The Thistle Archive

Media report

Thistle surpass target set by Lambie… PARTICK Thistle are so far ahead of schedule that when manager John Lambie takes his players for a sunshine break to Benidorm at the end of the week he will be able to enjoy the Spanish hospitality rather than sit at the poolside worrying and wondering where his next league points are going to come from. Before the season he set a target of nine points from every quarter, enough he thought to keep the Firhill men in the premier division, but after Saturday’s 2 -0 win at Motherwell he finds his side sitting fifth in the table with 18 points — six matches ahead of schedule. Those matches include jousts with the giants and Lambie is prepared to look on anything picked up from them as a bonus. There are no delusions of grandeur about this down to earth fellow. You ask him about Europe and his thoughts turn only towards that break in Benidorm. He said: “I still haven’t changed my target since we were promoted — if we finish in tenth place at the end of the season I’ll consider we have done well. I was worried about the Motherwell match, coming just after we had lost to Falkirk, but we played some really good football in the first half and if we had managed to string things together after half-time we could have made it really embarrassing for them.”

Two early blunders put Thistle firmly in the driving seat, first when Motherwell goalkeeper Billy Thomson let a long-range drive from Willie Jamieson squirm from his grasp and go over the line, then when Chris McCart stood still near the byeline and let Albert Craig nip in behind him to shoot home the second. That second goal couldn’t have come at a better time for Craig, whose three -month contract at Firhill is up at the end of the month. Said the midfield man: “When I came to Thistle it was difficult to get into the first team but I got my chance against Celtic at Parkhead and since then we have lost only once. I was feeling under some pressure to get a goal so this one may have come at the right time. When my contract runs out it will be up to the manager if he wants to keep me. If he offers me new terms I would be delighted to stay with Thistle.”

It was rather inevitable that a cluster of Motherwell’s so-called fans should once again stage a demonstration after the match, calling for the heads of manager Tommy McLean and the Fir Park board, but McLean is not ducking the issue. He said: “//We’ve got to accept the criticism until we pull ourselves out of this situation. The fans pay their money and they are entitled to voice their displeasure. I’ve said it all myself — the current standard is not just good enough. But it’s in our own hands to sort it out.

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