Partick v County - 22/10/16

[Hammer Jag]

Highland Gretna IMO. Without the llamas and Lucozade admittedly.

[Nizzy]

Speaking of Burke, I found it bizarre that he was cupping his ears to the North Stand after his goal. I always think it's fair enough with the likes of Kris Boyd and Scott McDonald, who have both done the same recently, as we're usually singing about them being fat b*****ds, cheats, etc, but nobody gave a shit about Chris Burke when he came on.

Aye, very strange. You'd have thought he would've celebrated with the 30 bumpkins who made the long trip south. File him in the 'complete pr*ck' category next to Nacho Novo.

[Fuctifano]

35 minutes ago, Nightmare said:

Speaking of Burke, I found it bizarre that he was cupping his ears to the North Stand after his goal. I always think it's fair enough with the likes of Kris Boyd and Scott McDonald, who have both done the same recently, as we're usually singing about them being fat b*****ds, cheats, etc, but nobody gave a shit about Chris Burke when he came on.

Ripped us apart in his brief cameo, tbf.

Davies did it to the JH at full time as well, though he had been getting a bit of stick for his involvement in Lindsay's injury, I was too far away but just seemed clumsy more than anything else.

Watched the highlights back, one thing that I remembered from yesterday was that we abandoned our usual attempts to walk it in and decided to shoot from 30 yards on several occasions, starting with Lindsay in the first minute. None of them were on target, which doesn't help, but it was noticeably different. All Fox had to do other than the penalty was a couple of passbacks from Azeez.

[Thistle Bonnet]

I noticed the ginger-haired No.22 "applauding" the JHS Stand at the end of the game...didn't realise it was Chris Burke as the goalscorer was announced as Dick Turpin...maybe that's what riled them.

[Fuctifano]

4 minutes ago, Thistle Bonnet said:

I noticed the ginger-haired No.22 "applauding" the JHS Stand at the end of the game...didn't realise it was Chris Burke as the goalscorer was announced as Dick Turpin...maybe that's what riled them.

That was incredibly small time, the new announcer is clearly an upgrade on Mogadon man but that announcement was cringeworthy.

[Nightmare]

Dick Turpin, fucking hell.

Bit of a cheek calling it a robbery, anyway. It's hardly a robbery if you open the door and let them in, as our defence seems to do every week.

[jagfox]

He got the first part right

5 minutes ago, Nightmare said:

Dick Turpin, fucking hell.

Bit of a cheek calling it a robbery, anyway. It's hardly a robbery if you open the door and let them in, as our defence seems to do every week.

He got the first part right, tbf

[Reid]

Burke got a half-hearted boo from the NS after he dived I'm sure. His celebration doesn't bother me. I'm a big fan of players winding up opposition fans.

Should it have been a red when Azeez was fouled just before the equaliser? Looked a stick on from the NS. Not that he would've scored anyway or we wouldn't have conceded an equaliser tbf.

[dan_frank]

28 minutes ago, Reid said:

Burke got a half-hearted boo from the NS after he dived I'm sure. His celebration doesn't bother me. I'm a big fan of players winding up opposition fans.

Should it have been a red when Azeez was fouled just before the equaliser? Looked a stick on from the NS. Not that he would've scored anyway or we wouldn't have conceded an equaliser tbf.

 

Would've been harsh. He had taken a fairly heavy touch and there was another covering defender.

[Thistle Bonnet]

It was as clear cut a red card as you will see - Azeez touch had taken him clear of the defender - it was a deliberate trip not a mistimed tackle - Big Ade had a clear run at goal with two players in support and the defence trailing - a clear goal-scoring opportunity - Azeez would of course have sclaffed it past the post.

[Fuctifano]

52 minutes ago, Reid said:

Burke got a half-hearted boo from the NS after he dived I'm sure. His celebration doesn't bother me. I'm a big fan of players winding up opposition fans.

Should it have been a red when Azeez was fouled just before the equaliser? Looked a stick on from the NS. Not that he would've scored anyway or we wouldn't have conceded an equaliser tbf.

