Against The Machine In Florence – December 2025

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Posted on June 12, 2024 by Marc Wallace 0

The Baku Beyond – November 2025

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.

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…

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Until next time, folks!

Marc

Posted on May 15, 2024 by Marc Wallace 0

Perhaps They’ll Listen Now – September 2025

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.

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.

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!

Until next time, folks!

Marc

Posted on April 29, 2024 by Marc Wallace 0

In The End – April/May 2025

Hello and welcome to the final edition of Wallace ‘Til I Die for the 2024/25 season.

A hearty thank you to everyone who has read, liked and shared the blog over the years. It means a great deal to me because I know a blog isn’t as impressive as folk who stream on Twitch, even if we’re all doing it for the love of this magnificent game.

We’d had an excellent month domestically but suffered at the hands of Manchester United in the Europa League. But that’s to be expected when you consider the wealth disparity. We can’t compete financially with Hearts, Hibs and Aberdeen at home before you even start talking about Celtic and Rangers.

Remarkably, we still have a chance of finishing second and improving on our position of third from last season, which was a massive overachievement.

So can we do it? You’ll need to keep reading to find out. We’ve got St. Mirren away and Livingston at home before the league splits.

After the late heroics against Ross County, we had two weeks to mull over our dropped points as the split approached.

For the unaware, the Scottish Premiership has 12 teams. They play home and away three times each before splitting into two groups of six to determine the final five fixtures of the season, giving it a 38-game season like in England.

It leads to the often-ridiculed scenario of teams in the bottom six sometimes finishing the season with more points than teams in the top six. Still, you would expect that when some team’s games are easier or not than others, especially when one side is adrift at the bottom of the league.

With that out of the way, it was down to business as we travelled to Paisley looking to continue our unbeaten league run at the SMISA Stadium. It’s a run that is technically still ongoing in real life, as we swapped divisions with the Buddies in 2018 and have done our damndest to avoid a return to the big time.

The Thistle side lined up in its usual 4-2-3-1 formation, Jamie Sneddon in goal with a back four of Jack McMillan, Malachi Fagan-Walcott, Sam Barnes and Lino Sousa in front of him.

Midfield Steel was provided by Stuart Bannigan and Teddy Jenks, with Alex Mighten and Charlie Whitaker on the wings, Greg Kiltie in the number ten role and Yoram Boerhout leading the line.

Newly promoted back to the Premiership ahead of this season, the home side have survived comfortably, and despite coming into the game with one win in five games, they were not to be taken lightly, having scored four goals in their last win when they trounced St. Johnstone.

Their previous wins before that had also been handsome, beating Kilmarnock 4-0, Aberdeen 3-0 and Hearts 3-1 going back into February.

We had been terrible on our last visit, going 2-0 down and having to rally with two very late goals to secure a point that, at the time, had me worrying about what we could achieve this season as it extended a winless run from the second week of the season.

In football, you get games where you just know that it’s not to be your day. Nobody in Paisley felt that more than Yoram Boerhout, as he saw two goals disallowed in the first 20 minutes.

Those incidents acted as a catalyst for the home side, enabling them to take control of the game as we floundered.

A quickly-taken free kick from the disallowed goal offside allowed the home side to steal a march on us, and Scott Banks found room down our left flank to set up Roddy MacGregor to give them the lead.

It was a tidy finish from the former Caley Thistle midfielder. But too many of my players were caught flat-footed from the St. Mirren restart after the disallowed goal.

Thriving in the Paisley rain, the home side were now well on top, and they deservedly doubled their lead as the interval approached. Stuart Bannigan’s attempt to play the ball out to Charlie Whitaker on the left wing lacked power and accuracy, leading to an interception by Marcus Fraser.

Fraser then played the ball out wide for Scott Banks, and he squared the ball for Roddy MacGregor to roll home his second goal.

More VAR drama would follow before the first 45 ended. Directly from kick-off, and after almost having the ball stolen from Stuart Bannigan again, Greg Kiltie sent a tempting ball in for Alex Mighten, who got in a tangle in the penalty area with St. Mirren’s Zak Sturge, resulting in a penalty awarded by referee Chris Graham.

I didn’t think it was a penalty, so I expected the decision to be overturned, which it was, so it was back to the drawing board for the second half.

Re-invigorated, I sent the boys back out for the second half with more than a few f-bombs ringing in their ears. We had been catastrophically shite and needed to drastically improve our performance.

The second half was a slow burn, but we looked much better, more intense than we had been in the entirety of the first 45. Eventually, we got on the board in the 69th minute through a rather nice goal from Charlie Whitaker.

A free-kick from some 30 yards, the Everton loanee sized it up and put it right where Saints ‘keeper Mikki van Sas couldn’t scramble back to save it. The type of goal you’re hoping for when you’re on top in a game that you’re losing and need any way possible to get back into the game.

Looking for inspiration from the next generation, I threw on youngster A-Jai McLelland for the last ten minutes, hoping that the brilliance of youth would work where more experienced players had failed.

His introduction breathed new life into the team, and in stoppage time, we hauled ourselves off the ropes to score a stunning equaliser.

In a stunning, flowing move orchestrated by our indefatigable right side, Jack McMillan combined with Teddy Jenks to send Alex Mighten away down the wing where the Forest loanee danced inside, then outside and then zipping a ball into the box from the byline that was prodded home by Yoram Boerhout to the rapturous delight of the Jags fan gathered behind that goal.

Every enthralling game needs a dramatic conclusion, and that…was not it.

The Buddies surged forward for a winner as the clock ticked down. Unfortunately for them, Joe Shaughnessy’s attempted long throw was intercepted by A-Jai McLelland, who fed the ball to fellow substitute Scott Tiffoney down the left flank.

Tiffoney’s attempted ball inside was blocked by a Buddies defender, but it broke favourably to McLelland.

The youngster instinctively launched it forward and found Yoram Boerhout and, after winning his footrace against the already-booked Chambers, dinked the ball over the advancing van Sas to snatch three points dramatically.

There were folk invading the pitch in the euphoria of the moment – and I hope they had a bloody good time of it.

We ended the regular* season as we began it, with a home game against Livingston.

When we beat them 6-2 on the opening day, I hoped our season would unfold as it had done, but it had not been an easy journey to get to that point.

It took us until late September to win again in the league. Although we did only lose once in that time, we had dropped points in silly draws, particularly against St. Mirren away and away to Motherwell.

I made two changes from the game against St. Mirren, rewarding A-Jai McLelland with a start ahead of Greg Kiltie for his heroics off the bench. Scott Tiffoney was given a start ahead of Alex Mighten in the other change.

Another early goal disallowed for offside didn’t dampen the spirits at a jubilant Firhill, knowing a better result than Hibs would guarantee us a place in the UEFA Europa Conference League at the very least.

The home fans didn’t have long to celebrate before we took the lead. Two minutes after the disallowed goal, Yoram Boerhout fired home from close range after a bit of good fortune as Lino Sousa’s deflected cross came right into his path.

Teddy Jenks then passed up a glorious chance to make it two after 30 minutes when his shot from the edge of the box flew wide of Shamal George’s goal. Ten minutes later, he was called into action again when he tipped a Tiffoney free-kick over for a Thistle corner.

Two minutes later, he picked the ball out of his net for a second time as Boerhout struck again, sweeping home after Bez Lubala’s cross deflected into his path after a long ball over the top from Stuart Bannigan.

Clearly, Livi hadn’t come to attack us and, apart from a couple of fortunate deflections, had done their job relatively well.

Livi’s best chance of the game came in the final 15 minutes when former Jag James Penrice’s cross found Camara in the penalty area, but his header hit the base of the post and went wide.

The cherry on the icing on the cake came in stoppage time when Teddy Jenks played in substitute Alex Mighten, who hit the byline and zipped the ball across for Yoram Boerhout to complete his hat-trick and take his league tally to 19 for the season – best in the Premiership.

To have any chance of finishing second in the Premiership and bringing Champions League football to Maryhill (I know!), a win in our first post-split match against Hibs – and our bête noire – Elias Hoff Melkersen was essential.

Hibs started the game much brighter and were on the front foot from the off.

Catching Alex Mighten and Jack McMillan flat-footed, a Kyle Magennis pass sent Bell away down our exposed right flank, where he zipped a ball across for Elias Hoff Melkersen to continue his scoring run against us in the sixth minute.

As half-time approached, the visitors were clinging to their lead until a moment of individual brilliance – or a goalkeeping howler – whichever way you want to look at it hauled us from the canvas.

Alex Mighten’s surge up the park was initially checked well by Bell, the provider for the Hibs goal. His ball inside was collected by Liam Scales, who looked to build from the back by passing to Stiven Valencia.

Unfortunately for Hibs, Valencia’s pass out of defence was intercepted by Teddy Jenks, who fortuitously picked out Alex Mighten. The Forest loanee’s diagonal ball was met perfectly by Yoram Boerhout for a fine, curling strike from the edge of the box.

A fine strike from the Dutchman, but Hibs goalie Nikita Halkin will be annoyed at coming for that Mighten cross and stopping short, giving Yoram room to shoot.

In all honesty, it was a forgettable 90+ minutes of football. After that, the closest either side came to scoring a second goal was in the 77th minute when Greg Kiltie’s strike from 20 yards whistled over the Hibs crossbar.

An annoying draw coupled with a 1-0 win for Rangers over Ross County means our chances of catching them in second place are now remote at best.

During the week, we got to call the press to Firhill as we unveiled two for the 2025/26 season.

Arriving on a free from Morton was 18-year-old Chris East, who had excelled in his first season at Championship level in a good Morton side.

The big arrival, however, was that of Kieran Hamill for a club-record fee of £100,000 from traditional rivals Airdrieonians.

It was a significant outlay for a young player in League One, but with Hibs and Aberdeen very interested in his signature, acting fast and giving him guaranteed minutes and money was a factor in getting the deal over the line.

Our second fixture in the top six, at home to Ross County, was pivotal as it followed the Old Firm at the back of 12.

A win for Celtic and a win for us would put us within two points of Rangers with three games – including a visit to Ibrox – to go.

Unfortunately, our prayers for a Celtic win went unanswered as Rangers dug in and escaped Parkhead with a goalless draw.

With Rangers having picked up a point in the Old Firm, any slip-up against County would surely be fatal, and it was up to us to get out and put the pressure on from the first whistle.

It took just five minutes for us to put the County goal under pressure when a sweeping move down the left orchestrated by Lino Sousa and Charlie Whitaker teed up Yoram Boerhout, but his shot flew wide.

The game’s opening goal arrived through an unlikely source four minutes later. Stuart Bannigan doesn’t get many, but when he does, they’re more often than not spectacular – and this was no different – a stunning first-time strike from the edge of the box after being set up by Yoram Boerhout.

A first Thistle goal in 49 games for Banzo, well worth the wait.

The visitors were taken aback by our fast start but almost equalised in the 18th minute when Ballard had a strike from 25 yards that rippled the roof of the net after a rampaging George Harmon run and cross went unchecked by Jack McMillan and then Malachi Fagan-Walcott.

