Months of action boiled down to this one game, 90 (or 120 and penalties) separated us from a second League Cup triumph under my stewardship.
Standing in my way was a St. Mirren side who are having a decent season by their standards, sitting in eighth place in the Premiership and comfortably clear of the bottom two, hoping to better last season’s position of…eighth and comfortably away from any relegation trouble.
Gary Bowyer is in charge of the Buddies, taking over from Jack Ross, who returned to guide them back to the top flight in the 2023/24 season and return to Sunderland for a second spell.
Unlike us, they had to battle through the group stage to get to the final, defeating Bonnyrigg Rose, Queen of the South, Albion Rovers (on penalties) and Ayr United to finish top of their group.
Dundee United, relegated from the Premiership last season (24/25) were eliminated in the Round of 16 before the Buddies claimed their biggest scalp.
In the quarter-finals, faced with the challenge of Rangers, the Buddies showed no fear and stunned their visitors, gaining revenge for the painful defeat in the 2010 Final, when Rangers triumphed with just nine men.
Livingston, who are in the top half of the Premiership this season (so far) were then downed in the semis to set up the showpiece with us.
In all honesty, I was beginning to feel a bit like Jock Stein when he mentioned the dangers of thinking you have a game won before you play it, in which he lambasted his Celtic side’s performance when Thistle crushed them in the 1971 Final.
A/N: I have attached a link to a Facebook page with the interview, I have been unable to find it on YouTube to embed it.– Marc
Why? Because we came into it as favourites, and had all the pressure on us, at least when you face one of the Old Firm, there’s no pressure on you to perform, it’s all on them.
Getting off to a good start was imperative, and we pushed the Buddies up the park from the first whistle. We were rewarded in the fifth minute when Keiran Hamill, who was just about available for the showpiece after a knock earlier in the month, turned and fired beyond Ahamada in the St. Mirren goal.
Jack McMillan’s quickly-taken throw to Teddy Jenks caught them off guard. A quick one-two between them sent McMillan into the channel, and he found Scott Tiffoney practically at the byline. Finding a route to goal blocked by Marc Bola, Tiffoney slid in, Hamill pounced on Keanu Baccus’ dallying, offloading to Teddy Jenks in a crowded penalty box before Jenks teed Hamill up for a shot on the turn into the bottom corner.
Tiffoney and McMillan were their tormentors in chief, and their dominance down the St. Mirren left had them creaking under the pressure. They were lucky not to go 2-0 down in the 30th minute when Teddy Jenks broke into the box, but his effort was high and wide of goal.
That attempt did not work out, but our next foray forward punished the Buddies for a costly mistake that looked to put some breathing space between us and our opponents. Former Motherwell man James Scott’s attempted cross-field pass was intercepted by Owen Beck, who moved the ball forward to Greg Kiltie, and he slipped the ball through to Keiran Hamill to sweep the ball beyond Ahamada.
One thing that should be known about Partick Thistle, whether in reality or the virtual world, is the notion that if it’s going too well, it probably is.
The Buddies pulled one back a minute before the interval. It was a stunning individual effort, in fairness to James Scott, who beat half my team before eventually curling the ball home from inside the penalty area.
Not wanting to panic, I told the boys they were doing well and that they shouldn’t worry about their goal back, as it had been their first meaningful attack in a half we otherwise dominated and that we could regain control if we started the second half like we did the first.
And sure enough, we had the ball in the net for a third time in the 57th minute when Malachi Fagan-Walcott rifled home after a stramash inside the penalty area following a Scott Tiffoney corner. Unfortunately for us, the joy was cut short when VAR intervened and awarded an indirect free-kick after it showed Jack McMillan had diverted the ball into Mal’s path with his arm.
Three minutes later, we had another couple of close calls, the first being when Keiran Hamill was denied a hat-trick from a close range by an excellent save from Ahamada and then from the subsequent corner when the ball was worked back out to Greg Kiltie, but his shot from 25 yards sailed harmlessly into the ‘keeper’s arms.
With another chance spurned by Keiran Hamill in the 70th minute, it looked like a (legitimate) third goal was beyond us.
Until the 88th minute when Jack McMillan’s lung-bursting run to the byline and cross was nodded in by Mikey Johnston.
YASSSS!
For the second time in four seasons under my management, Partick Thistle have WON the Scottish League Cup.
December is always a hectic month in the Scottish Premiership with games crammed in before the small mercy of a couple of weeks off, if that, for a winter break that I think is unfair and should be extended to the entire SPFL and not just the top flight.
We began the month with a trip north to Dingwall to take on a Staggies side pushing hard for a place in the UEFA Europa Conference League this season under Malky Mackay.
The snow-dusted pitch made for sub-optimal conditions, although Max Haygarth can have no excuse for his horrific challenge on County’s Gavin Whyte that saw him headed for the changing rooms after just 18 minutes.
From then on, the hosts dominated with their man advantage and should have taken the lead in the 30th minute when Jack Moylan fired wide after a superb run and cutback from Zach Awe.
With the game goalless at the break, we were up against it, but the only noteworthy moment of the second half was a shot from Jack Moylan which clipped the crossbar as it went over.
Outshot 21 shots to two with ten men for nearly 70 minutes, we got away with it, and now we’re missing a key squad player for three games.
Very lucky to escape with a point after the early red card.
After a battling performance midweek in the Highlands, we were back in Maryhill for a Sunday lunchtime tussle on the telly with Rangers.
The visitors were on a good run of form domestically, having last lost on the 24th of September when they lost in the League Cup to St. Mirren.
Stuart Bannigan replaced the suspended Max Haygarth. Owen Beck also replaced Harry Milne at left-back in the only changes from the draw at Ross County.
With the rain pouring down in G20, we went at them from the off, forcing a corner after Kwadwo Baah’s mazy run and shot was tipped around the post by Finn Dahmen.
Stuart Bannigan took the corner, which created panic at the back for the visitors, who could not clear their lines. This led to Kwadwo Baah having a shot from inside the penalty area that Finn Dahmen did well to divert over his crossbar for a second consecutive corner kick.
Once again, the visiting defenders were all at sea as Scott Tiffoney floated in a sumptuous cross that Malachi Fagan headed home after seeing off the challenges of multiple Rangers markers.
Sadly, the good mood around Firhill after the goal quickly turned much darker in the 14th minute when Keiran Hamill hobbled off with an injury that could see him miss out on the League Cup Final against St. Mirren.
Rangers had no answer for our obdurate defending in the first 45. The closest they came to equalising before the interval was a Conor Goldson header from a corner that flew well wide of goal.
Any hopes the visitors had of second-half improvement to kick-start any potential comeback, however, were dented ten minutes into the second half when a free-kick from out wide picked out an unmarked Malachi Fagan-Walcott, who headed home his second goal of the afternoon.
Rangers took that second goal as a wake-up call and immediately began putting us under significant and sustained pressure, with Kawabe firing just over the crossbar and a curling strike from the edge of the box from Sam Lammers that struck the post.
Desperately lacking ideas, the best effort that Rangers could muster towards the end was a strike from distance by Zurkowski that flew into the John Lambie Stand behind the goal.
What a performance and what a win! But not without disappointment, as another important player will be missing in the short term.
Can we?!
After handsomely seeing off Rangers to remain in contention for the Scottish Premiership title, we travelled to Florence knowing that a win at the Stadio Artemio Franchi would ensure direct passage to the Round of 16 of the Europa Conference League.
With Keiran Hamill injured, it was Max Haygarth’s turn to lead the line as we chased history against the Italian giants in the only change to the side from the one that defeated Rangers.
The first half was a total non-event, the closest either side came to looking like scoring was a header from a tight angle by Teddy Jenks after an Owen Beck free-kick towards the far post.
Fiorentina came out all guns blazing in the second half, but the game turned in the 52nd minute.
Jack McMillan launched the ball hopefully up the park, where it found Max Haygarth running through before the summer arrival from Linfield rifled home to give us a shock lead.
Enter VAR, who judged Max to be marginally offside when the ball was played through, and as such, our dreams were crushed.
