THE underlying significance of this evening's match between Partick Thistle and St Mirren will not be lost on Tommy Craig.
Defeat for his team - a sixth in succession - would leave them effectively needing the football equivalent of snookers if they are to somehow extricate themselves from the relegation picture.
The loss could also have far- reaching consequences on a personal level. The St Mirren board have shown themselves to be a patient bunch over the years, but should Craig oversee another loss, then they may find themselves pressed into action before the situation gets any worse.
It will all unfold at Firhill this evening live on BT Sport, for whom Gary McAllister will again offer his considered views. McAllister is one of the hundreds of players to have been tutored by Craig at some point in their careers, their paths crossing on international duty. He believes Craig's vast experience as a coach could yet prove vital as St Mirren look to plot a course up the table, but with that came an acknowledgment that a seemingly endless sequence of poor results can only end one of two ways; a manager is sacked or he resigns.
"He's been around football a long, long time and is fully aware that [being sacked] is part of the gig," said the former Leeds United player. "If you don't win games as manager your job becomes increasingly in danger. But he'll try to keep that away from the players and try to convince them that they're on the right path and things could yet turn for them.
"Tommy is very capable. I enjoyed working with him when he was part of the national team coaching set-up a while back. You would hope for his sake he can get a bit of time, get a result, then build on it.
"The most important thing for St Mirren now is that everyone sticks together and believes in what the manager is preaching. As soon as there is division then it becomes untenable. All they might need, however, is one wee rub of the green."
It may take more than that. St Mirren already trail Hamilton Academical by 13 points, Dundee by 10. A loss tonight would also mean a double-digit gap between them and their hosts. Hearts could not claw back the 15-point handicap doled out to them last season, and, in this form, St Mirren will not manage it either. They return to Firhill on Tuesday night for a League Cup tie then face Celtic and then Aberdeen in the league. Already this early in the season, time seems to be running out.
"You don't expect to see six-pointers after five games but [tonight] has got that look about it," added McAllister. "A few of the other teams, including Thistle, have got off to a flier and that gap starts to become hard to make up. Come the turn of the year, if you're not away from the bottom two or three by then, then you tend to stay there. St Mirren do not have the comfort blanket of knowing there's a team starting out minus 15 points as was the case with Hearts last year.
"They have got tough games coming up after this. Managers say they don't look at fixture lists and plan ahead but I'd imagine Tommy may have looked at this game as one they are capable of winning against a team that's probably going to end up in their half of the table. If they can get a result, then it alleviates the pressure a bit and it becomes something to build on."
Partick Thistle v St Mirren is exclusively live on BT Sport 1 from 7.30pm tonight. BT Sport will bring fans 11 live SPFL matches before the end of November. Visit btsport.com for more information.
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