Sam Barnes then squandered two chances from successive corners before a Yan Dhanda shot from a distance whistled just over for the visitors – it was a game that could turn into a goal fest. Still, we were doing well enough to keep our noses in front.

With 15 minutes left, we had a chance to double our lead when Greg Kiltie slipped in Charlie Whitaker. But his curling shot sailed wide of goal, a scintillating counter-attacking goal evaporated.

Ten minutes later, that second goal arrived when Greg Kiltie smashed home inside the penalty area.

The hard work was done by Teddy Jenks, whose lung-bursting run from the middle of the park out wide stretched the County defence before he passed inside to Stuart Bannigan and then to Kiltie to rifle past Ben Uphoff in the County goal.

After a (relatively) comfortable win over Ross County to keep our chances of finishing in our highest-ever position in the Scottish Premiership alive, we travelled to Pittodrie to take on an Aberdeen side looking to secure a place in next season’s Europa Conference League.

Despite an initially bright start, it was the home side who struck first in somewhat fortuitous circumstances when Malachi Fagan-Walcott collided with Ryan Duncan as he attempted to clear the ball, which then dropped favourably for Kaveh Rezaei to blast home from the edge of the penalty area.

The Dons sensed we were there for the taking and ramped up the pressure. But Jamie Sneddon was in top form and denied efforts from Bojan Miovski and Ross McCrorie as Aberdeen looked to add to their tally.

We didn’t create much in the first 45, but our wingers were at the heart of our efforts.

Alex Mighten got the better of his man out wide and cut inside before forcing a smart stop from Davies. Bez Lubala also came close, but his curling shot from 20 yards sailed just wide of the target.

Bojan Miovski was like a man possessed trying to get his customary goal against us. But he would be denied again in the 67th minute when his shot through a crowded penalty area struck the post and was cleared.

A terrible performance on the day was compounded by news filtering through that Rangers had drawn 2-2 with Hibs, meaning that even six points from our final two games – at home to Celtic and away to Rangers – might still not be enough to finish second.

It all boiled down to this, a positive result against Celtic coupled with a Rangers defeat at Pittodrie would set up a ding-dong classic on the final day at Ibrox to determine who would finish second behind Celtic.

I approached this one like I did all of our games against the Old Firm and in Europe, try and control the ball and look for opportunities via set-pieces or on the counter. If that didn’t work, we were fucked.

Barely five minutes into the game, we were given a golden opportunity when Alex Mighten’s cross was deflected into the path of Yoram Boerhout. Unfortunately for the Dutchman, his shot was blocked by Celtic goalkeeper Mark Flekken’s face and subsequently cleared to safety.

When given those chances against Celtic, you’ve got to take them because failure to do so will lead to punishment.

Lo and behold, the prophecy would pass in the 27th minute when Liel Abada danced inside our penalty area and curled a strike past Jamie Sneddon. It was an effort akin to the one that Charlie Whitaker missed against Ross County. Levels to the game and all that.

Celtic pushed to add to their tally, with Abada at the heart of almost everything, but they could not do so and had to settle for one goal being enough in the end.

Coupled with a 4-0 win for Rangers over Aberdeen, that defeat meant our Champions League dreams were over. One hell of a toboggan ride.

One shot on target and the only clear-cut chance in the game – still get beat.

The curtain came down on the 2024/25 season at Ibrox. We had nothing to play for – neither did the hosts, so the temptation was to field a team of youngsters and just forget about it.

Ultimately, I decided against it, wanting to end a memorable season on a high with a good result at Ibrox, where we haven’t won since 1981.

There wasn’t much to shout about. The best chance of the first half was a Jamie Shackleton shot from the edge of the box for the home side.

Goalless at the break, but we had done well to dig in, so I gently encouraged the boys to go out and have a go at them in the second 45.

It looked like bearing fruit in the early stages of the second half, as we won a clutch of corners and kept the pressure on Finn Dahmen in the Rangers’ goal, but those efforts ultimately came to nothing.

As with most games at Ibrox, the game got dramatic and controversial late on, as VAR got involved in the 88th minute when it looked like a breakthrough had (finally) been made.

It came from a very well-worked move, a throw-in followed by a quick one-two and a cross into the edge of the penalty area that was headed home by the strike on the edge of the six-yard box.

There was much consternation about whether the striker was offside when he made the run. After deliberation that felt like hours, the decision was taken to award the goal.

Despite the best efforts, there would be no response to the quick-thinking, and it remained 1-0.

YASSSSSS. Meant nothing ultimately, but yassss.

That brilliant, but ultimately meaningless victory (in the scheme of Champions League qualification hopes) brought the 2024/25 season to an end for Partick Thistle, leaving the Scottish Premiership looking like this at the end of it all:

Those two defeats to Aberdeen and Celtic sunk our hopes of stealing the Champions League place from Rangers, making the victory at Ibrox a Curate’s Egg with no soldiers to dip it in.

Hearts’ impressive revival under Jon Dahl Tomasson will place them in contention for Europe next season, which isn’t good news for us.

Ultimately, Celtic and Ange Postecoglou cantered to another league title, as Rangers paid the price for too many drawn games.

It would ultimately become a domestic treble for Celtic, as they crushed Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup Final, adding to the League Cup they won against Dundee in the winter.

A season to forget for Motherwell, Kilmarnock and St. Johnstone, but at least The Steelmen survived.

Killie’s 11th-place finish was a mere stay of execution, echoing our own drop in 2017/18 and theirs in 2020/21.

I donned my white sole trainers and joined the punditry team for the playoffs. I watched as Raith Rovers beat Ayr in the quarter-finals, Dundee in the semis and eventually Killie themselves in the final.

Rovers bossed the first leg, easing to a 3-1 win and scored early in the second leg to turn the away end at Rugby Pugby into a dancefloor.

But Killie showed some fight with two goals in the last two minutes that saw them turn the scoreline around on the day.

Sadly for the Ayrshire side, they couldn’t get that third goal to take it to extra time, and Raith returned to the top table in Scottish Football for the first time since the 1996/97 season.

Posted on March 20, 2024 by Marc Wallace 0

The Marakanazo – February 2025

Before we could get on with facing Celtic in the Premiership, it was time for a quick trip to Switzerland to take in the draw for the Europa League playoff round, which we had unexpectedly reached after thrashing Qarabag in our final league phase match.

Being unseeded, it was a daunting prospect regardless of who we might get, and that drama only escalated when we were the first team pulled out of the hat, literally the first one.

After a period of anticipation that felt like forever, we found out who our opponents were – FK Crvena Zvezda – aka former European Cup winners, Red Star Belgrade.

It’s certainly a tall order, but it was better than some of the sides we could have got. We will play both legs a week apart in the middle of the month after we face Rangers at Firhill on my birthday.

Red Star stunned everyone when they won the European Cup in 1991, beating Marseille on penalties in Bari.

Three days after a memorable night in Firhill’s history, we made the trip across Glasgow to take on a Celtic side who had a momentous night of their own in Europe when they defeated Spurs 2-0 to secure a place in the playoff round of the Champions League.

Attacking from the first whistle, Liel Abada cut inside and fired against the woodwork after being played in by Waldschmidt.

That early chance was a warning that went unheeded, and the hosts found a way through in the seventh minute through their tireless captain, Callum McGregor. Luca Waldschmidt combined with Liel Abada out wide, and the Israeli slid it across the penalty area for McGregor to rifle in.

It was a terrific move by Celtic, in fairness, symbolic of how Ange Postecoglou has them playing.

Despite not getting a sniff throughout the entire first 45, we were still only 1-0 down at the break. I told the players in the dressing room to continue defending obstinately.

Sadly, it wasn’t to be, but it took until the final 15 minutes of the game for the hosts to break through our low block, doing so in fortunate circumstances when Liel Abada’s shot inside the box was deflected past Jamie Sneddon by Malachi Fagan-Walcott.

With the game sealed after that own goal, Celtic made sure of the three points in stoppage time when Kyogo swept home from a Jack Harrison cross, a brutal defeat ahead of two massive home games.

After a tough day out at Celtic Park, it was time to try and bounce back at Firhill in the first of two massive games in the league back-to-back in Maryhill that could be key to finishing as high up the table as possible.

First up was an Aberdeen side who comprehensively defeated us at Pittodrie in the previous meeting between the sides. The Dons had won three of their four games in January, only losing to Celtic, but one of those wins was against Highland League side Rothes in the Scottish Cup.

Like us, they came into this game off the back of a 3-0 defeat – except their loss was to St. Mirren – so I was wary of any potential reaction from the visitors.

We began the game with a real attacking verve, going close in the first minute when Charlie Whitaker forced a save from Davies in the Aberdeen goal. Unfortunately for the Everton loanee, he had stayed marginally offside in the buildup, and no corner was awarded.

The visitors couldn’t get out of their half in the early exchanges, coming close to conceding again when Alex Mighten intercepted a pass meant for Bojan Miovski and burst up the pitch, and past multiple Aberdeen defenders – only to balloon his strike way wide of goal.

We came even closer to opening the scoring in the 24th minute when another Aberdeen move up the park was cut out. Harry Milne then rampaged up the left flank and crossed impeccably for Yoram Boerhout. The Dutch striker saw his header denied by the post as another chance went begging.

As the first half ticked down, we looked like going in goalless at the break despite near-total domination of the game from the first whistle, which looked like changing in first-half stoppage time when a delightful Stuart Bannigan clip over the top found Yoram Boerhout and the Dutchman made no mistake on the half volley to give us the lead.

Or so we thought. After consideration from VAR, Chris Graham disallowed the goal, and we went into the interval drawing 0-0.

Despite the late sucker punch of the disallowed goal, I didn’t hold back my praise of my players’ performance, both individually and collectively. They hadn’t given Aberdeen a sniff, the same Aberdeen team who beat us 2-0 going on four or five at Pittodrie months earlier.

With the players raring to go after my inspirational words, we went back out looking to make our mark on the lacklustre visitors – and we would be rewarded within a minute of the restart when we had the ball in the back of the net (again).

Harry Milne and Greg Kiltie combined well following a throw-in deep in Aberdeen territory, eventually working the ball to Charlie Whitaker on the edge of the box, where the Everton loanee curled the ball beyond Davies.

Five minutes later, we made it two. Jack McMillan’s quickly taken throw-in left Greg Kiltie in plenty of space to cut the ball back across the penalty area, where Yoram Boerhout was on hand to sweep home his 20th goal of the season.

Moments later. Yoram had the ball in the back of the net again, rifling home from close range after a raking Greg Kiltie pass picked him out in the penalty area. Unfortunately for Yoram, the officials would rain on his parade again, disallowing his second goal of the afternoon and denying him a hat-trick on the day.

An utterly dominant display against a very good side, now to try and repeat that level of collective quality against Rangers.

This was huge, not only did we beat them and widen the gap on them, they didn’t even have a shot at goal!

After a good performance in stopping Aberdeen from even having a shot at goal, it was time for another televised encounter as Rangers travelled to Maryhill.

We lost the reverse fixture 3-0 at Ibrox but had been victorious in the last meeting at Firhill back in September.