Nah, for the reasons dan-frank stated, I still think after watching it back Curran's tackle on Welsh was a red though the camera angle on jagzone doesn't give a great view of it as Lindsay is in the way, but it's straight leg and studs up.

Was a penalty for County as well just before that break, Azeez definitely caught Burke, probably only the way Burke went down helped us.

 

edit: I know stills don't prove much but here's the incidents in question in case the BBC or youtube don't bother with them.

[dingdong1929]

COUNTY-CENTRIC MEGA POST!!!

Made the brave decision to go to Firhill yesterday, and it was rubbish.

 

FIRST HALF:
We started in a 442, Partick Thistle had 352, I think.

So Schalk and Curran were up front, short, and not fully fit.  
Thistle had Barton, Devine and Lindsay against those two.  So our pressing game up front earned us nothing, and our longballs to out-numbered small people also earned us nothing.    
Barton for Partick Thistle had a great game in the centre of defence, won everything in the air and recycled possession well.
I think our only chance of note in the first half was Schalk busting a gut to work the ball out wide, then playing it low back into the box, and Thistle making a good last ditch challenge on Curran to clear it.  
I think that was it.

Our wingers were Gardyne and Dow.
Gardyne was on the right wing and gave his usual all-action performance, but his two best moments were popping up in our 6 yard box to make crucial last-ditch challenges (which speaks volumes).  
Was also our best threat going forward, but with our strikers being so utterly dominated he couldn't create anything of note.
We make Gardyne work so very very hard...
Dow was on the left and got back and forth, working hard to track back, and tidy on the ball.  But he also couldn't create anything and obviously gave away the penalty (which was a shame as he did a lot of good work tracking back).

We had Woods and McShane in the middle.
Partick Thistle had Osman, Welsh and Edwards.
So as with our strikers, our midfield was also outnumbered 3 to 2 (or 5 to 4 if you include wide players).
Woods was frustrating in the first half to be honest, rarely near any of the Partick midfield and left massive gaping holes for Edwards (Partick Thistle #19) in particular to coast about in. 
McShane put in more of a shift than Woods, closing down a lot more, but his partnership with Woods didn't work.
Everyone has said it before, but they're very similar, and have a bad habit of moving into the same space at the same time, leaving big holes behind them.  
Set pieces and passing were decent from both, but neither on the ball enough to create anything.
To be fair, they had a very hard task given our shape and the ball not sticking up front, but I'd have liked Woods in particular to have worked harder to close down players and space in the first half / first hour.  
This may have allowed our fullbacks more confidence to push forward and help Gardyne and Dow?

Our back 4 was alright I thought, given our midfield and frontline were being utterly over-run by Thistle.  Our backline was just withholding a siege.
Fraser had a good first half and had a decent game driving into midfield from rightback, and got back very well.  Although he didn't get behind Partick when going forward, I thought Fraser was easily one of our best players first half.
Kenny had a solid first half, working hard, but was tucked in an awful lot trying to bail out the centrebacks who were being flooded by the Partick midfield (who had waltzed past McShane and mainly Woods).  Kenny tucking in left Dow a lot of work tracking back, but I don't think Kenny could have stayed wide as it would have left the centre of our team even more exposed.
Quinn and Davies were ok, but seemed reluctant to use our full backs when in possession, even when they were wide open, electing to punt it.  But as above it would not stick up front at all.  
The #16, Azeez, rag-dolled both of Davies and Quinn to be honest, but they recovered well mostly and Fox didn't have too much to do.  
Azeez didnt get great support in the box, and most of Partick's shots were from distance and off target, or weak and easy for Fox.
Apart from the penalty...

In general, the team looked miserable and lacking in confidence going forward.  
Looking at management on the touchline, they looked the same.  
Was hard to watch.

SECOND HALF
Dow and Gardyne swapped sides, but that was it.  
Curran soon put in a poor tackle in midfield (Woods hadn't covered his man, so Curran had to come charging back, from the wrong side, to make up for Woods, and made a total arse of the tackle.  Deserved booking, was worried it could have been more).
All we created was a low, slow, shot from Curran at the edge of the box which bounced off the post.  This was played back in for a tame header from Dow which Scully swallowed whole.

