Reserves lose ARR Carib Cup Final

Our lads were clearly tired and short of a yard of fitness and pace, whereas Thistle were up for it from the off, got their early goal and put our midfield under constant pressure from start to finish. Ball players like Green and Barkley were given no time at all to settle. As I mentioned in my match report article yesterday, Vellios was below par at Motherwell and lacked first touch or willingness to try and hold the ball up. He was worse here and offered nothing in attack.

It was a little bit déjâ vu for me having been to the Clyde vs Everton XI friendly this time last year really. The formation was a rigid 4-5-1 with players out of position in the wide areas, midfielder Green on the left, and striker McAleney on the right. Thistle played 3-5-2 and crowded us out completely throughout but the Stubbs/Weir/Taffy coaching trio on the touchline made no effort to change things in order to try and find a way into the game... Alas, it was all a bit true to the most frustrating cases of lack of a Plan B which we have grown used to from Everton teams in recent years.

Garbutt at left back looked tidy and Bidwell, captaining the side and shifted inside to partner big Hammar at centre-half, were our stand-out players for me. Hammar looked ungainly and off the pace at times. He and Junior both made fouls which would have been punished with at least yellow cards in other circumstances.

There was a real sense that the whole Everton side lost it once Thistle went 3-1 up with a brilliant team move started and finished by their left-back Bannigan shortly after McAleney's goal; a crazy few minutes followed during which three further goals for the home team were chalked off for offside. It really could have finished five or six at least and to be honest Partick would not have been flattered. They were excellent and very best wishes to them for 2012-13, I'll definitely be back to see how their getting on at Firhill in the coming months (glory hunter!!).

Always had a soft spot for the Davy Moyes connection and wish you well in the coming season – carry on where you left off the last one?

I'm a Jags man the same as the previous poster and was at both the games over the weekend and I'd probably bet that our team was younger in years than yours – so certainly NOT men against boys as has already been suggested. We are a very small team and to beat a Premier League reserve team as comprehensively as we did today is a big achievement for us.

So be gentle with us and I would like to thank Mr Stubbs for his generous comments about how good we were against the Celtic youngsters. I'm looking forward to his comments after today.

Best of luck for the coming season.

Jamie (#147) — Your take on the game is much appreciated,. the only thing I could fine was the text commentary at PTFC.co.UK, which seemed very one-sided... but perhaps it was accurate based on your observations! Vellios just does not seem to have enough life or drive in him for my liking, while playing people out of positions shows the kind of 'versatilty' Mr Moyes appreciates... even if the results are not that great.

Richard (#155) — Good point re the rested ones... perhaps someone ITK could explain how they (and the rest of the team) benefit from them having missed THREE WEEKS of grueling pre-season training , plus the 'team-bonding' high jinks in Austia?!? Especially when a player who is himself, by the manager's admission, three weeks to a month behind in terms of recovery from a serious injury, yet he gets given a game? And after 10 years in charge, this is all part of the most rigorous and best constructed pre-season training regime we could ever hope for?!?

I just don't geddit.

You seem to know what should be done. Apply for a job.