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1971- What A Sensation! 50 years on from the day Partick Thistle shocked the world of football.Published Sept 2021 This book is currently out of stock The echoing thud heard around Scotland on October 23, 1971 was the shockwave caused by thousands of chins hitting the floor. Such was the reaction when the half time score from Hampden came through that many who heard it, the vast majority in fact, couldnt believe it. Partick Thistle 4 Celtic 0. Even the BBC questioned the veracity of the result. This was a time when the Scottish League Cup final
Published Sept 2021
This book is currently out of stock
The echoing thud heard around Scotland on October 23, 1971 was the shockwave caused by thousands of chins hitting the floor. Such was the reaction when the half-time score from Hampden came through that many who heard it, the vast majority in fact, couldn’t believe it. Partick Thistle 4 Celtic 0. Even the BBC questioned the veracity of the result.
This was a time when the Scottish League Cup final was not shown live as it is today, there were no TV pictures to substantiate the claims and, in fact, an entire fixture card was being played out elsewhere. From Rangers to Aberdeen, Dundee to East Stirling fans heard of the events at the national stadium and wondered if they were going mad.
Somehow, a Partick Thistle team made up of young guns, old hands and part-timers had swept aside Jock Stein’s mighty Celtic. Fifty years on it remains Scottish football’s greatest shock, our game’s JFK moment. They would lose one goal to a young Kenny Dalglish in the second half. But while many expected a Celtic onslaught, Thistle stood firm.
This is the story of that momentous day told by the players who were there, the fans who couldn’t believe their eyes, and members of the media who were left open-mouthed in disbelief. It is the story of a fledgling manager and his inexperienced yet fearless team who somehow managed to pull off the shock of the century.
But it is also a story of the team-work and the team spirit that fuelled them when all had written them off and a togetherness that exists to this day. It is a story which wonderfully encapsulates the true spirit of sport – that on any given day, no matter the odds, David CAN humble Goliath.
- The book tells the remarkable story of Scottish football’s greatest shock
- It is told by the players who were there, taking you into the heart of the dressing room 50 years on
- First hand accounts of the build-up the game
- And into the hearts and minds of the players as the game unfolded
- It is the definitive story of a tale that has never been told
About the Author
Lorne Gardner has been a life-long fan of Partick Thistle and has the grey hairs to prove it. After a throw-away comment from a friend reminded him of the historic significance of 2021 to his beloved club, he set out to tell the definitive story of the greatest day in his club’s history. Lorne has been a sports journalist for over 25 years, almost exclusively with the Scottish Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, where he was Head of Sport until Covid turned his life upside down in October 2020. He lives only 15 minutes from Firhill, with his wife Siobhan, sons Joe and Sam and daughter Eve. This is his first book.
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4.3 ★★★★★
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Product Reviews
★★★★★ 4
Good but wood smell
Color: Carbonized, Size: 3-piece
These came with a woodsy smell but the price was great for the quality
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Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2026
★★★★★ 5
The Best Apologetics Book I've Ever Read!
This is one of the best apologetics books I've ever read!!
Greg Koukl, President of Stand To Reason at str.org has written
a great and informative book that is very thought provoking and
often points out atheist contradictions and logical fallacies
not to mention how lackluster and ignorant atheist thinking is.
Here is a good review of it:
[..]
"Discerning Reader Editorial Review
Reviewed 02/17/2009 by Tim Challies.
Recommended. A valuable tool to assist Christians in sharing and defending the faith.
I have a bit of an aversion to books on apologetics. I don't know exactly why this is, but it may be that many of them seem to teach methods of defending the faith that either manipulate or bludgeon. Somehow grace and apologetics do not seem to go together as they ought. So it was with perhaps just a bit of reluctance that I began reading Gregory Koukl's Tactics: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions. This is a book that promises to teach a new method, a respectful method, of defending the faith and of attempting to convince others of the truth of Christianity. This is not an apologetics 101 text, as in a book that will compare and contrast various apologetic methods; instead, it is a guide, a book that seeks to lead the reader into a new method of sharing his faith with others.
"If you're like a lot of people who pick up a book like this, you would like to make a difference for the kingdom, but you are not sure how to begin. I want to give you a game plan, a strategy to get involved in a way you never thought you could, yet with a tremendous margin of safety." Here is what Koukl promises--he sets no small goal. "I am going to teach you how to navigate in conversations so that you stay in control--in a good way--even though your knowledge is limited. You may know nothing about answering challenges people raise against what you believe. You may even be a brand new Christian. It doesn't matter. I am going to introduce you to a handful of effective maneuvers--I call them tactics--that will help you stay in control."
