retired_southdown

July-August 2005 (Part 1)

The fax machine whirred into action again, this time all the way from Portugal where Leiria were willing to splash the cash on Allan McGregor, this time for $350,000. This time, Allan was well and truly on his way, and I for one will be following his career in the Portugese leagues with interest.

We immediately made a play for Celtic goalkeeper Michael McGovern, who played for Stranraer last year on loan.

We kicked off our second season with the Challenge Cup match. I must admit, a few of my selections raised a lot of eyebrows, including giving Markus Paatelainen the captaincy, and giving Andy Goram a game between the sticks whilst we waited for McGovern's transfer to be sorted out. At 41 years of age, Andy was old enough to be a (very young) father of most of the lads in the side!

The game was a see-sawing affair, with Dumbarton coming back twice from a goal down, before the game headed into penalties. Andy Goram gave me quite a bit of food for thought by saving three penalties and giving us passage into the second round of the Challenge Cup and another home game against Albion.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">30/7 Thistle 2, Dumbarton 2 D.Walker 19, 62 (McPhee 48, R.Walker 89) League Challenge Cup Round 1 (Won 3-2 on penalties)</pre>

Once again Gretna are made favourites for promotion this season, with the audacious odds of 4/6. Raith are also listed attractively at 4/5, and Hamilton Academical at evens. We've been given the huge odds of 33/1, which is probably about right, although once again I intend making the bookmakers squirm.

David Dunn caught the eye of Kilmarnock manager Jim Jefferies and I agreed for the lad to get his chance in the Premier League for the princely sum of $70,000 - a profit of $61,000 in the space of six months! However, Livingston and Gretna muddied the waters by placing large offers for the young defender. I simply stated to the media that we would consider all offers and let David make the final decision about his future. However, he had not made a decision by the time of the first league game of the year against Ayr. Incidentally, I decided to give David the captaincy for this game.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">13/8 Thistle 1, Ayr 1 Walker 57 (Wardlaw 73) 6th</pre>

I believe Ayr came to Bowmans Road with a policy to roughen our players out of the contest, and their tactics - aided by the man in black - left us with our largest single-game injury list, with Gavin Skelton, David Dunn, Paul McHale and Dean Walker all in doubt for the next game.

[b]Hibs added their name to the David Dunn fanclub, even allowing us to offer a contract to forward Dean Shiels as a part-exchange deal. I felt sorry for the lad however, as he was fully aware of his status as a pawn in the game and clearly did not want to leave the Premier League. Any sympathy I had for Shiels evaporated a few days later as his unwillingness to leave directly scuttled David Dunn's move to our Edinburgh neighbours.

Fortunately for David, he was eventually able to sign a deal with Kilmarnock. He leaves with our best wishes and an open door should things not work out at Rugby Park. On the same day, Michael McGovern finally put pen to paper with us, knocking back no less than six loan offers.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">20/8 Gretna 0, Thistle 0 7th</pre>

Walking away with a point from Gretna would be better than what many teams would achieve this year, I said to the team on the bus back to Edinburgh. I was able to launch into my second point when the mobile phone abruptly rang....

retired_southdown

The Big Day

It was Bill, Sheena's father.

"David...Sheena's[/b] having the babies, where are you?"

"About an hour out from Edinburgh. Holy ****, how far along is she?"

"Oh mate, you'd better get down to the hospital straight away. You're about to miss all the fun."

Forty very quick minutes later, the bus arrived outside the front of the Edinburgh General Hospital, and I literally flew into the maternity ward, ignoring the few people who yelled out "Dave O'Connor! Go the Thistles!"

"Hey! David! Over here!" Bill waved from across the room. "Here, put these on," handing me a gown and mask. The nurse guided me into the delivery room, while Bill waited outside with Maria, my erstwhile mother-in-law.

"About time you got here, you big buffoon," smiled Sheena. "Did you win?"

"Stuff the game, sweetheart, how are you going?"

"Fine, I think...[insert screams]....I've been better to be honest," as she grasped my hand.