This game started well enough. Jack McMillan’s quickly-taken throw-in was played between Alex Mighten and Teddy Jenks before Jack’s deep cross was headed home by Yoram Boerhout. After an initial panic of a VAR check, the Thistle fans could celebrate the goal and the lead.

Rangers would hit back just after the 30-minute mark when Ianis Hagi’s free-kick was palmed onto the crossbar, presenting an open goal to Emil Forsberg. The veteran Swedish striker made no mistake from close range, a moment that Jamie Sneddon will not want to see back – and was duly reminded of when we got in at the break.

The visitors were the more likely to grab a winning goal, Glen Kamara coming the closest when he burst into the box, only to be denied by Malachi Fagan-Walcott and scrambled to safety.

But Rangers were to be left disappointed with their efforts, being undone by a moment of genius by one of our youngsters taking their first steps in the big time. Jack McMillan and Alex Mighten moved the ball up the right flank before passing to Teddy Jenks, who found youngster A-Jai McLelland, and his through ball found Bez Lubala to give us the lead.

A lesson in counter-attacking that Rangers had no answer to, and the three points remained in Maryhill.

Closed the gap on them in second to two points, but they have a game in hand…

After two gigantic home wins, we got set for our third important game as former European champions FK Crvena zvezda, aka Red Star Belgrade, visited Maryhill looking to rekindle past glories.

En route to their historic European Cup triumph in 1991, Red Star defeated Rangers and were looking to end another Glaswegian team’s continental hopes.

Predictably, the visitors were the first to attack. Veljko Nikolic seized on a weak headed clearance before firing a shot straight into the grateful arms of Jamie Sneddon.

Initially a cagey affair, it kicked into life at the end of the first half with two goals.

A hopeful ball over the top of the Red Star defence by Sam Barnes was improperly cleared and allowed Greg Kiltie to seize the ball and slip in Alex Mighten to give us a shock lead against the former European Champions.

But that joy would be short-lived as the visitors replied almost immediately. Azarovi found space down the left and crossed for Jovan Mijatovic, whose header was initially saved by Jamie Sneddon, but like in the game against Rangers – he was left helpless for the rebound – and it was one apiece at the interval.

In the 52nd minute, we got our noses back in front when a quickly taken corner by Lino Sousa found its way back to the loanee full-back, where he curled home from the edge of the box.

Both how we were moving the ball about and off the ball was proving difficult for Red Star to deal with. A Mal Fagan-Walcott diagonal picked out Alex Mighten, the Nottingham Forest loanee’s cross hung in the air for what felt like an eternity before Yoram Boerhout nodded the ball beyond Borjan to extend our lead.

There was a close call (of sorts) in the 88th minute when Scott Tiffoney’s through ball looked to pick out Charlie Whitaker, but the visitors were able to see that he didn’t get through and we took a precious two-goal lead to Serbia and their infamous Marakana stadium.

Asked them to play like they did against Rangers, and got another gigantic performance.

After three big games at Firhill and three wins, it was fair to assume that our mood was high and morale was through the roof as we headed to Belgrade for the second leg of our Europa League playoff.

Red Star’s home ground, known by Serbs as the Marakana in tribute to the legendary Brazilian stadium, has a special place in Scottish Football folklore as the place where the men’s national team ended their decades-long absence from a major tournament when Serbia were defeated on penalties amid a pandemic lockdown.

My pre-match team talk was cautious, I told them that they needed to focus from the first whistle as our 3-1 triumph in the first leg was somewhat fortuitous and we couldn’t afford any kind of slow start.

As with all things Partick Thistle, real or virtual, the one thing we did not want to happen happened, and the home side took the lead after just two minutes.

Kings Kangwa surged into our half, finding Osman Bukari, whose clipped ball found Nikolic in space. He passed backwards to Stamenic, who returned it to Bukari, and his pass met the well-timed run into our box by Stefan Mitrovic to fire the home side ahead and reduce the aggregate deficit to one goal.

Two minutes later, it felt like I wanted the earth to swallow me up when Malachi Fagan-Walcott clipped Mitrovic in the box as he raced to get onto a pass from Kings Kangwa. There was no doubt what was about to happen, and there would be no let-off from VAR – it was a penalty to the hosts to give them a chance to level the tie on aggregate.

Kings Kangwa stepped up, but his low penalty was gratefully smothered by Jamie Sneddon. We were still alive – for the time being.

That stay of execution lasted only ten minutes as the home side found a route to goal to bring the tie level on aggregate. Kings Kangwa atoned for his penalty miss by putting a corner kick straight onto the head of Peter Olayinka, who caused us no end of problems without getting on the scoresheet in the first leg.

The Serbs smelled blood and almost had a third immediately after the second goal when Osman Bukari had the space to turn in the box and fire off a shot which narrowly went wide of Jamie Sneddon’s post.

All the momentum was with the home side moments after Jamie Sneddon made an excellent save from a Kings Kangwa free-kick, Red Star found their third goal and their third gear. Malachi Fagan-Walcott dallied on the ball, and Olayinka nipped in and slipped the ball past Jamie Sneddon – it was full-blown panic stations now – we were going out after completely blowing it.

After Olayinka almost had another for his hat trick, blazing a shot high over the bar, I frantically tried firing the lads up, hoping for something, anything to save our sinking ship.

In the 41st minute, we showed signs of life. Bez Lubala’s free-kick was swung into the Red Star penalty area, Sam Barnes’ header was parried into a ruck of bodies, and Teddy Jenks pounced to get us on the scoresheet and level the tie on aggregate.

On the stroke of half-time, we had another chance to score when another Lubala free-kick to the far post was met by Greg Kiltie and turned behind for a corner that was collected easily by Milan Borjan in the Red Star goal.

Having worked hard to get themselves out of their deficit and into the lead, Red Star piled the pressure on as they looked for a fourth goal to kill off our hopes.

In the 89th minute, they almost found it when a deep cross caught Jamie Sneddon in no man’s land. But fortunately for Jamie, Mituljikic’s shot hit the side netting, with the shot into an unguarded net proving to be from too tight an angle.

Eager for one last attack, the hosts kept pushing and pushing, and in stoppage time, they got a throw-in deep inside our half. Taken by Lazar Nikolic, who combined with Mituljikic and Kings Kangwa. The Zambian then passed backwards to Stamenic, who picked out the unmarked Knezevic. He slipped the ball to Mituljikic for Stefan Mitrovic, who slotted home to break our hearts.

The home crowd went wild, amazed at their remarkable comeback, until they realised that Mituljikic had been offside when Knezevic picked him out from the middle of the penalty area.

I’ve made a point of showing how down to the bare bones we are in terms of both European-level quality and reputation in general by including several youngsters on the bench, many of them not getting on, merely being included for the experience.

In the 96th minute, Yoram Boerhout had run himself ragged and couldn’t continue further, so on came Robbie Mackintosh, an 18-year-old who we had signed from Albion Rovers when he was 16 on recommendation from our domestic scout.

Red Star remained entirely on top, but Harry Milne, who had come on for Lino Sousa, won the ball in the middle of our half and sent Charlie Whitaker away down the left flank.

Shielding the ball from Kings Kangwa before passing it back to Harry Milne, he slipped it into the box for youngster A-Jai McLelland. The 17-year-old was tackled in the act of passing the ball.

But Mario Stamenic’s missed interception meant the ball rolled to the feet of Mackintosh, and the youngster slammed the ball into the net directly in front of the travelling support from Maryhill.

Unbelievable.

Red Star had no answer for that late goal, and despite 21 shots (10 on target) to our 7 (4 on target) and their 3.26 xG to our 1.48, they crashed out of Europe to Partick Thistle.

That’s right, Partick Thistle had knocked out Red Star Belgrade and were in the Round of 16 of the UEFA Europa League.

What is it with this stadium and penalties being missed?! Oh my god.

After an exhausting night in Belgrade, it was home to Scotland to take on Motherwell in the early kickoff on Sunday afternoon on Sky.

I made two changes for this one against the struggling Steelmen, Harry Milne coming in for Lino Sousa and Scott Tiffoney replacing Alex Mighten.

Feeling a bit too much confidence internally, I set up to be proper attacking from the off against the hosts, who had doubled their league win tally from two to four in the buildup to this game but had lost in extra time to League One side Queen of the South in their most recent match.

It was an approach that paid off after 23 minutes when a Stuart Bannigan corner was cleared, but kept the ball in their half before a well-worked move from left to right saw Scott Tiffoney zip the ball into the area for Bez Lubala to fire home from close range.

The home side searched for an immediate response, but after good work down the left from loanee wing-back Jordan Hackett, Jack Aitchison’s curling shot sailed over the bar, brushing the roof of the net.

Our quick passing and movement belied that of a team that had played 120 minutes during the week. It almost led to a second goal before the break when another whipped cross from Scott Tiffoney provoked panic in the Motherwell back line, leading to Ricki Lamie almost putting the ball into his own net when he got his feet in a fankle trying to clear Tiffoney’s ball across the box.

Two minutes later, we were (initially) awarded a penalty when Buz Lubala burst into the Motherwell penalty area from the left flank and was felled by Michael Rose. It looked like absolutely nothing, in fairness, and sure enough, the referee overturned the decision after a look at the monitor.

Our first-half performance, as mentioned above, was excellent for a team who played 120 minutes midweek against a much higher standard of opponent – and I made a point of telling the boys that at the break and really fired them up for going back out for the second half.

The boys carried that momentum out onto the park as we took the game to the hosts right from the off, with Jack McMillan coming close to a spectacular goal, seeing his shot from 20 yards crash against the crossbar. Teddy Jenks followed up with a piledriver of his own from a similar distance that Liam Kelly palmed around the post for a corner that ultimately came to nothing for us.

But the travelling fans who had swelled the two-tier stand behind the goal at Fir Park would soon be celebrating when Harry Milne floated a delicious ball through the middle of the Motherwell midfield and defence for Yoram Boerhout, which the Dutchman then stylishly flicked into the net over Liam Kelly.

And like buses in any country that isn’t Scotland, one quickly followed another when more stylish play from Harry Milne at left-back led to Greg Kiltie making it 3-0. Stuart Bannigan saw him in space out wide, and the former Cove Rangers man split the Motherwell defence with a pass for Bez Lubala, who flicked the ball into Kiltie’s path for a fantastic first-time strike.

The home fans were on their way out when Motherwell started looking like scoring, Callum Slattery having a shot from range that went just wide, but it did nothing to stem the tide of fed-up Well fans.

Those Motherwell fans who did stay to the end were rewarded with some consolation as Jordan Hackett spoiled Jamie Sneddon’s clean sheet with what was, admittedly, a smart volley from inside the penalty area.

Still, there was no doubt that the points were heading back to Glasgow and the Steelmen remain in deep trouble at the foot of the table.

Had the fear changing to more attacking for this, but glad we performed so well.

A hectic month concluded with a trip to the capital to take on a Hibs side looking to reel us in and make it a fight to finish in third place (at least).

That felt weird to type out, but we’ve shown no signs of weakness apart from against sides where we are properly out of depth, like our Glasgow rivals and the decent sides we’ve played in Europe this season.

Unfortunately, Hibs are one of the sides we’ve had a tendency to come unstuck against outwith that group of sides. You can have that one, Leishy.

