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

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

Little Drummer Boing (Boing) – December 2024

Despite our strong record against them since promotion to the Premiership, the very mention of Livingston Football Club gives even the most stoic of Thistle fans the willies.

We got off to a strong start against them on the opening day, crushing them by six goals to two, but the nagging fear of them doing us over as they did on two occasions in the 2017/18 season appears to have never left the conscience of the Thistle support.

Due to suspension, Shea Charles was replaced by Tom Lang in the only change from the victory over Slovan Bratislava in the Europa League.

Despite being favourites for this televised encounter on Sky Sports, I was keen to ensure we were out of sight early, as our options on the bench were scarily thin, with multiple teenagers fleshing out the matchday squad.

And two minutes into the game, it looked like we might just do that when Shamal George parried a fierce shot from Teddy Jenks into the path of Scott Tiffoney. The former Livingston man made no mistake against his former club from all of a few yards out.

Despite being comfortable from the second minute onwards, the home side found a way back into the game just past the hour mark when Matt Penney’s corner was headed home by our bete noir, Joel Nouble.

But the joy was short-lived for the Almondvale side when a quickly taken throw-in was worked to Teddy Jenks, and he drove the ball past Shamal George from 25 yards to restore our lead.

Back came the home side again, and it was that man Nouble on targe. His initial header was parried by Jamie Sneddon and back into his path for a simple finish.

The game’s best goal was kept for last as we (once again) quickly regained the lead after being pegged back by the home side. Scott Tiffoney played the ball into the channel for Charlie Whitaker, and the Everton loanee jinked and jived past two Livi defenders before curling the ball beyond Shamal George.

Should have been more comfortable in the end.

The Livi game weekend coincided with the Scottish Cup Fourth Round draw. Hopes were high for us to go on another run in the cup after reaching the semis last year, but those hopes were dashed when we came out of the hat.

Fresh off drawing them in the Scottish Cup Fourth Round, we were reunited with Celtic in the first meeting since our League Cup semi-final.

As in most games against Celtic, we rode our luck and found ourselves chasing the game early when Sander Berge cut the ball back for Sergi Canos, who showed quick feet before slotting past Jamie Sneddon.

But it looked like being embarrassing for us in the 20th minute when the visitors added a second goal through Jota. The Jags’ defence parted shamefully as the Portuguese shaped and curled home from the edge of the box.

Hearts at Tynecastle next for us, and as bad as they’ve been this season, it’s not the most ideal place to be looking for a reaction to a bad result.

Our second consecutive away game in the league took us out east again as we travelled to Scotland’s capital to take on Hearts.

The home side have been performing well below the standard expected by their fans this season but came into this game with two wins in the last three games – only losing to Rangers.

Despite our bruising defeat to Celtic, we started the brighter and almost took the lead in the first ten minutes. Scott Tiffoney’s deflected shot dribbled across the goalline, with only very adept footwork from Craig Halkett preventing a disastrous own goal.

Hearts failed to pick themselves up from that early scare and found themselves under Thistle pressure in the first 20 minutes of the game. This paid off when Stuart Bannigan’s corner found the head of Mal Fagan-Walcott. The Englishman burying the ball past Zander Clark to put us in front.

A repeat effort was denied by Clark ten minutes later. But we went into the break a goal up and relatively comfortable.

We began the second half strongly, something challenging to do when you feel like you’re playing well towards the end of the half.

That good momentum paid off just past the hour when some good combination play in the middle between Charlie Whitaker and Greg Kiltie led to our second goal. The former Killie and St Mirren slipped in Yoram Boerhout, and the Dutchman fired past Clark to double our lead after an excellent bit of play through the middle from the Everton loanee.

A bad day at the office got worse for the Jambos inside the final ten minutes when Stuart Bannigan’s corner provoked panic in the penalty area, resulting in Lynden Gooch pulling down Charlie Whitaker. After a brief consultation with VAR, Graham Grainger awarded the penalty.

Scott Tiffoney stepped up and blasted the ball high and beyond Zander Clark to seal an emphatic win in the capital.

Just the one game in the Europa League for us in December – and it was an important one for our chances of making the playoffs.

Danish heavyweights FC Midtjylland arrived in Maryhill hoping to string consecutive wins together for the first time and deal a big blow to our chances of making the next round.

The Danes had lost their first two games in the league phase at home to Borussia Monchengladbach and away to Besiktas. Form improved with a draw at AZ and at home to Sporting CP, who we beat in our first game, before defeating Qarabag away.

While we’ve lost more than we’ve won in this league phase, we have rarely been totally outclassed – that was until the Danish side opened the scoring with a free-flowing move that began with the goalkeeper playing it out and ended with Emiliano Martinez following up at the second attempt after Mal Fagan-Walcott couldn’t clear his lines.

Ten minutes into the second half, the best chance of the game for us came when a corner was poorly cleared by the Danes and was worked back to Scott Tiffoney, whose ferocious shot cracked off the crossbar.

Martinez caused us problems all evening, and he almost turned provider for a second Midtjylland goal when he won the ball out wide and fired the ball across- but Chilufuya saw his effort tipped around the post for a corner by Jamie Sneddon.

The Zambian winger wouldn’t be denied and it was he who made the points safe in the 87th minute, finishing off a sweeping move to leave our European hopes hanging on at least one win from our final two league games away to PSV and at home to Qarabag.

After the disappointment of the game against Midtjylland, it was back to Firhill on Sunday to put things right against a Motherwell side on a truly wretched run of form.

The Steelmen arrived in Maryhill with just one win all season in the Premiership, and even that came at the end of November.

Like the Livingston game at the beginning of the month, we began positively. We took an early lead when Teddy Jenks rifled home a beauty from 25 yards after some excellent buildup play for Charlie Whitaker to create space.

But similarly to the Livi game, we allowed them back into it when Michael Rose converted a penalty in the 67th minute.

