South Lanarkshire Jag

Not strict at all. It's a condition of the licence we've been given by Glasgow City Council that we have to provide and encourage staggered entry times to try to mitigate against mass crowds gathering at one time but they won't be turning anyone away if they are too early/late. If you park round the back of the Jackie Husband Stand next to the canal, the press entrance is a short walk in the north end of the gate. The same end of the gate should still be open when you're finished after the game.

Plenty of free street parking around Firhill - there are some sidestreets off Firhill Road which are "resident only" so wouldn't suggest parking there as they have a habit of double parking you in If you get there early enough there are bundles of spaces round the back of the stadium next to the canal, go in behind the flats, but in reality if you are happy parking half on the pavement you'll get a space on Firhill Road no problem at all.

That was absolutely delicious. Back in the hotel bar after a fantastic day around London and the drama at Wembley. While nobody wants England to win it, the atmosphere(while it was friendly and before the arseholes took over) wouldn’t have been anywhere near as good without them in it. Discovered pretty quickly I was going to be surrounded by some of the more unpleasant elements of the England support so had to keep it tight lipped during the game but couldn’t hold back during the penalties - definitely thought I was going to get battered when I cheered the England misses. Well worth the money and the trip. Wembley Way and the walk up to Wembley was a disgrace but no surprise English fans were trying to break through the turnstiles without tickets - saw at least 20 people getting huckled in my trip to a gate and getting in the turnstile.

I've got a ticket for this so heading down to London on Saturday after the Thistle game with my dad - really looking forward to it. The only thing that puts me off is that I'll probably be surrounded by England fans and I'm not sure I can actually handle that. I hope Italy absolutely do them but I reckon it will be quite a close game - 2-1 Italy after extra time! What is the pub situation like currently in London for anyone who knows - is it booking central or do we have a fair chance of walking up and getting in somewhere(clearly not around Wembley as it will be mobbed)?

Sorry, I haven't read the whole thread - who is saying only 400 fans can fit in the Jackie Husband Stand with the relevant social distancing?

The ticket cost is £12 - VAT is included in every ticket. The additional £2(which is labelled as fee) is for delivery of the ticket. The layout of how it is presented online is untidy and unhelpful. It's something that is already being addressed for our next game against Dumbarton.

Zak Rudden is scheduled to return back to training tomorrow. Zero truth in the long term injury line.

Liam Lindsay was considered for the qualifiers in Sept/Oct 2016(the club had to submit forms stating his medical availability etc) but never made the final cut when the squads were announced. In the early months of the 2016/17 season, Thistle were poor and were near the bottom of the league(I think after our opening day win, we didn’t win a league game again until October), so maybe it wasn’t surprising he wasn’t picked after a developing 2015/16 with Thistle. When the qualifiers ended in Oct 2016, Scotland didn’t qualify for the under 21 Euros to take place in the summer of 2017 - at this point Liam Lindsay became ineligible to play competitive games for the Scotland under 21s as he was too old. Liam was obviously a standout for Thistle in the first half of 2017 but I can understand why he wasn’t picked when the focus was on the next campaign when Liam was too old and he wasn’t close to being ready for the senior men’s national team.

Wright signed a two-year contract extension with Rangers earlier this year https://www.rangers.co.uk/article/kieran-wright-signs-new-rangers-contract/4gqmY6Pw6JQZb0rn0cKzo0

Are you sure about that? The guidance I've seen indicates "These numbers do not include any workforce/volunteers (including performers, exhibitors and participants) required to deliver the event, although consideration to physical distancing for workforce should take place, including in any back of house/non-public areas." Which would mean 500 spectators alone with the rest being accounted for as part of the delivery of the event?

In fairness, it is an SPFL contractual post that had to be posted by yesterday so they held it off as long as they could.

Usually an Opta Sports representative attends the game in the press section. We’ve had one at Firhill for every match - data nothing to do with clubs.

Loans needed to be returned to the parent club by 31st March to be able to play for the competitive club in any matches before 10th June. We’ve got the same clause for our guys on loan from Lowland League so if, for example, EK were in the playoff, our guys would have went back to them to play. 31st March is an SFA thing so applies right down to WoS league I think. I’m a bit confused why loans are still being announced today(might just be as simple as paperwork being done last night and announcements just a little delayed).

I don't think that has ever been in doubt? The management team are ultimately responsible for the results on the pitch, like every other club across the world. Not sure what you are trying to get at.

