Gary Caldwell defended his managerial style and dismissed recent criticism about his time at Partick Thistle.

Caldwell was replaced by Ian McCall after departing the Championship club in September when a poor run of form put the club to the bottom of the table.

Speaking on Sportsound, the 37-year-old rejected the rumours that there is discontent coming from the West End club and stated that most of the players had wished him well upon his departure.

He said: “"There are a lot of stories coming out of Partick Thistle but until those players are named, they are not real in my opinion.

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"Of 24 players there were only three that didn't call or text to thank me, to say they had improved and wish me all the best. And for a manager that can only pick 11 of the 24, that's not a bad return. A lot of these stories are made up if I'm being honest."

Caldwell also explained that he would have had a better success if he had more time change the mentality of the club, which was the bigger problem.

He said: “(It was) a team that wasn't winning for a long time, obviously in the Premiership before I arrived and then they didn't start the Championship season great.

"I was actually thinking about this the other day and after my first game, which we lost, on the Monday six of the players that started the game were injured. And I like to go out onto the grass for a warm down to pass the ball or something very light for the boys that played and do extra for the boys that didn't.

"Straight away I thought, 'This isn't great.'

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"Six players were having an easy day in the physio room and by the Thursday three were still injured and by the Saturday two weren't in the team.

"So, I had to change that mentality, that during the week we are preparing to win a game of football. It's not play a game of football then throughout the week you can do what you like. We were preparing to win and get the mindset that everything we did was preparing for the game on Saturday.

"We tried to change the mentality of the group in terms of character and resilience. We didn't manage to do that before January and ultimately had to change personnel to make that happen."

Releasing Kris Doolan from the club during his testimonial year was one of the biggest controversial decisions that Caldwell made in his time at Partick Thistle, but he explained that it was an ‘unanimous’ decision from the whole club.

He explained: "I have to make decisions as you see it at that time. You can't look at past glories. You have to make decisions in the best interests of the club.

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"It wasn't just my decision, I asked my staff and everyone at the club was unanimous it was time for him to go."

The former Celtic defender put a lot of his success down to his previous coaches, and admitted he wanted to replicate that style and be that type of coach for current players.

He continued: "As dour as I sound on radio and telly I think players will get on with me. I think I'm a reasonable guy in terms of that I'm honest but I'm fair. I'm demanding in terms of that I believe in playing in a certain way.

"I believe that every player can do that if they believe in themselves and want to buy into it. I want to make players better so they can go and play for their country and have the career I had.

"I wasn't a great player when I was young but I had coaches that believed in me and gave me opportunities and I wanted to be somebody that does that."