August 2008 Archives

So let's get it out of the way first. Yes, it was a stamp. Yes, John Robertson's a blinking idiot for thinking he could get away with something quite so blatant. But yes, the linesman (a certain Richard Gough, ironically) deserved the abuse he got for the rest of the game - as did the referee - for their consistently inconsistent performance which proved, once again, that there's no corruption among senior officials, only incompetence.

And it's a big well done to Jonny Tuffey, who's received his first senior international call-up this week.

Tuffey's come a long way in a short space of time. I remember travelling to Lancaster to see his debut for the Jags against Lancaster City - a phenomenal pre-season away day where the Jags took over the social club at the Giant Axe, then went on to take the town.

Arriving from Coventry, he didn't look all that special, but since then has grown in confidence and stature to become, undoubtedly, one of the best goalkeepers in the division, taking on the captaincy of NI's u21 team and proving an incredible penalty stopper.

I never thought Thistle would be able to find an adequate replacement for The Legend Kenny Arthur, but Jonny has not only filled those gloves, he's become as key a part of the team as anyone in recent history.

So well done Jonny. And with Roy Carroll throwing a hissy fit about not being available for selection unless guaranteed a game, JT might get that international chance sooner rather than later...

Sometimes it's not the victory that's the key. Sometimes it's the manner of the victory that's more special. And what the Jags did against St Johnstone was very special indeed.

Literally from minute one this was blowaway stuff. The patchy performances in the cup, which have seen us taken to extra time by smaller sides? All gone. We were unlucky down at Palmerston last Sunday but today it wasn't just luck, it was absolute skill and class from beginning to end.

In common with many Thistle fans, the Row Z Partick Thistle blog may have mistakenly given the impression that Simon Donnelly was a useless, underachieving waste of money who had no place being part of the Jags team and was helping drag the team further towards medocrity.

We now recognise that this is not the case and are happy to put the record straight.

Family commitments kept me from attending Thistle's first away trip of the new season, so I can only judge by the reactions on the Jags Forum and from the match reports elsewhere. But after last weekend's clash against Dunfermline, and the midweek extra-time slog against Forfar, two things are becoming clear already.

1) Damon Gray is a more than adequate replacement for crocked hitman Liam Buchanananananananan.

2) We desperately need to sign someone with some height and strength about them up front.

A comment by the current travelling circus running Thistle during the close season had us all intrigued.

It wasn't about a new signing, or the club's financial future, or the oft-mentioned relocation from Firhill. No, it was about the new away kit, and said high heid-yin promised it would be unique in the history of Scottish football.

Well, today it's been launched. And he wasn't kidding...