Twenty minutes later, our two sons - Sam William and Callan Benedict - were born. Our family had suddenly doubled in size, and the Thistles had two new supporters.

I finally left the hospital around midnight and was picked up by assistant manager John Docherty. As we drove back to Bowmans Road Stadium to pick up my car, John asked me to come inside to check out an injury report for Jamie Dolan. Even though it was the last thing I wanted to do, I relented and followed John into the office building.

"SURPRISE!" screamed the entire first team, who had been hiding in the reception area. I stood there, gobsmacked.

"This would be the first time we've celebrated a nil-all draw," I joked, as I handed out the cigars. Six hours later, I finally stumbled out into the sunlight and fell asleep on the couch at home, with the image of my two sons burned into my mind.

retired_southdown

Rest of August

With the blessing of the board, I let John take control of the side for our third game of the season against Dumbarton while I helped out Sheena, although I would still be in control of contract negotiations and other team matters, working out of Suite 22 at the Edinburgh General Hospital.


<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">27/8 Thistle 0, Dumbarton 1 (Annand 39) 8th</pre>

Paul McHale picked up a broken wrist from the Dumbarton clash, and will be out for roughly a month. In the meanwhile, I'll return to the top gig with two important cup matches. Markus Paatelainen would be missing from the side due to his call-up to the Finland national team for their World Cup Qualifying matches against Andorra and Macedonia, the first time Thistle has lost a player to international duty.

We made pretty rough going against our former Division Three opponents Albion, but our superior fitness and persistence shone through in the end in what was quite a good result for the club. In the third round, we will face Hamilton Academical on the road.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">30/8 Thistle 2, Albion 0 Dolan 82, P.McManus 90 Challenge Cup Round 2</pre>

Table - August 2005 - after 3 games

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">1. Arbroath 7 +42. Stranraer 6 +13. Brechin 5 +14. Gretna 4 +25. Ayr 4 +06. Hamilton 4 -17. Dumbarton 3 -28. Thistle 2 -19. Alloa 2 -210. Raith 2 -2</pre>

retired_southdown

September 2005

On the same night that Scotland were slaughted 6-0 by Italy in Glasgow, Sheena, Sam and Callan came home. The next day, the twins saw their first game of soccer as their dad attempted to get Thistle past the first round of the League Cup.

Some wag in the public announcers' box had the gall to play U2's 'A Sort of Homecoming' - my favourite song - as the boys ran on the field. Later, I was told, it was as a congratulatory gesture of the supporters, who had voted on some online poll during the week - I didn't even know Thistle had a website, but there you go. A very nice gesture, and a top song as well.

Unfortunately, it didn't have the desired effect with the result going the way of the visitors.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">6/9 Thistle 0, Raith 1 (O'Reilly 15) League Cup Round 1</pre>

The poor results continued against Brechin, and saw our first red card of the season, given to David McClune.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">10/9 Brechin 2, Thistle 1 Walker 6 (Hampshire 17, 40) 10th</pre>

Due to sheer exaustion, I gave the players two days off training, before our trip over to Hamilton for the Challenge Cup Quarter-Final.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">13/9 Hamilton 2, Thistle 4 Paatelainen 9, Wilson 25 og, Gethins 37, McAnespie 65 (Tunbridge 53, Hamilton 76)</pre>

Our reward for the fantastic victory at Hamilton was a trip to New Broomfield to face Airdrie United in our first ever Cup semi-final. The boys hammered out every verse of 'A Sort of Homecoming' on the bus trip home, much to my amusement. We then proceeded to give the Accies their second dusting in the space of four days, this time for our first league win of the year

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">17/9 Thistle 4, Hamilton 1 Walker 19, Gethins 37, 90, Paatelainen 68 (Wilson 90) 7th</pre>

Alloa gave a mighty fight until the floodgates opened after an hour

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">24/9 Alloa 0, Thistle 3 Gethins 64, 72, P.McManus 78 4th</pre>

