough stream, clear as day and no buffering/freezing etc. Missed the first 20 mins or so but from what I seen it was two teams lobbing sh*te at each other. We looked like we were coming on to a game at the end of the first half, Jak rounded the keeper and had to score, although it was probably more down to the good defending. I was surprised he went for a double sub at half time. Paul Allan was booked and was constantly in the refs ear at every decision. He was going the right way for a second yellow, so when I seen Chalmers warming up I thought that made sense, straight swap. I can't for the life of me work out why he decided to take Summers off as well. Second half was gash, I don't think either team had any real chances. Matty put one across the face of goal after a run down the right but it looked more like a cross. Credit to Deniz, good save for the penalty. Thought the defence were good, like the looks of Miles Taylor-Welch when he was at full back, you can see he has that experience and wasn't shy giving out orders. Otoo again the best player on the park. Really missed Kane up front so was pleased to learn he was ill as opposed to injured. Point definitely the fair result. No team done enough to win the game and we should be the happier of the two with a penalty save and playing away from home. Unfortunately last night the other results went against us, I certainly didn't see Airdrie winning at Tannadice, however I did fully expect Queens to beat Arbroath and thought Ayr might have beat Thistle. Unfortunately between now and the end of the season we're going to have a lot of relying on other teams to do us a turn. Massive two games now, Ayr have done well since Scott Brown came in and Airdrie with a brilliant result last night, just when you thought they were slipping a wee bit, I think they were 8th at one point last night. COYP!

McPake was shouting to Chris Kane in the second half a few times checking if he was okay so hopefully just a little niggle and he's okay for Saturday.

Aye the win will do wonders for momentum, if we did put a few together teams would be a little more fearful of us than they have been earlier in the season. However I would be satisfied taking a point back down the road but with the players Inverness seem to be missing, we should be aiming for all three. If we did win, that would be back to back wins for the first time since early December, and for only the third time this season. Then we'd be going on to two home games within the next week against similar placed teams in Ayr and Airdrie. Need to start racking them points up, because after that it's a trip to Starks for the derby and then hosting Dundee Utd.

I'd go with the same 11 tonight if we can. Not only for a bit of reward to the boys that went out there and done it, but also because the option of Jakubiak off the bench is a really good one whilst he's still getting back to match fitness. Inverness are a fairly physical side, use the height of Holmes/McCann. However, O'Hallaron should be in the squad so he might go with him as opposed to one of these two. I think Miles Welch-Hayes will be the right back for the rest of the season, but after a much improved performance and a goal I don't see him dropping Benjamin. Does anyone actually know what formation we played on Friday at Firhill?

We don’t need to reinvent the wheel with McCann, we just need him working with proper strikers. Stevie Crawford would have been a perfect coach for him. He would have learnt from Nisbet in their brief spell together but since then we’ve lacked a wee bit in the striker department where McCann could learn, almost like a mentor. Todorov was a proper striker but I suppose more of a target man. Wighton isn’t really an out and out #9. However, Chris Kane is and I think he will be able to learn a lot from him. He doesn’t need to be completely retrained as a centre half. He has plenty attacking attributes that can be enhanced, and thinks he could bring into his game with coaching. I’m one of his biggest critics but I’m convinced if we let him go he’d go on to have good career and we’d all be wondering why he couldn’t do that for us. Something like Jordan White who became a bit of a Premiership journeyman with Inverness, Motherwell, Ross County etc.

He's been really good any time I've seen him this season (0-5 pasting at East End or Morton BBC games). I agree that he'll have aspirations to play top flight in Scotland next season.

To be fair mate, I think most are just saying they would if they could. After the loans, I think it's Allan, Edwards, Fenton that are out of contract, sure the rest are tied down until at least Summer 2025. We have this extra year option with Edwards which I hope we're taking, even if it's just to sell him in the summer and make some cash. Allan doesn't do enough, I don't know his best position. I can't fault his effort at all but it's not like he's getting stuck in, he's just there or nearly there as it's been this season. Fenton, still a kid and to be fair you'd have to be pretty good to shift Josh Edwards out the team so can't really comment.

Is this enough to have QP and Airdrie in the mix for 9th? I think if Morton keep doing what they're doing they could really challenge Thistle for third but I don't see the current top four changing. Dundee Utd or Raith will win the league, the other will finish second and one of Thistle and Morton will make up the rest of the top four. Everyone outside of the top four is still in the mix. The Pars have a game in hand on Ayr, one point behind them and play them at East End on Saturday, before Friday I couldn't see how we would escape 9th place.