Just to correct you on this Ian McCall has been at every training session since we started back in August. This is categorically wrong. I'm not going to defend or excuse the style of play, but if you think that AA just decides everything the squad do at training, you are completely wrong. I might have picked you up wrong though.

The match officials confirmed after the game that they had only given it for offside as they thought Rudden had touched the initial shot from Penrice(he did swing a leg at it but he missed). Having watched it back, Graham is onside when Penrice hits it but it is really tight - the left back is walking out to the 18 yard line with Graham walking towards goal. The LB's back leg plays him onside when the shot is hit - annoyingly a player is in the way for our camera angle so it can't quite be cleared up as conclusively as that but it definitely wasn't the "clearly offside" position the Airdrie twitter claimed!

Thursday 15th April is a "catch up" date which might be required for Thistle to use if we defeat Cowdenbeath and Dundee United in the Scottish Cup or if, much more likely, Montrose defeat Nairn County and Fraserburgh to play in the Scottish Cup on the 17th April.

I think you are being a bit harsh on Ryan Williamson. He was available for selection in every game up until November 2019 and missed 1 or 2 games with a slightly knock(although it has to be said Kakay was playing him out the team by his own good form). He got his injury in the late stages of the Alloa away game at the start of 2020. He tried to play through it the following week against Dundee United(I think we were linked with about 3 right backs to replace Kakay before we brought in Lee O'Connor to compete with him and had no right back for that game). That game against Dundee United made the injury worse and he missed the rest of the 19/20 season - although he was around two weeks away from a return when the season was called. This season he has been available for selection in every match until he got injured against Peterhead. Two serious injuries aren't what I'd term injury prone.

The planned contingency would, I presume, have been circulated around all 42 clubs at the start of the season. If it is not satisfactory then it should have been challenged/adjusted/changed at the start of the season - the prime issue is running out of games/dates to play them. This could happen in any division so they should be treated equally. If it turns out to be 3-0 forfeits in Prem then it should be same for Champ and L1/2. It is up to the clubs to decide how many they want to play. As a collective they have asked for 22 - the board should have, in my opinion, focused on whether they were allowing the restart date to go ahead and if they were granting the extension for season rather than batting it back to clubs to decide sanctions for an incomplete season since these should already be in place. Why should the consequence of not finishing in L1/2 be different from Prem/Champ? I just think it is a bit unfair to be potentially imposing different sanctions for the same offence(not finishing games) when proposed league finish formats(split) between the prem and L1/2 will be practically the same and I don’t understand why this seems to be a sticking issue and has stopped it moving forward as much as it should have.

I would argue that the fixture dates for the Premiership post-split phase are also picked at a scenario that makes incomplete fixtures much more likely. They have a midweek card(10/11 of May I think) and weekend card(15/16 May) to conclude. If a team(for example Kilmarnock) gets an outbreak before then, there is little room to replay the games and they could potentially be involved in relegation playoffs. Obviously you don’t have that issue if it is mid table sides(which could also happen in L1) - the SPFL Board must have a plan of how they would deal with this - why can they not apply the exact same to L1/2?

I’m not suggesting anything. I’m asking why, regardless of whether we attempt to play 18 games or 22 games, the SPFL Board cannot apply the sanctions, whatever they may be, that they would to a Premiership or Championship team if they cannot complete their season. I don’t really see a difference and why they should be handled differently(basically one decided by the clubs and one by the board).

Why can’t they just apply whatever they would do to Premiership and Championship if they can’t complete? Don’t really see much of a difference to be honest.

Why should it be on the clubs to determine what happens if someone can’t finish their games? What would the SPFL Board do in the event of a Premiership or Championship club getting a covid outbreak in the last few weeks and be unable to fulfil 38 or 27 fixtures in those leagues? Surely whatever happens in those leagues would apply to L1 and L2 as well if someone can’t finish.

The mention of Taiwan reminds me that while I was working during Lockdown 1(which feels like a decade ago), I would tune in and watch the live streams of Taiwanese baseball which, I think, was the only live sport available anywhere in the world. It was a four team league and fans started getting in around June time so they were very successful doing it.

Watching on a US GamePass feed - can't wait for it. It always takes me ten days or so to get over the Packers being dumped out in the Conference game. Got my NFL SnackHelmet purchased from LIDL and filled with snacks - got hot food waiting to be heated up for HT or before. Supporting the Chiefs tonight but really just looking for a good game. Nothing can ever beat the horrific Rams v Patriots one from a few years ago, surely!