The final ten minutes saw us regain the lead as great work down the left from substitute Bez Lubala teed found Charlie Whitaker in the middle, and his powerful drive from 20 yards flew past Cieran Slicker in the Motherwell goal.

A late corner then brought about the opportunity to seal the three points. It was worked back to Scott Tiffoney. He then laid it off to Bez Lubala, whose charge into the Motherwell area was blocked, but the ball broke kindly for Teddy Jenks to grab a second of the game.

Motherwell grabbed a consolation goal through Bosun Lawal, but we held on to claim an important victory after our European setback.

Just three matches left to report in a hectic month after that Motherwell game, and it was also our last outside of Glasgow as we headed up the A9 to Dingwall to face Ross County.

The Staggies had won their last two matches at home by an aggregate score of 7-0 either side of a 3-0 defeat away to Celtic, so I was aware that we would need to be at our most alert to get something from this game, but where have we heard that up there before?

Just two minutes had gone in the game when our worst fears were realised when Walters’ clever reverse pass set up Yan Dhanda, his angled drive smashed into the roof of the net to give the hosts the lead.

We were not at the races, and I let the players know when I got them in at the break. Thankfully, it was only 1-0, though Tony Watt had missed a glorious chance to double their lead just before the interval.

Reading them the riot act seemed to do them a bit of good, as within the opening minute of the second half, we were up the other end and winning a dangerous free-kick that Scott Tiffoney only just put over the bar.

Ten minutes later and from even further out, Tiffoney channelled his inner David Beckham and levelled proceedings with a stunning free-kick from all of 30 yards that Uphoff in the County goal couldn’t get near.

Dhanda was a constant threat to us, and he almost had the home side back in front in the 67th minute when his curling shot from the edge of the area had to be turned behind for a corner.

For the second game in a row, we were involved in a game that took it up a level in the final ten minutes.

First, County retook the lead in the 83rd minute when Alex Iacovitti bulleted home a header from a corner.

The home side were desperate to keep a hold of the ball as time ticked down and hold onto a third consecutive win at home, but their efforts to do so would be their downfall.

David Cancola lost the ball to youngster A-Jai McLelland. He drove forward, finding Yoram Boerhout in plenty of space before he played it out wide to Bez Lubala. The Congolese winger knocked it back to Stuart Bannigan in acres of space, where he then found Teddy Jenks, who fired home from 25 yards to ensure a dramatic sharing of the spoils in Dingwall.

After two dramatic games with a lot of late action, it was time to prepare for a different kind of pressure as we made the trip across Glasgow to face Rangers.

As unlikely a possibility as it was, victory at Ibrox and a win over St Mirren in our next game, followed by defeat for Rangers in the Old Firm, would put us within touching distance of them in second place.

Unfortunately, despite meticulous preparation, there was to be no repeat of our heroic triumph over them in September.
Emil Forsberg opened the scoring in the 34th minute, emphatically blasting into the roof of the net after Nathan Tella’s knockdown broke his way in the penalty area.

Tella was deeply involved in the hosts’ second goal, his deep cross finding Sam Lammers, whose volley hit the post but rebounded for him to roll into the empty net.

The former Southampton man wouldn’t be denied a goal of his own, however, and he wrapped up the three points six minutes later with a strike from close range after another defensive horror show from us.

After the disappointment at Ibrox, it was back to Firhill for our final game of 2024 against newly-promoted St Mirren, with whom we shared four goals in a thriller at Paisley in our previous meeting.

Being back to more fluid, attacking play suited us, as we had the lead inside 21 minutes when former Buddie Greg Kiltie slipped Yoram Boerhout in to score with the aid of the woodwork.

Playing well and leading at the break, I told the players to keep it up and really turn on the style – and we were rewarded with a second goal within a minute of the restart when Bez Lubala’s cross picked out Greg Kiltie, who finished with aplomb.
A fine day at the office was concluded in the 79th minute when Scott Tiffoney rolled home a penalty.

But there would be no clean sheet to see out the year as the Buddies grabbed a goal back almost immediately through Jordan Marshall.

That’s something that has happened far too often to us this season, and we need to look at fixing it in 2025.

That rounds off another month of boingtastic Partick Thistle action, join me next month as the transfer window opens and our Europa League dream is decided.

Until next time,

Marc

Posted on February 17, 2024 by Marc Wallace 0

Gluten-Free Gladiators – September 2024

After the heroics of our Europa League progression, it was back into Premiership action as we hosted an Aberdeen side out for a reaction after they were battered 3-0 in their last fixture against Celtic.

With Jack McMillan not fully fit after coming off against Malmo, Ben McPherson got the nod at right-back in the only meaningful change from the defeat in Sweden. The decision to not ring wholesale changes against the Dons looked inspired, as we took the lead in the 11th minute.

Alex Cochrane’s clearance was at fault, his clearance being intercepted by Charlie Whitaker before he slipped the ball into Scott Tiffoney for a finish past Kelle Roos.

But Aberdeen wouldn’t be behind for too long, as big-name summer recruit Tom Cairney found Duk in space with a clever reverse pass. The Cape Verdean made no mistake from inside the penalty area in a dismal bit of defending from my usually dependable back line.

The Dons completed a deserved turnaround, at least based on the xG (2.26 to our 1.33) in the early stages of the second half when Tom Cairney converted a penalty kick.

We hauled ourselves from the canvas with the visitors seemingly set for three points and a satisfying journey back from Glasgow. We found an equaliser in the last ten minutes when Jack McMillan’s deep cross was headed back into the penalty area by Bez Lubala, allowing Charlie Whitaker to head the ball into the ground and past Roos.

On the balance of things, it was an undeserved point, but no win since the opening day is more concerning ahead of a trip to Motherwell that is inching towards must-win territory.

Not losing games, but not winning them either.