After forcing them back with our high press, the home side got their noses in front from a counter-attack. Martin Boyle won the duel in the air with Lino Sousa after a punt up the park from Halkin in the Hibs goal, his header was picked up by Luca Connell, who slid Melkersen for a tidy finish past Jamie Sneddon from a tight angle.

Nothing was coming off for us. In the 50th minute, we worked the ball into the box very smartly from a throw-in deep in Hibs territory, unfortunately for us, nobody was there to receive the ball from Greg Kiltie’s backheel pass from around the penalty spot, and the chance went begging.

The home side nearly scored on the counter for the second time moments later when Davitashvili burst into our half and squared the ball for Melkersen, but the Norwegian couldn’t get a clean strike on the ball and his effort sailed well wide of goal.

Arguably, our best chance came in the 59th minute when a stunning move from left to right and back again saw Greg Kiltie tee up Kyle Turner with a cutback that saw the former Dunfermline man smash the post with his shot.

Try as we might, we couldn’t find a way back into the game, Sam Barnes’ header ruffling the side netting indicative of a game that we had plenty of chances in, but couldn’t find that killer instinct for once, we’ll play to that standard and win more games than we lose.

I am absolutely desperate for someone, anyone, to sign Melkersen.

There was mild consolation in the aftermath of the defeat at Easter Road as news filtered through that Rangers had drawn at St. Mirren.

The flip side of that is that if we’d won, we would have gone second in the league.

Anyway, onto next month, when we play in the Round of 16 in the Europa League, something that feels utterly surreal to be typing out.

Because the screenshot didn’t save, I will reveal the identity of our opponents in the next blog post.

Until next time,

Marc.

Posted on February 28, 2024 by Marc Wallace 0

Resident Thistle Goth – November 2024

With our European hopes fading and our domestic hopes starting to heat up, October had been a month of contrasts. So when Hibs visited Firhill in our first match in November, it would be a real litmus test for the season ahead, given our stinging defeat in Leith at the beginning of the season and the spectre of a League Cup semi-final with Celtic hanging over us like the Vile Smell in Discworld.

For his heroics in the game against Kilmarnock, Stevie Lawless earned a start on the left ahead of Bez Lubala, whose form has been a bit patchy throughout his entire time at Firhill.

The visitors almost opened the scoring with a delightful flowing move from the right side of the park over the left when Masa raced onto a diagonal ball from Martin Boyle. Unfortunately for the Japanese winger, his effort hit the post, and Jack McMillan cleared the danger.

It was our turn to go close to scoring next when Stevie Lawless’ corner found an unmarked Shea Charles, but his header went wide.

Another corner 12 minutes later brought about a golden opportunity to score when Martin Boyle and Malachi Fagan-Walcott jostled for the ball as Scott Tiffoney put the ball into the penalty area. After intense debate, Euan Anderson adjudged that Boyle had shoved Mal too forcefully as the ball came in and awarded a penalty.

Scott Tiffoney stepped up and sent Nikita Halkin the wrong way from 12 yards to open the scoring.

Despite that early effort from Masa, the Hibees were distinctly second-best in Maryhill. And a difficult day at the office became almost impossible in the 62nd minute when Runar Hauge was sent off for a horrendous challenge on Scott Tiffoney.

In the age of VAR, diving in with studs up is a frankly stupid thing to be doing. There were no complaints from the Hibs midfielder, who will now miss their next three games at least.

As expected, following the red card, we made the points safe but had to wait until stoppage time. Harry Milne’s free-kick from out on the right was floated in and cleared before being kept alive by Aidan Fitzpatrick, who fed it inside to Charlie Whitaker to tee up Greg Kiltie to make it 2-0.

A positive start to a potentially challenging month

Transylvania (A) the week after Halloween, the type of stuff that noted Thistle Goth David Forrest dreams of.

After a couple of damaging defeats, we hoped to stop the slide into the shadow realm for the rest of our League Phase games.

But it would be no easy task against a Cluj side who had claimed Celtic’s scalp in Champions League qualifying once upon a time.

Any fear going into the game would be usurped by full-blown euphoria when Greg Kiltie gave us a dream lead after twelve minutes.

Latching on to a heavy backpass, Kiltie skipped past the Cluj defence before rolling the ball into the bottom-right corner beyond Hindrich. Limbs all over the shop as Thistle fans celebrated the unlikely lead.

As it is written in the book of Partick Thistle, all good things are never built to last, and our lead lasted all over nine minutes before the home side levelled the scores.

Two seperate instances of being sloppy in possession led to Debelujh finding space on the edge of the area to curl a shot past Sneddon.

Fifteen minutes later came the game’s sliding doors moment as a great Thistle move led to Boerhout forcing a great save from Hindrich.

Moments later, the hosts went up the park and turned the game around through Emmanuel Yeboah. Cvek’s run to the byline went unchecked. His cross found Debeljuh, whose shot was saved by Sneddon, but Yeboah was on hand to bury the rebound.

But a thrilling first half was not done with being dramatic in stoppage time of the first half, as we hauled ourselves from the canvas to equalise.

A quickly taken free-kick caused havoc among the Cluj defenders, leading to a strike from Scott Tiffoney being deflected past his own goalkeeper by Christopher Daum.

Cluj and ourselves had chances to win the game as the second half went on, but no more goals were forthcoming, and a thrilling game ended all square.

After a strong start with a great win against Hibs and a battling away draw in Europe, we faced up to our two biggest domestic games of the season so far.

First up was a trip north to face Aberdeen, a testing fixture at any time of the season, never mind in the aftermath of a European away day and a long flight back.

We started brightly, getting up the park and into their penalty area, where Scott Tiffoney had a shot deflected onto the post by Alex Cochrane’s adept defending.

However, that early shot across the bow woke up the home side. Ryan Duncan came close soon after with a dipping shot that had Jamie Sneddon scrambling to get back onto his line to ensure it went over.

The game turned in the 38th minute on a moment of idiocy bordering on total stupidity when Shea Charles dallied on the ball and had the ball pinched from him by Perdomo. Shea recovered quickly, but his crunching tackle was all kinds of mistimed, and Chris Graham gave him his marching orders.

Emboldened by their man advantage, the Dons took total control of the game. Going close again to taking the lead when Kenny Dougall had a shot whistle just past the post in the 40th minute.

The man advantage paid off for The Dons in stoppage time at the end of the first half when Kenny Dougall’s corner was headed in by Ross McCrorie.

It was one-way traffic from that point on. With us creaking under the immense Aberdeen pressure, the home side would be given a great chance to extend their advantage further in the 64th minute when a clumsy challenge from Yoram Boerhout led to a penalty for the Dons.

Bojan Miovski stepped up, but the Macedonian hitman saw his penalty tipped over for a corner by Jamie Sneddon.

But Miovski loves a goal against us, and he wouldn’t be denied. After latching onto an expert pass from Perdomo that unlocked our defence, he slipped past Mal Fagan-Walcott and fired past Jamie Sneddon to seal a win that could easily have been a thrashing.

This could have been a proper doing, nasty setback

After the chastening nature of the defeat against Aberdeen, it was nice to have a game following it that was a free hit and had absolutely nothing at stake that could deepen the unhappiness of said loss.

Just kidding, it was a League Cup semi-final against Celtic, a Celtic side out for revenge after our improbable win at Celtic Park last month in the league.

Thankfully, Shea Charles’ suspension only counted in the Premiership, so he continued at the heart of our defence alongside Malachi Fagan-Walcott.

The only meaningful change I made was in midfield, with Stuart Bannigan dropping out for Kyle Turner, with the idea that Kyle’s technique could unlock Celtic’s defence instead of being more defensively solid with Banzo in there.

As expected, it was backs-to-the-wall stuff, with Celtic creating the first chance of the game directly from kick-off. We only got to touch the ball after Kyogo’s wild shot over the bar resulted in a goal kick.

Celtic thought they had the lead after a quarter of an hour when Zappa danced through our defence, but his shot from a tight angle crashed off the crossbar and away from danger.

Moments later, Celtic fans were overjoyed when they were awarded a penalty for a tangle in the box between Harry Milne and Jack Harrison. But their joy was short-lived as the referee changed his mind after consulting with VAR. Another let-off.

Despite everything, we were holding firm and keeping Celtic out. Then, in the 77th minute, came the unthinkable.

Charlie Whitaker kept the ball alive in the corner, feeding the ball to Stuart Bannigan on the edge of the box, and he collided with Sander Berge and went down.

PENALTY TO THISTLE.

But much like Celtic fans earlier, our hopes were dashed after consultation with VAR, and the decision was overturned.

With no goals in regulation or stoppage time, an extra 30 minutes was required to decide who would face Dundee (yes, Dundee) in the League Cup Final.
Sadly, just four minutes into the extra 30, Celtic found a way through to end our battling resistance.

Greg Taylor’s clever reverse pass found Luca Waldschmidt in space out wide, and his low cross eluded our exhausted defenders and found Artem Dovbyk to rifle past Jamie Sneddon.

Another cup semi-final, another loss to Celtic. Maybe we peaked with the League Cup win in my first season.

We hardly laid a glove on them again, much like the league game we won, in fairness

It wouldn’t be much of a Thistle-related anything if something that started prosperously turned progressively worse as it went on, would it now?

As such, we finished November with a trip to Bratislava in the League Phase of the Europa League.

Slovan Bratislava’s campaign was in a much stronger place than ours when we met them. They had won their opening game, lost expectedly to Borussia Monchengladbach, drew with FC Copenhagen and defeated Red Star Belgrade, so they were looking to lock themselves down in the playoffs with a win against us.

Clearly not reading the script, we made a fast start with a marauding run by Scott Tiffoney down the right flank that created panic in the Slovan ranks. He played the ball inside to Jack McMillan, who picked out opposite full-back Harry Milne.

The former Cove Rangers man made an angled run into the penalty area and then zipped the ball across the box, where his cross was parried back into danger by Chovan in the Slovan goal.

With Greg Kiltie seemingly set to pounce on the gift, Krizan got between his ‘keeper and the ball and cleared the danger.

After that early scare, it was time for the hosts to turn the pressure up on us when Nemanja Saponjic had a curling shot from distance that curled just wide of Jamie Sneddon’s goal.

Slovan came even closer in the 38th minute when Zmrhal’s corner found Bajric unmarked in the penalty area but his header sailed wildly over the crossbar.

The second half started much like the first did, with us having a really good chance go begging when Greg Kiltie’s threaded through ball found Yoram Boerhout, but the Dutchman’s shot was way over the bar and more akin to a penalty or drop goal in Rugby Union/League.

One thing I have instilled in the club in my time here has been working hard on set pieces, both defending and attacking, as it has seen us pull off some of our most remarkable results.

And it put us on the path to doing so again in the 67th minute when Scott Tiffoney won a free-kick 30 yards from the Slovan goal and just over towards the right touchline.

That free-kick clipped the wall and went behind for a corner. Stuart Bannigan went over to take.

Banzo’s corner swung in, where it found the head of Malachi Fagan-Walcott, rising above the Slovan defence like a titan.