The [b]Challenge Cup semi-final against David Hagen's Airdrie United side was a tight affair, which was ultimately decided by Markus Paatelainen's 19th minute goal. The defense in the final thirty minutes was brilliant, and Michael McGovern's performance as keeper was staunch, to say the least. Edinburgh Thistle were into their first Cup final, and in just their second season of existence. As Douglas McDonald blew fulltime, the Thistle bench went into wild celebration, and I fear we got a bit carried away on the bus trip home, by far the most memorable.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">27/9 Airdrie Utd 0, Thistle 1 Paatelainen 19 Challenge Cup Semi-Final</pre>

Our opponents in the final would be the giant-killers of 2004/05, Greenock Morton. Our allocation of tickets was sold out within three hours as supporters started to mark November 6 into their diaries. The news of our success was only overshadowed by Hearts beating Rangers 4-0 to go to the top of the Scottish Premier League.

Table - September 2005 - after 6 games

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">1. Gretna 13 +82. Brechin 12 +43. Dumbarton 10 +44. Thistle 8 +45. Arbroath 8 +16. Hamilton 8 -37. Raith 6 -18. Alloa 6 -29. Stranraer 6 -410. Ayr 4 -8</pre>

retired_southdown

October 2005

The match against Arbroath was a tough, spiteful affair, won in the final minute thanks to Tony McParland. However, we have lost Markus Paatelainean and Kieran McAnespie for three and four months each.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">1/10 - Thistle 1 Arbroath 0Scorers - McParland 89League Position - 3rd</pre>

A succession of 1-1 draws followed, where we gradually lost touch with the pace-setters of the league, Gretna and Hamilton.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">15/10 - Raith 1 Thistle 1Scorers - Walker 64 (Clarke 83)League Position - 3rd22/10 - Stranraer 1 Thistle 1Scorers - Gethins 70 (Reid 27)League Position - 3rd29/10 - Ayr 1 Thistle 1Scorers - Dolan 89 (Harris 8)League Position - 4th</pre>

retired_southdown

Challenge Cup Final
Greenock Morton v Edinburgh Thistle
Fir Park, Motherwell
November 6 2005

The match was barely minutes old when referee John Underhill pointed to the penalty spot after a David McClune foul. Peter Weatherson made no mistake with the spot kick, giving Morton the first goal of the day.

Thistle struck back in style after 16 minutes, when Dean Walker made a break down the left hand side of the field. Lobbing the ball into the square, David Bagan centered the ball, passed to Connor Gethins, who struck the ball past keeper Graham Smith.

Peter Weatherson then scored a flukish goal from a Morton cross. With four defenders and a goalkeeper to contend with for the ball, Weatherson guided the ball past McGovern's outstretched arms and into the goal.

Paul McHale was not having any influence on midfield matters and was substituted at halftime in favour of Jamie Dolan, with Gavin Skelton being pushed up into the midfield.

Already behind on the scoreboard, I saw little value in defending rigidly, and encouraged the midfield to attack at will, and try to turn around the Morton defenders on the counterattack.

Six minutes into the second half, Craig McNeown tripped Dean Walker inside the penalty box from a corner. The second penalty of the game was duly awarded, with Walker to take the kick. However, Dean had the misfortune to drive the ball past the right post, with Graham Smith diving in the opposite direction.

Morton predictably switched to a dour defensive style, and could sense victory with just four minutes remaining. Mark Dempsie fielded a goal kick on the chest and passed to Gavin Skelton. Gavin looked up the field and noticed Dean Walker starting to pull away from his marker. An uncannily accurate pass up the field followed, and Dean was able to turn the keeper inside out, kicking the equaliser on the second attempt as Smith dived in vain on the ground. The game was alive.

In the dying moments of injury time, Thistle had a very good chance go to waste from a corner, as Connor Gethin's header was off the mark. John Underhill then blew his whistle to conclude the first ninety minutes of the game.

Connor Gethins was substituted out of the game in favour of Paul McManus, giving Thistle a good advantage over Morton, who had used all of their replacements prior to the sixieth minute. I felt that we were finishing by far the stronger side, but ultimately the result was in the lap of the football gods.