With the enormous test of Sporting CP looming, we made the trip to Lanarkshire to take on a Motherwell side that only just about avoided relegation from the top flight in the last weeks of the season, finishing ninth on 33 points – avoiding the playoff spot by six points and automatic relegation by one more.

Like ourselves, Motherwell have found wins hard to come by in the Premiership this season, with both of us unable to turn draws into victories at the minute.

The home side almost opened the scoring in the second minute, as former Jag Stephen O’Donnell found Riku Danzaki in acres of space, but the Japanese midfielder’s curling shot struck the post and went wide in an early letoff for us.

All of the best chances in the first half were coming for the home side, and they came close again in the 42nd minute when Barry Maguire’s header whistled over Murray Robson’s crossbar.

With no bookings dished out to either side, it was a game low on anything entertaining, but Motherwell came close again in the last ten minutes when Jack Aitchison was denied at close quarters by our stand-in goalkeeper, Murray Robson.

Despite the majority of the chances going the way of the home side, it would be a Thistle player who found the back of the net in the last ten minutes.
Unfortunately for us, Yoram Boerhout strayed offside as he latched onto Bez Lubala’s ball over the top before sweeping the ball past Liam Kelly.

Another game without a win is not ideal, especially with Sporting up next at Firhill.

As disappointing as it had been to not win the Motherwell game, there was no time to feel sorry for ourselves.

Sporting Clube de Portugal were in town as we kicked off our Europa League campaign with (probably) the most lucrative fixture possible aside from PSV away.

Much like Malmo, the chasm between ourselves and the side from the Portuguese capital was huge. Sporting had reached the final in 2004/05, losing to CSKA Moscow in their own home stadium.

In the same season, we were relegated for the second consecutive season, finishing 9th in the Scottish First Division after coming last in the Premiership the year before.

So, to be on the same level as them some 20 years later feels surreal.

Jamie Sneddon was back in training following his injury, but was still not fit to make the squad, so youngsters Robson and Galt kept their places.

Also returning to the starting XI were Jack McMillan after his knock against Malmo and Charlie Whitaker. They replaced Ben McPherson and Bez Lubala respectively.

Predictably, Sporting were able to assert themselves on the game right from kickoff, swarming our box within the first 30 seconds with slick passing and moving from their marauding wide players.

Despite that, the first shot at goal in the game came from us, as Teddy Jenks tried his luck from 30 yards with an effort that sailed well wide of goal.

Moments later, we had a corner taken by Stuart Bannigan that sailed into the grateful arms of the Sporting goalie, an idea of the level of quality we were up against at this level.

But just after the half-hour, a similarly poor corner led to the unthinkable – a Thistle goal.

It was a very well-worked goal, crafted with lots of patient, methodical passing from back to front, culminating in a stunning ball over the top from Harry Milne into the path of Yoram Boerhout, who made no mistake from the edge of the area to take the roof off the Firhill stands.

Enraged, the Sporting players appealed for offside, but Yoram had held his run better than in the Motherwell game, which was a very similar decision, and the goal was given by the officials.

Eight minutes later, we almost had a second when a Greg Kiltie shot from distance was tipped around the post for a corner by former Real Madrid goalkeeper Antonio Adan.

Stuart Bannigan swung in the resulting corner and, to the euphoria of those crammed into Firhill, found the head of Malachi Fagan-Walcott to double our advantage. The former Spurs man diverted it in off the post, leaving Sporting floored.
Those two goals in eight minutes left Sporting struggling to make an impact on the game, and their night was soured further when Ruben Vinagre was carried off with an ankle injury in the 67th minute.

With both sides having an xG of under 1.00, it was not a pretty game, and I had no desire to make it so.

We made it into a battle and, inexplicably, were able to win against European giants compared to us.

After the euphoria of the stunning win over Sporting, the big games kept coming, as Rangers visited Firhill for a televised Sunday spectacular.

With Jamie Sneddon still out but getting closer to fitness, the pressure was on Murray Robson to deliver in a fixture that has given us little joy recently.

Keen to not only snap our six-game losing run against Michael Beale’s side, but we were also after a first win over Rangers since May of 1993 when John Lambie inspired a relegation-threatened Thistle to a convincing win over a Rangers side that were still on a remarkable unbeaten run, even if they had secured the league title by the time of the game.

This comprehensive win, which predates the Jackie Husband Stand, was the last time Thistle beat Rangers.

We actually made a very positive start by our standards in this fixture, coming close in the eighth minute when Harry Milne’s cross for Bez Lubala was turned behind for a corner that led to a shot from the edge of the area by Yoram Boehout to sail over the crossbar.

Rangers had their first opportunity in the 15th minute when Marcelino Nunez’s swerving effort from 20 yards went harmlessly wide. But it remained all Thistle, with us smothering the visitors at every opportunity and keeping them camped in their own half, albeit with a lack of a distinct cutting edge.

The visitors had another decent chance in the 27th minute when a dipping cross from Romain Perraud met the head of Sam Lammers, but the Dutchman’s effort went over the bar.

The best chance in the first half fell to Yoram Boerhout in the 30th minute when he latched onto an excellent diagonal pass from Stuart Bannigan, only to fire his effort into the John Lambie Stand behind Finn Dahmen’s goal.

After this, the visitors had a sustained spell of pressure, but the closest they would come to scoring was an Alex Lowry effort from the edge of the box following a Ianis Hagis corner kick.

The second half was the opposite of the first, with Rangers taking control from the early onset of the second period and piling on the pressure, but not having any luck against my obstinate side, giving no quarter to our more illustrious neighbours in an effort reminiscent of our performance against Sporting on Thursday night.

Lammers was once again attracting the ire of the visiting fans when he passed up an excellent chance to break the deadlock in the 65th minute, his header clipping the crossbar after excellent work out wide from Holmgren Pedersen.

Rangers were made to regret those missed chances as the game ticked down, being punished in the 82nd minute when Shea Charles nodded home to give us a deserved lead over the balance of the whole game.