Zmrhal was at the heart of the Slovan effort to rescue the game, coming close with a free-kick from 25 yards and crossing for Cavric to force a stunning reflex save from Jamie Sneddon.

But it wasn’t enough, and we clung on for a famous away win in Europe, an excellent boost going into a very busy December.

By the skin of our teeth, we are still alive in the Europa League

That brings an end to another month of action here at Wallace ‘Til I Die.

These last two editions have been extremely difficult to get out, owing to my poor mental health, but there have been improvements and shots in the arm from those who know who they are that have led to me getting these finished.

As always, thanks very much for taking the time to read the blog. Feedback is welcomed wherever you see it, be it on Twitter, in a Discord server or in the comments here on WordPress.

Motherwell are properly struggling, as you can see here. Even more annoying that I drew with them when I did.

Hearts, like us, have drawn a lot of silly games, the difference between us and them is we’ve beaten Celtic and Rangers, otherwise it doesn’t look that much better for us.

Posted on February 14, 2024 by Marc Wallace 0

It All Begins Again – August 2024

Welcome back to the first edition of the 2024-25 season of Wallace ‘til I Die.

Last season was an unprecedented success, finishing third in the Premiership, recording our highest-ever points tally and reaching the semi-finals of both the League and Scottish Cups.

With Europe to look forward to, there was more scope for exciting signings, but we also had to say goodbye to some of our beloved campaigners over the last two seasons.

Kevin Holt departed for a second stint in Cyprus with Pafos FC, from whom he initially arrived at Firhill. The money that the Cypriots were offering of £5750 a week was too much for me to afford, and Kevin headed overseas.

Kevin made 104 appearances as a Thistle player, scoring four times.

Also departing were former captain Ross Docherty, League Cup-winning hero Anton Dowds and substitute goal threat Danny Mullen.

Anton returned to Inverness, where he spent the last six months of the 23/24 season, scoring twice in ten matches.

He only clocked up 16 appearances, scoring six goals, but one of those six was the unprecedented winner in the League Cup Final against Celtic in 2022/23.

Ross moved on to Queen of the South after making 92 appearances in Red and Yellow, scoring eight goals. His eight assists in the 2022/23 season were vital in our promotion to the Premiership.

It was tough to let Danny go, but with the potential shown by several young attackers pushing to make a breakthrough, in particular Terry Duff and Robbie Mackintosh, it felt like the right time to make such a momentous decision. Time will tell if it was the right one or not.

Danny’s prowess, despite essentially being second fiddle to Brian Graham in 22/23 and Tom Cannon the following season, was a big part of how we exceeded expectations in both campaigns.

In all competitions, Danny made 69 appearances (19 starts) and scored 24 goals.

For all the outgoings, there were some arrivals in G20 during the first month of the season.

With a Kevin Holt-sized hole in the centre of our defence to fill, we turned to Manchester City defender Shea Charles on a loan deal until the end of the season.

Also arriving on loan were versatile Everton attacker Charlie Whitaker and Dutch forward Yoram Boerhout from Dutch giants AFC Ajax.

The big news, however, was that we were, after a protracted series of negotiations, able to prise Greg Kiltie from St. Mirren on a deal until the summer of 2027.

Greg scored five goals and assisted another four while on loan for the last six months of last season. To have him back permanently is a statement of intent for the season ahead.

We began the 2024-25 season with a home game against a Livingston side who had made a remarkable escape from relegation trouble in the final weeks of last season.

When we defeated Livi in their final home game before the split, they looked certainties to drop into the Championship with Dundee United, but two wins in their last three Premiership games saw them scramble to safety.

I was apprehensive going into the opener, as our side felt a touch on the bare side with Terry Duff, who had excelled last season for Forfar in League Two getting the nod up top as we awaited the Work Permit decision for Yoram Boerhout.

The rest of the side was also more familiar, with Shea Charles being the only addition from the summer to make the XI.

So with Sneddon in goal, three of last season’s back four in McMillan, Fagan-Walcott and Milne, Stuart Bannigan and Kyle Turner in midfield, it was time for it all to begin again.

And it was a dream start for us, less than a quarter of an hour in, and we had the lead when Jack McMillan powered home a header from a Stevie Lawless corner, two former Livi men combining to cause their old club problems on the opening day.

But Livi’s great escape act had filled them with confidence, and that confidence was shown when they levelled proceedings just before the half-hour mark when Joel Nouble, an old tormentor from his Arbroath days, pounced when Jamie Sneddon flapped at a Jason Holt cross.

After a high-octane first 30 minutes, the game had its biggest moment of controversy when Matt Penney was adjudged to have trod on Scott Tiffoney’s ankle in the box. It was a soft penalty decision that infuriated the Livi players, even more so when Tiffoney blasted home the spot-kick to restore our lead.

After a quiet first 25 minutes in the second half, the game exploded into life in the final 20, as Livi grabbed a second equaliser of the day when Corrie Ndaba headed home from a Kayode cross.

Parity would not last long, however, as a quickly taken throw-in by Harry Milne found youngster Terry Duff in the penalty area. He cut it back for Stevie Lawless to drive us in front for a third time, but would we be able to hold on this time?

With ten minutes to go, we were given another debatable penalty as Matt Penney and Jack McMillan had a coming together not dissimilar to the one that led to the penalty that Tiffoney scored.

Once again, the referee decided there was enough contact to call it a foul and Stuart Bannigan was on hand to dispatch the penalty to (seemingly) put this frantic contest to bed.

But this is the cinch, and you can always count on the cinch to ensure everyone goes home entertained.

Just three minutes after the second penalty of the afternoon saw us make it 4-2, we were given a chance from the spot for a third time as Morgan Boyes clipped Greg Kiltie in the area as he looked to cut the ball back.

Greg stepped up to take it himself and marked his home debut with a goal to make it 5-2 in the Firhill sunshine.
But we were not done yet, as after we foiled a Livi attack, we countered, and Terry Duff slipped in Kiltie to add his second of the afternoon and make it 6-2.

A mad, mad afternoon. Firhill for Thrills, indeed.

With a hugely successful win on the opening day behind us, we headed to Scotland’s capital for our next league game, a tough test against a Hibs side keen to avoid finishing below us this season after our heroics last year.

Our record in Edinburgh last season was impressive, only losing once in three trips to face Hibs and their rivals Hearts.

The sole change from the Starting XI that demolished Livingston on the opening day was Everton loanee Charlie Whitaker coming in for Kyle Turner in midfield. It was a decision I regret, although nobody had a good game as Hibs exacted revenge for our win here in March.

A double salvo right on the cusp of the interval from Elias Hoff Melkersen and Jake Doyle-Hayes floored us, with Melkersen delivering the coup de grace in the 53rd minute.

Like sauce-drizzled Edinburgh chips, we got battered.

A bad day at the office all around, I was on my knees for Boerhout’s work permit to go through, which might happen in time for our League Cup match with Ayr.

Because we qualified for the Europa League this season, we, like Celtic, Rangers, Hearts and Hibs all got a bye to the second round of the League Cup.

Our opponents were an Ayr side who finished second in the Championship and narrowly missed out on promotion to the top league, so I was expecting them to give us a tough time when we travelled down to Somerset Park.

A slightly changed side took to the field in Ayrshire, with Yoram Boerhout making his long-awaited debut after Work Permit wrangling.

Also getting a start were Jenno Campagne and Kyle Turner in midfield while Charlie Whitaker replaced Steven Lawless on the left flank.

Despite a rotated side, the fluidity was not disturbed, and we took the lead with an early goal from Charlie Whitaker. The Everton loanee timed his run to perfection to get in behind Nick McAllister and sweep the ball past Aidan McAdams.

We would double our lead five minutes later when Yoram Boerhout marked his debut with a goal. It was a lovely move that started with Greg Kiltie winning the ball from Ayr full-back Paddy Reading sending Scott Tiffoney away down the right flank.

From there, he drifted back outside towards the touchline before crossing for Boerhout, who showed his Ajax class by spinning away from the Ayr defenders and finishing expertly.

There was some consternation in the 62nd minute when we had what looked like a perfectly decent goal disallowed for offside. Yoram Boerhout saw his effort chalked off despite looking very much onside as he received the ball from Harry Milne.

That brush with danger invigorated the home side, and they pulled back to within a goal when Mikey Hewitt’s stunning shot from range fizzed beyond Jamie Sneddon from all of 20 yards.

But their joy would be short-lived, as we made it 3-1 directly from kick-off when Scott Tiffoney’s low cross was swept past McAdams by Boerhout for his second of the game.

An enthralling day at the office for the Jags was secured in stoppage time when Mal Fagan-Walcott, who has been attracting interest from clubs down south, glanced home a Scott Tiffoney corner to make it 4-1.

The Second Round of the League Cup brought with it plenty of drama, thankfully none of it in our game as three Premiership clubs lost to lower-league opposition.

Kelty Hearts, who are in the Scottish Championship, defeated Ross County, while fellow Championship side Inverness Caley Thistle defeated Hearts.

The biggest shock, however, came at Dens Park, where Dundee stunned Rangers by two goals to nil – leaving the competition wide open…for someone to reach the final and lose to Celtic.

Incidentally, the Quarter-Final draw was:

Kilmarnock v Celtic
Inverness Caley Thistle v PARTICK THISTLE
Kelty Hearts v Dundee
St. Johnstone v Motherwell

After the drama of the League Cup, it was time to get down to business, the biggest game Firhill has seen since Thistle took on Honved in the UEFA Cup in 1972 as we faced Malmö FF in the Europa League playoff round.

The difference between Malmö and ourselves is ridiculous, a chasm we’d struggle to bridge, and that’s saying something.

The Swedes have reached a European Cup Final, losing to Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest. We have reached a Challenge Cup Final, losing to Allan Johnston’s Queen of the South. We are not in the same stratosphere.

It was a race against time to get former Aberdeen loanee and Brighton youngster Teddy Jenks registered in time for this, but thankfully, we were able to, and he came straight into the XI to take on the record-setting Swedish champions.

He was partnered in midfield by Stuart Bannigan, with Bez Lubala coming in for Charlie Whitaker on the left wing, opposite Scott Tiffoney and with Yoram Berhout leading the attack.

I was expecting nothing, and I reminded them there was no pressure to win, something they gleefully acknowledged. Even the safety net of Conference League Football was well above what I had expected to achieve.

We almost got off to a dream start in the eighth minute when Boerhout intercepted Moisander and fed the ball out wide to Tiffoney, but his cross found nobody in the area. With the ball then coming to Jack McMillan on the edge of the box, he fed Harry Milne the ball down the left, and he zipped a ball in that caught the Malmö defence napping, allowing a snapshot from Boerhout to force an excellent save out of Diawara.

We would come close again four minutes from half-time when an inswinging free-kick from Scott Tiffoney met the head of Mal Fagan-Walcott and struck the crossbar before going out of play.

I stoked the fire in them at the break, we were taking the game to them when we got the ball near their box and causing them, the much more illustrious opponents, a great deal of trouble.

Ten minutes into the second half, we had lift-off at Firhill. Our bold decision to press higher up paid dividends as Yoram Berhout robbed Knudsen of the ball midway inside his own half and found Scott Tiffoney running into space.

