The Partick Thistle thread

[John Lambies Doos]

I must be missing something, as I can't see where all the excitement is coming from, I see no evidence of chien and co being successful at other clubs, and did we not get rid of directors who do not stand to benefit personally for ones who will make substantial amounts of money if they sell the club down the river, as I said I may be missing something, but I am a bit concerned about what is unfolding, and don't understand where all the positive vibes are coming from.

Barnsley favourites for relegation with the bookies.

[jagfox]

37 minutes ago, weetoonlad said:

Will Weir pull any future backing then

[dave.j]

1 hour ago, weetoonlad said:

Take it there has been a power struggle over the last year or so Gerry Britton next

How much money over the last 7/8 years has Weir put into the club

Don't think there's been a power struggle at all. certainly not for the last 12 months. The reigns were handed over 12 months ago, and those involved made a royal mess of things, culminating in Sheriff Officers serving papers and Jacqui Low and a couple other directors being removed from their positions.

 

 

 

 

[Dr Koop]

10 hours ago, dave.j said:

Don't think there's been a power struggle at all. certainly not for the last 12 months. The reigns were handed over 12 months ago, and those involved made a royal mess of things, culminating in Sheriff Officers serving papers and Jacqui Low and a couple other directors being removed from their positions.

 

 

 

 

Call me an old nosey parker but I wonder what all that about the 'new' board acting because of what was happening at Firhill was really all about. The Lee takeover has kind of smokescreened things and got us looking the other way.

[Mancubus]

My worry is that their concern over the club's direction was that some shareholders didn't like the cautious approach to the takeover, and haven't thought about the long term risks if things don't work out for the new owners, and some shareholders just saw the opportunity to make some money, I suppose we just have to sit back and let it all pan out and see.

[Jacky1990]

13 hours ago, John Lambies Doos said:

15 hours ago, Mancubus said:

 

Barnsley favourites for relegation with the bookies.

They've just been promoted, of course they will be favourites to go straight back down.

[thisal]

45 minutes ago, Jacky1990 said:

They've just been promoted, of course they will be favourites to go straight back down.

That and the fact their promotion was based on the tightest defence in League 1 and they've just sold their goalie and both centre halves.

[Armand 2]

Jacqui Low will surely go down as possibly the worst ever chairman/woman/person in the club's history. Having dealt with PR in a number of crisis situations, it seemed like she was intent on returning Thistle to a state that she was more comfortable dealing with. A spineless, petty charlatan devoid of leadership qualities and who admitted to going into hiding when a bit of criticism came her way.

Rough was there as a figurehead but as others have said, I think there was a misjudgement of his popularity with the support; he'll always be a legend for his playing achievements but for a large percentage of the current support, he's the bag of wind on the radio, talking nonsensically about the Old Firm.

Whilst not without flaws and having abandoned ship, Beattie is a relatively safe pair of hands but it seems fairly clear that he's only back in the interim whilst the takeover talks proceed. I'd be interested to hear more about these concerns about the previous board; as stakeholders, we're well entitled to know.

I'm not sure what to make of the takeover speculation. I can't quite see where Thistle fit in the equation for Chien Lee and Paul Conway. With Nice, there is the possibility of European football; Barnsley are now only a promotion away from the Premiership pot of gold. Where do they make money on Thistle? Even with promotion, transfer revenue is going to be tiddly winks, television money is non-existent and mainly paid for running costs, and prize money is less than £2m. In terms of return on investment, they'll probably do quite well - I can't imagine it'll take much to buy out Beattie et al - but in the grand scheme of things, it's pocket change.

So what's the motive? Asset stripping? Doubt it for the reasons laid out by the Jags Trust. Vehicle for borrowing more money? Doubt the club's credit facilities would get them out of bed. Feeder club for players not playing at Barnsley or Nice, giving them exposure and possible resale value? Hmm not sold on that theory but more plausible than the first two options.

Edited July 16, 2019 by Armand 2

[John Lambies Doos]

They've just been promoted, of course they will be favourites to go straight back down.

Hardly a club thats being invested in. What's the point Lee having a mid to long term goal if they get papped right back down. That was my point

[Dr Koop]

1 hour ago, Armand 2 said:

Jacqui Low will surely go down as possibly the worst ever chairman/woman/person in the club's history. Having dealt with PR in a number of crisis situations, it seemed like she was intent on returning Thistle to a state that she was more comfortable dealing with. A spineless, petty charlatan devoid of leadership qualities and who admitted to going into hiding when a bit of criticism came her way.

Rough was there as a figurehead but as others have said, I think there was a misjudgement of his popularity with the support; he'll always be a legend for his playing achievements but for a large percentage of the current support, he's the bag of wind on the radio, talking nonsensically about the Old Firm.

Whilst not without flaws and having abandoned ship, Beattie is a relatively safe pair of hands but it seems fairly clear that he's only back in the interim whilst the takeover talks proceed. I'd be interested to hear more about these concerns about the previous board; as stakeholders, we're well entitled to know.

I'm not sure what to make of the takeover speculation. I can't quite see where Thistle fit in the equation for Chien Lee and Paul Conway. With Nice, there is the possibility of European football; Barnsley are now only a promotion away from the Premiership pot of gold. Where do they make money on Thistle? Even with promotion, transfer revenue is going to be tiddly winks, television money is non-existent and mainly paid for running costs, and prize money is less than £2m. In terms of return on investment, they'll probably do quite well - I can't imagine it'll take much to buy out Beattie et al - but in the grand scheme of things, it's pocket change.