The thirty minutes of extra time came and passed in the blink of an eye. When John Underhill blew his whistle and reset his watch, both sets of supporters could not deny the fact that neither side deserved to lose the game.

I quickly ran across the field to shake the hand of Jim McInally. "Ever done of these before?" he asked, referring to the imniment penalty shoot-out. "Undefeated," I smiled. "Best of luck, Jim. Your boys were outstanding today." "Same to yours," said Jim. "Whatever happens, you've done a damn fine job. Catch you later."

I then ran over to the huddle of players. "Okay, listen up. I love you all like brothers. You were all awesome. Here's the list of kickers - Walker, Paul McManus, McParland, O'Donoghue. Let's go and win the bloody thing. Michael, don't stuff it up."

Morton won the toss and chose to shoot first in the penalty shootout. Peter Weatherson confidently strode up - and kicked the ball directly to Michael McGovern, who didn't even have to budge off his line and caught the ball on the full. Dean Walker took a long run-in, but had his shot deflected off to the side by Graham Smith.

Despite tricking McGovern with his stop-start run-up, Jason Walker's shot cruely struck the posts and bounced back into the field. Paul McManus started the scoring with a silky shot past Smith. Thistle 1-0.

Graeme Mathie cannoned his shot into the spectator area at Fir Park. Morton had missed their first three shots.
McParland then had a golden chance to extend Thistle's advantage. The shot struck the tip of his shoe and wildly careered off to the right, far from the posts.

Morton captain Ryan Jordan knew he had a job to do, as Morton's chances were slipping rapidly. Placing the ball on the spot, he abruptly turned around, took five steps, faced McGovern, breathed in, began his run-up....and placed the ball right into Michael's arms. The Challenge Cup was within our reach!

Ross O'Donoghue walked from the huddle over to the southern end of Fir Park, with all of the manner of a man who knows he is about to create history for an infant club. Shaking hands with John Underhill, he then began his run-up and blasted the ball over the goalsticks. Opportunity wasted, as the Morton fans audibly exhaled and began to dream again.

The hopes and aspirations of Morton rested on the very young shoulders of Jamie Hutchinson, a 17-year old youth player who was playing just his third career game this afternoon. His pale skin betraying his confidence, he gave a sign of the cross before running in and pushing the ball wide of the posts. Michael McGovern took off his shirt and ran towards the Edinburgh Thistle supporters, and was soon followed by the entire squad who were in seventh heaven. Thistle had won the shoot-out by one single goal after twice coming back from a goal down in regular time.

As the president of the Scottish Football Association handed me my winners medal and the Challenge Cup to Jamie Dolan and Gavin Skelton, I looked around at the stadium, full of 13,187 spectators. Gold and blue streamers were exploding from behind us as the 2,000 Thistle supporters roared their approval. Sheena joined me on the field with the twins for an emotional hug as we walked around the stadium to show our gratitude to the supporters. The celebrations in the dressing shed and back at Bowmans Road Stadium were extraordinary, to say the very least.

[b]Edinburgh Thistle - the 2005/06 Challenge Cup Champions![b]

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">6/11 - Morton 2 Thistle 2 aet (Thistle won penalty shootout 1-0)Scorers - Gethins 16, Walker 86 (Weatherson 2 pen, 20)Challenge Cup Final - played at Fir Park, Motherwell</pre>

retired_southdown

November 2005

With our heads still in the clouds, we lost our perfect record against Gretna at home.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">9/11 - Thistle 0 Gretna 2Scorers - (Townsley 29, Tosh 76 pen)League Position - 6th</pre>

Paul Harvey requested a release from his contract, which was due to end in June. With just two apperance for the club to his credit, it was not a hard decision to let the 38-year old midfield go. To fill the place vacated in the squad, we signed John Dillon on a free transfer. John has previously played with Dumbarton and Clyde, and will compliment our stable of midfielders.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">19/11 - Dumbarton 0 Thistle 2Scorers - McManus 19, Walker 89League Position - 4th26/11 - Thistle 2, Brechin 1Scorers - Pelosi 53, Walker 56 (Hampshire 76)League Position - 4th</pre>