Checking his run, the former Morton and Livi man jinked into the box and rifled past Diawara in the Malmö goal, the stuff of dreams at the Stadium of Dreams.

In the 69th minute, we almost doubled our lead when Harry Milne’s strike from 25 yards whistled just over the bar. This failure to capitalise when we were on top because we could grab a late goal would ordinarily be okay in Scotland, but this was the Europa League, and it felt like we would have cause to regret our spurned chances.

By the last ten minutes, the visitors were turning up the pressure, and only a stunning save by Jamie Sneddon from Niklas Moisander kept us in front.

Sadly, the Malmö pressure would take its toll, and the Swedish side found their equaliser in the 90th minute in the most utterly astonishing way possible when a Zeidan corner met the head of goalkeeper Ismael Diawara and flew past Jamie Sneddon.

I’ve seen a lot in more than 20 years of playing Football Manager and its other iterations, but that’s the first time that has ever happened to me. Ever.

But this game wasn’t done being dramatic.

Stunned, from kick-off, we played the ball back to Mal Fagan-Walcott, who played a one-two with Stuart Bannigan. He played the ball to Stevie Lawless, who knocked it back again to Shea Charles, who fed it back to Lawless again.

Lawless drove into the Malmö half, finding Teddy Jenks in acres of space, where his weighted pass found Scott Tiffoney out on the right, catching out Busanello, the Malmö full-back. Tiffoney then burst into the area and fired towards goal, his shot deflecting off Moisander and in to bring a shellshocked Firhill to its feet again.

With the game deep into stoppage time, an incensed Malmö surged forward for a second equaliser. But Gwargis’s run infield was halted by Teddy Jenks, and his through ball found Yoram Berhout, who raced away from Moisander and rolled the ball beyond Diawara.

After more drama than you can shake a stick at on Thursday night, it was back to Premiership business as we travelled to Paisley to take on newly-promoted St. Mirren.

As alluded to earlier, the Buddies won out in a tense three-way tussle for the Championship with Ayr United and Dundee to reclaim their place in the top tier a year after their relegation.

They had started the season positively and were yet to taste defeat after a comprehensive opening-day win at home to St. Johnstone and a goalless draw away at Motherwell.

With the return leg against Malmö looming, I decided to drop Scott Tiffoney in favour of Aidan Fitzpatrick on the right wing, with everyone else remaining unchanged, it was a decision I shouldn’t have made.

The home side started brightly, taking the lead in the 11th minute when Keanu Baccus curled one beyond Jamie Sneddon from the edge of the area after Man City loanee Nico O’Reilly blazed a trail through our midfield.

A half that we had failed to get going in at all was made worse two minutes before the interval when the home side doubled their lead through youngster Jay Henderson.

Keanu Baccus was at the heart of it again, winning the ball from Greg Kiltie and sending it out to Henderson, who ran unchallenged before unleashing a stunning, curling strike from 25 yards beyond Jamie Sneddon.

I stopped short of reading them the riot act, but I let them know that their performance was atrocious and such a pea-hearted output in Sweden next week could end our Europa League dreams.

One of the players who seemed to react the most positively to my boot being lodged (figuratively) in their collective arses was Yoram Berhout, and less than ten minutes into the second period, he had pulled a goal back.

Harry Milne sent Bez Lubala away down the left flank before he zipped a ball in for Boerhout to drive past Van Sas.

The introduction of Scott Tiffoney brought us up a gear or two, and we began to look like we could turn the game on its head. Which we would do in stoppage time, as Tiffoney’s cross was dummied in the box by Boerhout for Greg Kiltie to rifle home what was, in all probability, a deserved equaliser.

We finished an exciting, if stressful, month with the biggest game in our history as we travelled to Sweden with our 3-1 lead to face Malmö in the return leg of our Europa League playoff.

Despite the two-goal cushion, a tall task became taller before we set off for Scandinavia when Jamie Sneddon suffered a thigh strain in training, ruling him out for up to a month.

Stuck between the choice of 18-year-old goalkeepers Ben Galt and Murray Robson, I opted for Ben as he’s played first-team football, albeit in League Two for Peterhead, where he conceded ten goals in ten games.

Both Ben and Murray are very highly-rated, its just I’ve managed to back myself into a hole by not signing a goalie after releasing David Mitchell in the summer.

So with our teenage goalkeeper in place and Scott Tiffoney restored to the XI, it was clobbering time against the Swedish heavyweights.

Predictably, Malmö started like men possessed, going incredibly close after half an hour when an Elle header took forever to come down onto the roof of the net from a corner.

Despite the pressure on the park and from the atmosphere off it, we were holding firm, until three minutes before the interval when Malmö opened the scoring.

Pena’s corner was initially cleared by Shea Charles, but his second effort found Felix Beijmo at the far side of the penalty area where he nodded the ball on for Peter Gwargis to turn and fire past Ben Galt.

Keen to calm them down and avoid losing the run of ourselves if we panicked, I told them to not get too fired up and that if we kept regrouping when we lost the ball, we could hold on for dear life.

Despite the positive reception my words got, Malmo took it up a level out of the gate in the second period and doubled their lead to wipe out our advantage.

A poor goal to concede, bordering on just rank rotten, we allowed Sergio Pena acres of space to advance with the ball and into the area before driving low past Galt.

Despite now being level on aggregate and the away goals rule long since abolished, the home side could not find a further goal in the second half and the game looked to be heading for extra time – until one last attack found its way through and that crucial third goal came.

But it wasn’t for the hosts.

In the third minute of stoppage time, Ben McPherson, on for Jack McMillan played the ball into the right-hand channel for Scott Tiffoney.

Tired, but determined, Tiff soldiered on, ambling into the Malmö half before hammering in a hopeful diagonal ball that was met by Yoram Boerhout, who dispatched a stunning scissor-kick that flew beyond Diawara and sent the Thistle contingent in the corner spilling over the barriers as their heroes rushed to them in celebration.

Disappointing to lose any game, but my word.

With it being the 2024/25 season, the format for the three UEFA competitions has changed to this new “Swiss Model”.

The only Swiss model I am interested in is Alisha Lehmann, right?

No laughter? Fine.

Anyway, less of the Da patter, and onto explaining things.

Each team competes in a single 36-team group and is drawn to play eight fixtures against and they’re ranked accordingly after those eight games. The top eight qualify for the Round of 16, the next 16 sides playoff against one another and those eight winners reach the Round of 16.

Everyone finishing from 25th to 36th is eliminated.

It’s confusing, so here are our eight fixtures.

I’ll do well to win any of these, but at least we’ll make a fortune if we do.

That concludes quite possibly the most exhilarating month of Football Manager I will play in a long time, far better than winning the UEFA Cup in FM2007.

As always, be sure to leave feedback either here or on Twitter/X/FuckElonMusk.

Until next time,

Marc.

Posted on December 7, 2023 by Marc Wallace 0

An End Is A Start – April/May 2024

We began April like March, with a televised Friday night away game in the East.

This time, however, it was struggling Livingston were the opposition as we looked to continue our march to European qualification.

The home side were on a terrible run, having won just one game in 2024 and before that hadn’t won since October when they won two in a row.

With Stevie Lawless and Scott Tiffoney still medium-term absentees, Fitzpatrick and Lubala continued on the wings with Greg Kiltie supporting Tom Cannon in attack.

Despite enjoying a wee spell on top in the first ten minutes, the home side were wretched for the most part and there was little surprise when Tom Cannon opened the scoring in the 20th minute.

From that point on, it was domination from Thistle – but we had to wait until the 75th minute to get a deserved second goal, Alfie McCalmont getting his first since joining on loan from Leeds in January.

Livi are in terrible form, but so are the other sides around them and remain in 10th and actually safe from relegation and the playoff, but that could well change as the season draws to a close.

After easing to a win against one struggling side, we looked to make it two in a row as Dundee United visited Maryhill. The visitors were in the big city looking to end a horrendous run of one point gained from the last 15 available to Dougie Imrie’s side.

Keen to continue United’s misery, we piled forward from the start, although Tom Cannon’s bicycle kick from 25 yards out lacked accuracy. But at least it showed the creativity I told the players to show.

We came close again in the 13th minute when a free-kick from out wide was fizzed into the area and onto the head of Mal Fagan-Walcott, but the big man’s effort went over the bar and skimmed the roof of the net.

If that was a warning for United, they didn’t heed it, as they fell behind just eight minutes later. Kyle Turner with the driving run forward before combining with Jamie Bowden, who found Greg Kiltie in space, and he fired us in front via the frame of the goal after skipping into the penalty area.

After coming close to conceding a second early in the second half when Bez Lubala had an effort saved by Jordan Archer, our persistence paid off as Greg Kiltie went from goalscorer to goal provider, teeing up fellow loanee Tom Cannon to sweep home and put the game out of sight for United in the 57th minute.

There was some brief panic that Tom had strayed offside as he collected Kiltie’s pass, but the decision to give the goal was upheld, and the Firhill faithful could celebrate once again.

Despite an abject performance from United as a whole, Jordan Archer was individually brilliant in the United goal, being on hand to deny us several times and preventing the result from being even more lopsided. But nothing could be done about our third and final goal in stoppage time, as Josh Adam rifled home on the half volley from inside the box, leaving Archer rooted to the spot.

It really is difficult to see where United can find inspiration, but anything can happen in the split.

Before we could get excited about the top-six split, we had the small matter of a Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden to look forward to, he says with a Schitt’s Creek wink.

Our record against Celtic, apart from one League Cup Final where I am sure we used up all of our luck, has been nothing short of reprehensibly bad as we constantly find ourselves on the end of a pumping that Riley Reid would be sick of.

And this would be no different. Celtic raced into a 3-0 lead by half an hour of play with goals from Matt O’Riley, Duje Caleta-Car and Luca Waldschmidt.

I can confirm there was some cheering when we made it 3-1 through Tom Cannon and again when we made it 4-2 through Aidan Fitzpatrick, just three minutes after Waldschmidt scored his second of the afternoon.

Dmitry Barinov (72’) and Artem Dovbyk (90+2’) lumped more salt into the wound as we were once again battered by Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic Machine. Sigh.

Left with an arse like the Flag of Japan again, brutal.

After our humiliation in the Scottish Cup, it was back to the league as we kicked off the split with a home game against Rangers that had implications for both sides.

For unfamiliar readers, in the Scottish Premiership, the league splits into two “halves” of six teams after 33 games. The teams in each half then play each other once for a total of 38 games like in a normal Premier League season in England.

A win for us would ensure European Football at Firhill for the first time since 1995. Meanwhile, Rangers could secure preliminary round qualification for the Champions League if Michael Beale’s side continued their winning ways against us.

Hearts were chasing us for third place, knew they could make it a nerve-shredding final few weeks of the season if they could secure a result at Celtic Park and we failed to beat Rangers because of our trip to Edinburgh the following week.

Predictably, Rangers asserted themselves on the game from the first whistle and came mightily close to opening the scoring after two minutes when Ianis Hagi’s free-kick struck Jamie Sneddon’s near post.

