No sympathy for thistle

[Cat Stanton]

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Partick Thistle today learned the hard way that there is no room in football for sentiment.They latterly played a style of football that was not good to watch. They played a containing game a boring brand of football creating little chances and scoring too few goals. Their up and coming young managerial partnership appeared to run out of ideas when the pressure was on and the chips were down. Firhill for thrills what does the future hold for Patrick Thistle?They face a season in a lower division a dog fight with Ross County and Dundee United and possible financial cutbacks in the season ahead.Do we feel sorry for them? No.We have been there and no one felt sorry for us.I would take Kris Doolan though I reckon Lenny could make a decent striker out of him.The vultures will be hovering as Partick Thistle endeavour to make ends meet.Welcome to the real world.

We are left to face a rejuvenated St Mirren and a tough tackling streetwise Livi side that will take no prisoners and set themselves up as hard to beat.


Callum Booth anyone?


GGTTH

Away and sh*te. Got a lot of time for Thistle. Their fans' anti-old firm songs are fun and great, and - these last two awful games apart - generally try and play football. Livingston bring nothing but hoofball and a plastic pitch.

[ekhibee]

Although over the 2 legs Livingston were definitely better, I do have sympathy for Thistle. They managed to get into the top 6 last season which was a great achievement for them, and this season Alan Archibald hasn't made excuses for them, unlike what a previous poster was saying, Archibald's always said the table doesn't lie. The Championship is a hell of a league to get out of as well, as we all know.

[BILLYHIBS]

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Away and sh*te. Got a lot of time for Thistle. Their fans' anti-old firm songs are fun and great, and - these last two awful games apart - generally try and play football. Livingston bring nothing but hoofball and a plastic pitch.

Aye, ah hear ye! I remember the game in December Cammy Bell fluffed at a corner the Thistle player scored after the original in play shot was over the line and the lines man gave offside. Thistle played very well that day but after that HIBS had learnt their lesson and went up the park and scored twice. Goals change games and I must admit I was hoping Thistle would do what Motherwell did to The Rangers and show their Premeir League class.All credit to Livi. If you cannae beat Livi over two legs you deserve to go down good fans good club or no!

[Lago]

So Livi in the top league and what do they bring, industrial football and another plastic pitch. Oh joy.

[NORTHERNHIBBY]

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So Livi in the top league and what do they bring, industrial football and another plastic pitch. Oh joy.

But if Livingston are in the "wrong" league for one season, that is surely not as bad as us being in the "wrong "league for three. Results don't lie.

[jacomo]

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Although over the 2 legs Livingston were definitely better, I do have sympathy for Thistle. They managed to get into the top 6 last season which was a great achievement for them, and this season Alan Archibald hasn't made excuses for them, unlike what a previous poster was saying, Archibald's always said the table doesn't lie. The Championship is a hell of a league to get out of as well, as we all know.

Partick at least try to play football, unlike many other teams. It’s been a bad weekend for the smaller west coast clubs, as Celtc hoover up yet more silverware.

[Tornadoes70]

Who knows how long Partick may be gone for as its an extremely tough league to climb out from. Going to be very competitive again next season with any number of clubs vying for top spot. Wouldn't be sorry to see Partick back among the Premier clubs again soon albeit I'll be hoping Dunfermline win it next season as its not too far to travel and some decent pubs to frequent before and after matches.

Mon the Cabbage!!!

[Baader]

Would much rather have seen Partick stay up than Livi join the top flight. The Harry Wrags blew it and Livi were the better side but always had time for Thistle fans when it would be so much easier growing up in Glasgow to support another club.