Harry Milne’s free-kick was hit to the far post and was initially cleared by Ben Davies before Yoram Boerhout whipped it back in, with Charles finding space between Ridvan and Davies to nod the ball beyond Finn Dahmen.

The goal lit a fire under the Ibrox side and they upped the ante to find an equaliser, but yet again, were left cursing Sam Lammers when the Dutchman blasted over the crossbar after turning Shea Charles in our penalty area.

Despite that Rangers pressure, we almost added a second goal in the 85th minute when Dahmen parried a Stuart Bannigan shot into the path of Greg Kiltie, but the former Killie and St Mirren man couldn’t get enough on it and only succeeded in giving Dahmen a comfortable save.

A torturous period of stoppage time followed, but we held on to claim a priceless first victory since the opening day.

After two massive wins at home, it was time to hit the road as we travelled to Inverness for a televised League Cup quarter-final.

So far, Caley are having a wretched season in the Championship, having won just one of their nine matches under my predecessor at Firhill, Ian McCall. But their cup form has made a mockery of their lowly position and knocked out Hearts to reach this stage.

With our League Cup-winning hero Anton Dowds on their books, I was even more keen to ensure we wouldn’t follow Hearts out of the tournament and reach the semi-finals.

Keen to impress on live television, the hosts had the first chance of the game, flashing a shot at Murray Robson’s goal that he had to react quickly to tip around for a corner headed over by Walton.
From there, a low-key affair played out, but that all changed in the 41st minute when we were awarded a penalty after Jason Brown handled the ball in the box at a corner.

Any potential fears of an upset were eased soon after, as Scott Tiffoney converted from the spot to send us into the break a goal to the good.

Calum Rae came perilously close to an equaliser for the home side in the 50th minute when he turned Harry Milne in the box, only for his effort to go narrowly wide.

It would prove to be a costly miss for the home side, as 16 minutes afterwards, we made it 2-0 when Stuart Bannigan’s ball into space found Greg Kiltie, who sent Stevie Lawless away down the left wing before cutting it back for Yoram Boerhout to sweep past former Jags ‘keeper Mark Ridgers.

Yoram ensured it was smooth sailing into the last four in the 82nd minute with his second of the game, chesting down a delightful clipped ball over the top from Teddy Jenks and running through to slot past Ridgers.

Other results:

Kelty Hearts 1-5 Dundee
Kilmarnock 0-1 Celtic
St. Johnstone 2-0 Motherwell

Before our final match of the month, a home clash with Hearts, we learned our fate in the League Cup semi-finals for the third season in succession.

With Celtic, Dundee and St. Johnstone in the hat with us, the hope was strong, but despite crossing everything to the point that I’d never be able to set foot in Larkhall…

After that disappointment, it was time to protect our surprisingly excellent recent record against Hearts.

The Jam Tarts had yet to beat us since our promotion back to the top flight but looked well placed to do so after just three minutes when they took the lead through Lynden Gooch.

A fine strike from the edge of the box from the former Sunderland man, but steam was coming out of my ears at our failure to close him down.

A constant about this team since promotion is our excellent ability to respond to adversity, as shown by our record at recovering points from losing positions. That looked like continuing in the 26th minute when Bez Lubala extended his goalscoring run against the Jambos.

Scott Tiffoney wrong-footed the Hearts defence from 45 yards with a quickly taken free-kick, allowing Lubala to burst into the penalty area and fire low beyond Zander Clark.

Despite having more attempts at goal and on target, we found clear-cut chances hard to come by, but it looked okay in the 88th minute when we turned the game around through another goal for Yoram Boerhout.

The Ajax loanee made the most of some flat-footed Hearts defending to nod home his 9th goal in ten games in Red and Yellow.

It looked like enough for all three points. Then we were hit by a sucker punch.

As Hearts pushed for an equaliser, they were given a corner which saw Zander Clark coming up to channel his inner Jamie Sneddon.

Clark would be unsuccessful, but the ensuing panic saw Kyle Turner punished for a handball – handing Hearts a golden opportunity to level the game at the death.

It was an opportunity that arch-nemesis Lawrence Shankland did not pass up, sending the returning Jamie Sneddon the wrong way from 12 yards to secure a share of the spoils for the Jambos.

After another exhilarating month of action, this is what the cinch Premiership looks like going into October 2024:

But, despite that hectic month, more utterly seismic news would come my way.

That concludes another month over here at Wallace ‘Til I Die, I hope you’ll join me next month when we face such challenges as Viktoria Plzen away and Lens at home in the Europa League, while we face Celtic for the first time this season in the pick of our domestic games.

Until next time,

Marc.

Posted on December 13, 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

Escape From Accietraz – February 2024

Ah, February, The month of love and my birthday. But before we get into that, it’s time to review the January transfer window.

It was not a dramatic window of any kind, with the movements outward being essential clearing of younger players whose deals were coming up this summer and players who were very much on the outer reaches of the club.

Anton Dowds, hero of last year’s League Cup Final, moved to Inverness Caley Thistle on a loan deal until the end of the season. Goalkeeping prodigy Ben Galt moved to Peterhead on a similar deal, as did midfielder Jenno Campagne to Morton.

Jenno leaving then allowed me to bring in two players on loan to strengthen the middle of the park and the options in the Number Ten role.

Arriving in Maryhill were central midfielder Alfie McCalmont from Leeds United and Attacking Midfielder Greg Kiltie from St Mirren, who play in Scotland’s second tier.

As can be seen, Alfie will wear number 22 during his time in Maryhill, and Greg will wear number 28.

Our first game in February was a daunting trip to Ibrox to face a Rangers side hoping to extend their lead (for at least 24 hours) at the top over Celtic to five points by defeating us.

Greg Kiltie was handed his first start, but Alfie McCalmont had to make do with a place on the bench.

