PARTICK Thistle fans were once among the most tolerant in the game.

Major successes were few and far between for their team so when the

occasions arose they celebrated long and loud and as for the rest of the

time, well Thistle were just Thistle, the only team for them and it was

a privilege to watch them no matter the result.

That doesn't appear to be the case any more. The natives of Maryhill

are growling and as they see their side slip backward in the race for

promotion, there is an air of discontent around Firhill, just as there

was on Saturday when they lost 1-0 to Raith Rovers.

It will come as little consolation to them that the Raith

player-manager, Jimmy Nicholl, thought his side extremely fortunate to

get both points. Thistle fans it seems have had enough of the

unpredictable stuff.

They walloped Raith 5-0 on the same pitch in September. They have

beaten other first-division notables such as Dundee, Kilmarnock, Morton,

and Ayr United, but on the other hand they have lost points to the likes

of Meadowbank, Forfar, Stirling Albion, and Clydebank.

Saturday was just too much for some. Those who waited out the 90

minutes in the bitter cold did so, it seems, only to boo manager John

Lambie as he trudged back to the sanctuary of the home dressing room.

That really stumped me. While Lambie as manager must take a share of

the blame when things go wrong he certainly didn't miss any of the

chances which went begging in the second half. Others, particularly

front men George Shaw, Colin McGlashan, and Isaac English, must shoulder

that blame.

Thistle went in at the interval trailing to a marvellous goal from

Craig Brewster -- mind you they had been attacking when Raith struck --

and they really did have a dreadful first half when they merely hit the

ball and hoped while their opponents, even without looking, almost

always knew where to find a man in a dark-blue jersey.

When Thistle did attack they had to get past Nicholl and Shaun Dennis,

a big centre half who looked as dark and solid as one of those pit bings

you used to find dotted throughout Fife. Raith also had a star in Gordon

Arthur who kept goal as if he was defending the family home.

That, however, was the first half. Said Nicholl: ''I told my players

at half-time that Thistle couldn't be as bad in the second half and I

was right. They gave us a lot of trouble, especially with balls across

the face of our goal, and I feel we were lucky to escape with two

points.''

Said Lambie: ''If a team comes and outplays you then you can accept it

but what happened today was so frustrating. We had at least six

clear-cut chances in the second half and missed the lot, mainly through

hesitation.''

That's where the barracking of the manager is a bit unfair. He knows

what is wrong and he can work on the faults all week but once the

players get out on to the pitch on a Saturday he can't go along with

them and stick the ball in the net himself.