[TelaStella]

It wasn’t that long ago on here we were having the debate about sympathy/no sympathy for Dundee United and their sorry state of affairs although everyone having a go at the Arabs that time seemed to be shot down instantly. I’ve always seen Partick as a team who try to play the right way and while it paid off last season leading to them finishing 6th, failing to win two games in row and build any kind of momentum this season is what I’d say has ultimately cost them. Let’s face it their squad probably isn’t the worst, things just sometimes don’t go for you in football. Hopefully we’ll see them back in the top flight again soon but we all know just how tough that league can be and being honest, I can’t see it happening first time of asking. It’ll be interesting to see what Archibald does next as well. I’ve always thought quite highly of him and expected him to one day move on to bigger things in football though now I’m not so sure. Would I touch any of their players? Nah. I’m not contradicting myself when I said their squads not the shabbiest but for our standards and where we want to be now I don’t see any of them walking into our team.


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[Eaststandee]

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Not sure about this. Their supporters support Thistle as they have done for generations like ours. They're not due any medals for it. IMO they are just getting on with supporting a team.

I'd agree with that for any team outside of Glasgow, but I know guys who support the cheeks and they live in the highlands. Being from Glasgow, being surrounded by mouthy huns and welts growing up and seeing the trophies and success they had and have, and still choosing to support Partick Thistle commands a bit of respect IMO.

Sad to see them down, wish it was Hamilton.

[TelaStella]

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I'd agree with that for any team outside of Glasgow, but I know guys who support the cheeks and they live in the highlands. Being from Glasgow, being surrounded by mouthy huns and welts growing up and seeing the trophies and success they had and have, and still choosing to support Partick Thistle commands a bit of respect IMO.

Sad to see them down, wish it was Hamilton.

Well said.


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[JimBHibees]

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I'd agree with that for any team outside of Glasgow, but I know guys who support the cheeks and they live in the highlands. Being from Glasgow, being surrounded by mouthy huns and welts growing up and seeing the trophies and success they had and have, and still choosing to support Partick Thistle commands a bit of respect IMO.

Sad to see them down, wish it was Hamilton.

Totally agree feel sorry for the young Thistle kids who will no doubt get reminded more than ever by old firm supporting mates.

[Beefster]

My biggest regret about Ross County and Partick Thistle going down is that none of them are Hamilton.

[LustForLeith]

Brilliant achievement from Livi.

I was at a game when they were sliding down the Championship. They’d lost to Morton and people connected to the club were saying if they went down they may well have been finished.

They got relegated, lost a few players but managed to get promoted notnince but twice. So much for being finished!

Also done it on a relatively small budget from what I hear. Davie Hopkin might not be the most charismatic manager but I’ wouldn’t swap him for any of the other ones who struggled to get it the Championship this season.

Well done Livi.

[.Sean.]

A top flight with Hamilton and Livingston is a sad sight.

[IAmLee]

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It was 2 brutal games of football with very little guile and creativity, Thistle have struggled the last 2 seasons and deserve to go down, Livi are poor and will be found out next season, kid on club with no real support.

They didn't struggle last season, they made the top 6! I like Thistle and it was the closest away day to my house but I've got to admit I feel a bit smug giving it back to my Thistle fan pals who dished it out when we went down........

[NAE NOOKIE]

Anybody who supports Partick Thistle is worthy of respect, hell we moan about Edinburgh glory hunters and the Ugly sisters 'only' being 40 miles up the motorway .... how bad is it for Thistle then?

Livvi deserve to be in the top flight, back to back promotions is some achievement ..... but if the image of Scottish football matters to you and the chances of selling it to a wider audience, then another team who play industrial hoofball with a tiny following and yet another plastic pitch will do our league absolutely no favours whatsoever ..... their only saving grace is a decent stadium albeit with a silly name.

Its another reason why our league needs to expand to 16 teams .... that leaves room for the Hamiltons and Livvis but allows room for clubs like Dunfermline and Dundee Utd with potentially decent home and away supports to breath.

[Sylar]

Delighted for Livingston and their fans. They've been utterly raped by previous owners and they've reached the Premiership doing things the right way this time around.

They were never expected to do anything other than survive in the Championship this year, and instead, built a resolute group of players that just keep finding a way to win against the odds.