Away games to Celtic and Rangers are always played with a defence-first mindset. I do a lot of work in training on defence and tactics and then try to seize the initiative with set-pieces, but that was out the window after five minutes in Govan as Rangers left us thinking the game started at 3:05PM.

Ridvan Yilmaz created all kinds of panic with a surging run into the box, combining with Yann M’Vila before the latter teed up Rabbi Matondo to rifle home after a mini scramble in the penalty area.

Rangers sensed we were there for the taking. After more miscommunication at the back, Sam Lammers and Jamie Sneddon tussled, allowing for the ball to break to Ryan Kent to roll home from inside the six-yard box.

Despite keeping it to 2-0 at the interval, the same issues of starting slow affected us again in the second half as Yilmaz and Matondo combined for another goal in the first two minutes of the second half to put the game to bed.

We did have a good chance soon after going 3-0 down when a nicely worked Jamie Bowden diagonal found Stevie Lawless. He burst into the box and saw his effort strike the post. It was going to be one of those days.

After a close call involving Raskin, the home side added a fourth goal when Glen Kamara’s through ball found Rabbi Matondo, who cut it back for Ilias Chair to sweep home.

Despite a hell of a beating, we did manage to pull one goal back when Kyle Turner’s first-time pass split the Rangers defence and allowed Tom Cannon to break into the box and lift the ball over Finn Dahmen.

If it’s possible to look not entirely terrible in a 4-1 loss, that was what that was.

An opportunity missed for us to go level on points with Hearts in third, whereas Rangers temporarily opened the gap over Celtic at the top to five points until Celtic defeated St Johnstone on Sunday afternoon.

After the disappointment at Ibrox, it was nice to get back to Firhill for our next two fixtures, even if they were against Aberdeen and Celtic.

We defeated Aberdeen at Firhill in the League Cup earlier in the season in dramatic fashion, but that was our only win over The Dons this season, as they have had the upper hand since in the league encounters, winning to nil on both occasions.

Despite the heavy defeat at Ibrox, I kept the same starting XI in place, opting to change tactically to a more open style of play. It was risky, but Aberdeen don’t really play with as much emphasis on attack from their full-backs, which destroyed us at Ibrox.

Barely two minutes of the game were played when the game’s first goal came. The visitors were playing some nice possession football in our half before being cut out by Stevie Lawless and we countered. He found Greg Kiltie in space, and the new signing launched it forward for Tom Cannon to race through and finish open the scoring.

The Dons were shellshocked and found themselves further behind in the fifth minute when Jamie Bowden picked the lock on the Aberdeen back line, allowing Scott Tiffoney to race into the channel and tee up Stevie Lawless. His effort was blocked, but it broke for Tom Cannon to slam the ball beyond Kelle Roos.

As we all know, 2-0 can be a dangerous lead and The Dons almost found a route back into the game in the 13th minute when Kevin Holt dallied on the ball, allowing Bojan Miovski to pounce. While a shooting opportunity for the North Macedonian didn’t materialise, he managed to set up Pajaziti. But his effort drifted harmlessly wide when it seemed easier to score.

Moments after, we almost had a sensational third goal when Greg Kiltie caught Dons ‘keeper Kelle Roos off his line from 30 yards. The shot was dipping but ultimately just went over, sparing Roos’ blushes.

The missed chances to make it 3-0 came back to haunt us in the last ten minutes of the first half as Aberdeen pulled a goal back through Vicente Besuijen bursting down the channel to latch onto Ryan Duncan’s pass and rifle past Jamie Sneddon.

With a narrow lead that could have been much more than it was going into the break, I was keen to avoid a repeat of our Ibrox capitulation. The initial prognosis was good, but we were given an almighty let-off in the 60th minute when Aberdeen had a goal disallowed for offside.

Bojan Miovski was the guilty party, straying off when Vicente Besuijen charged down Jack McMillan’s short pass back to Jamie Sneddon.

That served as a wake-up call for us, and six minutes later, we restored our two-goal advantage. Stevie Lawless was the creator, bursting down the left flank, cutting the ball back for Greg Kiltie to mark his home debut with a lovely strike from the edge of the box that Roos couldn’t get to.

A huge difference to the Rangers game, obviously we were playing more with the handbrake on in that game, but to play so well against a very good Aberdeen side gives me hope we can grab a Europa Conference League spot this season now.

Our second and last home game of February 2024 was against a Celtic side that had improved significantly (in form, anyway) from the side that had beaten us 6-0 last month at Celtic Park.

Coming into that game, Celtic had drawn their last two games, including an Old Firm and found themselves five points behind their Glasgow rivals.

Since then, Celtic have bridged that gap, winning every game in the league by an aggregate score of 26-2.

It was back to a more defence-first mindset for this. But it provided little resistance, as Angeball ripped us from earhole to arsehole, racing to a 3-0 lead by the 24th minute with goals from Kyogo, Luca Waldschmidt and Liel Abada.

Tom Cannon did pull a goal back early in the second half, giving hope that we might actually keep it closer than the humiliation we endured at Celtic Park, but it wasn’t to be, as two goals in five minutes from Artem Dovbyk and Jean-Kevin Duverne ensured it was 11-1 in favour of Postecoglou’s side in the two meetings between us in 2024 to date.

We finished the month with two trips to Lanarkshire to take on Hamilton Accies and Motherwell in the cup and league, respectively.

Despite sitting in ninth place in the Championship, Accies came into the clash on an excellent run of form, having lost once in 2024 and had won their last three, including a Challenge Cup semi-final.

We made just one change from the crushing defeat at the hands of Celtic at Firhill, with Alfie McCalmont getting his first start in midfield ahead of Kyle Turner.

Safe for a short spell in the first half, Accies were a distinct second best, but we couldn’t find an opening for love or money.

Our hopes increased just two minutes into the second half when Accies’ Scott Martin was sent off, and the chance to take the initiative was ours – but it wasn’t forthcoming. The ten men stunned us by taking the lead through former Jag Dario Zanatta in the 55th minute.