Only five minutes had gone in the game and we were looking lost at sea as Rangers tried their luck from distance a second time when Glen Kamara’s strike from 25 yards was denied expertly by Sneddon at the cost of a corner that thankfully came to nothing.

It could have been argued that our goal was living a charmed life, as the visitors struck the woodwork for a second time before the 10th minute when Ridvan Yilmaz teed up Ilias Chair, but the former QPR man’s effort smashed against the crossbar with Jamie Sneddon beaten all ends up again.

In the 10th minute, after immense Rangers pressure, it was our turn to go close when a well-worked move led to Jack McMillan flicking the ball over the top for Aidan Fitzpatrick, but despite his effort beating Finn Dahmen in the Rangers goal, Aidan was aghast to see his effort smash against the crossbar.

A game that showed no surcease continued to have the spectators’ eyes fixed on it as Rangers struck the woodwork for a third time in the 38th minute when Connor Goldson’s header from a Hagi corner hit the crossbar.

The visitors may have felt that their luck was just not in on this trip to Maryhill, but a minute before the break, they finally punched a hole in our dogged defence as Nico Raskin opened the scoring. It was a move started by Raskin when he won the ball out on the left off Bez Lubala and expertly finished with a curling shot high into the top corner out of the reach of Jamie Sneddon’s despairing dive.

We had been getting battered, but were only a goal behind and had also missed a chance to take the lead, so my team focused on encouraging the team but also praising the defence for their backs-to-the-wall performance. It went down a treat until three goals in six minutes ended the game as a contest.

After seeing a chance in the first half come close, Connor Goldson wouldn’t be denied in the 74th minute when his looping header back across Jamie Sneddon’s goal doubled the visitor’s advantage.

But it was a two-goal advantage that lasted all of three minutes as we hit back when Greg Kiltie cut inside before smashing home off the post.

It was a brilliant moment, showing we could haul ourselves off the floor after getting battered for the most part, but we crucially let our guard down and four minutes after pulling a goal back, we were two behind again when Ilias Chair scored.

Ianis Hagi rounded things off in the 86th minute to make it 4-1, but it was a much more hectic game than the result suggested.

We probably could have got beaten much heavier than we did, but what if we’d taken the lead early on after that early pressure? One of those games.

After back-to-back spankings off of Celtic and Rangers, the last thing you want is a trip to Tynecastle with morale about as low as it can be for a team sitting in third and a win away from qualifying for Europe.

The remit was simple: victory at Tynecastle would ensure Conference League Football at a minimum, subject to the result of the Scottish Cup Final, as Celtic will face Hibs, and the Hibees sit in fifth.

Hearts needed to beat us to keep the race for third alive, but the home side were on a rotten run of three consecutive defeats – albeit two of them were to Celtic.

The home side stormed out of the traps, but their first foray led to our opening goal as we sliced through them on the counterattack.

Scott Tiffoney nicked the ball off of Alex Cochrane and set off down the Hearts’ right, playing the ball infield to Greg Kiltie. The St Mirren loanee surged through the middle of the pitch, acres of space open to him before slipping the ball to Bez Lubala, who showed Craig Halkett a clean pair of heels before rifling past Craig Gordon.

Bedlam in the away end. I swear I even saw an inflatable llama.

The home side almost had an instant reply, but Jamie Sneddon was on hand to deny Lawrence Shankland from Barrie McKay’s cutback.

For all the Hearts pressure, we were giving as good as we got, as only the expert reflexes of Craig Gordon denied Bez Lubala a second when he burst through the Hearts defence for a second time in the first half.

Tom Cannon came very close from the resulting corner, just not getting enough on the ball to divert it past Gordon, instead seeing it trickle out for a goal-kick.

We were good value for our lead at the break, not showing any signs of wilting under the pressure we were putting ourselves under to secure European qualification and the pressure from the home side to turn the game around.

The pressure we were under got taken up several notches in the 68th minute when referee Andrew Dallas decided that Jamie Bowden had fouled Hearts’ substitute Scott Wright in the box and awarded the home side a golden chance to equalise.

As with all decisions, VAR had a look and, amidst the vociferous booing from the Thistle following, persuaded the referee to look at his monitor to review the decision.

Dallas sauntered back onto the pitch and made himself Public Enemy Number One in Gorgie when he overturned the decision and said there was no foul committed.

The home side battled as hard as they could for the remainder of the game, but they could not find that equaliser and after another hard-fought win in Edinburgh, Partick Thistle were going to play in Europe in the 2024/25 season.

Now that’s a vibe.

After our heroic qualification for the Europa Conference League, Firhill was in the mood to party as Hibs came to town looking to overtake their bitter rivals in fourth place.

As a result, it was no surprise that Hibs started the brighter, with Chris Cadden forcing Jamie Sneddon into a smart save in just the second minute.

One thing about my side this season is our ability to counterattack with devastating accuracy, Something that Hibs found out as we made them pay for their missed chance in the second minute by taking the lead through Bez Lubala.

Kyle Turner’s reverse pass picked the lock on the Hibs defence and Bez burst through to slot home his second goal against opposition from the capital in as many games.

But we weren’t done there, as six minutes after opening the scoring, we had an opportunity to double our lead when Jimmy Jeggo scythed down Greg Kiltie.

Scott Tiffoney made no mistake from the spot and Firhill went into full celebration mode after barely a quarter of an hour.

The early double salvo seemed to take it out of the Hibees, the best they could offer other than a stoppage-time consolation was a strike from Jimmy Jeggo that hit the crossbar.

Hearts and Hibs? No problem.

Our penultimate game of the season was a brutal 360-mile round trip to the Highlands to take on a Ross County side that, like ourselves, had exceeded expectations in getting into the top six.

A remarkable achievement for the millionaire-backed village team with a racist idiot as their manager, it must be said.

I’m still not over Dingwall, and I probably never will be. Sorry.

The game exploded out of the traps, as Tom Cannon’s opening goal after five minutes was cancelled out immediately by Jorge Cabezas Hurtado.

County had the better of things in the first 45, and thus, it was no surprise that they would go into the break with the lead, Hurtado netting for the second time just three minutes before the break.

But ten minutes into the second half, we were given a lifeline when Scott Tiffoney was brought down inside the penalty area.

The decision was initially not given as a penalty by Grant Irvine, but upon review, the referee changed his mind and up stepped Scott Tiffoney from 12 yards.

Tiff made no mistake from the spot, and we were back level.

Despite having the better chances, even though we were being out-shot two to one, it seemed an admittedly moderately entertaining game would end with no victor.

That was until stoppage time when Jack McMillan’s shot was deflected past his own goalkeeper by Jamal Baptiste to ensure the three points came back down the A9 to Glasgow.

After three heroic victories to secure not only our highest-ever league finish since the 1960s but also our highest-ever points total in the top flight of Scottish Football, it was time for our final game of the season against a Celtic side who had secured the title and were preparing for the Scottish Cup Final the following week.

As a result, I felt playing all our hot prospects was unwise, though A-Jai McLelland (17) did make an appearance off the bench. And, although he didn’t come on, 16-year-old Luke Stevenson’s appearance in the squad was evidence of his progression into a very talented young player.

As for the game itself? We got horsed again. Just the five goals conceded this time, but no less annoying.

Another hosing, at least it was in an inconsequential game.

A bitter end to a remarkable season that saw us finish an unprecedented third when we were predicted to finish 11th.

Celtic coasted past Hibs to win the Scottish Cup Final, giving us a bonus promotion into the Europa League playoff round – guaranteeing us Conference League Football until Christmas at a minimum.

The real main event of the end of the season, however, is the playoffs for promotion to the Premiership and this year’s edition was a doozy with Dundee fighting their way through to face Tayside rivals St. Johnstone in the final.

Saints’ appearance in the final was remarkable considering that they were almost relegated automatically on the final day, a point for Dundee United at Kilmarnock was looking like enough for safety as Saints trailed 3-1 at home to Livingston.

But the Saints struck in the 88th minute to make it 3-2 before grabbing two more goals in stoppage time to snatch 11th place at the death.

The playoff final itself was dramatic, with it going all the way to penalties, which the Saints won to stay up for another season.

Posted on November 24, 2023 by Marc Wallace 0

Like Yer Da With Technology- March 2024

After a long(ish) absence, I am back to give the one handful of people who read this more content as I use the much-publicised feature of transferring a save from FM23 to FM24 to bring you more Thistle action.

Technology these days is wild, isn’t it?

A/N: I want to make something clear for this post specifically, because of the way the save transfer works, I am unable to go into detail about the goals and incidents in the games, so everything is abridged in this post and the first game of the next one.

– Happy reading, Marc xoxo

Our first fixture in March was a televised trip to the capital to take on a Hibs side who had picked up in form, going the whole of February unbeaten after four wins in both league and cup action in twelve games in the whole of both December and January.

I made one change from the side that beat Motherwell at Fir Park as Scott Tiffoney dropped out of the XI to make way for Aidan Fitzpatrick on the right flank.

Unfortunately, we faltered in the Friday night lights as Luca Connell fired Hibs into the lead, and a repeat of our defeat in Leith at the beginning of the season was on the cards.

But my Jags are made of sterner stuff, growing with more time spent in the top flight, and we found a way back into the game just after the half-hour mark, Greg Kiltie once again proving to be an inspired signing on a loan deal until the end of the season from St Mirren.

With better possession stats and six of our ten attempts at goal being on target, it was little surprise that we got another. Tom Cannon completed the turnaround, and the 800-odd Thistle fans that travelled to Leith saw their heroes storm towards European Football at Firhill next season.

An utterly gigantic result that confirms mathematical safety from relegation.

After inflicting another dose of Capital Punishment, it was back to the glorious climes of Glasgow to take on Kilmarnock, who have had a slight, but only slight uptick in form under new manager John Robertson.

The previous encounter between the Ayrshire side and ourselves was a thriller. Killie had surged into a 2-0 lead after just eight minutes before a comeback for the ages from the 62nd minute onwards saw us rise like Lazarus and inflict a stunning 3-2 defeat upon the second-oldest professional club in Scotland.

To say this was a frustrating afternoon would be an understatement. We dominated most of the game, with Killie looking like they might grab something at the end that ultimately never came.

Full-time: 0-0. A disappointing goalless draw that does no side any favours.

We’re never allowed too much of a good thing, I swear.

After our disappointment against Kilmarnock at home, I was out for blood as we took on St Johnstone, who are in an almighty logjam at the bottom of the Premiership.

The Perth outfit came into the game in 9th, but only a point above Livingston at the foot of the table.

Their attempts to reel in Kilmarnock, who are directly above them and have a five-point lead, were given a massive boost as, yet again, we were caught sleeping in the early stages and fell behind. Theo Bair notching his sixth goal of the season.

A few tactical tweaks and some use of industrial Glaswegian language worked a treat as we levelled in the 30th minute through Spurs loanee Jamie Bowden.

With Stevie Lawless suffering an injury that looks like ending his season, the focus was on Bez Lubala to produce the goods on the left wing – and the former Crawley Town man marked his return to the starting XI with the winning goal with 20 minutes to go.

Another win from behind in a game that could have gone either way, really.