After that, the game completely fell apart for us.
Two goals in a minute from Ruben Sottil and Igor had us on the ropes before Josip Brekalo delivered the coup de grace in the 90th minute.
An absolute sickener.
There Arno words.
After our chastening loss in Florence, we returned to domestic matters with a trip to Easter Road to take on Hibs, whose manager Luigi Di Biagio’s jacket was, to use a Scottish phrase, on a shoogly peg (meaning his employment position was precarious).
Despite a win against Aberdeen on December 3rd, the Hibees form had been wretched and hadn’t won a game before that since the 29th of October against St. Mirren.
The home side dominated the first half and looked like they had given their embattled manager some respite in the fifth minute when Elias Hoff Melkersen side-footed Hibs into the lead, only for VAR to intervene and deny the Norwegian (yet) another goal against us.
Moments later they had another good chance to take the lead when Kyle Magennis headed just over the crossbar from a Luca Connell corner.
Just as Hibs were faster out of the traps in the first half, we were in the ascendency early on in the second half, culminating in the game’s opening goal when Mikey Johnston’s deep cross found the head of Kwadwo Baah. But he found Oliveira in the Hibs goal equal to his effort.
That was until the slick ball squirmed out of his gloves and back to Kwadwo, and he coolly slotted into an unguarded net.
Try as they might, Hibs could not find an equaliser and we warmed up for our Europa Conference League decider with Anderlecht with a scrappy win.
File under “scrappy”.
After five differently challenging games, our Europa Conference League odyssey concluded at Firhill in the rain against the Belgian heavyweights Anderlecht.
The remit was simple, win and you’re in the Round of 16 or a playoff would await should we not.
Keiran Hamill was back in full training but was not risked, with the gamble being I’d rather him be fit for the League Cup Final rather than this.
We began brightly, getting up the park and well inside their half from the off, the early pressure paying off when Sardella gave away a penalty for chopping Kwadwo Baah down in the box after Jack McMillan’s pass inside had picked him out.
Verbruggen in the Anderlecht goal guessed correctly but was beaten all the same by Scott Tiffoney’s emphatic spot-kick.
Just two minutes later, with Anderlecht licking their wounds, we pounced again and doubled our lead through Mikey Johnston.
Greg Kiltie’s stunning reverse pass on the break caught Anderlecht napping and Johnston cut inside from the left and drilled the ball beyond Verbruggen. Thistle in dreamland.
After two goals in the first 12 minutes, it took until the last 20 minutes for the game to come back to any semblance of life – but boy would it.
First, Anderlecht got themselves together and grabbed a deserved goal through a slick move from back to front that was finished off by Yari Verschaeren.
Then it all got a bit silly.
Sensing a possible equaliser, Anderlecht committed men forward and found themselves on the receiving end of a devastating counter-attack as Toby Tarrant’s hoof clear found Greg Kiltie just inside the Anderlecht half. The former Killie man passed wide to Mikey Johnston, who took it inside before playing a cross-field ball to Kwadwo Baah and his daisy cutter of a cross was tapped in by Scott Tiffoney for his second of the game.
Still unrelenting, Anderlecht took the game to us once again and we pounced on an attempt to play out from the back to score again. Teddy Jenks intercepted a pass intended for Yari Verschaeren and fed it to Scott Tiffoney who squared it for Max Haygarth to get in on the act.
We were far from done, in the 80th minute Greg Kiltie prodded the ball into space for Kwadwo Baah to run onto and fire home a sensational fifth goal before eventually settling for six when Baah added a second with a scintillating solo goal.
Astonishingly, we are through to the Round of 16 of the Europa Conference League.
Hopefully, we will get a better tie than Man United, like we did last year in the Europa League.
Straight through to the Round of 16 in style.
Our penultimate league match of 2025 was a trip to Almondvale to face a Livi side whose recent run of three successive wins had catapulted them into contention for a place in the Europa Conference League.
Despite that good form, we started the better and almost had the lead inside the first couple of minutes when Shamal George had to be at his best to tip a Scott Tiffoney effort around his far post for a corner that was initially poorly dealt with by the Livi defence but Greg Kiltie’s attempted cross sailed into George’s grateful arms and the danger was cleared.
The majority of the first half was dominated by us and we were unlucky not to score a second time when Tiffoney burst into a dangerous area and, once again, George had to be at his best to keep him out.
Livi’s best chance of the entire game came in the 62nd minute when a low, whipped corner from former Jag James Penrice was headed towards goal by Jack Fitzwater but Daniel Rose was on hand to deny the big defender.
It would prove to be a costly miss, as moments later Keiran Hamill marked his return to league action with the goal we had been threatening to score all game.
Jack McMillan’s persistence paid off and he won the ball high up the park and, after a one-two with Teddy Jenks, played the ball down the line for Scott Tiffoney whose deep cross was headed back across Shamal George’s goal by Hamill to break the deadlock.
Livi pushed hard for an equaliser, and they nearly got one in the 82nd minute when Josh Kayode’s turn and shot cannoned back off the crossbar.
A deserved win in the end with our main man back in the team for the league games.
Shooting practice needed, methinks.
Hogmanay and our final game of 2025 brought a trip to Motherwell knowing a win would ensure we ended the year on top of the league and have a game in hand.
The home side had won two games since the beginning of October and it showed as a first-half blitz had us cruising towards top spot and dreaming of Champagne wishes and Caviar dreams.
Scott Tiffoney opened the scoring in the 28th minute when he headed home an Owen Beck cross that left the Motherwell defence flat-footed.
Three minutes later a tidy finish from Keiran Hamill doubled our lead before a thumping strike from the edge of the box by Teddy Jenks made it three.
The majority of the people left in Fir Park were wearing Red and Yellow by the 84th minute, and they were treated to a lovely fourth goal as Greg Kiltie raced through and fired past Liam Kelly.
The Jags are looking up, but the January transfer window will be huge for Derek McInnes’ Motherwell side.
Drubberwell.
A glorious December that brought us great success domestically and in Europe, means that the cinch Premiership looks like this going into a World Cup year*.
*A World Cuo that Scotland (again) will not be going to, sadly.
I’ve had most of this written for ages, but owing to my own mental health and also playoff nerves, I’ve had to keep coming back to it. – Marc
A pivotal month began with a trip to Kirkcaldy to face Raith Rovers.
The euphoria of that playoff triumph over Kilmarnock has faded for Raith, who have picked up just two points all season and scored as many goals in their 11 Premiership matches.
Nevertheless, I was not taking our first meeting with Raith in the top tier since 1996 lightly and intended to go out there and blow them away.
Bez Lubala dropped to the bench for this one, replaced in the XI by Kwadwo Baah, while Stuart Bannigan replaced the injured Victor Wanyama.
Despite their wretched league form, the hosts started brightly, when a great save from Daniel Rose denied a Ross Matthews header from a Lewis Gordon cross.
When you’re struggling, quite often you are punished for not taking your chances, and that was the case for Raith in the 19th minute when some tidy work on the left between Owen Beck, Stuart Bannigan and Kwadwo Baah created havoc for Raith. Baah’s route to goal was blocked, but Greg Kiltie picked it up and laid it off for Teddy Jenks to lash beyond Ripley from 20 yards.
Conceding so soon after a promising start knocked the stuffing out of the home side, and as the interval approached, they went further behind. Malachi Fagan-Walcott’s long ball forward caught out Raith’s Lewis Gordon and he was dispossessed by Teddy Jenks, who teed up Scott Tiffoney and he crossed from Kwadwo Baah to head past Ripley.
Rovers found a way back into the game in spectacular fashion, Lewis Gordon’s corner was initially cleared right back at him, and he took it upon himself to cut inside and rifle the ball past Daniel Rose.
But despite that stunning goal, Raith could not push on to grab an equaliser and ultimately we eased to three points.
Shooting practice is needed methinks.
Fresh off of our triumph in Kirkcaldy, it was off to significantly colder climes as we travelled to Finland for European duty against Seinäjoen Jalkapallokerho or SJK for short.
