ALAN Archibald hasn’t become a bad manager. His problem, if that’s the right word, is that he is the manager of Partick Thistle.
And while this great Glasgow football institution is in rude health financially, the club’s history is one of struggle for the most part. They have gone through far worse times than this.
That the pride of Maryhill find themselves bottom of the Ladbrokes Premiership is no huge surprise. Their rise from 12th to sixth last season was far more out of character. A year ago, the Thistle board went to Archibald and asked what he needed from them. There were no threats or votes of confidence; rather, they sought to help their manager, a good guy and club legend.
It worked a year ago. Indeed, Brendan Rodgers predicted that Thistle would enjoy a good season despite them being bottom of the pile, as they are now, with the always vital festive fixtures approaching.
Archibald is missing half a team of senior players. His squad simply can’t cope with that. But two wins from 16 isn’t great and while Thistle have it within themselves to make things better, they need to start winning.
The home game with Motherwell on Wednesday would be a good time to begin, especially after being thrashed 5-1 at Kilmarnock on Saturday.
“I do feel for the manager,” said Chris Erskine, who scored Thistle’s goal. “He takes the brunt of things when they go badly wrong and it’s his job on the line at the end of the day. We all feel bad for him. I’ve known him for a long time now. He’s a good manager and a good man. He’s doing everything he can. The thing is, it all comes down to the players. We need to work even harder to try to resolve the situation.
“We are all concerned, of course we are. We have been in this position before, and maybe that’s the only good thing we have, because we’ve got experience in how to get ourselves out of this.
“But I would have to say that Saturday was a dreadful performance. The goals we conceded were shocking.”
Thistle were awful at the back. Niall Keown sold the first and his own goal made it 3-1. It was that kind of day. “Our away record is not great but we need to sort out everything, not just that,” Erskine said. “We haven’t had many wins at all, home or away.
“I personally believe we have enough in the dressing room. I think we all do. It just has to come together and that’s just not happening right now.”
As for Kilmarnock, the appointment of Steve Clarke as manager looks more inspired as the weeks go on. Kris Boyd and Eamonn Brophy both got doubles and with recent addition Youssouf Mulumbu impressing on his home debut, the Ayrshire side looked a decent unit.
Mulumbu spent six seasons in the Premier League with West Bromwich Albion and while his fitness isn’t quite there, he showed some lovely touches.
Boyd said: “You don’t play 200 Premier League games if you’re not a good player. It’s a real coup getting him here, and it’s the same with the manager.
“Youssouf had a few niggly injuries when he first came here but they’ve cleared up and you can see how confident he is on the ball.”
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