retired_southdown

Edinburgh Thistle Squad
2008/09 Scottish Premier League
Part One - The Keepers

retired_southdown

Part Two - The Defenders

retired_southdown

Part Three - Midfielders and Forwards

retired_southdown

After 298 days without an update....the Saga continues!

Scottish Premier League 2008/09

Nearly four years to the day that we beat Queen's Park in our first ever game, the Edinburgh Thistle Football Club would find itself playing at the top of the Scottish footballing pyramid, away to Hearts at Tynecastle. As I looked at my reflection in the mirror whilst fixing up my tie, memories of the past four years came flooding back. The win in the Scottish League Challenge Cup against Partick Thistle. Securing three promotions in four years. Our memorable win to win the First Division title just last season. And now, here we were somewhat unexpectedly, and suddenly, in the Scottish Premier League. Countless numbers of clubs in the lower leagues had toiled for decades without achieving this honour - and we had accomplished it five years after conception.

Dean Walker had the honour of scoring the first goal of the 2008/09 Premier League season as Thistle stole the limelight on opening day against a Hearts side that was perhaps unready for the stiff resistance we showed. The final margin of 3-1 to the Thistles was a great result which showed the rest of the competition that we would not be featherweights ready to swiftly fall back into the First Division.

Twin games against the Old Firm followed, with our boys outclassed by a combined score of 7-0. However, our very next game demonstrated the full attacking prowess of our side, with Aberdeen spanked to the tune of 6 goals to 2 in front of a energetic and vocal home crowd at the newly-renamed Collegians Road Stadium. A four game streak without a win in the SPL followed, which was broken with a very good away win against Dunfermline, where Connor Gethins scored his first hattrick in the Premier League. We finished the month of October with a fine win against former Third Division stablemates Gretna, and a hard derby against Hibs. In the press conference following the game, Tony Mowbray commented, "For years and years, you journalists have been writing about the green half of Edinburgh, and the maroon half of Edinburgh. From now on, you'll have to write about the green third, the maroon third and the yellow third. Thistle are going to hang around for quiet a considerable amount of time."

On November 22, the table-leading Rangers came to Collegians Road expecting to walk away with three points. Instead, we gave them a start and a beating to the tune of 4-2 - despite being down by two goals after just four minutes! Connor Gethins walked away with another fine hattrick in a performance that did his reputation in the Premier League no harm. Despite the high standard shown in that game, we would win just one game in the month of December and be eliminated from the League Cup by Dunfermline.

With the transfer window open for the new year, I decided to make an ungrade to our goal-keeping situation, signing highly-touted Libis Andres Arenas from Columbia. Graeme Smith was allowed to join Motherwell on a free-transfer, whilst Cameron Bell joined Dundee for a fee of $50,000.

The month of January saw Thistle continue their recent poor form and stumble to some spectacular losses, including a 7-2 embarrasment against Hibs on television. The very next game saw us lose 5-2 to Hearts, which placed us just three points away from relegation. Fortunately, the month of February was much more productive, with 12 points earned from 5 games, including a historic 2-0 win against Celtic at Celtic Park.

The Scottish Cup came to an abrupt end for us with a 3-0 loss to Partick Thistle in the quarter-finals. Despite that, our form in the Premier League had never been better, with a 7 game undefeated streak extending into the month of March. The final five fixtures of the season were decided under the Scottish split format, where the Premier League teams are placed into two groups based on table position and play each other one more time. With four wins from our last five games, Thistle had accerated into seventh position, an unlikely scenario at the beginning of the season, but a wonderful result nonetheless.

Edinburgh Thistle also featured prominently in the end-of-season awards, with mid-fielder Ross O'Donoghue runner-up to Celtic's Ross Wallace in the Player of the Year. I was delighted and honoured to be nominated for the Manager of the Year award, although finishing runner-up to Martin O'Neill was to be expected considering his Celtic side romped to another SPL title with 96 points. Three of our players were selected in the SPL Team of the Year - O'Donoghue, Marco Pelosi and Ederson. Incredibly, the judges could not (or perhaps would not?) find a position for either Connor Gethins or Dean Walker, despite scoring an incredible 45 goals between them - more than Kilmarnock and Queen of the South combined!

