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.
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