Table - November 2005 - (after 13 games)

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">1. Gretna 30 +192. Raith 21 +63. Hamilton 21 +24. Thistle 20 +65. Arbroath 16 -16. Brechin 16 -2</pre>

retired_southdown

December 2005

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">3/12 - Hamilton 1 Thistle 0Scorers - (Fyfe 10)League Position - 4th</pre>

The result against Hamilton was made a little easier to accept after finding out that Australia had qualified for the first World Cup since 1974.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">10/12 - Thistle 3, Stranraer 1Scorers - O'Donoghue 61, McManus 69, Buchanan 83 (Aitken 50)League Position - 3rd</pre>

The draw for the second round of the Scottish Cup was held straight after the Stranraer game, with non-league side Fraserburgh assigned as our opponents.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">17/12 - Arbroath 4 Thistle 2Scorers - Gethins 33, O'Donoghue 43 (Farquarson 11, Brazil 66, Diack 76 pen, Henslee 89)League Position - 3rd</pre>

The Arbroath game was simply maddening - a good example of throwing away three points. After the game I called Michael McGovern and David McClune into my office and gave them the biggest ear-bashing of all time, placing the blame for the result squarely on their shoulders. Although I later apologised in person to each of them, once the comments made their way into the Edinburgh Evening News, there was some serious damage to the morale of both players. Michael even missed training, which is most out of character for him. When asked why he did so, he commented to the paper - "I'll be loyal to those who are loyal to me."

David Hay replaced McGovern between the sticks for the Scottish Cup game against minnows Fraserburgh.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">21/12 - Thistle 5 Fraserburgh 0Scorers - McHale 2, Walker 14, Gethins 22, Hardy 67, McMullan 90Scottish Cup 2nd Round</pre>

Although the match was little more than a glorified training session, the consequences were far more important, with Connor Gethins lost for an entire month due to injury. However, there is a silver lining to every cloud, as we will play a Premier League team for the first time in our short history - and an Edinburgh rival at that! Hearts will play host to Thistle on January 14. As if to celebrate, the lads absolutely hammered Alloa on Boxing Day, a fine way to end the calendar year.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">26/12 - Thistle 4 Alloa 0Scorers - P.McManus 23, 69, Walker 24, Bagan 58League Position - 2nd</pre>

With the transfer window about to open again, and Thistle momentarily in second place ahead of Hamilton (but having played two more games), it was clear we needed to strengthen our squad to go to the 'next level'. We managed to sign two players ahead of the opening of the window. Gary Dempsey has spent the past four seasons in the Scottish Premier League and we are very excited to sign a player of his calibre to control the midfield. We also signed Mick Dunlop from Ayr for $6,000. Mick will begin the new year in the reserves squad but we eventually see him graduating to the backline.

Table - December 2005 - games played in brackets

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">1. Gretna (16) 37 +242. Thistle (17) 26 +93. Hamilton (15) 25 +34. Arbroath (16) 23 +25. Raith (17) 23 +16. Brechin (17) 22 +2</pre>

Incidentaly, here are the groups for 2006 World Cup, after the draw was held in Leipzig.

Pool A
Brazil
Croatia
Ghana
Honduras

Pool B
Algeria
Portugal
Slovakia
United States

Pool C
France
Paraguay
South Korea
Turkey

Pool D
Bahrain
Morocco
Poland
Spain

Pool E
Argentina
Australia
Ireland
Japan

Pool F
Germany
Italy
Mali
Mexico

Pool G
Chile
Holland
Sweden
United Arab Emirates

Pool H
England
Ivory Coast
Jamaica
Norway

League Cup Quarter Finals
Dundee 0 Celtic 1
Rangers 3 Ross County 1
Falkirk 2 Dundee Utd 0
Dunfermline 3 Dumbarton 0

retired_southdown

January 2006

A brand new year, and already its been eighteen months since I decided to take on this position. Strangely enough, I'm really starting to enjoy my time here in Scotland. Importantly, Sheena is too, although we will be returning to Australia for a six-week holiday at the end of the season in order to visit my parents and show off Callan and Sam. Still, as long as Thistle are happy to have me around, I'm more than happy to keep building the team and challenging for higher honours.