There would be major movement in the transfer market as far as Thistle were concerned, with the recently awarded Ross O'Donoghue shipped off to Dunfermline for a fee of $1,000,000 - our biggest transfer since Naldo was sold for $2,000,000 to Mallorca barely 24 hours after being signed for a fifth of that price. Four other players found new homes on free transfers - Daniel Ferry (Dumbarton), David McClune (Hamilton), Fraser Logan (Peterhead) and Steven Masterton (Clyde).

I was sure that the current squad had the potential to crack into the Premier League's top half in the 2009/10 season, and accordingly only made two additions to the squad - German attacking midfielder Jurgen Gjasula from Kaiserslautern on a free transfer, and Craig Wilson from Partick for $100,000.

retired_southdown

Scottish Premier League 2008/09 Table

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | C | Celtic | | 38 | 31 | 2 | 5 | 87 | 24 | +63 | 95 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Rangers | | 38 | 19 | 10 | 9 | 64 | 35 | +29 | 67 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | Falkirk | | 38 | 15 | 15 | 8 | 49 | 44 | +5 | 60 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Hearts | | 38 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 50 | 44 | +6 | 52 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Dunfermline | | 38 | 13 | 10 | 15 | 39 | 49 | -10 | 49 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Hibs | | 38 | 13 | 9 | 16 | 53 | 46 | +7 | 48 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Thistle | | 38 | 16 | 6 | 16 | 64 | 66 | -2 | 54 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Dundee | | 38 | 14 | 9 | 15 | 38 | 43 | -5 | 51 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Aberdeen | | 38 | 15 | 5 | 18 | 37 | 49 | -12 | 50 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Gretna | | 38 | 13 | 8 | 17 | 42 | 44 | -2 | 47 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Kilmarnock | | 38 | 12 | 5 | 21 | 29 | 53 | -24 | 41 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | R | Queen of Sth | | 38 | 3 | 10 | 25 | 21 | 76 | -55 | 19 | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>

Scottish Cup - Celtic 2 d. Dundee 1
League Cup - Celtic 2 d. Hibs 1

retired_southdown

Before a ball was even kicked in anger in 2009/10, the mind games started. Only this time, it came straight from the head offices of the Scottish Football Association.

"They're asking us to what?" I asked incrediously.

The club's legal adviser sat forward in his chair and picked up the sheet of paper. "According to the legal documents, they are claiming it as an infringement of copyright. Having three teams in the four divisions that call themselves 'Thistle' is a nightmare for fans to follow, according to market researchers, although of course they just could be plucking numbers out of the air. I've already spoken to the chairmen of Inverness and Partick and they're adamant that we must change our name or pay compensation to both clubs backdated retrospectively to 2004."

"Can they even do that? They've had five years to raise the issue, after all. It's never been a problem before."

"Their argument is that it shouldn't be a problem for us to make the change, since we only have five years of tradition, as opposed to decades."

"If it has to be done, then it has to be done," I sighed. "We'll still beat them where it matters...if they ever make it back to the Premier League, that is."

retired_southdown

2009/10 Scottish Premier League Season

August 2009
"It's a new name, but we have the same old Thistle attitude. We're not going to let any team stand over us, or intimidate us. Especially not the green third!"

