Kmcalpin

Selling tickets prior to the game. No mention of this at all until today. Until now its been totally PATG.

We can't rely on others doing us a favour but yes this was a good result for us. Our crowds aren't great but Killie only attracted 2,600 or thereabouts.

Killie are already a goal down.

A bit late I'd say. Why have Accies changed their minds?

Thanks for clearing that up.

Good post. My overall impression is that we've improved since last season whilst rival clubs have tended to tread water or deteriorate. We have an improved squad, look to be better organised and have had a better season injury wise. That said, there's still considerable scope for improvement. The goals we lost on Saturday and the first at McDiarmid Park are still goals that we were losing 3,4,5 years ago. Maybe we're now losing less of them? We are scoring more and our striking department is definitely better than it was ie compare Moult and Sutton. Freak results like Tynecastle can always happen and hopefully it'll be a one off this season.

There were a few Mitch. First half: Johnson had a great low cross in the first half that was missed by everyone; Louis Laing had a great run which ended with the keeper having to make a save. Second half: Cerny had a couple of good saves, one from McDonald; Chrissy Cadden had a shot cum cross which just missed. Thats 5 and I'm sure there were more.

Good post Googles. Financial planning in a football club is a difficult business. I have heard the above argument mentioned a few times by Directors at AGMs and there is some truth to it. By the same token we can't afford to be financially reckless - we wouldn't want to go through administration again. What I'm saying in short is that there's no simple answer to this fine balancing act. When I'm on, I was thinking more about Stuwell's post last night. Can I ask him/her who was the source of the information that Les Hutchison has abandoned the 5 year aim of fan ownership? I realise these things can be confidential and so a private message would be fine.

It'll be the usual blood and guts derby and I just hope we're fired up for it this time. Accies will be their usual belligerent and aggressive self and our lads can expect a tough physical encounter from very streetwise opponents. Accies will not simply tolerate us if we try to play football. I can foresee a red card and a few bookings with perhaps a penalty thrown in. Oh how I'd love to give them a hammering on their own ground!

Certainly back in last November Jim McMahon was confident the next repayment would be made on time.

I thought so too, but Stuwell seems very sure of his/her facts.

So are you saying that Plan A is now officially dead and buried? If so Society members ought to be told.

Admittedly the first half hour wasn't great but you'll see much worse. We dominated the game for that period without really causing Cerny any trouble.

Injured apparently.

Even after questioning one or two usually well informed sources at the game yesterday....nothing.

First and foremost absolutely delighted with the 3 points and the performance wasn't too bad either. So, credit is due to the players and Mark McGhee. A physically powerful Thistle side posed a difficult challenge for us but we triumphed. In the first half they defended very well and made it hard for us. Despite having loads of pressure we didn't trouble the annoying Cerny. The penalty, which was a stonewaller, changed the game. As often happens the first goal is very important. At half time a 2 or 3 goal lead would not have been unjust but we lacked a killer touch. The second goal really changed the game and forced Thistle to play a more open game which led to our third. Two well worked second half goals. For the last 20 minutes Thistle had us under the cosh as we sat back and although they flattered to deceive up front it was no surprise to me when they scored. Booth had all the time and space in the world to fire in his shot, which either took a deflection or swerved viciously. I don't blame Ripley for that but rather our midfielders who were posted absent again. How many goals do we lose like that? The last 20 minutes or so were very uncomfortable and cried out for substitutions but as others have said who would we have brought on? I thought Lasley and Pearson had decent games, especially the former, but they disappeared in the last quarter of the game when we needed them most. credit to young Cadden though. He had a decent game throughout and was the one who stuck his chin out and had a real go at the Thistle attackers when others around him were unable or unwilling to do that. In the latter stages we were very exposed on our left flank and Stevie Hammell had a poor closing quarter, although he had no support in front of him it has to be said. Plenty of positives though. Moult and MacDonald were exceptional against 2 leviathans and covered miles over the 93 minutes. Johnson too had one of his better games. Chris Cadden is coming on by leaps and bounds and, although a bit raw defensively, has a great engine on him and kept going to the end despite being exhausted. A fixture in the side now I'd say for his running. Louis Laing had a great game at right back and Mark McGhee is being proven right in that there's more to this lad's game than we thought at first. He was the better of our 2 full backs today, putting in a solid defensive display and proving he can produce some dangerous charges and runs reminiscent of a buffalo on steroids. Both centre backs too had solid games and stood firm in the closing stages. All in all a good day at the office. These late season basement games are rarely footballing classics but today wasn't the worst I've seen. If we can reproduce this form in remaining games we'll be ok but we do need to remain competitive in the last 15/20 minutes of games. Perhaps some of us are being too hard on the senior pros like Lasley, Hammell and Pearson - they do try their best but just no longer have the legs. To end on a positive note though, Cadden gave me some hope with his never say die display and boundless energy.

Louis Moult for me, closely followed by Skippy and as Spiderpig says, Louis Laing.

I wouldn't read too much into 2 departures. These things happen all the time in the business world. A degree of change is never a bad thing providing there's some continuity.

Who are they? Derek Weir and who else?

Accies will treat this as 2 points lost in hindsight, given that they were playing against 10 men. However we have to pick up points ourselves and not rely on others to bail us out.

Where did you learn that Derek Weir had resigned? Nothing on the Official site nor on FPC or here. I didn't pick it up in the media either.

The amount of posts and opinions expressed about possible line ups virtually all focus on variations in the midfield and that tells us something. Our problems are lack of creativity there and weak defensive shield. I thought Gomis might be the answer but he's been a bit up and down since he came. Still settling in perhaps. Any Hearts fans I've spoken to rate him fairly highly. The conundrum seems to be striking the right balance - if we strengthen the attacking element we weaken the defensive element and vice versa.

I can see an argument for dropping Johnson, playing Pearson wide and starting Ainsworth on the right. That way we'd be well balanced and it would allow Hammell some cover which he badly needs. However the downside of that is that it would leave our central midfield dreadfully weak especially in an attacking sense. Gomis and Lasley might also be outnumbered and outfought. If Pearson played on the left side in the middle that would leave Hammell exposed and thats the last thing we need. Decisions decisions. Being a manager is not easy!

Yes. The problem is that our central midfield and full backs cannot distribute the ball quickly or accurately enough to Johnson and the strikers. If they could do so then they'd catch the opposition unprepared and give Johnson, Moult and MacDonald that little bit of space and time that they need. Do that and the threesome's success rate would improve dramatically.

Good post Captain. This is an interesting thread but a complex one. As far as Marvin Johnson is concerned, I suppose to some extent it depends on what his role actually is. I agree he's not a creative player. By the same token he's not an out and out striker. Anecdotally however, I would say that the quality of service to him is generally poor in that its incompatible with his style of play. Perhaps his style of play is simply not suited to the current team and vice versa?