The defence didn’t deal with a corner from Reegan Mimnaugh, and the second time was the charm for the cross, which Zanatta glanced past Jamie Sneddon from close range.

Chances came and went, and by the time Kyle Turner came on in the 90th minute, we were firmly in the last chance saloon.

Then, in stoppage time at the end of the game, we had one last attack when Harry Stone’s kick was intercepted by Scott Tiffoney and fed to Stevie Lawless, who slid the ball to on-rushing sub Kyle Turner, who weaved past two Accies defenders before firing high into Stone’s net.

No replays in the Scottish Cup meant we were set for extra-time, and the ten men saw their brave resistance collapse as we pushed on to turn the game around in our favour.

Kyle Turner’s shot after working the ball into the box from a Jack McMillan through was deflected and Stuart Bannigan, another substitute, went up like a gazelle in the torrential Lanarkshire rain to head us in front.

That Bannigan goal would be the straw that broke the camel’s back for the dogged home side, as we added a quickfire third goal to give us some crucial breathing space at last.

Beryly Lubala was the architect this time, as he slipped Kyle Turner through for another tidy finish to mark an excellent cameo for him.

Three minutes of the second half of extra time had been played when we added a fourth. Lubala, the creator of the third got in on the act himself with the pick of the goals, a slaloming run from the left flank into the middle before rifling a shot high into the net from 25 yards.

That was far, far too close to ending in disaster

Other results:

Airdrieonians 0-3 Aberdeen (AET)

Falkirk 1-0 Dundee United

Hibernian 2-0 Ross County

Greenock Morton 2-2 St. Johnstone – Greenock Morton won 5-3 on penalties

Stenhousemuir 1-3 Motherwell

The focus turned to Sunday and the draw for the quarter-finals following the two televised games involving Celtic and Rangers. There was some intrigue as Rangers, like ourselves, Aberdeen and St. Johnstone, were taken to extra-time by Kilmarnock.

But there was to be no upset as Jamie Shackleton’s 119th-minute strike ensured passage through for Rangers.

Dundee provoked mild panic at Celtic Park by taking a 13th-minute lead through Lyall Cameron. But Celtic hit back with two goals in three minutes from Aaron Mooy to take a lead into the break.

Liel Abada and Matt O’Riley were on target in the second half, ensuring ultimately safe progress for the league leaders.

The draw could not have been more seismic, setting up such ties as Falkirk v Aberdeen and Greenock Morton travelling from Inverclyde to the capital to take on Hibs.

As for us?

I think you can all work out what the other quarter-final tie is.

After our great escape in the cup, it was back to league action as we travelled to Fir Park looking to record our first win at Fir Park since 1996.

The starting XI had a more familiar feel, rather than the almost costly rotation in the cup at Accies, as Tom Cannon, Kyle Turner and Greg Kiltie, who was cup-tied last week, came back in.

The home side were quickest out of the blocks, having clearly watched our struggles with Accies last week, and their fast start yielded positive results as Sean McAllister opened the scoring for The Steelmen after just seven minutes.

McAllister, who is on loan from Everton like Tom Cannon, made no mistake inside the penalty area with an emphatic drive.

The hosts were coasting despite only being a goal ahead, but nearly gifted us an equaliser when a slack defensive header was pounced on by Tom Cannon, who raced through and dinked the ball over Liam Kelly. However, Kelly and Motherwell’s blushes would be saved when Rose hooked the ball away as it looked certain to bobble into the net.

Despite that close call, Motherwell didn’t learn their lesson, and we found a leveller right before the interval. Some quick passing and movement from a Harry Milne corner found Greg Kiltie in space inside the box, where his low cross was glanced past Kelly by the head of Tom Cannon.

After a nerve-shredding VAR check, the goal was given, and the thousands of Thistle fans in the two-tier stand behind the opposite goal went wild.

Last week against Hamilton, we showed how capable we are at striking quickly out of the blocks at the start of a half, netting three goals within five minutes of play restarting on average, even if it was in extra time against Hamilton, we showed we can hit teams early doors.

It would be the case again here, as two minutes into the second 45 at Fir Park, we doubled our lead as Motherwell fell to one of football’s oldest curses.

Jamie Bowden provided the ball over the top, and Stevie Lawless raced through, splitting Stephen O’Donnell and Rose before firing past Liam Kelly.

Four minutes later, we made it three. Kyle Turner prodded the ball through from Tom Cannon, who unselfishly knocked it into the path of Greg Kiltie, and he swept the ball past the onrushing Liam Kelly.

Motherwell pushed hard for a route back into the game, halving the deficit through a Ricki Lamie goal 13 minutes from the end. But the truth was that the home side were not up to it – and we could have been punished on another day.

A first win in Motherwell for Thistle since 1996 and a positive to take ahead of the big cup clash next month.

A fun game, but it could have gone wrong at any point.

With the month at an end, here is how the Scottish Premiership table looks going into March of 2024.

Six games to go until the split, The top six is looking good but not getting carried away.

Posted on October 16, 2023 by Marc Wallace 0

There On Merida – December 2023

A/N: Welcome back to another installment of Wallace ‘Til I Die.

I can only apologise to those of you who may have been waiting for a new post for some time. My long-serving laptop of almost seven years stopped working adequately enough for me to put the blog out. The keyboard had stopped working and took ages to start up.

But I am back now and armed with a new laptop to churn out more Thistle-related FM content for my audience of about five folk that give a shit and my own sanity.

Let’s get started, shall we? – Marc

An action-packed December began with a trip to Tannadice to take on a Dundee United side fresh off of sacking one-time hero Duncan Ferguson after a disastrous start to the season that left them bottom of the table.

Stuart Bannigan’s sending-off in the League Cup semi-final against Rangers didn’t carry over to the league, so he retained his place alongside Jamie Bowden at the base of midfield. The only change from the defeat at Hampden was significant as 17-year-old academy prospect Ben Galt made his senior debut ahead of David Mitchell, who had not impressed in training post-Hampden.

