A new chapter... Hamilton Accies VS Partick Thistle

[accies1874]

What should Canning have done? I would have replaced Turner and Longridge if not at half time probably 5 minutes after the restart. Imrie was poor but can always offer something at any moment. Folks are saying go with 2 up top but we had them hemmed in. It was the sloppyness from Gillespie and Turner and the slow build up play that allowed Thistle too much time to position themselves. We did manage to get in behind them a few times but it's very difficult to break teams that defend like that down. I don't think some of our fans appreciate that. Calling for Canning to step down after that is laughable. This is his team now, his players. Apart from Turner and Morris the rest look quite tidy.

Completely agree. We've got off to better start than the majority of our top flight seasons. Could've been a lot better and we'll struggle for goals this season but Canning won't have known what his best team is as the majority of our signings haven't played at this level. I can't say I'm happy with the result but I'm far from gutted.

[Snakebite]

Some wee jakey fucker threw a lighter that nearly hit a c**t I know.

[John Lambies Doos]

1st game of the season, not too much at stake. Teams can adapt formation to retain their defence but still carry some threat but no just sit in and hope for a point. Cerny saved your team yesterday with a great save, if the shot off the post goes in then you lot would be whining that you just sat in. Tiny margins in this league.

Oh dear.. away from home, down to 10 after 20mins. 0-0 draw. Its not Thistle or their fans that should be worried/bothered about that performance. Look closer to home. Fine margins alright.... u just weren't good enough tae be 3 points ahead of us. and against 10 men ffs. :-D

[username]

1st game of the season, not too much at stake. Teams can adapt formation to retain their defence but still carry some threat but no just sit in and hope for a point. Cerny saved your team yesterday with a great save, if the shot off the post goes in then you lot would be whining that you just sat in. Tiny margins in this league.

But the shot off the post didn't go in and your whining which I like

[stepek 4 tellys]

Some wee jakey fucker threw a lighter that nearly hit a c**t I know.

That Swiss finishing school really paid off!

[Smurph]

Tiny margins in this league.

Absolutely, so playing defensively to snatch a point, down to ten men, playing a 20 y/o and a 19 y/o at CB, away from home, is definitely the better way to go than go baws oot and try and get a win.

[Nizzy]

Stevo was part of Radio Scotland's commentary team this afternoon. Said the draw was vital given next week's opposition and that potentially going two or even three matches without a point could have a disastrous effect on morale. Let's leave that to the Kilmarnocks of this world.

[Armand 2]

Given the circumstances, it was a great point and one that could prove valuable at the end of the season. If you look at our defensive adequacy when Archie took over to how we performed as a unit yesterday, I think it is a great credit to his and Paterson's coaching skills.

I'll need to see it again but I thought Frans' first booking was a definite yellow. Nade was going nowhere but into the corner, all Frans had to do was hold him up until we had men behind the ball. I've heard some say it was soft but at the time, I had no complaints. For his second booking, after going to ground so soon before, he was very silly to give the referee the option to issue another caution. We can all argue the validity of each booking but what is out with questioning in my opinion is Frans' rashness which has been evident since he signed; he goes to ground far too easily, far too often. He might have just cost himself a jersey because when fit, you would imagine Seaborne will come straight back in, and both Lindsay and Hendry are certainly no inferior to Frans.

That leads nicely onto the young centre halves - get extensions in front of them ASAP because both have very bright futures. Hendry has came in under the radar to a certain extent and many would have considered him behind Lindsay who is a player we've taken our time to nurture; but he's proven in pre-season and again yesterday that he is absolutely capable of playing at this level and is no less of a prospect than Lindsay. He's quick - quicker than any of the other centre halves - and is comfortable on the ball; he was under pressure in the channel in the second half yet waltzed past a couple of Hamilton players to play his way out. He also defends the far post very well and is always capable of getting a knick on the ball to clear it away. Lindsay is a hulking presence and nullified any threat Hamilton posed from set-pieces. For one so young, he's accomplished in all the areas that a centre-half needs to be. Two very exciting prospects.

Elsewhere, I thought Miller was excellent. He doesn't offer anywhere near as much as O'Donnell from an attacking perspective but is a considerably better defender. He kept Amoo and McDaid in check as best as he could and blocked off the right side very well. He helped keep Hendry and Lindsay in line too and was close to being my Man of the Match for doing a job that probably went unnoticed by many.

As impressive as our defenders were - and I include Booth in that, who did a good job on the left side - Cerny has won us the point with two fantastic saves; the first from a one-on-one after someone ran inside McDaid and of course, the tip over the bar that looked like it was heading for the top corner.

Fantastic to see Welsh back and he was excellent during his time on the pitch. In quite a frantic first half, he was one of the few players to put his foot on the ball and try to play; on one occasion, in quite a congested midfield, he shimmied past a couple of players then pinged a blind side pass out to Booth which was one of the few moments of quality from us. If he can stay fit, he'll be a tremendous addition.

That said, Welsh's reintroduction (and Lawless' absence) shunted Bannigan into an ineffectual wide left position which doesn't suit his game. We missed his ball retention in the middle at times especially as Osman was back to his mid-season form of last year. For me, I'd rather see a sitting duo of Bannigan and Osman with Welsh playing in the more advanced role that Stevenson started in. Stevo would play on the right in place of Amoo who is an impact player from the bench if ever I saw one.

