Tam McManus: One small win can be giant leap forward for Partick Thistle

In a week that we sadly and very suddenly lost one of football’s great gentleman in Ray Wilkins, it reminded us all that football is, after all, only a game.

In saying that, Shankly did have a point in that this game does consume us. And right now no one will be more consumed in his team’s current predicament than Alan Archibald at Partick Thistle. 

In recent months, Archie has watched his side plummet like a stone to the bottom of the Premiership table. Thistle are on a dismal run at the minute, picking up just two points from a possible 27 in the league and scoring a meagre three goals. Those stats make for grim reading for the Jags’ faithful.

So where has it all went wrong for Thistle? 

For me, I can pinpoint one particular match. Thistle played Dundee on February 17 at home and with just five minutes left they were 1-0 up. If they had seen that game out they would have gone eighth in the table and above Dundee. 

Two late Simon Murray goals won the match for Dundee and I said at the time it was a serious body blow for Thistle and to be honest they just haven’t recovered from it. One point and one goal from the next half a dozen league fixtures I think would fully validate that.

They now look clear favourites to drop back into the Championship for the first time in five years. But things can change very quickly now that the bottom six split is about to commence. All is not yet lost.

I was part of a Dundee team back in 2004 who, just prior to the split , were well clear of any relegation trouble. We looked, and crucially thought, we were safe. That complacency was a massive mistake. 

We picked up just two points from those final five fixtures and went down on the last day of the season at Livingston. Just a single victory would have done us. 

Similarly with Dunfermline a few seasons later, we looked dead and buried at the bottom, but a win up in Inverness, our first three points in four months, kicked us off on a fantastic run of victories. The injection of confidence we got from that one win was immeasurable. 

Yes we were still miles behind but it seemed like a massive weight had been lifted off our shoulders. Unfortunately we just had too much ground to claw back in the end, but with Thistle on a similar horror run, any sort of win can turn everything around again. 

Of course the Jags are neither safe nor cut adrift at the minute but what I am saying is that if the teams above them like Hamilton and Dundee get too comfortable and think they are safe, it can come back to bite them  big time. 

These head to head games are huge and some telling psychological blows can, and will, be applied.

The thing Partick Thistle have really struggled with all season is scoring goals. That’s why the decision to keep Kris Doolan on the bench most weeks has been perplexing not only for me but to large swathes of the Thistle support. 

Sure Kris hasn’t really set the heather on fire this season but his overall record of scoring goals for the club is outstanding. Miles Storey and Conor Sammon are not real out and out poachers so for me Doolan has got to play right now. He is talisman for the Jags. With some legs and energy around him, trust him to get you goals and I have no doubt that he will deliver.

Thistle have always been easy on the eye and play some really attractive football at times which is a credit to Archibald. It’s now time to show another side of it, roll the sleeves up and dig out a win or two. 

I grew up a stone’s throw from Firhill and almost signed with them a couple of times – which would have meant automatic relegation with my past record. I have always had a real soft spot for the Harry Wraggs. I genuinely hope they can get out of trouble because I have a lot of time for Alan and big Ian Maxwell. 

The run they are on will have a lot of the fans convinced they are going down but one horrible 1-0 win can be everything and reverse the negative slide they are on. 

But they need a win – and they need it now.