One night, Sheena asked me where I thought the club would ultimately 'settle' in terms of the various divisions. I'd be lying if I didn't dream of one day making the Premier League, although that goal would be years away - at least ten years in the making. The short-term goal is to build a nucleus of a side that will play at Bowmans Road for the next five-six years, and ultimately gain promotion into the First Division by 2010.

With the bulk of our original squad coming off contract, I had to move quickly to secure the players I wanted to remain at Thistle. By the end of the month, we were able to come to terms with the following players:


<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">4/1 - Thistle 1 Raith 1Scorers - P.McManus 77 (Reilly 84)League Position - 3rd</pre>

Paul McManus and David Bagan went down injured in the match against those Honest Men of Ayr, continuing the physical rivalry that has existed between our two clubs this season. Ayr sacked manager Darren Henderson after the game, and installed St Johnstone assistant Jim Weir as the new boss after an impasse of two days. In a positive, Markus Paatelainen returned from a three-month break from injury, giving a vital boost to our goal-scoring stocks.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">7/1 - Thistle 0 Ayr 0League Position - 3rd</pre>

We received an offer of $35,000 for Stephen McManus from Ross County. Following our policy of allowing players to sign for clubs in higher divisions, we decided to bid farewell to Stephen, although we have asked Ross Co. to let him play in the Scottish Cup match against Hearts. At the same time, we added promising youngster Ryan Conroy from Dumbarton and placed him in our reserves squad.

The Scottish Cup match at Tynecastle was a very close affair, and it was almost certain that we would be hosting a replay at Bowmans Road. Although we never seriously troubled the Hearts defenders, our own defenders produced a performance from the top shelf, and Michael McGovern's performance was first-class. However, our dreams and aspirations were destroyed three minutes from time when the only goal was tapped in from a corner.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">14/1 - Hearts 1 Thistle 0Scorers - (Wyness 87)Scottish Cup Round 3</pre>

Youngster Stuart Milne was re-signed until the end of the 2007 season. Craig Levelin was named as the new manager of Rangers, the third manager they have had in the space of seven months.

On the 19th of January, we successfully negotiated a contract with young Brazilian sensation Naldo, who surprisingly turned down a contract from Barcelona to join us. It is quite a gamble for us as we've spend $400,000 just to get to the negotiation phase - the previous record being the $35,000 we spent on Ryan Conroy. However, Naldo needs to get a British work permit, the outcome of which won't be known until the 25th.

David McClune's contract is currently up for renegotiation, and I fear that the lad is looking away from Bowmans Road for his future, never really forgiving me for the aftermath of the 2-4 loss to Arbroath. He also seems to be getting poor advice from his representative, who has recommended he not sign our latest contract offer.

Naldo's initial application for a work permit was rejected and we have decided to immediately appeal the decision. A final outcome will have to be organsied soon as the Scottish transfer window is rapidly closing.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">21/1 - Gretna 1 Thistle 0Scorers - (Bayne 69)League Position - 4th</pre>

David McClune got his ticket to the Scottish Premier League, signing a contract with Falkirk, who are currently sitting ninth in the table. It's not all bad news for Thistle, as we were paid $8,000 in compensation. Also, Naldo's work permit application finally received the green light and we had no hesitation in confirming the offer. Although we never like losing players - not to mention making a loss of $392,000 in one day - we feel that Naldo will add a certain kind of sparkle into the side. He has to, after all - he's Brazilian!