Deploying a young goalkeeper when your struggling opponents are desperate to win and coming off a stinging defeat in a big game is incredibly risky. But Ben acquitted himself very well and handled what pressure United put him under with confidence that belied his young age.

That said, it was up the other end that we struggled. It started with Tom Cannon not reacting quickly enough when a deflected Stevie Lawless cross looped over Jordan Archer and onto the woodwork in the 12th minute. Scott McMann was on hand to ensure Archer could regroup and Cannon couldn’t pounce.

In the 29th minute, we passed up another glorious chance when United got in a muddle trying to clear a Scott Tiffoney cross that almost fell to Cannon. The ball subsequently broke to Ramez Hefzalla, but his strike ended up wide of the goal.

The home side’s best chance to snatch all three points came in the 78th minute when Glenn Middleton’s free-kick from out wide and near the halfway line sailed into the box in the pouring winter rain and was met by the head of Lewis Payne. Unfortunately for him and United, it flew over the bar, clipping the crossbar as it went over.

In the end, it finished goalless and a hugely disappointing way to react to the Rangers defeat ahead of our next game at Firhill against, you guessed it, Rangers.

To come out of this with only a point was criminal, but a solid debut for the teenage goalie.

With our mini injury crisis easing somewhat, I welcomed Jamie Sneddon back as Rangers visited Firhill in a re-run of the League Cup semi-final.

It was one of two changes to the side that disappointingly drew with Dundee United as Stuart Bannigan’s suspension for his League Cup red card kicked in. Banzo was replaced in midfield by Jenno Campagne.

Whenever playing one of Celtic or Rangers, it can be easy to get sucked into overcomplicating things, but rather than go totally defensive, I opted to be a bit more balanced and counter on them when winning possession of the ball.

It was a strategy that worked initially, as we had a good spell after initial early domination from Rangers out of the gate and capitalised on it by taking the lead. Tom Cannon surged forward with the ball, scything through the Rangers defence when his shot from the edge of the box deflected off Connor Goldson and into the path of Ramez Hefzalla. He made no mistake, tucking the ball beyond the onrushing Finn Dahmen.

Cue bedlam in the Firhill stands, but the joy would be short-live, as the visitors levelled the scores just four minutes later when Yann M’Vila’s ball over the top found Sam Lammers. The Dutchman took one touch to control before slamming the ball past the returning Jamie Sneddon.

Rangers resumed control of the game from that point on, but were almost 2-1 down going into the interval when Tom Cannon’s first-time shot from an early Aidan Fitzpatrick cross struck the foot of the post, sparing the blushes of Rangers captain James Tavernier, who had lost the Everton loanee as Fitzpatrick zipped the ball in.

The cry at half-time was to get the players to keep it up. I felt we were unlucky to not be ahead at the break despite Rangers having the better of the first half. But it felt like my encouragement fell on deaf ears when, near enough directly from kickoff, Todd Cantwell burst into the box and dinked the ball over Jamie Sneddon. Fortunately for us, Mal Fagan-Walcott was on hand to clear the danger.

The intense Rangers pressure continued as the second half went on. Todd Cantwell saw a stunning strike from distance crash against Jamie Sneddon’s crossbar. But in the 69th minute, the pressure would get too much, and the visitors were able to turn the scoreline in their favour. Todd Cantwell with an annoyingly beautiful disguised through ball for Tom Lawrence, who just about dodged Mal Fagan-Walcott’s attempts to stop him before smartly finishing past Sneddon.

Sam Lammers had two chances to further extend the Gers lead but was deemed offside when a header struck the crossbar. Another header whistled just over, ruffling the roof of the net.

Five without a win now in all competitions going into a trip to Tynecastle, It does not look good, Brev.

Another game without a win, but it’s only Hearts away next week eh?

What do you do when you go five games without a win? You go back to the drawing board and look at what has been (kinda) working and what (definitely) hasn’t.

For the midweek trip to Hearts, I rung the changes. Mal Fagan-Walcott, Aidan Fitzpatrick and Stevie Lawless were out, and Darren Brownlie, Scott Tiffoney and Beryly Lubala came in.

Tactically, I didn’t deviate too much from the Rangers defeat. Staying focused on discipline and our threat from set pieces with Tiffoney returning to the team after a spell out with injury and poor training performances.

Safe for a tiny spell, the home side dominated the first 45 minutes and came closest to scoring in the 20th minute when a Craig Halkett header from a Lynden Gooch free-kick sailed just over the crossbar.

Although we were dramatically better in the second half, having some of our best spells of the game, it still looked like Hearts were the more likely side to score, as exemplified by an Alan Forrest strike which curled agonisngly wide of Jamie Sneddon’s goal.

70 minutes became 80, and 80 ticked into 90 as this languid game devoid of quality ebbed away from both sides.

Then it happened. Tom Lang, on for Jack McMillan at right-back, surged forward, looking to get one last attack going. He played the ball inside to Josh Adam, another substitute, who fired it out wide to Scott Tiffoney despite the three-pronged pressure from Beni Baningime, Stephen Kingsley and Scott Allardice.

Tiffoney continued on, reaching the corner of the penalty area still under duress from Kingsley and Kye Rowles, who was on a booking. He slid the ball into the box looking for Josh Adam and found Beryly Lubala, who surged from deep to sweep home.

Tynecastle stood silent, but not before that famous booing echoed around the old ground. We’d nicked it at the death and ended our winless run.

It was a brilliant moment for Bez too, he hasn’t played well a lot this season and the fans have been on his back – as have I – and that’s one way to pay it back.

As you can see, we weren’t at it for a good bit of this game. So to come away with three points is amazing.

Our surprise win at Tynecastle had been a massive boost to the group, and looking to build on that, we welcomed Motherwell to Firhill.