Bear in mind that they just beat Dundee United AND Partick Thistle with their 2 main strikers from the season sidelined with serious injuries.

People can call them a "plastic" team, and belittle them all they like, but it's a hardcore group of supporters that have followed them since they relocated out to West Lothian. Some of the same faces you'll see at Almondvale (nobody calls it the Tony Macaroni arena) were there during the 1995 season. Sure, their success of old were bought using non-existant money, and they've paid the price twice (and continue to do so, as there are a lot of fans that remain bitter - particularly those that were in business with the old regimes). But now, there's a team in place that's built using a lot of players they've developed, a board that have achieved what they have with the smallest budget in the league, and an approach to running the club the right way.

The attendance snobbery and attacking the lack of fans is absolutely yammish.

[Hibs1969]

Unlike the OP I do have sympathy for Thistle. They’re a well run club fighting to survive in the face of constant competition from the 2 ugly sisters and whilst they’ve undoubtedly been poor this season, it’s a shame to see them fall out of this division. We know only too well how tough the Championship can be, and with Dundee Utd, ICT, Ross County, Dunfermline and Falkirk in there next season it’ll be a hell of a dog fight getting out of there at the first time of asking.

My first ever Hibs game was at home to Thistle (we lost 2-1) so I’ve always had a soft spot for them.

[snooky]

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Unlike the OP I do have sympathy for Thistle. They’re a well run club fighting to survive in the face of constant competition from the 2 ugly sisters and whilst they’ve undoubtedly been poor this season, it’s a shame to see them fall out of this division. We know only too well how tough the Championship can be, and with Dundee Utd, ICT, Ross County, Dunfermline and Falkirk in there next season it’ll be a hell of a dog fight getting out of there at the first time of asking.

My first ever Hibs game was at home to Thistle (we lost 2-1) so I’ve always had a soft spot for them.

Me too. A rellie played for them one time and also because they are the sweet little Cinderella between the Uglies.

[The Harp Awakes]

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Unlike the OP I do have sympathy for Thistle. They’re a well run club fighting to survive in the face of constant competition from the 2 ugly sisters and whilst they’ve undoubtedly been poor this season, it’s a shame to see them fall out of this division. We know only too well how tough the Championship can be, and with Dundee Utd, ICT, Ross County, Dunfermline and Falkirk in there next season it’ll be a hell of a dog fight getting out of there at the first time of asking.

My first ever Hibs game was at home to Thistle (we lost 2-1) so I’ve always had a soft spot for them.

I don't have any great affinity for Thistle but would rather have seen them stay in the league rather than Livingston coming up. It just means another anti-football club in the league, with tiny crowds and a plastic pitch, like Hamilton. Great for them but not great for Scottish football.

[Jones28]

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I'd agree with that for any team outside of Glasgow, but I know guys who support the cheeks and they live in the highlands. Being from Glasgow, being surrounded by mouthy huns and welts growing up and seeing the trophies and success they had and have, and still choosing to support Partick Thistle commands a bit of respect IMO.

Sad to see them down, wish it was Hamilton.

Well said

[kaimendhibs]

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I'd rather Thistle stayed up. Livi are a plastic team with hardly any fans whose only achievements were through financial doping. They're also hammer throwers which Scottish football has too many of.

Agree 100 per cent

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[marinello59]

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A top flight with Hamilton and Livingston is a sad sight.

A second tier with us in it was a much sadder sight than a top division with two teams who have earned the right to be there.

[.Sean.]

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A second tier with us in it was a much sadder sight than a top division with two teams who have earned the right to be there.

Not disputing that but one tinpot club with a plastic pitch and zero fans was already one too much.

[keep the faith]

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Not disputing that but one tinpot club with a plastic pitch and zero fans was already one too much.

Correct. There is zero fanbase at livi and the empty stadium every two weeks looks terrible for Scottish football. Another plastic pitch just makes it worse.

