The Thistle Archive

Media report

ABERDEEN were booed off Pittodrie, not for the first time this season, after having struggled to snatch a point against Partick Thistle, and manager Willie Miller knows why. “We have to give more value for money at home,” said the Aberdeen manager. The home performances of the Dons this season have been dismal after a promising opening success against Hearts. But after having beaten Thistle 5-0 at Firhill in the Coca-Cola Cup, most of the 10,500 crowd were Aberdeen supporters looking for another goal feast. It never materialised and the home support made it clear that what they saw was not worth the admission money, with neither attack nor defence in championship challenging form. Injuries had deprived Aberdeen of Theo Snelders, Paul Kane, and Duncan Shearer and the latter’s scoring ability was missed. Aberdeen had a number opportunities to take the lead but Booth, in particular, could not find the target.

Thistle proved creative, with Chic Charnley, keen to make amends for having been sent off in the cup game against Aberdeen, very influential. He broke the deadlock after 74 minutes by heading home an Albert Craig cross. “I think that is probably his first goal with his head,” quipped the Jags’ assistant manager, Gerry Collins, “which is surprising because of the size of his head.” The goal jolted Aberdeen into action and four minutes later, Colin Woodthorpe sent a long pass to Billy Dodds who stumbled and fell at the edge of the six -yard box. While the Thistle defence hesitated, Dodds clambered to his feet, forced his way into space, and fired past Craig Nelson. Collins, who believes Dodds handled the ball on the ground, was happy with one point but was disappointed not to have taken three. “I felt for 80 minutes were the better team, playing controlled football, and doing more work. We showed today we can play.”

On the other hand, Miller is happy with the Dons’ away form and believes if his players were more relaxed they could produce the level of performance he feels they are capable of at home. He anticipates that the challenge of Rangers at Pittodrie on Saturday will bring the best out in them. “I think that will be a help in terms of the atmosphere which will be generated,” he said. “Although we passed the ball well I think we never got beyond three-quarters pace. We didn’t build on the three games we have played away from home and certainly we have to give more value for money. We didn’t punish them nearly enough in terms of getting the ball into the box.”

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