GG Riva

Not trying to be a smart@rse, KP, but if the understudy was better than Mehmet, would he not be starting and Deniz would be on the bench? Totally agree about MWH selling the second goal - he obviously thought the ball was going out.

What makes you think that he was rushed back, KP? is it because he picked up another injury each time? I'd completely agree with you if he had aggravated the same injury, but they were totally unrelated, so we can't say he was rushed back. James McPake relies on advice from medical staff in any case. He doesn't just ask the player if he feels OK to play, especially not Bene, as he's notoriously optimistic. "It's just a broken metatarsal" he told me, when I saw him in a moonboot after his first injury this season. "I'll be back in 3-4 weeks max."

Bene will be even more desperate to play than normal for this game. I hope he gets his wish. His absence has been a huge factor in us trying to avoid the relegation playoffs, rather than looking to claim a top 4 spot.

Even at halftime, I didn't expect us to get anything at Firhill but we won. I don't expect us to get anything at the San Starko...... 🙂 There have been so many unexpected results in this league, who knows?

Almost impossible to call. So little between the teams. Sit on the fence and predict a draw? No, because most games end in a home or away win. Normally you'd think home advantage would swing it but the Pars home record is inferior to their away form. Nothing for it but to close my eyes and stick a pin in a scoreline. There, done it now. 2-1 Pars. 😀

During the Forest - Liverpool game on MOTD last night, the commentator mentioned that the home fans regaled Darwin Nunez when he came on as a sub with "You`re just a... sub standard Andy Carroll." 😃 I`m sure most folk watching would have seen the funny side of that, although Nunez himself was probably none the wiser. He had the last laugh though, scoring the only goal of the game after 99 mins. What`s the funniest banter you`ve heard at a game?

I'm not sure, S'Ally. Bene is well known for his eagerness to return from injury when not fully fit. I'm willing to bet McPake put him on the bench to humour him and had no intention of putting him on unless there was a real emergency. I'd imagine Benjamin would have come on before Bene, if one of the back 4 had been injured. They were all solid today (Deniz didn't have a lot to do) but Hammy was immense. He's done brilliantly at centre half and he can't be any taller than 5' 8". 🙂

My optimism has just increased from from 1 pt to 3 for tomorrow.

Bottom line for me is that I want to be able to continue to support the team I have followed since 1963. The memory of 2013 is still vivid - I remember feeling sick to the bottom of my stomach at Starks Park, as we watched what was expected to be the Pars last ever game and I don't ever want to experience that horrible feeling ever again. I believe our investors are not short of a £ or two, but they didn't become wealthy by throwing away good money year after year, so I'm sure they won't be happy to have lost over £1m last season. If we were to post a similar loss for this season, they may decide they've had enough and walk away and then what?

As was pointed out by one of the more sensible posters on dotnet, 2 home playoff games may have totalled around 10,000 fans, but we would perhaps not have had 9,000 v Falkirk and 6,000 in the title winning game v QOS.

I thought the play off money was put into a pot by the SPFL and distributed among its member clubs. Is that not the case? I also believe we posted a modest profit in our previous season in League 1, but we obviously had bigger outgoings last season.

Imagine if we'd managed to get Ashcroft on loan and he'd done his hamstring in his first game. There would have been the mother and father of all meltdowns on dotnet. 😀😀

It's no consolation to any of us or the club, but the Pars are by no means unique when it comes to counting up their walking wounded. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/68423241

First goal will be crucial but who's going to score for the Pars. We came from behind at Firhill but it's harder at home as it quietens the home fans and the visitors can set out to frustrate the team and the Pars fans alike. My head suggests another draw but my heart says we can grind out a narrow 1-0 win.

Story I got was that he's off to Hamilton. He's been released by the Rovers but it appears to be mutual - he no longer wants to play for them and they don't want him.

No doubt we'll find out on Thursday. Maybe just not well, as MOH was last week.

I'm going to disagree with your last sentence in your last post. Last Friday's result means 3 precious points, win, lose or draw tomorrow night. A defeat on Friday followed by another to Inverness would have seen us in really deep ****. As it is, while we want to take something from the game, we'll still be in the pack of clubs trying to avoid 9th even if we were to lose the game. I strongly fancy a 1-1 draw.

Yes, when I saw the message, I had a strange feeling I'd seen or heard it already, but then thought it must be my recollection of Terry Butcher telling his Hibs team that half of them wouldn't be at the club the following season, just before the 2nd leg of their play off v Hamilton. They'd won 2-0 away in the first leg, so they looked a nailed on certainty to complete the job at Easter Road. They ended up losing on penalties and being relegated.

All is not well in Pratt Street, it would seem. I don't subscribe to the Courier but they have had a whiff of something. https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/sport/football/4903322/raith-rovers-ross-millen-will-miss-ayr-united-clash-internal-matter/ I received a text yesterday, that's doing the rounds. It names names and it appears that at least one player is unlikely to play for the Rovers again and that is why they brought in J. Brown from St Johnstone. Bringing in Ashcroft is apparently unrelated.

There have been plenty of posters, pundits, and commentators suggesting that the Pars win at Firhill was all down to luck. I`m not minded to agree or disagree with that, but is it not the case that in games between fairly evenly matched teams, a bit of good or bad luck can often make the difference to the final result? How often do we see a team go very close at one end, maybe hitting the post or bar and their opponents go straight up the park and score? Now, I would argue that there`s not a huge difference among the teams in a 10 team league, so any one can beat anyone else with a bit of luck and that works both ways, of course. So yes, Thistle didn`t have much luck, but their fans should dry their eyes and get on with it like the Pars have done, despite the never ending run of injuries we`ve had to so many key players this season. The bottom line is they lost to a team made up mainly of kids on loan and fringe players who would have been unlikely to start if everyone was fit. 🙂

Now I know schadenfreude is not the most noble sentiment, but someone on dotnet posted that Lee Ashcroft gave away Ayr's equaliser before coming off with a suspected hamstring injury. I liked big Ash but he chose the Linolickers over the Pars..... 🙄

I wasn`t optimistic before the game, or even at halftime, truth be told, but in these situations, I like to engage in a bit of strawclutchery; 1. We`ve picked up more points away from home both this and last season. 2. There`s no such thing as a certainty in football, so there are no poor bookies. 3. "It`s a f@nny old game, Saint" - Jimmy Greaves. 😁

Did you mean he'll knock it in with his crotch, or is it crutch? 🤔 Hard to see us picking up 3 pts, but football is a f@nny old game as Jimmy Greaves used to like to remind us and stranger things have happened, like Darvel beating Aberdeen last season. It's hardly a major shock when an underdog wins a league match.

Aaron injured earlier in the week. The club has done well to recruit a replacement almost immediately. When is this wretched run of bad luck going to end, FFS!

I'll give him his assertion that Ross McArthur was the best Chairman he ever worked with, but the rest of his interview is bizarre and delusional. Statements like fans telling him we "played the best football in 20 years" under him, aye? My recollection is that he alienated most of his squad by slagging them off and humiliating them in front of their teammates. His hubris knew no bounds because "I played furra Sellick, you guys are pish!"