Our opponents are from the modest city of Seinajoki and they are the result of a merger of two unremarkable local sides and have risen to become one of the better domestic sides in the land that gave us Antti Niemi and Jukka Santala.
Owing to facilities, the game will not be played at SJK’s home stadium, called the OmaSP Stadion, but the Tammelan Stadion in Tampere, some two and half hours away.
For some reason, we are not playing here…
…but here.
Incidentally, Tampere is where the company that grew to take over the world as Nokia was founded, the ringtone is in your head now, isn’t it?
Any suggestion that we might freeze in the sub-zero temperatures, however, would be put to bed with a strong start that culminated in Scott Tiffoney opening the scoring with a thumping strike from the edge of the box in the 25th minute.
Still so vital to the team, even as we climb to newer and greater heights, Tiff continues to hold down a place on the right wing.
He came close to adding a second in the 34th minute, getting his head to a lofted pass from Kwadwo Baah inside the area, but the effort clipped the top of the crossbar and went out for a goal kick.
But Tiff would be on target again soon enough – although how much he knew about it will be up for debate. A surging run down the left by Kwadwo Baah led to what at first looked like a bad pass that was picked up by Jack McMillan, who cut inside and fired towards goal – unfortunately for Jack – his effort clipped Tiff and went beyond the SJK goalie.
They all count, but one for Jack McMillan to feel a bit miffed by.
Similar to the Raith game, SJK offered little but did make it a nervy last few minutes when their only shot on target found a way past Daniel Rose.
Back on track after the Valencia heartbreaker, another fair stomp of an away trip awaits in our next game in Europe as we travel to Azerbaijan to face Qarabag in a grudge match.
At least we’re winning these games, but loads of inaccurate shooting again.
With vital wins in succession secured on the road, it was back to Firhill for the first time this month to face Dundee United in the reverse fixture from the opening day of the season.
Dougie Imrie’s United side have had a marginally better time back in the top flight than Raith Rovers, but have only recorded two wins all season, one of those being a 4-0 win over the hapless Rovers.
Nevertheless, United arrived in Maryhill hoping to win their first game since they beat Aberdeen on October 24th, not that long a run, but their sole other win was on September 13th.
We were the fastest out of the blocks, Kwadwo Baah forcing a corner that ultimately came to nothing after stinging the palms of Bailey Peacock-Farrell from distance.
Greg Kiltie was next to try his luck from range, but his effort went just wide of Peacock-Farrell’s post.
This was a game with plenty of controversy, and not the first one between United and ourselves over the years, and in the 38th minute it looked like we had taken the lead through Scott Tiffoney, only for John Beaton to overturn the decision after consultation with VAR.
But United’s reprieve would last all of a minute as we took the lead thanks to a superb strike from Greg Kiltie.
Latching onto a superb ball inside from Owen Beck, Greg took the ball on a mazy before smashing past Peacock-Farrell from just inside the box.
Early on in the second half, it was United’s turn to feel the wrath of John Beaton and his computer screen when Josh Ginnelly’s strike from the edge of the box was disallowed. The United players and manager Dougie Imrie raged as to how their number nine’s effort had to be disallowed for a fractional offside.
I mean, judge for yourself.
???
As the weather turned from cold Sun to November rain, it was us who found Paradise City in the form of a second goal as the game ticked into the final ten minutes.
Owen Beck’s corner was cleared by Miller Thomson, but Mikey Johnston was able to get a toe on it, leading to the ball zipping across the wet surface into the path of Keiran Hamill and the prodigy swept home from 12 yards on the turn.
United, like SJK midweek, would grab a late consolation, but it arrived too late to cause any apparent panic and we can prepare for the League Cup semi-final after the break off the back of three straight wins.
VARtick Thistle, amirite?
November means the business end of qualification for the Euros and the World Cup, and Scotland were right in the mix for qualification to the 2026 World Cup. A win over Hungary would set up a showdown with The Netherlands in the final matchday at Hampden in a winner-takes-all clash.
The visitors dominated from kick-off in Debrecen and were rewarded with a goal in the 33rd minute from emerging talent Dylan Munro.
The 18-year-old Strasbourg prodigy continued his fast-track to stardom with the opening goal in a vital game.
Jacob Brown added a second from the spot to add further gloss to a sensational display for Steve Clarke’s side, the home side incapable of a single attempt on goal.
A stylish dink over the Hungary ‘keeper from Munro for his second of the night and his third Scotland goal in five caps ensured it would indeed be winner-take-all all at Hampden against Holland.
Bring on the Dutch
There truly is something special about Hampden under the lights when the chips are down, especially now that the national team have shown so-called glorious failure and laps of disgrace the door.
The task against Holland was a tall one. But it was one they were ready for, and this glorious old ground has seen Scotland topple bigger national sides than the Dutch before.
But could they do it one more time and stamp their ticket to North America and a first World Cup since France ’98?
Predictably, the Dutch were well on top, Scotland being reduced to the odd attempt on the counter-attack.
The game was goalless at the interval, but to call it finely balanced would be dishonest. The Dutch were dominant.
In the reverse fixture between the sides, the Dutch side’s expertise was the difference, and it would prove so again in the 69th minute as a corner wreaked havoc in the Scotland box and Jurgen Ekkelenkamp fired home.
The visitors sealed their passage to the World Cup as a result of a catastrophic mix-up at the back between Kieran Tierney and Liam Cooper, the Leeds United man bundling the ball over his own goalline.
A taste of the old Glorious Failure? Perhaps. But Scotland had no answer for the Dutch team’s quality in either game of this campaign and that was what let them down.
Tough to take.
After quite possibly the worst-timed international break in history, we returned to action in the biggest game domestically since the 2023 final in the same competition when we stunned Celtic to lift the trophy for the first time since 1971.
Standing in the way of us securing a third League Cup were Hibs, who we have traded wins and losses with since our promotion to the top flight and St. Mirren, who defeated Livingston in the other semi-final 24 hours before.
The task was seemingly easier than in 2023, which made it all the more daunting.
Preparation for this was thrown into disarray when Greg Kiltie suffered a knock in training, meaning that Max Haygarth came into the side in the Number Ten role, with Greg being fit enough for a place on the bench.
Thankfully, that was the only change needed, with everyone else avoiding a mischief in the two-week break.
We began strongly, putting Hibs on the back foot from the first whistle despite insisting we be a little cautious given the magnitude of the situation at hand.
But barely four minutes into the game, the tension would be broken.
Jack McMillan’s quickly-taken throw went to Scott Tiffoney and he hit the byline, sizing up Liam Scales, who was able to stop him, but in tackling him, the ball fell to Teddy Jenks and his piledriver was parried by Oliveira into the path of Keiran Hamill and the teenager made no mistake.
We then suffered an unfortunate blow in the 12th minute when Owen Beck had to come off with a nasty injury and was replaced by Harry Milne.
Hibs’ defence was all at sea in the Hampden rain, and they only had themselves to blame when they capitulated once again as Kaide Gordon was caught dallying on the ball by Max Haygarth and the ball dropped for Keiran Hamill to sweep home a second goal for the Jags.
If that had been from bad to worse, then moments later, it was a full-blown catastrophe when Keiran Hamill chased down a dallying Liam Scales before feeding the ball out wide for Scott Tiffoney to cross for Kwadwo Baah to make it 3-0 with a lovely glancing header.
Was it over? Not to me, I remember that Falkirk game.
And sure enough, eight minutes into the second half, the Hibees got themselves back into it when Kaide Gordon atoned for his mistake for our first goal with a sensational strike into the top corner from 25 yards.
Could they now rise from the ashes and repeat their heroics from the Falkirk semi-final in 2013?
Eight minutes after that stunner that gave the travelling Hibees a little boost, we restored our three-goal lead when Malachi Fagan-Walcott found space between two Hibs defenders and powered a header home to set up a pre-Christmas showdown with St. Mirren in the 2025/26 Scottish League Cup Final.
Hibees Hampden Horror. The other, other Triple H.
