PARTICK THISTLE are giving off the strong whiff of a club which has spent the summer redecorating before they open the doors to a new season.
Their clamber back up to the top flight after nine years spent on the slopes of Scottish football has made this summer a dizzying experience at times, a feeling effectively reproduced yesterday by scaling the stairs to the Alan Rough Lounge since the Jackie Husband Stand has been freshly painted and not aired out fully. The atmosphere within was colourful, too, with Alan Archibald taking his seat flanked by new signings Isaac Osbourne and Simon Colina Dominguez.
That the latter has been sourced from Barcelona's youth system means his arrival is weighted heavily with intrigue. He has not travelled light, either, the 18-year-old making his way with an interpreter and his father, while instructions in training have recently been delivered through another new addition at the club, Mexican defender Gabriel Rojo de la Vega Piccolo. That requires patience but their signings have at least allowed Archibald to brush up on his pointillism, the Thistle manager dotting his new players on to the pitch and stepping back in the hope that they blend into a team.
Dominguez was painting with broad strokes yesterday, though. His graduation from a student of Barca's La Masia academy to the captain of the Catalans' under-19 team made him a contemporary of Jean Marie Dongou – a forward who once scored a hat trick against Celtic in the NextGen Series in 2011 – although yesterday there was an obligatory focus on the contact he has had with one of Barca's more established names. Much of that has been brief, the midfielder once being introduced to Andres Iniesta at a youth tournament which comprised a timid exchange of pleasantries and a handshake, but it left an impression and Dominguez has taken to trying to imitate his celebrated compatriot during matches.
"I am more like Iniesta, I look more for the last pass," he said, the name of his esteemed former colleague having registered without the need for a translator. "When I play, Iniesta is the player I think about and I watch what he does in every game. I met him at a youth tournament once and shook his hand, but I try to copy what he does and watch what he does in every match."
It is often necessary to qualify such a statement, to explain that the comparison was not intended to be literal; yet his time served at La Masia has imbued in the Spaniard the canon that confidence is a necessity. It is that sense of assurance which encouraged Dominguez to try out at Firhill, attending the club's pre-season trip to the north-east of England, and which allowed him to pursue a style of football which is not so favoured back home. "I knew about British football, but mainly the bigger teams which you can watch on TV," he added. "I liked that kind of football, the physical battles and the direct football. It is fast. I've always been interested in that kind of football."
The teenager will be able to decide if it is better admired from afar if he is afforded his first competitive start tomorrow night. Osbourne is unlikely to join him among the starting XI as he has only trained twice with Thistle and the midfielder openly reflected yesterday that he had not intended to get quite so close to Scottish football this season. The Englishman resolved to leave Aberdeen in May to pursue a return to England and his family home in Birmingham, but he has only got as far south as Glasgow.
Osbourne was sincere as he talked over the opportunity which has been presented to him at Firhill, although it is one which he could study freely given a dearth of offers from England.
"I wanted to go back down south, to be near the family in Birmingham. That was the only reason I left Aberdeen," said the 27-year-old, who did spend part of pre-season training at Blackpool.
"I could see that they were going to have a good season this year but I had already said to my missus that I was going to try and find a club down in England to be nearer the family and the little 'un. But it didn't work out for me. I didn't hear nothing else but then the offer came from this club. I jumped at it."
He also impressed a need for the Thistle squad to jump to it if they are to avoid an uncomfortable return to the top flight. "I look at teams like Dundee last season – I think they lost a lot of their games before they even started on the pitch," said Osbourne.
"It was down to no belief. If they had started aggressively then I think they would have stayed up last year, so if we go out there and show what we are capable of I think we will do well."
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