With the words of captain Gavin Skelton ringing in the players' ears, our second season in the top flight got underway at Easter Road Park with a draw, although like so many games last season, we could have walked away with more points. "'If', 'Could' and 'Should' are not words of winners!" I barked at the team afterwards.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">2/8 - Hibs 2 University 2Scorers - Walker 59, Gethins 72 (O'Connor 4, 90)Position - 7th</pre>

After a two-year journey in the First Division, Dundee United played their first home game of the season and were quick to exact revenge on the former Thistles for extending their exile from the Premier League.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">9/8 - Dundee Utd 3 University 1Scorers - Walker 12 (Roelandts 21pen, Wilson 31, Conway 72)Position - 9th[code]A crowd of 14,954 saw us tackle Roberto Carlos's Hearts side in our second derby of the year.[code]16/8 - University 0 Hearts 2Scorers - (Coakley 6, Porarinsson 40)Position - 11th</pre>

Just a week later, a new crowd record of 14,981 saw us tackle Rangers. Despite dominating the game for large periods of the game, we were unable to secure all three points, mainly due to Arenas's blunder in the first half.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">22/8 - University 2 Rangers 2Scorers - Skelton 42, Ederson 83 (Murray 18, Arenas 36og)Position - 11th</pre>

The following week saw our squad expand by two players. Columbian Freddy Guarin agreed to a transfer which would earn his club $2.3 million over eighteen months. With former club-mate Libis Andres Arenas already at the club, I anticipate he will have no problems settling into Edinburgh and will soon make his claims for selection in our midfield heard loud and clear. Another midfielder was added in the form of Aiden McGeady, formerly of Celtic, and a team-mate of Connor Gethins in the Republic of Ireland squad, having earned 26 caps in his six-year career.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Table at the end of August1. Hearts 102. Celtic 93. Gretna 94. Rangers 75. Falkirk 66. Dundee Utd 6 7. Kilmarnock 58. Hibs 49. Aberdeen 410. Dundee 311. University 212. Dunfermline 1</pre>

retired_southdown

September 2009

The month started with a pair of international matches as teams around the world strove to qualify for the World Cup due to be held next year in South Africa. Scotland advanced their cause tremondously with two draws against Spain and Romania - the results see Craig Levein's men in second spot in their qualifying pool. The other main event during our week off was the draw for the second round of the League Cup, with Stenhousemuir slated as our opponents, the same team who tipped out of the competition two years ago in what was their only win against us in six previous encounters.

The first game of the month saw a trip to the giants of the SPL, Celtic. Aiden McGeady was on hand to make his debut against his old side, however Freddy Guarin and Libis Andres Arenas were absent on international duty. Unfortunately the game was a disaster for us. Possibly, just possibly, poor old Aiden thought he was still playing for the home side, and was guilty of some terrible passes in the first half which resulted in Celtic goals.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">5/9 - Celtic 5 University 0Scorers - (Saccucci 13, Hunt 16, 37, Boutahar 57, Mahoney 65)Position - 11th</pre>

I felt that [b]Callum Reidford[b]'s performance between the sticks was unacceptable, even if we were playing Celtic. He demonstrated the ability of a baby seal and the heart of a gnat. Accordingly, I fined him a week of his pay and told him to lift his game. It was very disappointing therefore to see him absent from our next training session. It seems that the best way to deal with him is to let him go to another club, as early as possible. There is no place in my squad for 'team cancers'.

Dunfermline were struggling at the bottom of the table - much like ourselves - but certainly did not play that way in our match at Collegians Road. They fulled deserved their equalizer, however, with a magnificent 40-yard strike which just made its way past Arenas's outstretched arms.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">12/9 - University 1 Dunfermline 1Scorers - Walker 64pen (Armour 65)Position - 11th</pre>

University made the back pages of the newspapers this week, however, with Ederson expressing his desire to leave University at the beginning of the transfer window in January. "I think that almost all the juice is squeezed out of the lemon," he was quoted as saying. "David O'Connor is a good man, but he has the footballing tactical nous of a small seashell." In a meeting later that afternoon, Ederson denied making the 'seashell' comment but repeated his request for a transfer. It's a difficult situation for me as manager - he is one of my most important contributors in the midfield, but he would also be more vaulable to us if he were sold in January rather than being allowed to walk away for a free transfer.

Clearly the frustrations were beginning to show on the players' faces. Was the season already over before it had really started? The answer was....no, not quite....