From Hampden on Sunday to the former Soviet Union on Thursday, the big games were coming thick and fast as we travelled to Baku to take on Qarabag in a grudge match from last season’s crucial Europa League clash that we won 5-0 to secure a playoff place through the League Phase.
Less than 3,000 fans – including 71 hardy Jags – filled the Baku Olympic Stadium, the venue for the 2019 Europa League Final between Chelsea and Arsenal (above)
The home side dominated for most of the first 45, coming close after three minutes when Mark Jankovic fired just over the bar.
Yassine Benzia was next to come close for the hosts, his shot on the turn just whistled wide after an attempted square pass took a nick off Jack McMillan to set up the Algerian.
After riding the storm in the early going and having our best spell of the game, we fell behind when a strike from inside the box from Jankovic took a nick off Harry Milne and diverted the ball past Daniel Rose.
But the misery of the brave travelling Jags support would be short-lived, as an inch-perfect Jack McMillan pass down the line found Teddy Jenks out wide and he cut it back for Keiran Hamill to rifle home an equaliser very much against the run of play.
Fired up from our equaliser, Qarabag began the second half as they had the first, with intensity and putting us under severe pressure, going incredibly close to a spectacular second goal when Qara Qarayev struck the bar from 25 yards.
Ten minutes into the second half, we turned the game on its head when Kwadwo Baah raced down the left flank and squared the ball to Keiran Hamill to slot home and make it 2-1 Thistle.
The youngster has been in sensational form since moving from Airdrie for £100,000, which felt like a massive financial risk, but he has more than repaid it with his performances so far this season.
Qarabag would be denied by the woodwork for a second time in their pursuit of a leveller. Still, the day would ultimately belong to us and our young players as Ramez Hefzalla marked a rare outing off the bench by sealing a stunning win in stoppage time.
Sending the goalie up in desperation for a last-gasp corner, we countered and Ramez ran clean through before dinking the ball into an empty net to cap off a memorable night in Baku.
Pray for the Munns Bus back from this.
November concluded with a dress rehearsal (of sorts) for the upcoming League Cup Final as we welcomed St. Mirren to Firhill looking to finish the month second in the table (at least).
Victor Wanyama was fit to take a place on the bench, which was still youthful, except for Stuart Bannigan, Mikey Johnston and Jamie Sneddon.
As we might expect from the League Cup Final, it was a cagey affair that sprang into life with three goals closely spaced apart either side of the interval.
We took the lead in stoppage time at the end of the first half when Malachi Fagan-Walcott knocked the ball down from Scott Tiffoney’s corner for Kwadwo Baah to blast home through a crowded penalty area.
And we made it two just two minutes into the second half when Kwadwo Baah turned provider, racing down the left before crossing to Teddy Jenks, who took a couple of touches before smashing the ball beyond Ahamada from 25 yards.
The visitors are having a decent season in the league, and they showed they were far from out of it in the 55th minute when they pulled a goal back through Eamonn Brophy.
But we would restore our two-goal cushion in added time at the end of the game when Toby Tarrant’s long ball over the top found Keiran Hamill and he rolled the ball home after cheating it down to secure a big win ahead of the even bigger meeting next month.
Bodes well for the League Cup Final…or does it?
A perfect month leaves the cinch Premiership looking like this going into an extremely busy December.
Hello once again and welcome to another update of Wallace ‘Til I Die!
We’re into October now and we have an entire month spent within Glasgow, with our only away game this month being against Celtic.
Hope you enjoy it because we’ve got our first steps in the Europa Conference League and a very eventful game against Livingston at home in the Premiership!
Happy reading, folks!
Our first game in October brought another first, as we made our debut in the UEFA Europa Conference League after our defeat to Shakhtar Donetsk in the playoff round of the Europa League.
Croatian side Hajduk Split were our opponents at Firhill, our first meeting with Croatian opposition since the 1995 Intertoto Cup group stage, when we faced NK Zagreb and lost 2-1.
Hajduk started as the pre-match favourites, but we have a knack for turning it on under the lights in these European games. As such we were cautiously optimistic, or should that be optimistically cautious?
Regardless, we got off to a dream start when Greg Kiltie’s out-swinging corner was powered beyond Lovre Kalinic in the Hajduk goal by the head of Malachi Fagan-Walcott. The Englishman has been attracting serious interest from clubs in his homeland but hasn’t expressed an outward desire to leave, which is music to our ears as it means he can keep producing moments like that.
The hosts thought they had passed up an excellent opportunity in the 18th minute but Zeravica had strayed just offside in the buildup, meaning there was no corner for them from Daniel Rose’s excellent save.
It was then our turn to go perilously close to scoring, good work down the Hajduk right by Owen Beck saw the ball eventually filtered inside to Victor Wanyama and then Teddy Jenks, whose low drive from 20 yards struck the foot of both posts before being hacked clear.
The visitors then had their best spell of the first half, forcing two corners after strikes from Zeravica and Grgic, but Daniel Rose and his defence were more than capable at keeping the Croatians at bay.
Hajduk’s failure to capitalise when on top would prove fatal, as we strengthened our grip on the game in the 40th minute when Jack McMillan was cynically tripped inside the penalty area by Zeravica.
It was telling that there were no complaints from the Hajduk players.
Fortunately for us, Teddy Jenks made no mistake from the spot, emphatically sending Kalinic the wrong way and sending us into the break with a 2-0 lead. With 20 minutes to go, we put the seal on an emphatic victory when Victor Wanyama teed up Teddy Jenks and his powerful shot from the edge of the box was too hot for Kalinic and found its way into the net.
A dream start to our new European campaign.
Out of the traps in style
After the high of the result against Hajduk, we were back at Firhill three days later to face a Livingston side who were defying expectations by keeping far away from the bottom two places at this stage of the season.
Perhaps getting overly confident, but wanting to keep a bit of routine, I fielded an unchanged side against The Lions, and it looked to pay off after just seven minutes when Mikey Johnston scored his first goal in red and yellow.
Stephane Omeonga’s clearance was poor and went straight to Owen Beck, who surged down the left flank and zipped the ball across for Mikey to tap home from the edge of the box.
Despite conceding early, Livi were never out of the game, with Mamadi Camara being our tormentor in chief, going incredibly close in the 29th minute to equalising when Matt Penney’s cross was deflected into his path and he shot just over the bar.
With the interval approaching, the Livi pressure paid dividends and they found an equaliser when Camara’s corner was glanced in at Daniel Rose’s near-post by Robbie Deas.
It was a moment, both in the quality of the goal and the timing that can have disastrous consequences, something that I made clear at the interval despite some concerned voices.
Ten minutes into the second half it looked like the players had understood the assignment, as we retook the lead through a headed goal from Kieran Hamill.
Jack McMillan’s surging run was key, he charged into space before sending it out wide for Chris East, whose floated cross landed right on Kieran’s head and back across the goal and out of reach of Shamal George.
But that joy would be short-lived as our weakness from set-pieces was exposed for a second time and the visitors found another equaliser when Matt Penney’s corner was flicked on by Corrie Ndaba and then powered beyond Rose by Morgan Boyes.
The visitors then missed a glorious chance to take the lead when Joel Nouble burst down our right flank and passed inside for Stephane Omeonga, who cut the ball back for Matt Penney but the Englishman’s strike crashed against the crossbar and went over.
It would prove to be a costly miss for the visitors as moments later we retook the lead through Chris East.
Owen Beck initially won the ball before playing a quick one-two with Kieran Hamill and East before Teddy Jenks sliced through the Livi defence with a devastating through-ball for Chris to run onto and fire home from the edge of the box.
And the victory was sealed in the final ten minutes when Kieran Hamill added his second of the afternoon, a fine effort into the bottom corner from inside the box after great work from Greg Kiltie.
A game that very nearly got away from us, but we were able to get there in the end.
Another day that goes against us, bullet dodged.
After the unnecessarily topsy-turvy nature of the Livingston game, we returned after the international break to face a Motherwell side in the lower reaches of the table, but not even close to being bottom given how terrible Raith’s season has been so far.