So what's the motive? Asset stripping? Doubt it for the reasons laid out by the Jags Trust. Vehicle for borrowing more money? Doubt the club's credit facilities would get them out of bed. Feeder club for players not playing at Barnsley or Nice, giving them exposure and possible resale value? Hmm not sold on that theory but more plausible than the first two options.

My suspicion is that in theory they think they'll pick up Thistle for not large money, resource the club for buttons in their world but a fortune in Scottish terms and get it into the top flight and European contention as a platform for selling talent for large money.

[dave.j]

2 hours ago, John Lambies Doos said:

5 hours ago, Jacky1990 said:

They've just been promoted, of course they will be favourites to go straight back down.

Hardly a club thats being invested in. What's the point Lee having a mid to long term goal if they get papped right back down. That was my point

What's makes you think they are a club that's hardly being invested in? 

[velo army]

3 hours ago, Dr Koop said:

My suspicion is that in theory they think they'll pick up Thistle for not large money, resource the club for buttons in their world but a fortune in Scottish terms and get it into the top flight and European contention as a platform for selling talent for large money.

My fear is that we end up run by people whose efforts are expended in the interests of Nice and Barnsley and where the needs of Partick Thistle come a distant third. The term "feeder club" really ought to be sounding far more alarm bells on this forum than it seems to be at the moment. 

There have been charlatans in CEO chairs at clubs throughout recent Scottish Football history, too many that we should fall for another. 

[Cerberus]

56 minutes ago, velo army said:

My fear is that we end up run by people whose efforts are expended in the interests of Nice and Barnsley and where the needs of Partick Thistle come a distant third. The term "feeder club" really ought to be sounding far more alarm bells on this forum than it seems to be at the moment. 

There have been charlatans in CEO chairs at clubs throughout recent Scottish Football history, too many that we should fall for another. 

Short of a Craig Whyte type character then we'd be hard pressed to find a worse CEO than our current one.

[Thistle_do_nicely]

bit of a Football Manageresque take on it tbh but one thing I thought of as a possible contributing factor would be the Thistle Weir investment over the last few years -  maybe we're seen as undervalued post relegation or something (cf. what Falkirk have had to do to to their youth system for example)

Would say that this takeover talk doesn't inspire the same fear in me that the Barry Hughes talk did a few years ago, if nothing else.

[dave.j]

4 hours ago, velo army said:

My fear is that we end up run by people whose efforts are expended in the interests of Nice and Barnsley and where the needs of Partick Thistle come a distant third. The term "feeder club" really ought to be sounding far more alarm bells on this forum than it seems to be at the moment. 

There have been charlatans in CEO chairs at clubs throughout recent Scottish Football history, too many that we should fall for another. 

Why would it sound alarm bells? What scenario are you imagining?

Because I'm struggling to imagine why barnsley would farm out shite players to Thistle, as that would mean part of the overall business would be failing having to field dross. Surely they would just release their shite players, rather than see part of their portfolio fail. 

Surely the point of loaning out players is that you do it with prospects who have qualities you want to develop. Therefore having a close relationship with a bigger club would give us access to the best of their young talent, most likely without us needing to pay a % of their wage.

 

 

[John Lambies Doos]

I would have thought that modest long term investment would have yielded a player fund for Barnsley to ensure that they certainly wouldn't be favourites for relegation this year. I know that Lee won't exactly splash the cash but getting relegated after a tight promotion fight would surely be counter productive to the direction of the club?

What's makes you think they are a club that's hardly being invested in? 

[dave.j]

55 minutes ago, John Lambies Doos said:

I would have thought that modest long term investment would have yielded a player fund for Barnsley to ensure that they certainly wouldn't be favourites for relegation this year. I know that Lee won't exactly splash the cash but getting relegated after a tight promotion fight would surely be counter productive to the direction of the club?

 And this is all based on the bookies making the newly promoted team favourites for the drop? 

 

Or have you done any research?

[Reid]

Thought we were poor tonight, second half in particular. Very little creativity and no pace through the middle.

[Lord Rosebury]

46 minutes ago, Reid said:

Thought we were poor tonight, second half in particular. Very little creativity and no pace through the middle.

We created plenty of chances for a team with very little creativity. 

Pace is an issue up front, no doubt. 

[Dr Koop]

15 hours ago, velo army said:

My fear is that we end up run by people whose efforts are expended in the interests of Nice and Barnsley and where the needs of Partick Thistle come a distant third. The term "feeder club" really ought to be sounding far more alarm bells on this forum than it seems to be at the moment. 

There have been charlatans in CEO chairs at clubs throughout recent Scottish Football history, too many that we should fall for another. 

Well, I believe that the Ineos looney has acquired Nice, leaving a Barnsley/Thistle portfolio. Would they (NewCity) have a larger fish in mind? Who knows?

Alarm bells or not, there seems to be zip that can be done about the prospective owner's plans for Thistle, but I suggest they won't set out to maintain a club that yo-yos between the top six of the top flight and the arse end of the second tier if they want a shop window for talent.