Overshadowed by Naldo's signing was the recruitment of Steven Masterton from the Kilmarnock reserves. Naldo made his debut for Thistle off the bench in the draw against Dumbarton, playing the last 32 minutes.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">28/1 - Thistle 0 Dumbarton 0League Position - 4th</pre>

No sooner had Naldo arrived at Bowmans Road and posed for the press with his jersey, the old fax machine whirred to life again. This time, it was a $2 million offer from Mallorca for our latest recruit. Since Naldo's contract stipulated a release clause whenever an offer of $2 million or more was tabled, we had no choice but to let our new signing negotiate with the Spanish club. All in all, Naldo spent a grand total of five days at Bowmans Road, and played one game - yet we made a profit of $1.6 million from the deal - roughly $50,000 per minute that he played for us! Talk about laughing all the way to the bank...

Table - January 2006 - 21 games played

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">1. Gretna 46 +252. Hamilton 37 +103. Brechin 32 +84. Thistle 29 +85. Arbroath 28 -36. Raith 26 -17. Stranraer 25 -78. Dumbarton 21 -99. Ayr 21 -1210. Alloa 17 -19</pre>

retired_southdown

February

The capitulation against Brechin City saw us fall six points behind them on the league table. For the purposes of experimentation, I've decided to use a diamond formation instead of the flat midfield, supposedly helping out our defenders. The players may not have the required fitness needed to successfully use the system, so for now I've called extra training sessions to improve our stamina.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">4/2 - Brechin 3, Thistle 1Scorers - Gethins 13, Walker 28 (Byers 34, Callaghan 65 pen, Black 79)League Position - 4th</pre>

The managerial musical chairs continue in the Premier League, with Dundee Utd boss Ian McCall getting his marching orders. This may spark off something of a domino effect, with Inverness CT manager Craig Brewster favoured to return to Tannadice Park.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">11/2 - Thistle 0 Hamilton 1Scorers - (Javary 55)League Position - 4th</pre>

Former Dunfermline manager Paul Hegarty was confirmed as the new Dundee Utd boss.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">18/2 - Alloa 3 Thistle 1Scorers - Walker 42 (Hegarty 27, 54, Forrest 84)League Position - 4th</pre>

We have now gone nine games without a win - eight if you exclude the Hearts loss - and despite holding on to our fourth place in the Second Division, we were now just seven points away from relegation. My gut instinct told me that our next three games would decide our fate for this season - would we be one-season wonders, or will we live to fight another day?

Jamie Dolan's name was tossed around in the press as a possible successor to Sandy Stewart at Airdrie United after the former boss resigned. However, Peterhead's Iain Stewart was eventually named as the replacement. Jamie has shown a lot of maturity and a keen knowledge of the game, and I think it will be sooner rather than later that we see him managing a team somewhere in the lower leagues. Incidentally, the Peterhead position is now open and I've encouraged Jamie to throw his name into the ring as a contender.

Dundee were eliminated from the UEFA Cup afte a horror 5-0 loss to Lazio

Only one man stood between us and our fourth successive defeat - Alan Reid. The striker was in particularly outstanding form, slotting four goals, including three in the last ten minutes to give Stranraer a victory they never looked like achieving.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">25/2 - Stranraer 4 Thistle 3Scorers - Dempsey 45, 90, Skelton 55 (Reid 13, 78, 82, 89)League Position - 8th</pre>

Table - February 2006 (25 games played)
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">1. Gretna 56 +312. Hamilton 45 +133. Brechin 38 +84. Raith 32 -35. Arbroath 32 -76. Stranraer 31 -97. Dumbarton 30 -38. Thistle 29 +39. Alloa 23 -1710. Ayr 22 -16</pre>

Scottish Premier League Table (26 games played)
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">1. Celtic 46 +192. Kilmarnock 46 +93. Rangers 45 +134. Hearts 37 -15. Hibs 37 +46. Inverness CT 36 +47. Dunfermline 35 +18. Falkirk 32 -59. Dundee 30 -410. Dundee Utd 30 -811. Motherwell 23 -1212. Aberdeen 22 -12</pre>