Stuart Bannigan returned to the side for this one, replacing Victor Wanyama, who has been picking up more knocks than decent performances thus far.
Also coming in for this one was Kwadwo Baah, who replaced Mikey Johnston on the left wing.
But of all our attacking players, today would belong to Greg Kiltie in particular.
It didn’t start well, however, as Motherwell began the game brighter and were awarded an early penalty after VAR intervened on Toby Tarrant’s apparent trip on Jack Aitchison as the latter raced to pick up a Dexter Lembikisa pass.
Michael Rose stepped up and fired past Daniel Rose, who guessed right but was beaten by the pace and power.
Motherwell could have had a grandiose second goal in the 27th minute when Ricki Lamie’s attempted overhead kick was ultimately saved comfortably by Daniel Rose.
Having been distinctly second best throughout the first half so far, it was going to take something of real quality to get us going – and it arrived in the 44th minute when a patiently worked move involving Malachi Fagan-Walcott, Teddy Jenks and Scott Tiffoney set up Greg Kiltie for a superb equaliser.
It was a terrific first-time finish from a superb player that I was delighted to keep around after a productive loan spell.
Into the second half and he was at it again, just ten minutes after the restart and Greg had turned the scoreline around when Teddy Jenks reverse pass found Kieran Hamill, and when his shot was initially blocked, the rebound fell to Kiltie to fire home his second of the game.
A virtuoso performance from the former Killie and Morton man was complete when Kwadwo Baah unselfishly squared to Kiltie to complete his hat-trick after excellent work down the left from Owen Beck.
It was the perfect way to warm up for the biggest games of our season at Firhill against La Liga giants Valencia and away to Celtic.
A View To A Kiltie.
As mentioned ahead of the Motherwell game, the middle of October brought a brief international break that saw Scotland play two matches. One was a Friendly against Qatar, which Scotland won 4-1 with goals from Scott McKenna, Kieran Tierney, Ryan Christie and Ethan Erhahon.
The other was a crucial World Cup qualifier away to Kazakhstan, the scene of national humiliation under Alex McLeish back in March 2019.
It was nothing short of mortifying in March 2019 when Kazakhstan battered Scotland 3-0.
A repeat performance would almost certainly end any hopes of qualification for the expanded showpiece held across North America next summer.
Hopes were raised when key Kazakhstan player Baurzhan Islamkhan was forced off with an injury after 12 minutes, but Scotland just couldn’t find a way beyond the obdurate home defence.
They huffed and puffed, eventually finding a way through in the 76th minute when Ryan Christie swept home a Nathan Patterson cutback.
One goal was ultimately enough, and it sets up a possible grandstand finish if both Scotland and Holland win their games next month, with the two meeting at Hampden in the final matchday.
Sets up two huge games next month against Hungary and Holland
Our latest Europa Conference League match brought up a quirk that goes all the way back to the foundation of Partick Thistle in 1876.
Back then, the newly-formed Thistle side, in the shadow of Partick F.C. – from whom Thistle eventually would take the Red and Yellow colour scheme – played its first game against a side named…Valencia.
Sadly, there is no link beyond the name to the multiple-time Spanish champions, Champions League runners-up, Copa del Rey winners and the local Junior side that Thistle beat 1-0 on February 19th 1876.
I approach our European games one of two ways – more cautious to balanced against certain sides, such as Hajduk Split and Slovan Bratislava, but always rigidly defensive against the biggest sides like Sporting last season and Manchester United.
We adopted the latter approach for the visit of Los Ches to Maryhill. A move not unexpected given the absence of top-scorer Keiran Hamill due to injury, meaning a rare start for summer recruit from Linfield Max Haygarth.
The only decent chance from a low-key first 45 went to the visitors when Antonio Reguera burst into our box and left himself too tight an angle to shoot, forcing a save from Daniel Rose that led to a corner which was cleared with little fuss by our defence.
Astonishingly, we had the first decent chance of the second half when Greg Kiltie picked the pocket of a Valencia defender before forcing a smart save out of Jaume Domenech.
Stuart Bannigan’s corner posed no threat to the Spaniards and Domenech was able to come through a crowd of bodies and claim the ball with ease.
Failure to capitalise on that opportunity would prove costly eight minutes later when the visitors took the lead. Jose Gaya’s free-kick from out wide was emphatically headed home at the back post by Facundo Gonzalez and we had it all to do.
We did have a couple of chances, the first coming when Max Haygarth forced a save from Domenech, but had strayed offside in the buildup and then when Scott Tiffoney’s header went just over the bar from an Owen Beck cross.
It seemed like we were destined to just come up short, but this is Marc Wallace’s Partick Thistle in Europe, and sometimes mad shit just happens when you least expect it.
In the 78th minute, Stuart Bannigan cut out an attempted diagonal from the visitors and sent the ball down the left flank for Kwadwo Baah. The young German then crossed, finding Greg Kiltie, who cut it back for Teddy Jenks and he swept it into the path for Scott Tiffoney to fire home.
Valencia were stunned and they shelled and shelled looking for a winner that didn’t look like coming, that was until the seventh minute of added time at the end of the game.
Hugo was the architect, able to slip the ball to Almeida, who was able to hold off Drew Whittaker and roll the ball beyond Daniel Rose and break Red and Yellow hearts.
Painful.
If I was ever on Family Fortunes/Family Feud and the question was “Who would you least like to play in the Scottish Premiership immediately after a heartbreaking defeat?”
The top answer, without question, would be Celtic, and that was just our luck as we faced the defending champions, who replaced Aston Villa-bound Ange Postecoglou in the summer with Mauricio Pochettino.
It hasn’t been smooth sailing for Poch in Glasgow, they drew their first three games of the season as they adapted to his style of football, but they have been off to the races since then and sit atop the table coming into this one.
To get a good result when playing away to the Old Firm, as we managed last season, winning at both Celtic Park and Ibrox, you need a good first 20 minutes.
That was not the case here as the home side raced into a 2-0 lead by the 20th minute through goals from Ruslan Malinovskyi and Kyogo.
Kyogo made it 3-0 nine minutes before the interval and despite pulling a goal back in the 64th minute through Kwadwo Baah, we always looked like conceding – and we did in the 82nd minute as Miguel Almiron completed the rout.
After two damaging defeats at home and “abroad” back to back, we need a response against Hearts at Firhill in our final game this month.
Back to getting battered like fuck off Celtic.
After two horrific results (albeit with two okay performances) we faced Hearts at Firhill, who boast the league’s meanest defence under Jon Dahl Tomasson and are looking to challenge for third place after a drastic underachievement last season when they ended up in the bottom six.
Thankfully, Keiran Hamill was back fit for this one, also coming in was Bez Lubala in the place of Kwadwo Baah, purely because Bez plays a specific role that works well against Hearts.
Victor Wanyama also returned to the XI for this game, replacing Stuart Bannigan after the former recovered from his latest knock.
Disaster struck after just five minutes when Victor went down clutching his foot after a clash with Nathaniel Atkinson and required stretchering off and replaced by Stuart Bannigan.
An all-around bad start to the game was compacted moments later when Jack McMillan appeared to bring down Barrie Mckay as he drove into the Thistle box.
Much like the Motherwell penalty decision, it was nip and tuck, but the referee saw enough contact to give it. Lawrence Shankland stepped up, and like Michael Rose’s penalty for The Steelmen, Daniel Rose guessed correctly but was beaten by pace.
Hearts joy, however, would be short-lived as Lynden Gooch’s pass inside was intercepted by Greg Kiltie and he charged through the middle of the park, taking out both Beukema and Murphy with a salacious side-step and firing into the bottom right corner to immediately equalise.
Hearts remained a threat throughout the first 45 but found themselves reduced to shots from range such as one from Fin Azaz that cleared the City End Bing after a big punt forward from Zander Clark in the Hearts’ goal.
We started the brighter in the second half and punished Hearts for their complacency by turning the scoreline around in the 50th minute when Greg Kiltie grabbed his second goal of the afternoon.