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">19/9 - University 3 Kilmarnock 0Scorers - Walker 12, 46, Gethins 84Position - 9th</pre>

Unfortunately for us, the victory came at a price, with Libis Andres Arenas suffering a dislocated jaw during a heading contest with former teammate Ross O'Donoghue. Marco Pelosi fractured his arm in a contest at the other end of the field, whilst, in a deliciously ironic twist of fate, Ederson bruised his head and would be out for five days. Call me a small seashell, did he?

With the sour Callum Reidford back in goal - despite his robotic public apology for skipping training, I'm sure I'm not on his Christmas card list - we made the long trip to the bleak surroundings of Pittdorie, with the resulting contest a very hard-fought draw.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">26/9 - Aberdeen 1 University 1Scorers - Gethins 28 (McGeown 40)Position - 9th</pre>

The month was finished with a League Cup fixture where we never got out of third gear...and didn't have to. Our next opponent in the League Cup would be Dundee United.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">30/9 - Stenhousemuir 0 University 4Scorers - Walker 17pen, 45, 54pen, Gethins 32League Cup - Second Round</pre>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Scottish Premier League Table - September 20091. Celtic 21 +172. Hearts 19 +83. Rangers 17 +104. Dundee Utd 11 -15. Gretna 11 -36. Falkirk 10 -17. Hibs 8 -18. Aberdeen 8 -49. University 7 -610. Dundee 6 -411. Dunfermline 6 -712. Kilmarnock 6 -8</pre>

retired_southdown

October 2009

Great excitement around Collegians Road at the start of the month, with Dean Walker called into the Scotland squad as cover for the injured Ross McCormack. Scotland beat Armenia 3-1 to go on top of their qualification group with just one game remaining. Although Dean did not get a chance to play, he was still present in the stadium at Kiev as Scotland beat Ukraine 2-0 to secure their berth in the 2010 World Cup. Arguably the biggest story of the day was Wales's 1-0 win in Munich that denied the Germans at chance at direct qualification - instead, they will playoff against Italy.

Connor Gethins and Aiden McGeady will have a considerably easier task trying to qualify, facing up against Albania.

With Scotland still riding on a high following their qualification, we travelled to Falkirk, but didn't get the start or result that we wanted.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">10/10 - Falkirk 2 University 1Scorers - Walker 62 (Blanco 1, Duffy 5)Position - 9th</pre>
Gretna, our first rivals, came to Collegians Road to battle again for the thirteenth time. In an entertaining battle, we were able to walk away with all three points, but only after Connor Gethins had the final say. Freddy Guarin was named in the team of the week for his efforts.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">17/10 - University 2 Gretna 0Scorers - McManus 54, Gethins 90Position - 8th</pre>
Consistency has not been our strong point this season, and things didn't change when we turned in an insipid performance against lowly Dundee. Only Hibs's big win against Kilmarnock prevented us from touching the bottom of the table.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">24/10 - University 0 Dundee 2Scorers - (Conroy 1og, McManus 28)Position - 11th</pre>
We were quite unlucky against Dundee United in our League Cup game just four days later. Twice we took the lead....twice they pegged us back....they took the lead twice....we pegged them back twice....and finally Garry Shields scored the winner with three minutes remaining in extra-time.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">28/10 - Dundee Utd 5 University 4Scorers - Guarin 25, 89, Gethins 65, 105 (Templeman 48, McGuire 70pen, Roelandts 84, Kean 112, Shields 117)League Cup Third Round</pre>
After the game, Gavin Skelton sought a private interview, and told me that he wished to relinquish the captaincy of the club, effective immediately. "It's been an honour," he confided, "But I believe that I'm not playing my best football at the moment. It's hard enough to worry about my own form without worrying about the rest of the team as well."

As soon as it was announced, rumours began to sweep the SPL of a rift between Gavin and myself, but nothing could be further from the truth. "He's not dead," I commented wryly, "He's merely no longer the captain, by his own choice. He's still the same old Gavin Skelton."