Just after the hour mark we made some desperately needed changes.
First was Morrison for Schalk, which finally saw some height up front, and the unfit and heavily strapped Schalk given a break from bouncing off much larger men.  
Then Burke came on for Fraser, which seemed insane given Fraser was one of few players who did well first half.
But it also saw a much needed change in shape, and we went to something similar to a 3412.

This took a while to take effect, but we had Kenny, Davies, and Quinn in centre defence, and Gardyne and Burke as wing backs.  Dow went into a #10 role behind Curran and Morrison.
This saw the ball stick a bit better up front and we started having a little more possession, and looking a little less terrifying when defending.

Woods actually came into the game more and more, and started closing down much better and making good challenges.  
I actually thought he was excellent for that last half hour.  Not sure if it was a change in attitude, or if he felt more comfortable in the change of shape, or both, but he dramatically improved.
McShane's game picked up too and we started to look slightly less shit.

Burke was the main catalyst for the improvement though, able to run with the ball and pass.  That sounds like a very basic addition, but thats how poor we had been before he was introduced.  
At one point he picked the ball up in the left back position, slalomed with the ball out to the right wing position, and played a reverse ball through which the striker (cant remember who) was unlucky not to get on the end of.

Kenny also came onto a great game, making repeated tremendous sliding challenges, and seemed very pumped up.  
He was increasingly geeing up his team-mates, taking quick throws and freekicks, and working hard to move into space to help spread the play when we moved forward. Was very impressed with him last half hour.

After 80ish minutes Dingwall came on for the tiring, and pretty ineffectual, Curran.  This saw Dow move up top, and Dingwall take the #10 role.
He won more headers in his time on the park than Curran and Schalk combined managed all game, likely due to playing between the lines rather than forced up against 3 centre-backs.
He also worked tirelessly running back into fullback positions, and worked hard to link play.  Was impressed with him too.  
I much prefer him in that #10 role and would like to see him get a run there, but he just isn't accommodated in our preferred 442.

As we finally came onto a game, Burke should have had a penalty.  He ran into the box and got taken out by Azeez (?).  Very poor decision that he didn't get a penalty.  
As has been said, Partick Thistle then ran up the pitch and Dow had to just throw himself into a challenge to stop the advance, another yellow card but at least we held out.
Burke soon got the ball in the same position again, and went on the same run again, this time getting a shot off to finish at the back post.  Billy Dodds went mental, turning to us in the stand and screaming, I think he enjoyed that one.
We had another couple of good opportunities, with Scully making a good save, but only managed a draw.
Given we only turned up for around 10-20 minutes that was the most we deserved!

Some promise in the performance at the end of the game, but serious questions remain about this team.  
There is a good team in there, but for whatever reason the most is not being made of it and the atmosphere doesn't seem to be at its best.  
Really hope that the late rally yesterday can help catalyse something bigger.

[Nizzy]

That's the worst I've seen Gardyne. Genuinely forget he'd played until you mentioned him.

[dingdong1929]

10 minutes ago, Nizzy said:

That's the worst I've seen Gardyne. Genuinely forget he'd played until you mentioned him.

Aye, and he was still one of our best players.  He's been transformed from our last spell with us when he was a creative #10 who can run with the ball and get a shot away, to an industrious fullback who belies his short stature to pop up in our own 6 yard box and win key headers and tackles.  He just didn't have the room or support to make an impact going forward, and was genuinely needed in defence as we were so poor.  Its pretty depressing.  We were rank for the vast majority of that game yesterday.

I was working hard to find positives in my earlier post.

[Savage Henry]

That County goal... gee whizz.  The tall guy just sells himself and then the ginger centre half completely panics, while Davies (!) goes on the overlap.  That's relegation defending.

Not to say Paul Quinn would have done any better, but that is a shocker of a goal to concede.  Slightly ropey positioning from the keeper too.