Throughout this month, Greg has taken his importance to this club to new levels with his contributions, this was a fine goal, cutting inside after receiving the ball from Bez Lubala and rifling into the top corner past Zander Clark.
Five minutes later, we extended our lead further when Keiran Hamill marked his return to the team after injury with a proper poacher’s effort.
The teenager, who cost £100,000 from Airdrieonians in the summer showed his instincts on the edge of the six-yard box when he flicked Teddy Jenks’ knuckleball cross beyond Zander Clark to get us back on track in the league after two bad defeats.
A stunning performance.
That concludes another month of Wallace ‘Til I Die.
There will be a league table update at the end of the next blog post covering November, which I hope to get out quickly after this one.
As ever, your feedback would mean a lot, I don’t do Twitch and I don’t have that big a social media following, I am just doing this for fun at the end of the day, but it would be nice to hear from someone, anyone about the blog.
So…August went a little bit better than expected and we found ourselves atop of (admittedly, an embryonic) Scottish Premiership table.
Some important games are coming up, including a League Cup quarter-final and a trip to Ibrox.
But before we can get into that, there’s one more bit of summer transfer business to take care of before we catch up with the Scotland National Team and their bid to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
With the transfer window closing, we made our final signing of the summer window, adding winger Kwadwo Baah on a loan deal until the end of the season.
A winger comfortable on either flank, Kwadwo will provide competition for Scott Tiffoney, Chris East, Mikey Johnston and possibly even Greg Kiltie in the #10 role.
He only made one appearance last season at Watford, having spent the 23/24 season on loan at German side Saabrucken, where he scored four and assisted one in 26 appearances.
#WelcomeKwadwo
Scotland had made a positive start to their World Cup qualifying campaign and looked to build on that when they faced Hungary at Hampden Park.
Ché Adams put Scotland in front after 30 minutes and it seemed like a third consecutive win was on the cards for Steve Clarke’s side. But back came the Magyars and they turned the game on its head with two goals in eight minutes in the second half.
The first came through an own goal by Scott McKenna before Dániel Sallói completed the turnaround.
With Hampden looking for a hero, they got one in the 86th minute when Rangers youngster Jordan Ross netted with four minutes left, capping a remarkable year for the Ross, who was named in the Euro 2024 squad aged 17.
Out of jail.
After the disappointment of only drawing against Hungary after dominating the game, attention turned to the hardest game of the campaign, as Scotland headed to Amsterdam to face The Netherlands.
Predictably, Scotland were dominated by the technically superior Dutch. But the hosts couldn’t find a breakthrough until the final quarter of an hour when Sven Botman headed home from a corner.
Registering only three shots on goal and none on target, there was no realistic way back for Scotland and they fell to their first defeat of the qualification campaign and put their hopes of reaching the 2026 World Cup into doubt, with only the group winners advancing automatically to the finals.
Coming away having lost “only” 1-0 will feel big.
Group E
Played
Won
Drawn
Lost
GF-GA
Points
Netherlands
4
4
0
0
9-3
12
SCOTLAND
5
3
1
1
10-4
10
Hungary
5
2
1
2
8-9
7
Kazakhstan
5
2
0
3
5-9
6
N. Ireland
5
0
0
5
3-10
0
Next Fixtures (9&13/10): HUN v NED, NIR v KAZ; NED v NIR, KAZ v SCO
With the international break now in the past, we returned to Premiership action as we looked to remain top of the league with victory in our next match.
That would prove extremely difficult as we were taking on Rangers at Ibrox.
Both Celtic and Rangers have had stuttering starts to the season, but if we were to secure a repeat of our final day victory in Govan from last season, our first there since 1981 we were going to have to be perfect.
As expected, the home side started stronger, Ridvan Yilmaz rampaged down the left for the home side and teed up Ianis Hagi, but his strike flew just over the bar.
It was then our turn to go close, a Scott Tiffoney free-kick out wide caused problems in the penalty area for the area and Malachi Fagan-Walcott’s header landed on the roof of the net.
We were forced into a change late in the first half when Drew Whittaker, our summer signing from Ayr United had to be stretchered off with a nasty-looking injury and could be out for several weeks.
Despite that setback, we went into the break level. We started the second half well, culminating in us taking the lead as Keiran Hamill continues to go from strength to strength since joining from Airdrie in League One in the summer.
Scott Tiffoney’s run down the right went unchecked by the Rangers defence and whipped a low cross into the box and Hamill was able to steal ahead of Connor Goldson and Ben Davies and sweep the ball beyond Finn Dahmen.
But our joy would be short-lived, as the home side found a near-immediate equaliser when Ianis Hagi curled home from 20 yards after a well-worked passing move.
It was very much a case of being at your weakest right after you’ve scored, and it was disappointing as we were now well and truly up against it.
The Rangers pressure felt never-ending, but their lack of a cutting edge was evident when Sam Lammers fired wide with only Daniel Rose to beat. But the home side’s persistence would eventually pay off in the 87th minute when Dabney De Los Santos’ rampaged through the middle and slipped in Nathan Tella to fire home the winner for the home side.
Knocked off top, but we were never out to play sexy football, it was all about containment and it could have worked on another day.
Drew Whittaker’s injury is more painful than the loss, in all honesty.
After the chastening defeat at Ibrox that clipped our title-chasing wings, we were keen to get back to winning ways, although that was a difficult prospect as we faced Hibs at Firhill.
Unfortunately for us, our Public Enemy Number One, Elias Hoff Melkersen is still at Hibs – making the task all the more daunting.
We dominated the early stages of the first half without actually threatening that much, the closest we came to scoring was a Malachi Fagan-Walcott shot from the edge of the area that whistled just over the crossbar.
From that point on, Hibs upped the ante and we were struggling to find a way back into the ascendency and should have been in the lead at the break when Davitashvili’s header back across goal caught our centre halves flat-footed. However, a smart save from Daniel Rose denied Elias Melkersen.
The Hibees’ ascendency continued into the second half, and they would eventually find the breakthrough just past the hour mark when Elias Hoff Melkersen continued his fine scoring run against us, blasting home from inside the penalty area after a Kyle Magennis corner wasn’t properly cleared.
The latter stages of the game saw us pushing hard for an equaliser, we came incredibly close in the 74th minute when Scott Tiffoney’s header was palmed onto the crossbar by Hibs’ Nikita Halkin and then scrambled away to safety.
With a second successive defeat looming, it was time for heroes, and in the 84th minute, Keiran Hamill stepped up, firing home from inside the six-yard box after an excellent cut-back from Teddy Jenks.
But the real MVP was Jack McMillan, it was his marauding down the right flank that opened up the space for Teddy to run into.
But there would still be time for one last bit of drama, as Hibs looked for a winner direct from kick-off, Kaide Gordon went down somewhat dramatically after colliding with Jack McMillan – there was no doubt in Andrew Dallas’ mind and he immediately pointed to the spot.
Fortunately for us, after a review, the decision to award the penalty was overturned.
A draw was probably fair, especially when you look at the stats, but we really need to get back at it for the League Cup Quarter Final against Hearts.
A draw is probably about fair, now you think about it.
After welcoming one half of the Edinburgh Elite to Firhill in the Premiership, it was time to welcome the other as we looked to reach the League Cup Semi Finals for the fourth successive year under my management.
Hearts had a bitterly disappointing season last year, finishing in the bottom six, with results dramatically improving under the stewardship of Jon Dahl Tomasson, making them a serious threat to us and our ambitions this season.
Tomasson’s first full season in charge of the Jam Tarts hasn’t quite gone to plan, drawing in the league against Motherwell and Raith Rovers, but they have also drawn with both halves of the Old Firm, so he’s getting somewhere I suppose.
We dominated the early going and took the lead inside the first 20 minutes when a cross-field ball by Jack McMillan found Greg Kiltie and his deft touch sent Keiran Hamill clean through and he hammered the ball beyond Ross Stewart in the Hearts’ goal.
That goal seemed to invigorate the visitors and they clicked into gear, finding an equaliser in the 37th minute when Brooklyn Lyons-Foster charged into our half and slipped the ball to Lawrence Shankland, who spotted the run of Alan Forrest and the latter fired past Danny Rose.