Final word to my Man of the Match. He won't get the credit he deserves from some fans who think he lacks pace, strength, super-human goalscoring ability, [enter whatever criticism is most popular amongst the numbskulls this week] but Kris Doolan sacrificed himself for the team yesterday and put in a a tireless and thankless shift up front. He is one of the most tactically aware strikers I've seen play for Thistle and always knows when to go and when not to. As much as we wouldn't have won a point without Cerny's interventions and the performance of our defence, we would have went home empty-handed if it wasn't for Doolan's work up top.

Great team performance.

As for Hamilton, they'll be disappointed not to have won the game given the pressure that they put us under; were it not for Cerny's exploits and the width of a post, they would have. Crawford dictated the play in the second half and was probably the most likely threat. Nade caused us more problems than I thought he would - his strength and ability to hold up the ball will be vital for Hamilton this year. They played some really nice passages of play, one in particular in the second half that cut us wide open and looked like providing a goal. I'd be slightly concerned at the inability to put us away despite considerable pressure but they won't be the cannon fodder that some expected them to be this season.

[jagfox]

I reckon Tomas Cerny will win as many Scotland caps as Scott Fox does

[NaeVay]

And for contributing to nearly half your crowd

Vinegar strokes ^

[GrahamJags]

Very happy with a point considering the circumstances. Echoing others saying Lindsay, Hendry and Cerny were excellent and are the reason we came away with a point. It'll be interesting to see if either (or both) of them can snatch places in the team from Frans and Seaborne. I would be quite happy for both of them play together in this league regularly, perhaps with the exception of Celtic next week. Seaborne was doing some isolated training yesterday before the game so if he can stay fit then we are very strong, with depth, right through the middle of the park this season. Doolan also did a geeat job at chasing and hassling the two Accies centre halves (Tena seemed to shite it everytime Dools came near him), but was fighting a losing battle for 65 minutes. Thought Gary Miller was our worst player yesterday. I counted at least five occasions where balls were played in behind and caught him out. Didn't think either of Frans' challenges were bookings, but I'd like to see replays to make sure. For Hamilton, Crawford absolutely bossed the game, and Nade held the ball up very well before tiring in the second half. Bit more luck and Accies would have had three points on the board just now.

[YER SISTERS YER MAW]

Just out of interest, why did Cerny leave Hibs? Did he refuse to sign a new contract with them or was he surplus to requirements? I know Cerny has previous for refusing to sign new deals (with us and CSKA Sofia). but surely the Hibs management team thought he was good enough?

[Reid]

Just out of interest, why did Cerny leave Hibs? Did he refuse to sign a new contract with them or was he surplus to requirements? I know Cerny has previous for refusing to sign new deals (with us and CSKA Sofia). but surely the Hibs management team thought he was good enough?

No idea. Looked like they released him. Seems strange that they played Oxley ahead of him.

[YER SISTERS YER MAW]

No idea. Looked like they released him. Seems strange that they played Oxley ahead of him.

Aye it does. Not seen a lot of Oxley but he looked like a bombscare against Sevco.

[Red 'N Yellow]

Heard it suggested that we spoke to Cerny way in advance about coming in the summer, hence why he was signed up very quickly. Or maybe he just chose play in a higher league. Oxley has looked little more than average (and a bombscare) in a fairly poor league so why they went with him over Cerny is anyone's guess.

[Nightmare]

Just out of interest, why did Cerny leave Hibs? Did he refuse to sign a new contract with them or was he surplus to requirements? I know Cerny has previous for refusing to sign new deals (with us and CSKA Sofia). but surely the Hibs management team thought he was good enough?

Mark Oxley is their settled number 1, and it would be very tough on him to just bench him for Cerny just because of Cerny's level of play a few years ago (unless Hibs were watching him play for CSKA Sofia and Ergotelis, which is doubtful). If they benched their first choice guy for someone who had been good a few years ago at this level, and he turned out to be half the player he was, it would have been a big mistake.

Which obviously has worked out pretty well for us, seeing as he looks just as good as he was with Accies, albeit based on just a couple of appearances so far.

[YER SISTERS YER MAW]

Mark Oxley is their settled number 1, and it would be very tough on him to just bench him for Cerny just because of Cerny's level of play a few years ago (unless Hibs were watching him play for CSKA Sofia and Ergotelis, which is doubtful). If they benched their first choice guy for someone who had been good a few years ago at this level, and he turned out to be half the player he was, it would have been a big mistake.

Which obviously has worked out pretty well for us, seeing as he looks just as good as he was with Accies, albeit based on just a couple of appearances so far.

Fair enough! I don't think Cerny would have been happy playing 2nd fiddle to Oxley at Hibs. He's too good a goalkeeper to be a back-up so perhaps he asked to be released there, which as you say has worked out well for Thistle.

[Apollo King]

What should Canning have done?

Two up front , ball in box quicker , Nade should stayed on and him and Morris should have been told to not drop back or drift out wide but to stay in box , if still 0 - 0 with 10 mins to play , put one of the centre halfs up front as well and go for it instead of hoping Crawford can bail us out of the hole .

Play was so slow and it was easy for Thistle to defend against the one striker .

[Pie Of The Month]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/scotland/33749635?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

1min 41 of highlights. Surprised they found that much tbh.

[Deefiant]

The move where Hamilton hit the post was very dece.