I'd quite like a new goalkeeper. Deniz will be here for the next two years anyway and I think with a settled defence in front of him he will do a job but I still think there's better goalies out there that I'd like to see as our #1. I could see Little going, not exactly sure of his contract situation and if he was being planned for the future then he might well stay but I'm sure he's not delighted that he didn't get a sniff when Deniz was injured and Harry Sharp was under-performing. I think Miles might be decent from his short cameo on Friday and the video that was on here. He was very verbal and had that wee bit of game management, telling Deniz to slow down when it came to taking the freekick etc, a bit more streetwise which we lack massively. He's 27 and plenty games under his belt so that's a bonus especially with Bene still missing. I think he could do well but will wait and see. If he does, can we keep him, or do Livi come down and they then want to keep him, time will tell. We have the option of a year with Josh, but I don't know what that means. Can we just say it's happening and that's it? At least if that is the case we can get some cash for him. I think he'll have suitors but he needs to keep doing it for us. I'd be shocked if the manager didn't say to him something like "help us stay up and get your move in the summer" etc. Needs to sort that final ball out a bit though... Summers will be away back to Celtic, and the two Cardiff boys too, although it sounded like MFW was being planned for next season so maybe we might be trying to secure him permanently. I've seen enough from Chris Kane in the highlights from last Saturday and watching the game on Friday that I'd like to see him stay beyond the end of the season. He's a proper centre forward and already ahead of a fit McCann, Wighton and Holmes. I just want to see these boys play as a unit between now and the end of the season, secure survival in the division and get a chance to show how good they can be when we've got less injuries.

Allan is one of the out of contract players in the summer, I know he's played a lot this season but it's because he's had to and if we had a fully fit squad he would be in single figures for starts. I don't think it's good enough to say he's a good squad player, he doesn't impact the game enough. I personally wouldn't be offering a new deal but I have a feeling they might give him a year. with regards to him playing at right back - did he play there before? Because he was shoved in there when we played QP at Hampden in at the start of the year. I know he had a couple of loan spells but not sure if he featured in the defence there. Quite refreshing to be sitting on a Monday, win under out belts, a few places up the table with the next three games coming against teams around us. Not getting ahead of ourselves as Inverness, Ayr and Airdrie will all be very tough games but a couple of wins and we'll all be able to breathe a little easier. All before we then have to play the Rovers away and Dundee Utd at home back to back.

Forgot all about MOH. Aye he could certainly get the nod ahead of McCann, who didn't do terribly on Friday but I think in that position MOH gets the nod. All of a sudden we've a few options and I feel it allows us to breathe a wee bit. Not getting carried away after a good win, but if we can pick up a couple of wins in the next week or so things will feel a bit brighter, all still with our proper defenders to come back in plus KRH at some point.

As soon as the ref blew for full time on Friday I was already thinking about the best option for getting to Inverness, completely forgetting the wife is away to London for work first thing on Tuesday morning. So that bins that but hopefully get a stream on the firestick. Amazing what a win will do. The last 2/3 months have been a really tough watch so to have a wee bit of a lift is great. Inverness has never really been a happy hunting ground for us but we did win up there two years ago so why not. I’d bite your hand off for a point at the moment, but if we managed to get the win it would really give us a bit of momentum going into two massive home games in the space of a few days against Ayr and then Airdrie. I agree with what was said above, I think the top four is set now. Dundee Utd and Raith will battle it out until near enough the end of the season IMO, with one just falling short. Thistle could be caught by Morton but even if they are I still think those four will be the ones in the promotion/playoff spots come the end of the season. With regards to the team, I wouldn’t be shocked if he goes for the same 11 as Friday. Big Holmes did a decent shift in an unfamiliar position but maybe he’ll come out for Jak who looked really good when he came on. Safe travels to all heading up, hopefully three points coming back to the kingdom!

At least you’re not raging about it

I was gonna post this the other day but didn’t want to sound like sour grapes. See when Ashcroft was released for free in 2020, most didn’t bat an eyelid. I actually typed “Ashcroft” along with my twitter handle the other day to see if I could find what I said when we let him go and there was about 12 tweets about him from over the years, only one was positive. He’ll do well for Raith in a team that has more of the ball. By the way, this isn’t me sitting here saying I don’t think he would have been useful for us since we won last night. Is he better than Fagan-Walcott, Benjamin, Otoo, Hammy as a centre half, aye he is but do I want a longterm plan with Ashcroft as the main man at the back? No.

Didn't realise how busy the next three weeks are for the club with six games between tonight and 15/3. Thistle away tonight, Inverness away on Tuesday, Ayr at home a week tomorrow, Airdrie at home on the following Tuesday, away to Raith on the Saturday then the live Friday night game against Dundee Utd. Games coming thick and fast with no free weekends from now until the end of the season. Let's hope for an injury free remainder of the season, never know we might actually get to play our favoured 11 once.