With the game level at the interval, Hearts came out in the second half looking to make it count, which they almost did when a strike from Wright was deflected behind for a corner that ultimately was cleared by our defence.
Into the final 20 minutes of the game, we missed a glorious chance to retake the lead when an Owen Beck corner was met perfectly by the head of Malachi Fagan-Walcott but flew just over the crossbar.
But salvation for us would come soon after, and from an unlikely source in the form of 18-year-old winger Chris East.
A free transfer from Morton, the right-winger has had to make do with bit-part roles so far, but he came up trumps in this big game when he fired home from inside the penalty area after Harry Milne’s corner was hooked back into a dangerous area for Hearts by Toby Tarrant as they tried to clear their lines.
It was far from a classic, but we held on and booked our place in the semi-finals of the League Cup yet again.
Deservedly through, but there was more to come…
Returning to the semi-finals for the fourth consecutive season under my management was a huge achievement.
But the truly seismic moment came in the other quarter-finals as both Celtic and Rangers fell to shocking defeats to Hibs and Livingston, leaving the League Cup wide open.
Was hoping to avoid Hibs, in all honesty.
[Aberdeen 0-1 Partick Thistle]
Where was this strong performance here when we needed to finish second last season?!
We rounded the month off with a trip to Pittodrie and with revenge on our minds for the defeat here at the back end of last season that ultimately torpedoed our aspirations to play in the UEFA Champions League.
The Dons’ season up until this point has been nothing short of disastrous, having only won one game and on a run of five games without a win that includes an ignominious League Cup exit at the hands of Inverness Caley Thistle.
But they have Bojan Miovski, and when there’s Bojan Miovski, there is a tendency for him to do us damage!
I approached this one cautiously for this exact reason, and as expected the home side were fast out of the traps and dominating the early going – until we hit them with a sucker punch inside the first ten minutes.
Daniel Rose’s big punt up the park was nodded on by Greg Kiltie and Keiran Hamill (who else?!) raced through, rinsing Plechaty for pace and slamming the ball home.
Kiltie then had his own chance to make it 2-0 moments later, but with the goal gaping he managed to put his sidefooted effort wide of the near post.
The home side pressed in vain for an equaliser, but their attempts were in vain, and the final crucial moment in the game was in our favour as Malachi Fagan-Walcott was hauled down in the box at a Scott Tiffoney corner, PENALTY THISTLE.
Usually reliable from the spot, Scott Tiffoney stepped up but on this occasion, he would find himself denied from 12 yards by Aberdeen ‘keeper Adam Davies.
A big win at an unhappy hunting ground, but we really could have put two or three by them, which annoys me with European games coming up.
Despite the loss to Rangers, we are still right in there going into October.
That rounds up another edition of Wallace ‘Til I Die, join me next time when we take our first steps into the Europa Conference League!
Hello and welcome to another new season of Wallace ‘Til I Die!
We’re into the 2025/26 season now, my fourth in charge and the regens are starting to creep into the game now, as you will see when you look at our transfer activity.
Whether you have been reading from day one, or have just come across the blog somewhere online, here is a quick summary of the seasons so far:
We have overachieved just a tiny bit, winning a treble in my first season of the Scottish Championship, Challenge Cup and the League Cup followed by a third place finish the season after that, as well as semi-final appearances in both the Scottish Cup and League Cup.
In our third season (last year) we didn’t reach the semis like we wanted in the Scottish Cup, losing to Celtic in round four, but we did reach the semis in the League Cup where we lost to, you guessed it, Celtic.
But we did finish third for a second consecutive season, pushing Rangers most of the way for second behind runaway champions Celtic and defied all expectations by reaching the Round of 16 of the UEFA Europa League.
This season I have been scouring for young players to come in and make an impact with a view to eventually challenging for more honours down the line, with the odd elite experienced addition, and here are our pre-season signings:
After a pre-season that felt like it lasted years, it was back to work in the Scottish Premiership.
Our opponents were Dundee United, who are back in the top flight after an absence of one season. The faith in Dougie Imrie after relegation in 23/24 was justified as the Terrors won the Championship by ten points from Raith Rovers, who joined them in getting promoted via the playoffs.
New signings Drew Whittaker, Victor Wanyama, Mikey Johnston and Kieran Hamill made their debuts from the start, with fellow summer arrivals Chris East and Max Haygarth on the bench.
Perhaps starting so many new players was a bad idea in hindsight, as the home side looked to show their fans they weren’t about to be dragged into a season of struggle on flag day and after an initial setback, they showed they were no mugs.
After we had the ball in the net early on through Kieran Hamill, United took the game to us and found the opener in the 17th minute when Josh Ginnelly raced unchallenged down our right side and crossed for Glenn Middleton to prod home from inside the six-yard box.
United turned up the heat, looking for a second goal to send us careening into the ropes, but Declan Glass, a Partick Thistle player for a hot minute back in the day, fired well wide after Archie Meekison’s through ball split our defence.
Failure to take that chance would prove costly for the hosts, in the 28th minute Ross Graham’s unconvincing pass to Jason McCarthy was intercepted by debutant Mikey Johnston and after good work down the United left by Scott Tiffoney and Jack McMillan, Victor Wanyama’s piledrive from distance was palmed behind for a corner.
Harry Milne’s in-swinging corner caused havoc in the United box, and after Teddy Jenks’ initial effort was blocked, the ball dropped for Greg Kiltie to fire home the equaliser. Jenks would go close in the early stages of the second half, but like Declan Glass’ effort for the hosts, it whistled just wide of the target.
As the game wound down, the hosts were hanging on and their dominance in the early part of the first half felt like a distant memory, although the last meaningful action of the game was for United, as a wild strike from McCarthy forced a corner and Ross Graham’s subsequent header sailed harmlessly into the arms of Jamie Sneddon.
A bit disappointing to have not taken all three points, but there were a lot of players making their debuts there and that can happen.
Not great, not awful. It be like that.
Following the United game, we added yet another new signing in the shape of Tobias “Toby” Tarrant from Middlesbrough.
Who wants to be a Thistle player?
And arriving in time for our second league game of the season after spending a bit of pre-season on trial was Sam Stubbs.
The son of former Hibs manager, Alan, will provide crucial depth in defence.
After a disappointing draw on the opening day, we returned to Firhill to make amends against newly-promoted Raith Rovers.
The Kirkcaldy outfit, in the Premiership for the first time since the 1996/97 season, had marked their return with a 1-0 defeat against Livingston but had shown themselves to be very capable in the playoffs last season when they handily defeated a Kilmarnock side we struggled to beat in the league.
I began the game with a positive philosophy, hoping to lay down a marker after last week. It paid dividends almost immediately as Kieran Hamill came close in the eighth minute, firing just wide after being played in with an excellent reverse pass from Greg Kiltie.
Moments later, the visitors crumbled under pressure when Scott Tiffoney’s cross from the byline created panic in the Rovers defence, and [name] Young pushed Mal Fagan-Walcott, and a penalty was awarded.
After a brief review by VAR, the decision was upheld by referee Steven McLean and up stepped Scott Tiffoney. Despite Rovers’ Connor Ripley guessing correctly, Tiff’s effort had too much on it, and the ball nestled in the bottom corner to give us the lead.
The first half was all Thistle, but despite Mikey Johnston and Drew Whittaker going close, we were unable to add to our lead before the interval.
But the expectant home fans did not have long to wait for a second goal, as seven minutes into the second half, they were rewarded with a Victor Wanyama piledriver from 25 yards that flew past Ripley.
Victor has been brought in to provide big game experience and leadership as I attempt to maximise ability while bringing down the average age of the side down (gradually), and that was the perfect way to mark his home debut.
Sadly for Victor, his home debut would be ended prematurely, being stretchered off in the 69th minute.
Despite the disappointment of the injury, it was a good performance and glad to get back to winning ways ahead of next week’s League Cup tie.
Off the mark!