Despite our run of five games without a win in all competitions being a big concern, Motherwell came to Firhill with just three wins since September and were most recently on the end of a bruising 5-1 defeat at home to Celtic.

A couple of changes were made to the side that defeated Hearts at Tynecastle, with Josh Adam coming into the side for Ramez Hefzalla and Danny Mullen for the out-of-form Tom Cannon.

Mullen’s return to the side was almost marked with a goal after just six minutes when he latched onto a Jamie Bowden pass and then curled a shot that struck the post. Unfortunately for Danny, the linesman’s flag was up, and his stunning effort wouldn’t have counted had it gone in anyway.

The visitor’s best chance of the first half came right before the interval when Jack Aitchison raced down the right and played in Dean Cornelius. He cut the ball back for Riku Danzaki, but the Japanese midfielder’s effort was smothered and cleared.

The first foray forward by either side in the second half yielded the game’s opening goal in the 49th minute – or so we thought. Scott Tiffoney raced onto a pass into space from Jamie Bowden before his cross was headed home by Danny Mullen, despite the best efforts of Liam Kelly in the Motherwell goal.

But after a review, Danny was judged to have strayed offside in the buildup, and the goal was disallowed.

Four minutes later and we were in front for real as Ricki Lamie’s slack pass in his own penalty area was intercepted by Josh Adam. The Manchester City loanee squared the ball to Beryly Lubala, who swept home his second goal in as many games.

Despite being much the better side throughout the game, we almost conspired to thrpw away our well-earned lead when Mal Fagan-Walcott missed an interception and allowed Jack Aitchison to bear down on Jamie Sneddon one on one.

Rather than run on and take the ball around Jamie for an easy equaliser, the former Celtic man inexplicably chose to square it to his strike partner Ndlweni, who shot straight at Jamie.

That miss would prove costly for the Steelmen as we made it 2-0 in the 89th minute. Danny Mullen curled in a beauty from the edge of the box that clipped the post as it went in.

That put the result beyond doubt and made it two wins in succession ahead of a tricky trip to Dingwall on Boxing Day.

Who knew all it took was a little tinkering?

After securing two vital wins in succession, it was time to head north for a Boxing Day clash with Ross County as we looked to make it three.

I still can’t bring myself to talk about the playoff final. It has even put me off Pixar masterpiece Brave (2012).

Playing tinkerman again, I brought Kyle Turner in to play in the Number Ten role behind Danny Mullen. Josh Adam was carrying a knock while Ramez Hefzalla’s form had tailed off since his goal against Rangers. Ross Docherty also came back into the side. He replaced Jenno Campagne with Stuart Bannigan (still) suspended.

We created the game’s first opening in the 20th minute when Beryly Lubala dispossessed the dallying Conor Randall and raced into the box. But rather than square to Danny Mullen for a tap-in, he went himself and found his effort well saved by Ross Laidlaw.

The home side only registered one shot on target out eleven in the game. That profligacy was on show in the 24th minute when a charge up the left from George Harmon found its way to Mauro Bandeira, only for the Arsenal loanee’s sidefooted effort to sail into the stand housing the hardy band of our travelling fans.

The first half was far from a classic. Only the two above incidents described amount to even remotely getting pulses racing. But the game would get a much needed shot in the arm five minutes into the second period with a very classy goal from Kyle Turner.

Racing on to Jack McMillan’s searching pass, Kyle marked his return to the starting XI with a superb run from deep, a great touch and an even better finish beyond Ross Laidlaw.

Two minutes after going behind, the home side saw their best chance to get back in the game go agonisingly wide via the goalpost after an excellent run from Josh Sims through our defence, leaving Jack McMillan chasing shadows.

In the end, it probably felt more comfortable than it looked. Chances were at a premium. Despite the murky nature, that makes it three wins in a row with a struggling Livingston side to visit Firhill to round out 2023.

After **that** day, I enjoyed this one a wee bit more than I should have

A very successful 2023 that yielded an unprecedented treble for Partick Thistle concluded with a home game against Livingston.

Like Motherwell, Livi have been on a horrendous run of form, having not won since two successive victories in the league against Dundee United and Kilmarnock in October. In the nine games since, they have drawn two, lost seven and only scored four goals.

As a result, the long-serving David Martindale was dismissed, and Livi arrived in G20 under the tutelage of Martindale’s assistant, Neil Hastings.

Keeping the same team that won at Dingwall, I changed to a more attacking mentality, keen to add more woe to the visiting Lions.

That decision looked to be an inspired one when Kyle Turner headed home a Scott Tiffoney free-kick in the 25th minute. Ash Taylor won’t want to look back at that one. The former Aberdeen and Killie man was caught flat-footed by Turner’s change of run before getting his head to the ball.

Five minutes later, Kyle Turner should have had another when he burst into the box after a Jamie Bowden ball over the top. Unfortunately for Kyle, rather than repeat his smart finish from the County game, he smashed his effort wide of goal.

Shamal George in the Livingston goal was excellent throughout, keeping the scoreline from being much more than it actually was, best exemplified when he turned a Beryly Lubala effort around the post for a corner as the pressure kept up.

It felt a bit cruel at the end when, after producing an excellent performance to keep the scoreline at just 1-0, that we added a second goal at the death to seal a remarkable fourth win without conceding in succession.

Stevie Lawless, on for Beryly Lubala, provided the clipped through ball for another substitute in Tom Cannon. The Everton loanee emphatically blasting home from inside the box to end his scoring drought.

With December complete, we embark on a two-week winter break until the middle of January, when we return to league action against Celtic at Celtic Park, groovy.

The end of December also leaves the league at the halfway stage of its eventual 38-game season with the split, which looks like this.

As you can see, our run of four consecutive wins has lifted us right into contention for a European place when it looked like we may have to look over our shoulders ahead of the Hearts game at Tynecastle.

Until next time, folks!

Marc.

Posted on August 31, 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: Rangers