Still, a point is a point is a point.  County will need all the undeserved points they can garner. 

[Armand 2]

That was a sore one although I had a sort of resignation that it was inevitably going to happen.

I'm sure it's already been covered well enough by others since Saturday but my tuppence worth would be that the game turned on it's head when Lindsay went off - and also when Burke came on for County who gave them a threat that they'd lacked beforehand. I thought we looked relatively comfortable up until that point despite creating very little (if any) clear chances. I can't imagine McIntyre expected us to play 3-5-2 and I didn't think County dealt with it at all for the first 60 minutes - the back three was solid (bar one or two casual moments from Barton), we always seemed to have a spare man in the middle (usually Edwards who would then almost always make the wrong decision) and Azeez caused their defence problems for most of the afternoon before tiring.

Folk around me were giving it tight to Ziggy, and he was certainly culpable in conceding the equaliser; some defending that Grant Murray would have been proud of. However, to be fair to him, he was playing on an unfamiliar side and his body position would normally have been alright if he'd been playing on the right; but the way he shaped himself allowed Burke to put it exactly where he would have wanted. From memory (can't bring myself to watch it yet), Booth and Welsh also contributed to the mess that allowed Burke a free run in at goal so not all Ziggy's fault.

Ultimately, for the second week in a row, we left the ground sorely lucky to have a point thanks to a great reaction save from Scully who is really proving to be a capable keeper at this level now that he has a bit of confidence and continuity. With regards to the Lindsay incident, questions would have been asked if Scully hadn't come for the cross so certainly no blame on him.

If we have to soldier on without Lindsay for any length of time, we're going to struggle. Barton did well in the three but there's no way he could play in a two. I'd like to see us stick to 3-5-2 for now - that system isn't without its flaws and can be exposed badly at times against other formations but the number one objective just now has to be to stop leaking goals, and I think that gives us the best base to do that.

The other concern with 3-5-2 is that we are almost entirely devoid of any options from the bench. Azeez had run himself into the ground and Dools had a pretty fruitless afternoon but the only viable option we had was to bring Amoo on. McDaid was stripped to come on before the Lindsay injury - whether that was for Azeez or not, who knows, but either way, that says it all about the squad depth. Running with only two strikers in the first team squad is a really debilitating position to be in especially if you decide a quarter of the way through the season that you're going to play two up.

The one bit of solace that I take from the games I've seen so far is that there's very little between the teams. Big game on Wednesday. Important we don't lose.

[TheScarf]

Fucking hell lads, it's October and both set of fans have their side down.  One win and your in the top 6. 

ICT have been utter shite as well and we're somehow in 6th place.  Give it the going down chat if you're still in the same position in April.

[Nightmare]

20 minutes ago, TheScarf said:

Fucking hell lads, it's October and both set of fans have their side down.  One win and your in the top 6. 

ICT have been utter shite as well and we're somehow in 6th place.  Give it the going down chat if you're still in the same position in April.

There are 7 shite teams right now. I'd expect Motherwell to climb away from any real danger, but anyone else is fair game for 11th/12th I think.

But while this is a positive for us it's hardly reassuring given that we're chucking leads against fellow pish sides every week.

[Hammer Jag]

Motherwell are shite as well.

[Thistle_do_nicely]

1 hour ago, TheScarf said:

Fucking hell lads, it's October and both set of fans have their side down.  One win and your in the top 6. 

ICT have been utter shite as well and we're somehow in 6th place.  Give it the going down chat if you're still in the same position in April.

The problem is that our next two fixtures are away to Dundee and St Johnstone; in November we've got Aberdeen and Rangers at Firhill, who we'll shit ourselves against; with an away trip to Motherwell sandwiched in between; then in December we play Celtic X2 with an away trip to Hearts. I mean obviously everyone has some tough fixtures in the league, and there's winnable games to come for us which I'm leaving out, but I have a real fear, personally, that we're going to end up cut adrift before new year since we're chucking points away in the softer fixtures and leaving ourselves having to make up the shortfall in the harder games, something I've very little faith in us managing.