Roy might like to bring you on staff, Justice 
Thanks to all as always for the comments!
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The trip to Gayfield Park hadn’t been especially long – none of the trips in Scotland really are.
Roy thought back to the joke from the American comedian Steven Wright – “cross-country skiing is great but only if you live in a small country” -- but the coach ride had still given Roy the chance to think about the team going forward.
There were certain players he liked – Coulibaly was one, even though he wasn’t scoring yet – and Cammy Bell was another. He was a legitimate Premiership goalkeeper even if Rangers hadn’t thought so.
When they were climbing back up the leagues, the Bears had utilized Bell’s services. A former Kilmarnock man who made 115 appearances for the club, Bell did the dirty work when Rangers were walking the lower leagues despite losing almost all of their stars when the club nearly folded.
Then when they finally reached the big time again, Bell was gone, replaced by Wesley Foderingham, who was in turn replaced by Allan McGregor – who had left the club when it tanked.
Somehow, it didn’t seem fair.
But to Roy, Bell was just what the doctor ordered – a highly competent keeper who knew Glasgow and who was itching for an opportunity to get back into the Premier League to show everyone what they had been missing.
Roy had played with some good keepers – many of whom had more talent than Bell. But few of them had Bell’s drive to prove a point, and he admired that in his number one.
After leaving Rangers, Bell had gone to Dundee United and then to Hibs and finally back to Killie – playing exactly twice, both for Hibs, in the season just concluded. He was only too happy to leave.
But to his teammates, Bell was a free-spirited regular guy. He didn’t fit into any of the predetermined molds and team groups and he didn’t seem to mind. Everyone liked him and he could move from group to group with nearly equal ease.
Those were the kinds of players Roy could build around.
Yet, here was Bell, back in his League One roots, facing Arbroath in the last Cup group stage match. He seemed at home, even if his being at Thistle was supposed to get him away from fields like these to as great an extent as possible.
Today, though, it was his teammates who did the hard work – especially Max Melbourne, the loanee from West Brom. The 19-year old had bags of pace and could make things happen either up the park or down in his defensive third, and he seemed to rarely get tired.
Bannigan had served notice of intent after only eight minutes, taking heed of Roy’s wish for a bright start by slotting past Darren Jamieson from about ten yards to get the Jags off to a flyer.
Not long later, there was Melbourne, dropping a perfect cross from deep onto the forehead of Storey, who netted for the fifth time in two games right on the half hour.
Really, there wasn’t much more Roy could ask for. His team had 13 shots at goal in the first half to just one for the home team, so Bell had very little to do.
The second half was every bit as good, as was the Jags’ tackling. They won 25 of 26 challenges on the day and were only whistled for nine fouls. They were efficient in their defensive third and they were effective all over the park.
Blair Spittal scored his first goal fifteen minutes from time as the Jags held off Arbroath with considerable comfort and right as the match ticked over into added time, Melbourne himself capped a great day with a swerving little volley from the edge of the area that was fit to win any football match even though it made this one four-nil.
Thistle was through to the knockout stages without so much as breathing hard. Four wins from four and only one conceded with 14 goals for. Only Edinburgh City had managed to dent them.
If Roy was looking for a better way to get through to his players, he’d have been hard-pressed to find it.
As the team boarded the coach for home, Roy waited for Bell to walk past him just outside the door. As he did, Roy extended his hand.
“Good job, big fellow,” Roy smiled, even though the keeper had made only two saves, neither of them difficult. “Winning is fun, yeah?”
Bell grinned. “Thanks, gaffer,” he said. “And yes, it beats hell out of the alternative.”
Betfred Cup Group Stage Match #4 – Arbroath 0-4 Partick Thistle
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