With seven points from a possible nine collected in the league so far in March, it was time to turn our attention to the Scottish Cup, as a massive opportunity awaited both ourselves and our hosts Motherwell.

With Celtic and Rangers facing each other in the quarter-finals, the chance for either of us to get to the final was potentially open.

We threw everything at it, having 21 attempts at goal to Motherwell’s 14, and it was no surprise that such a frantic game would end up needing more than the regulation 90+ minutes to separate the sides.

Into Extra Time we went, and one goal would ultimately be enough, Danny Mullen proving the somewhat unlikely hero as he converted a 111th-minute penalty to send us into the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup for the second season in a row.

The draw followed the clash between Celtic and Rangers at Celtic Park, which was won 2-1 by Celtic after Reo Hatate and Kyogo Furuhashi overturned Connor Goldson’s opener.

With one of the big hitters definitely out and the lineup containing Aberdeen, who thrashed Falkirk 5-1, Hibs, who defeated Morton and ourselves. I let myself dream that we may just avoid Celtic this one time.

But, as is usually the case, dreaming is for losers.

The last game of March was a big one, especially coming on the back of going 120 minutes with Motherwell in the last game.

Ross County were looking to close the gap on us and Hearts with a win.

Slipping up was not an option as the spectre of the split loomed over both County and ourselves.

Much like the cup tie at Motherwell, the game saw periods of control oscillate between County and ourselves.

Fortunately, we got our noses in front during our best spell, Tom Cannon scoring his 14th goal of the season.

County had their moments in the first half, but they pushed hardest in the second and could perhaps count themselves unfortunate not to find an equaliser at the very end of the game, but we were able to hold on and look good for third place, which feels extremely odd to say.

A huge distance between us and County now in that race for Europe.

The big game of the weekend was the clash between Celtic and Rangers in a rematch of the Scottish Cup quarter-final at Celtic Park.

Unfortunately for Rangers, it would be business as usual as Ange Postecoglou’s rampant Celtic side cruised to a 3-0 win to extend their lead over The Gers to seven points with 21 points to play for.

A remarkable capitulation from Michael Beale’s side in all honesty, they were five points ahead when they drew at Ibrox at the end of 2023.

With that roundup done and dusted, here is the cinch Premiership table with two games to go until the split.

Not quite sure how I navigate this with two key players out for most of what is left, lads.

Posted on November 7, 2023 by Marc Wallace 0

Getting Aw Excited – November 2023

*Robin Williams impersonating Richard Nixon voice* It’s me, I’m back again!

After an eventful few weeks for me personally and for Thistle, I am delighted to get back to writing on the blog. There were the highest of highs and some seriously low lows, but that is all in the past now and I can’t wait to get back to blogging.

Let’s get to it, shall we?!

November kicked off with two home games in the space of three days, the first of which was against Kilmarnock, who we hadn’t beaten in G20 since 2002 when an Alex Burns hat-trick downed the Ayrshire side.

Britain hadn’t yet illegally invaded Iraq when we last beat Killie in Maryhill.

Stevie Lawless was suffering from an injury sustained against St. Johnstone in our previous league game, so he dropped to the bench in favour of Aidan Fitzpatrick, but the rest of the side remained intact.

Whether or not that continuity gave us an advantage is up for debate, but we raced out of the traps and took the lead after just two minutes. Killie goalkeeper Sam Walker dribbled nonchalantly out of his penalty area and found his out ball blocked by Tom Cannon, and he rolled the ball past Walker to open the scoring.

Killie were having trouble getting a hold in the game, constantly misplacing passes and being put under pressure immediately by our voracious pressing game. Ramez Hefzalla came close to doubling our advantage, but his effort was blocked by Killie’s Ibane Bowat.

In the 21st minute, Hefzalla was at it again, spraying a glorious pass into the path of Tom Cannon and had one touch before calmly side-footing the ball past Sam Walker.

Those two early goals were the best of the action of the first 45, but the second wasn’t wanting to feel left out, and two quick goals in the first five minutes followed as the visitors looked to show they weren’t dead just yet.

Rory McKenzie provided the assist with a lovely clipped ball over the top and Josh Magennis ran onto it before slotting past Jamie Sneddon, Killie were back in it.

But the Ayrshire joy was fleeting, and we went on the attack directly from kick-off. Jack McMillan looked to play the ball into the path of Aidan Fitzpatrick, who was slow off the mark in getting the ball, which looked to be heading into the arms of Sam Walker before Marc Bola smashed into Fitzpatrick; there was no doubt in the referee’s mind that it was a penalty.

Tom Cannon stepped up and converted to complete his hat-trick and restore our two-goal advantage.

Killie were far from done, however, and the Ayrshire side made it a nervy final half an hour when Kevin Holt swept a Richardson cross into his own net.

A glorious chance to kill the game as a contest came the way of Ramez Hefzalla when Jamie Bowden burst into the penalty area and evaded the challenge of Ibane Bowat – only for the youngster to scuff his shot when a certain goal looked probable if he connected with it better.

Killie had one last push to find an equaliser, but Daniel Armstrong’s effort sailed harmlessly into the John Lambie Stand and out for a goal-kick, meaning that for the first time since 2002, we had defeated Kilmarnock at Firhill.

Our second opponents at Firhill in 72 hours were a Hibs side we were out for revenge against after a bruising defeat at Easter Road earlier in the season.

The visitors started the much better side, with us only having a very mild spell of control midway through the first half without creating anything of note.

The game kicked into life in the 33rd minute as two goals in a minute left us with a mountain to climb. Jimmy Jeggo’s ball over the top of our backline caught Kevin Holt flat-footed and let Elias Melkersen race through and blast Hibs into the lead.

A minute later and both Melkersen and Hibs had a second as we lost the ball direct from our kick-off, allowing the visitors to counter-attack. Patient play down our right flank from Marijan Cabraja and Jair Tavares allowed the latter to cut the ball back for Melkersen to score.

We were shellshocked, I attempted to fire the boys up from the sidelines, and it had something of a positive effect, though it took three minutes for us to show signs of life.

Patient play on our right side was key, and Jack McMillan and Aidan Fitzpatrick gradually worked us up the park before a stunning cross from the latter picked out Tom Cannon for his fourth goal in two games.

That goal woke us up, and we began to put a bit of pressure on Hibs, to which they began to buckle, allowing us to get a grip of the game. This pressure paid off as we completed a fairly remarkable comeback in stoppage time at the end of the first half.

Tom Cannon’s effort was forced behind for a corner kick that was initially cleared but fell to Mal Fagan-Walcott. He found Ramez Hefzalla in acres of space and the youngster drove into the penalty area unopposed before rifling an unstoppable drive into the top corner to make it 2-2.

After a blockbuster first half, it was no surprise that the second half would be boring by comparison. The best chance came with six minutes to go when Tavares’ shot struck the crossbar after a sustained period of Hibs pressure.

Hibs will rightly feel annoyed about the dropped points, but we showed a lot of guts to fight back against one of the league’s better sides and that point could be crucial as we figure out where we end up this season.

That nearly got away from us, immense relief that it didn’t.

Our final fixture before the very brief international break came at Pittodrie as we looked to make it two wins apiece against The Dons in our fourth meeting of the season so far.

Preparations for this were dealt a blow as Jamie Sneddon suffered an injury ruling him out for three weeks. This meant that David Mitchell came in for a first start this season, and highly-rated Ben Galt took Mitchell’s place on the bench.

In slightly better news, Scott Tiffoney returned following his recent knock to take his usual position on the right wing and Stevie Lawless on the left.

Despite that positive news about our attack, we were distinctly second best to the home side throughout, and we were lucky not to be a goal down in the 47th minute when Bojan Miovski’s volley struck the post.

But 12 minutes later, the home side did have the ball in the net through Duk when he dinked the ball over Jamie Sneddon after Jack Mackenzie’s assist. However, luck would be on our side as VAR intervened and ruled that Duk was offside as Mackenzie played the ball, and we lived to fight another day.

That other day, unfortunately for us, lasted until the 72nd minute when Jerell Quansah’s long ball forward found Bojan Miovski, and he slammed the hosts into the lead to allay the home fans worries.

It was a poor goal to concede, especially because it came from Mal Fagan-Walcott mistiming his attempted headed clearance, playing Miovski onside.

And for the third time in four meetings this season, we lose to Aberdeen.

During the international break, I arranged a friendly with Cumnock Juniors for my Reserves to give some of the boys who’ve been coming on in games a runout, as well as have a look at any developing young talents that I might loan out in January.

What followed was one of the most insane games I have ever seen in any Football Manager save as my second and third string ran out 9-4 winners in a throwback to the batshit scoreline days of the 1920s and 1930s.

Well, that was a fun use of the international break…

After three hectic Thistle games, it’s time to relax with a Scotland game that doesn’t matter.

Scotland were playing their final EURO 2024 qualifier at home to Bulgaria safe in the knowledge that they were all booked up for the finals in Germany next summer.

Despite having already secured qualification, there was no suggestion of Scotland being on the beach at Hampden and Ché Adams opened the scoring in the 23rd minute.

Both sides xG was under one, but it was an assured performance from Scotland, who sealed the win with eight minutes left thanks to Grant Hanley.

That win meant that Scotland top the qualification group, having lost only one game in eight.

The other game in the group was a 2-1 win for Cyprus over Ireland in Dublin, ensuring Cyprus lost all of their home matches, but picked up wins in two of their more difficult away games against Ireland and Bulgaria.

Scotland’s other match in this break was a friendly away to Kazakhstan, which finished 0-0. All that way for a 0-0, sheesh.

The Euro 2024 qualifying group finished like this:

Group E	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points
SCOTLAND	8	6	1	1	19
Austria	8	6	0	2	18
Rep. Ireland	8	2	2	4	8
Bulgaria	8	2	1	5	7
Cyprus	8	2	0	6	6

Comfortable in the end, but they did lose 4-1 in Austria…

November finished with the biggest game of our season that we will likely have as we faced Rangers in the semi-finals of the League Cup.

We’ve done very well to get this far, considering we are the holders, and even that was a miracle – and when Ross County shocked Hearts in the first semi-final – I foolishly dared to dream of another upset.

This semi-final followed the pattern of the final that we improbably won against the odds. Rangers were dominant from the off like Celtic had been. Unfortunately, our luck ran out after 11 minutes when VAR awarded Rangers a penalty kick.

James Tavernier stepped up and converted. The dream was unravelling before our very eyes, and in the 23rd minute, it was as good as dead when Ianis Hagi made it 2-0.

The shitty cherry on the shitty icing on the shitty cake came with 15 minutes to go when Stuart Bannigan was given his marching orders for a second booking.

After such a brave defence, our hold on the League Cup is over, but hopefully not for another 52 years.

And thus, a gallant defence ends. It was a right good laugh while it lasted.

That’s all for this month, thanks for bearing with me taking ages between blogs, it can be really difficult to get myself up for writing these when your brain is held together by blu-tac and has the consistency of porridge.

Until next time, folks!

Marc

Posted on June 26, 2023 by Marc Wallace 0

Wallace 'Til I Die

Tag: Hibernian