Stephen McManus received the captain's armband for our league game against Dundee United. His captaincy debut lasted precisely 78 seconds before he was carted off the field with a gashed leg. The rematch of the epic league cup game just three days previously was a dour affair, with neither side deserving of the victory

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">31/10 - University 0 Dundee Utd 0Position - 9th</pre>
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Scottish Premier League Table - October 20091. Celtic 29 +242. Rangers 24 +113. Falkirk 19 +34. Hearts 19 +05. Dundee Utd 18 +36. Hibs 17 +27. Dundee 15 -18. Aberdeen 14 -59. University 11 -710. Dunfermline 11 -711. Gretna 11 -1012. Kilmarnock 10 -13</pre>

retired_southdown

November 2009

"I don't care. He's burned too many bridges, and he's letting the team down. I don't care how much it will cost, just get rid of him. I want him out of Edinburgh by tonight."

Thus the month began with the unceremonious sacking of Callum Reidford after the keeper missed yet another training session. The decision to fire our second-string goalkeeper was not a difficult one on the surface, although it did leave University exposed should Libis Arenas come to harm in the months ahead.

While Reidford got his legal counsel together, the rest of the football world was focused on the World Cup qualifiers. Ireland qualified for the World Cup with a 2-0 aggregrate win over Albania. Also qualifying through the playoffs were Spain, Bulgaria and Italy. Germany continued their dismal run of qualifying results, having also missed out on Euro 2008 after falling to Bulgaria at the last hurdle.

Our league campaign resumed with a bad loss in the derby to Hearts. Apart from never being in the contest, we also suffered by having Gavin Skelton and Jurgen Gjasula sent off within five minutes of each other. Dean Walker would also be subsequently ruled out of our next game.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">15/11 - Hearts 4 University 1Scorers - Pelosi 90 (Jones 4, 46, Simmons 88, Porarinsson 89)Position - 10th</pre>
"Well, I think the championship is out of reach," I commented after the game in an attempt to lighten the mood. However, the gathering storm clouds drew darker with our next loss in another derby.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">22/11 - University 1 Hibs 2Scorers - Ederson 66 (Clark 26, Naismith 73)Position - 11th</pre>
"We're not dead yet!" I barked at the players afterwards. "Never give up. Never, ever, give up! Never, ever, ever, ever, ever give up!"

In an attempt to freshen up the lads, I gave the entire squad three days off training. "If I see anyone around Collegians Road before Wednesday, I'll fine you," was the warning. "Get out there, blow some of the cobwebs away, and let's get back stuck into it."

One week later in the depths of the Ibrox changing rooms, I began my pre-match talk. "They're not going to expect this from us. Get out there, terrorise them. They think we're an easy three points. Stuff them. We're nobody's whipping boys. Show them what we're made of. Gethins, I want you to go out there and pretend you're the greatest striker in the world. Ederson, pretend you're the best thing to come out of Brazil since Pele. Arenas, pretend that you're God's gift to goalkeepers. I want every single one of you to believe that we are the greatest team in Scotland, and go out and play like it."

The players seemed to respond well to this alternative pep talk, and managed to send the crowd at Ibrox into submission when we took a 2-1 lead into halftime.

Rangers didn't follow my script line-for-line however, and managed to storm back into the game with two goals in the final twenty minutes.

After the game, I stumbled around the room, not quiet finding the right words to say. The team had given their all, and yet....Dean Walker eventually brought the silence to an end when he placed his hand around me and said, "Don't worry, gaffer. Just pretend that we won."

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">28/11 - Rangers 3 University 2Scorers - Guarin 10, 20 (Murray 18pen, Gavi 70, Buffel 75)Position - 12th</pre>
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Scottish Premier League - November 20091. Celtic 33 +252. Rangers 27 +123. Dundee Utd 25 +54. Falkirk 25 +45. Hearts 23 +36. Hibs 20 +07. Aberdeen 18 -78. Gretna 17 -89. Dundee 15 -310. Dunfermline 13 -711. Kilmarnock 13 -1412. University 11 -12</pre>