Another new arrival checked into G20 as we prepared for our League Cup tie in the form of Owen Beck on a season-long loan deal from Liverpool.
FINALLY have my competition for Harry Milne.
Championship side Ayr United visited Firhill in the second round of the League Cup with two key players missing – Murray Robson and Robbie Mackintosh – because they were cup-tied and on loan from us.
We started on the front foot, coming close in the 10th minute when Teddy Jenks’ shot from the edge of the box went narrowly wide.
But the expectant Jags fans didn’t have long to wait for a goal. Chris East’s shot was turned around the post for a corner by Ayr ‘keeper Mason Munn and from that resulting corner, Toby Tarrant headed home from Stuart Bannigan’s out-swinging delivery.
The game turned in the 29th minute when Mason Munn had to be substituted due to an injury, signalling a turn for the worst for the Honest Men.
Ten minutes before the break, we doubled our lead when Teddy Jenks rifled home from 25 yards. It was a sublime strike that owed much to Harry Milne’s marauding run into the Ayr half before laying it off to Stuart Bannigan, who teed up Teddy for the goal.
Chris East came close to adding a third just before the interval and on the other side of the break, Kieran Hamill had an effort cleared off the line before a frantic end to the game that saw five goals fly in.
Scott Tiffoney made it three as the game reached the final ten minutes, confidently slotting home from inside the box after a great pass into space to find him from Max Haygarth.
After having an effort cleared off the line, Kieran Hamill finally got his goal to make it 4-0, sweeping home after another Max Haygarth assist, the Englishman signed from Linfield heading down Mikey Johnston’s cross into the path of Hamill, who is starting to show signs of the potential that led to his £100,000 move to Maryhill from Airdrie.
The visitors found their feet in the death throes of the game, finding the net twice, a goal each for Dipo Akinyemi and Paul Smith giving the illusion of a hard-fought defeat.
But we would find one more goal at the death to put some gloss on the scoreline when Kieran Hamill swept home Scott Tiffoney’s cross/shot to secure passage to the quarter-finals relatively comfortably.
It was a mad last ten minutes, mind you.
Walking on Ayr.
We had to wait until the following day and the televised games to find out our fate in the quarter-finals, with a lot of big sides through and not many upsets, it was always going to be tough to reach Hampden – and that would be the case.
At least we’re at home.
From one cup draw to another, it was off to Switzerland for the draw for the playoff round of the UEFA Europa League. Last year we were extremely lucky to not only be drawn against but defeat Malmo FF.
This time? It’s going to be a tougher task.
Shakhtar Donetsk? As long as we don’t end up Shakhtar Senseless.
After two important wins domestically, we turned our attention to the Europa League, where we shocked Europe last season by fighting our way through to the Round of 16.
That memorable campaign began with an against-all-odds triumph in the playoff round against Malmo FF. But this year’s challenge is significantly harder as we face Ukrainian heavyweights Shakhtar Donetsk.
When you play these kinds of teams, getting off to a good start is fundamental to getting any kind of positive result. Sadly for us, that was not to be the case, as Shakhtar found an opener after just seven minutes when Valeriy Bondar nodded home from a Gocholeishvili corner.
We almost found an equaliser in the 23rd minute when Mikey Johnston burst into the box and his attempted cutback was deflected by Bondar against his own post before being cleared, a heart-stopping moment for the Shakhtar goalscorer.
But we did rally and find a leveller, Teddy Jenks clipped the ball over the top and found Kieran Hamill and he raced through before side-footing the ball beyond Trubin in the Shakhtar goal.
We had another heart-stopping moment in stoppage time as Lassina Traore of Shakhtar had a goal disallowed after intervention from VAR.
Into the second half, Shakhtar almost went back in front when Traore burst through and struck the inside of the post. Fortunately for us, however, he strayed offside as the ball was played through to him.
But we wouldn’t be so lucky in the 70th minute when the visitors finally found that second goal, a smart move finished off by a curling strike from the edge of the box by Pedrinho.
A battling performance given the circumstances, but it looks like the Conference League beckons for us.
A bridge too far, sadly.
Ahead of our trip to St. Mirren, we fixed a hole left by the departure of Murray Robson on loan by loaning in Irish goalkeeper Daniel Rose from Schalke.
From being in a bad place mentally after losing to Shakhtar, it was time to dust ourselves down and take ourselves to a bad place physically in the form of Paisley to take on St. Mirren.
The home side were out for revenge after we stunned them with a late comeback to win towards the end of last season.
Scoring twice that day was Roddy MacGregor and the former Inverness midfielder came close to opening the scoring when his header from Tolaji Bola’s cross clipped the crossbar and went over.
But we weren’t to be quiet in the first half, coming close on two occasions from the same Scott Tiffoney corner were Kierna Hamill and Jack McMillan, but they found Buddies’ goalie Josh Vickers in excellent form.
The best chance of the first half, however, went to the home side as Ryan Strain tore down our left side and zipped a ball across the penalty area that Kenneth Vargas latched onto, but the former Hearts striker’s effort lacked enough of a touch to divert the ball beyond Daniel Rose.
In the early stages of the second half we had the next meaningful chance, when a driving run from Greg Kiltie was followed by a strike from distance and was turned around the post by Josh Vickers for another corner.
Based on the first hour or so, it was a game that was looking to burst into life the moment that a goal was scored, and the expectant crowd got their wish in the 63rd minute when our dominance of the first 15 minutes of the second half bore fruit.
Stuart Bannigan doesn’t get many goals, and when he does, they tend to be spectacular. This one was no different, seeing his initial corner blocked, the ball was worked back to him by Scott Tiffoney before driving into the box and curling a fine strike beyond the despairing Vickers to the delight of the packed stand of Thistle fans behind the goal.
After looking like it might burst into life, as mentioned above, it ultimately turned into a damp squib and was settled in the final ten minutes.
Substitute Mikey Johnston’s persistence paid off as he charged down the dallying Mark O’Hara and got a shot off from a tight angle, which Josh Vickers saved, but parried into the path of Kieran Hamill, who fired home to ensure the three points went back to Maryhill.
Got there in the end.
After the positivity of the win over St. Mirren taking us top of the Premiership due to unprecedented early season stutters by both Celtic and Rangers, it was time to see if we could work another miracle as we travelled to the Donbas-Arena to face Shakhtar Donetsk.
Trailing 2-1 from the first leg, I didn’t want to be negative, but also was reluctant to gas them up and then it goes to pot and we get utterly massacred, which if you know the area in real life, you know all about that.
The Europa League dream, already hanging by a thread, was severed in the 37th minute when Giorgio Gocholeishvili burst into our box and rifled a curling effort past Daniel Rose to finish off what was a flowing move from the home side.
But despite the onslaught from the home side, they could not add to that solitary goal and out of the Europa League we went, it could have been a serious tanking, but we did well to keep the score down against a far more illustrious (and richer) opponent.
Ah well.
With our exit from the Europa League at the playoff stage, we dropped into the Europa Conference League for the first time in our history and our league phase draw threw up some juicy ties.
A rematch with Qarabag from last year is very tasty. But Florence away? Oh, go on!
Our final fixture of the month followed on the heels of a shock 1-0 defeat for Rangers at Livingston, meaning that victory against the Staggies would put us clear at the top of the Premiership going into our clash with Rangers at Ibrox at the beginning of September.
A slightly rotated side, owing to the distance travelled in getting back from Ukraine, took to the field chasing a golden opportunity.
But they would be left counting their blessings early on, as the Staggies had the ball in the net in the 17th minute when Joe Adams prodded home following a set-piece.
The Staggies joy, however, would be short-lived as it was shown that Yan Dhanda had strayed just offside as the ball came in and we got away with one.
It was an abject performance from us, with the visitors having the best of everything, but they couldn’t find a way through – and neither could we and an opportunity to pull three points clear at the top of the table was blown, although we could easily have got beat.
Travelling took it out of us, I think.
That brings an end to the first month of the 2025/26 season, which leaves the cinch Premiership looking like this:
Wallace 'Til I Die 