As I write this Partick Thistle are on the cusp of
securing their Premiership status for another season. Before going further I
feel that I should provide a disclaimer at this point. Being 10 points clear
with just 4 games remaining is a good position to be in but not one that allows
this writer to totally relax either; I’ve been following Thistle for far too
long for that.
You would think, however, that even allowing for some
red and yellow tinged pessimism and anxiety, that most Jags fans would be
fairly content with the Club’s current position.
Well Scott McFarlane, writing in www.scotzine.com,
certainly isn’t as this blog article is testament to;
Scott doesn’t begin well when he proclaims that he
believes that he speaks “for most Thistle fans”. The overwhelming reaction to
his article, which basically claims that Thistle have underperformed in a
variety of areas over the season; would suggest that that belief is somewhat
misplaced.
Scott’s first concern is that the Club didn’t push for
a European place this season despite having the “foundations and fan base” that
give Thistle a better chance of doing that than others.
That claim is worth exploring a little further.
Thistle’s average home league attendance this season stands at just 3,386 and
with only Hamilton’s at 2,533 lower Thistle come in at a whopping 11th
place in that league table. Furthermore
that represents a drop from last season, when Thistle were able to enjoy large
travelling supports to Firhill on a number of occasions, of 32.3%. That
particular statistic should cause Thistle fans at the very least a slight
shudder of concern.
That’s the fan base claim covered but what are these
foundations that Scott talks about? It shouldn’t be forgotten that this season
is just Thistle’s second back in the top flight. A step up in divisions doesn’t
automatically come with the infrastructure of a top flight club. That takes
time to build and develop and Thistle haven’t had the benefit of the consistent
top flight status that the likes of Kilmarnock
and Motherwell, for now, have enjoyed.
Scott even seems to concede this point when he says that Thistle aren’t,
yet, a “high flying club”.
So where precisely do his concerns lie?
It would seem fairly and squarely at the door of the
manager Alan Archibald. Scott claims that Archibald isn’t a “good football
manager” without actually expanding on that point other than to say he doesn’t
like him standing with his arms folded. Especially when it is cold.
Seeing as Scott hasn’t bothered to explore Archibald’s
record as Thistle manager I will instead. He became Partick Thistle manager
when Jackie McNamara left to become Dundee United manager. That Archibald
inherited a good squad of players is hardly in doubt but he took over at a time
of some turmoil with the loss of a talented manager. An inexperienced squad was
trailing Morton in the First Division title race, albeit with games in hand,
and many observers believed Thistle’s title push was at an end.
Fast forward 16 unbeaten league games and Partick
Thistle are First Division Champions winning the league by a margin off 11
points.
The following season Thistle had avoided automatic
relegation prior to the late season split (Hearts’ point deduction helping in
that regard) and a play-off position was avoided with victory in the
penultimate fixture of the season.
This season automatic relegation was again avoided
prior to the split (no Hearts safety net this season) and Thistle are on course
to avoid a play-off spot comfortably before the season’s conclusion (please see
my previous disclaimer).
Every job that Alan Archibald has been asked to do as
Thistle manager he has done or is on course to do. Since league reconstruction
in 1975 only two managers, Bertie Auld and John Lambie, have kept Thistle in
the top flight for three or more successive seasons. If, as most people expect,
Alan Archibald does that then he will become just the third Thistle manager to
do so in 40 years. I’ll leave it to those better at counting than me to tell
you how many haven’t managed that feat. Some of them even waved their arms in the
air.
Criticism too has been directed, by Scott, towards the
Club’s youth structure or more accurately the failure to play more youngsters
in the first team. The theme of aspects of the Club’s structure needing time to
develop and grow is becoming a recurring one. Massive strides have been taken
in terms of Youth Development with the investment of the Weirs seeing things
taken to a new level. Laying aside the fact that Stuart Bannigan came through
the later age groups in the Thistle youth system, and that Declan McDaid, Liam
Lindsay and David Wilson have all featured in the first team this season, the
most talented crop of youngsters in the Weir Academy haven’t reached the stage
in their development where they can play first team football at the level that
Thistle are currently playing at. A number though are continuing their
footballing educations while at on loan. All seems very positive on the youth
development front.
There is one thing upon which myself and Scott agree
on and that is the fact that the manager will face a challenging summer. There is a difference, however, in how the two
of us interpret that challenge. For Scott the fact that we struggle to sign,
and hold onto, players that can acquire larger wages elsewhere is a failing of
the Club; a lack of ambition. In contrast I tend to take the view that the
lower the crowd the lower the income and the harder it becomes to attract the
kind of player that will see the Club make continued progress.
It seems to me that there is, particularly within the
younger generation of Thistle fans, a frustration at the rate of progress that
Partick Thistle as a club is making. Is everything perfect at Firhill? No, it
isn’t but there needs to be a realisation that the further you climb up the
ladder of Scottish Football the harder it becomes to improve year on year and
how small the margin of that progress can be. Partick Thistle Football Club is
in a much healthier position than it was when Alan Archibald became manager.
Hopefully the full-time whistle tomorrow will signal the successful completion
of another job and further progress for The Jags.
Excellent response Tom. Been following Thistle for to many years and seen some abject managers in my time not to be quietly content with what AA has achieved so far. The minority who seem to have a problem with him, really require a reality check.
ReplyDelete