This tactical approach is a useful one, for it allows you to stay "in the driver's seat in conversations, so you can productively direct the discussion, exposing faulty thinking and suggesting more fruitful alternatives along the way." It is important to note that "tactics are not manipulative tricks or slice ruses. They are not clever ploys to embarrass other people and force them to submit to your point of view. They are not meant to belittle or humiliate those who disagree so you can gain notches in your spiritual belt." Instead, they are ways of guiding a conversation to expose poor reasoning and then use that as a bridge to the truth.
Koukl begins by looking at three basics skills the Christian will need if he wishes to be an effective apologist. First, he must have knowledge, having a familiarity with the central message of the Bible; second, he must have knowledge that is tempered by wisdom that makes his message clear and persuasive; third, he must have the character of a Christian, embodying the virtues of the kingdom he serves.
Then, over the course of four chapters, Koukl unveils his tactic. He calls it "The Columbo." The key to this tactic is to "go on the offensive in an inoffensive way by using carefully selected questions to productively advance the conversation." Never make a statement when a question will do the job. When you ask questions and listen carefully, you gather information that can be used to show a person where his thinking is faulty. Questions can be used to gather information, to reverse the burden of proof or to lead the conversation. Either way, the person asking the question is the person who leads the discussion.
He sets a modest and realistic goal for his interactions with unbelievers. "My goal," he says, "is to find clever ways to exploit someone's bad thinking for the purpose of guiding her to truth, yet remaining gracious and charitable at the same time. My aim is to manage, not manipulate; to control, not coerce; to finesse, not fight. I want the same for you." The goal of this kind of apologetics, then, is not necessarily to win someone to Christ. That may be an ultimate goal or an ultimate hope, but the goal of an individual encounter is nothing more than, in Koukl's words, "putting a stone in someone's shoe." "I want to give him something worth thinking about, something he can't ignore because it continues to poke at him in a good way."
In Part 2 of the book, Koukl offers guidance in finding flaws in the way people reason. He offers specific tactics to unveil poor reasoning and to turn it back against a person. He calls these things like Suicide, Sibling Rivalry, Taking the Roof Off. He offers advice on countering the human steamroller (you've tried to discuss issues with people like this) and the Rhodes scholar, the supposed expert.
When I think of Christian apologetics, I tend to think of Evidence that Demands a Verdict or some of the classics of days gone by. But in this book Koukl offers a new approach and one that is well-suited to the times. He teaches the Christian to think well, to exemplify grace and to humbly lead a conversation to the truth. "We may spend hours helping someone carefully work through an issue without ever mentioning God, Jesus or the Bible. This does not mean we aren't advancing the kingdom. It is always a step in the right direction when he help others think more carefully. If nothing else, it gives them tools to assess the bigger questions that eventually come up."
Apologetics is not always a discipline that is done with grace. But in this book Koukl shares tactics that will prove beneficial to any Christian. They may just revolutionize the way you interact with unbelievers. I highly recommend it."
I give this book 5/5 stars and recommend it to both Christians and atheists
alike as well as everyone in between.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2011
★★★★★ 5
Highly recommend
Format: Paperback, Format: Paperback
I just finished reading tactics; it’s a book every Christian should consider adding to their reading list.
So often we either avoid hard conversations about faith or we jump into them unprepared and emotional. This book does such a good job of equipping believers to slow down, ask thoughtful questions, and engage in meaningful dialogue with people who disagree with us. It’s not about “winning arguments,” it’s about learning how to think clearly, respond graciously, and represent Christ well.
What I really appreciated is how grounded it is in biblical context. It reinforces the tools we already have as disciples (wisdom, discernment, gentleness, and truth) and shows us how to actually apply them in real conversations. It encourages confidence without arrogance and boldness without hostility.
If you’ve ever felt unsure about how to defend your faith or navigate tough discussions, this book is incredibly practical and encouraging.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 2, 2026
★★★★★ 5
Cannot recommend this book enough
Greg Koukl’s "Tactics: A game plan for discussing your Christian convictions" is an excellent tool for anyone engaged in everyday conversations with unbelievers. With a mountain of attacks coming at Christians today, it can easily become overwhelming or even defeating for someone who wants to communicate his or her faith. What Koukl sets out to do in this book is to empower his readers to not only not be afraid, but be confident in what they believe, without feeling like the worlds questions are on their shoulders. The first half of this work deals with the game plan. In every day conversations, there are often a lot of claims about the Christian faith that are unfounded, so Koukl’s tactic is primarily a shifting in the burden of proof. He uses the show Columbo as his primary example, as the main character acts like a bumbling fool, but is really a brilliant detective. He will act like a fool to put off his suspect, but then asks incriminating questions to get his suspect to confess. In the same way, when a Christian is given a claim against his or her faith, they do not need to bear the weight of the claim, but can ask for more information and then allow them to defend their conclusions. It is not confrontational and helps the conversation gain some clarity. More often than not, in those moments, the baseless claims are exposed for what they really are, and the Christian is able to deal with the weightier matters of God and the individual.