[B.H.F.C]

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Correct. There is zero fanbase at livi and the empty stadium every two weeks looks terrible for Scottish football. Another plastic pitch just makes it worse.

As opposed to the Patrick’s empty stadium with a big hill behind one of the goals. Crap either way IMO.

Agree about the plastic pitch though, they’re murder.

[NAE NOOKIE]

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Delighted for Livingston and their fans. They've been utterly raped by previous owners and they've reached the Premiership doing things the right way this time around.

They were never expected to do anything other than survive in the Championship this year, and instead, built a resolute group of players that just keep finding a way to win against the odds.

Bear in mind that they just beat Dundee United AND Partick Thistle with their 2 main strikers from the season sidelined with serious injuries.

People can call them a "plastic" team, and belittle them all they like, but it's a hardcore group of supporters that have followed them since they relocated out to West Lothian. Some of the same faces you'll see at Almondvale (nobody calls it the Tony Macaroni arena) were there during the 1995 season. Sure, their success of old were bought using non-existant money, and they've paid the price twice (and continue to do so, as there are a lot of fans that remain bitter - particularly those that were in business with the old regimes). But now, there's a team in place that's built using a lot of players they've developed, a board that have achieved what they have with the smallest budget in the league, and an approach to running the club the right way.

The attendance snobbery and attacking the lack of fans is absolutely yammish.

I don't think that's fair to be honest .... I would say that most folk in our support are of the opinion that if a club gets to the premiership on merit, as Livingstone have done, then they deserve to be there. Any thread on the subject will also show that as a group we tend to have a lot of respect for the folk who follow the likes of Hamilton and Livvi, for obvious reasons.

That doesn't mean to say there isn't a discussion to be had about how good or bad their presence is to the image of our top division and their contribution to the experience of watching it.

One of the biggest complaints about a lack of atmosphere at ER during out time in the championship was the meagre away supports a lot of the clubs brought, giving our support nothing to bounce off of, the addition to the league of another team like that doesn't improve that situation in the top league. They are also another club planning to play home games on a plastic pitch, I don't care what anybody says, plastic pitches are for small community clubs who know they will never get near the top league, they do not add to the image of the premier league as a league for the best clubs in the country ... top flight football should be played on grass, not plastic, unless you are based in a country where the stuff doesn't grow very well.

They are also another club who clearly value effort, endeavour and 'direct' football over trying to play the game on the deck ... as our games against Hamilton, Hearts and to a lesser extent Motherwell have shown games against teams with that style are to be endured, not enjoyed. I have nothing against clubs who quite rightly play to what the see as their strengths, it does not mean to say I have to be a fan of it and I doubt many other folk are either.

If you are trying to sell your leagues TV rights one of the things that adds to the attraction for TV audiences and therefor TV companies is to see the games played in front of an at least reasonable sized crowd ... if the locals don't appear to care about the games why the hell should a TV audience? who will be far more drawn to what they see as big time football, even a rubbish game can look slightly interesting played in front of 20,000 people.

The games at Livvi will be OK when the Ugly sisters and Hibs, Hearts and Aberdeen come calling .... what the hell will the crowds be like when Hamilton or St Johnstone are the visitors? it will look like there's nobody there and that just cant be good for our games image.

That isn't snobbery, its facing up to facts and the problem having teams like Livvi and Hamilton present to the image of our game, which like it or not is a product we are trying like mental to sell for as much money as we can get.

[Sylar]

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I don't think that's fair to be honest .... I would say that most folk in our support are of the opinion that if a club gets to the premiership on merit, as Livingstone have done, then they deserve to be there. Any thread on the subject will also show that as a group we tend to have a lot of respect for the folk who follow the likes of Hamilton and Livvi, for obvious reasons.

That doesn't mean to say there isn't a discussion to be had about how good or bad their presence is to the image of our top division and their contribution to the experience of watching it.

That isn't snobbery, its facing up to facts and the problem having teams like Livvi and Hamilton present to the image of our game, which like it or not is a product we are trying like mental to sell for as much money as we can get.