The second half of his book deals with the practicalities of how this tactic can play out. It is no longer an issue of steering the conversation, but of having the practical thinking skills to be a knowledgeable ambassador. A lot of these principles take practice and immersion for it to become a habitual thing, but that’s the first thing that Koukl encourages his readers to do: Try. You will never be able to become proficient at this if you are not entering into conversation with others. The first thing that he encourages us to look out for in this section is the self-refuting questions or objections, which he calls “suicide.” These are views that are inherently contradictory. He said, “When statements fail to meet their own criteria of validity, they are self-refuting.” The concept of truth as universally relative is a good example of this, since it is making the objective truth claim that all truth is subjectively relative. So, it commits suicide by its own assertions. The following chapter shows not only the logical inconsistencies with self-refuting claims, but also the fact that it cannot play out in reality. No one can live (at least consistently) with a worldview that is inherently contradictory. When someone tells you that you cannot judge or that you should not try and change the beliefs of other people, they are in fact doing the very thing that they claim is wrong.
One aspect that I particularly enjoyed was his chapter on taking the roof off. This was a deliberate exposition on Francis Schaeffer’s use of reductio ad absurdum. “Whenever someone tries to deny the truth, reality ultimately betrays them.” When a person holds to a false worldview, oftentimes the reductio can help take them to the logical ends of their view. For instance, if someone holds to monism, where all is one and differences are an illusion, then the internal human drive for justice is equally an illusion, and thus a man loving his wife and family has no moral difference in the universe than a man walking into a kindergarten classroom and shooting everyone in sight. Most do not want to deal with the reality of what their worldview allows.
But sometimes people, regardless of whether they are proven wrong, will not let you get a word in. His chapter on the steamroller is particularly helpful here. The Christian wants to be the most loving that he or she can possibly be in a conversation, and the steamroller personality will use that to their advantage, as they control the conversation and avoid dealing with their own claims. So, Koukl has the Christian simply stop the conversation, shame the person for being so overbearing, and if that does not work, simply leave. It does not good to try and have a conversation with someone who is not willing to have a conversation.
The three things that he ultimately wants his readers to develop are Character, knowledge, and wisdom. With these three combined, the ambassador has enough in his or her arsenal to fight for the hearts and minds of the people he or she engages. Without knowledge, the Christian is ignorant, without wisdom, he or she is without direction in the conversation, and without character, the Christian runs the risk of being a jerk. Koukl said, “My goal… is to find clever ways to exploit someone’s bad thinking for the purpose of guiding her to truth, yet remaining as gracious and charitable at the same time. My aim is to manage not manipulate; to control, not coerce; to finesse, not fight.” He wants the reader to be the best Christian that the non-Christian has ever met. When the focus is on truth and compassion for the other person, it becomes more a matter of putting a stone in their shoe, to make them think, than a series of manipulating maneuvers to get them to convert. This makes room for friendships to develop, rather than confrontations that create an us/them mentality, and, God willing, these encounters will eventually be the means that God uses to save them.
While this book is not a how to guide, it does offer some quality introductions to apologetic arguments and a great framework for discussing Christian convictions with those who do not hold to their worldview. Many who are new to apologetics will find a goldmine in this book, and those who are well versed will find an equal amount of value, since he gives a framework for discussion that is winsome and gets to the root of the issues to let the gospel shine. I reference this book often, since this model is the way I try to do apologetics with both Christians and non-Christians.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 3, 2014
★★★★★ 5
Excellent and Incredibly Helpful — Full of Practical Wisdom
Format: Paperback
Tactics, 10th Anniversary Edition: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions is an excellent book and extremely helpful. It’s packed with thoughtful insights and practical “gems” that equip believers to engage in meaningful conversations about their faith with clarity and confidence.
What makes this book stand out is how approachable and usable it is. The tactics are easy to understand, respectful in tone, and genuinely effective in real conversations—not just theoretical arguments.
I would highly recommend this to anyone who wants to better articulate and defend their Christian convictions while remaining gracious and thoughtful in discussion.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2026