I can't agree I'm afraid. Geography and history have Livingston(-e) where they are in terms of fanbase. Look at where they are, right in the heart of Scotland - established in 1995 - where most people already had their pre-existing allegiances. Half of Livingston get on a bus through to Glasgow every week, the other half head to Edinburgh. Bear in mind that the sparsity of the stadium is partially the fault of the SPL, who mandated that Livingston had to have a 10k capacity stadium to get into the Premiership first time around - Livingston were never going to attract those numbers, aside from when the Ugly Sisters came to town. Add to all of that the years of financial impropriety that drove a large portion of the fans away, because it became bloody exhausting, and it's not hard to see why they don't play to a packed out stadium every week. Having said that, they DID take 2000 people to Fir Hill on Sunday - the support is there - the challenge is retention and building. I find the criticism pious in the extreme - it wasn't so long, when the football was garbage, that attendances at ER weren't exactly fabulous, and many on here got irked by Hearts fans poking fun on a weekly basis. A club that's been in existence since 1875 and play in the capital city are always going to have a higher baseline than a club like Livingston, but to ignore factors that impact attendance quite so much is poor IMO. I agree with you, it doesn't look great on the TV, but then neither does Celtc playing in a half-empty Parkhead on a weekly basis.

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One of the biggest complaints about a lack of atmosphere at ER during out time in the championship was the meagre away supports a lot of the clubs brought, giving our support nothing to bounce off of, the addition to the league of another team like that doesn't improve that situation in the top league. They are also another club planning to play home games on a plastic pitch, I don't care what anybody says, plastic pitches are for small community clubs who know they will never get near the top league, they do not add to the image of the premier league as a league for the best clubs in the country ... top flight football should be played on grass, not plastic, unless you are based in a country where the stuff doesn't grow very well.

We agree on the plastic pitch thing - they look awful, and don't play well. I understand their thinking though, as they lost a LOT of games to the weather last year. I'm aware these pitches aren't immune to postponements, but it took 4 efforts to replay a Saturday league game vs ICT. My understanding is that it's a hybrid pitch Livingston are considering though, not just an astro surface like Hamilton or Kilmarnock.

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They are also another club who clearly value effort, endeavour and 'direct' football over trying to play the game on the deck ... as our games against Hamilton, Hearts and to a lesser extent Motherwell have shown games against teams with that style are to be endured, not enjoyed. I have nothing against clubs who quite rightly play to what the see as their strengths, it does not mean to say I have to be a fan of it and I doubt many other folk are either.

I mean no disrespect with this question, but can I assume all you've seen of Livingston this year is the 2 playoff games? My dad is a ST holder at Almondvale, and I've been to quite a few games with him this season, and up until they lost their 2 key strikers (who can't play the physical game that Miller does), they moved the ball around the park very well indeed. The football in the playoffs was brutal, but with 15 fully fit players, they did what they had to do.

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If you are trying to sell your leagues TV rights one of the things that adds to the attraction for TV audiences and therefor TV companies is to see the games played in front of an at least reasonable sized crowd ... if the locals don't appear to care about the games why the hell should a TV audience? who will be far more drawn to what they see as big time football, even a rubbish game can look slightly interesting played in front of 20,000 people.

The games at Livvi will be OK when the Ugly sisters and Hibs, Hearts and Aberdeen come calling .... what the hell will the crowds be like when Hamilton or St Johnstone are the visitors? it will look like there's nobody there and that just cant be good for our games image.

You really think Livingston vs Hamilton or Livingston vs St Johnstone are likely to be the types of games that will get onto the TV? The only time Livingston will be televised is when they're playing against the likes of Celtc, Sevco, Hibs, Hearts or Aberdeen. I agree with you, that a stadium with the smaller clubs playing each other would look dreadful on TV. But the TV companies know that, and it simply won't happen.

[TheHarpy76]

Personally I don’t have sympathy for any team that get relegated.
Including us.