Partick Thistle manager Alan Archibald is grateful for the continued backing of the Firhill board, but he knows that time is running out to turn around the poor form of his side.
Thistle are rock bottom of the Premiership having picked up just three points from their opening nine games, and are yet to taste victory in the league this season.
They have turned around similar situations in the past under Archibald’s stewardship, and thus far, the Thistle board are continuing to place their faith in him to do it once more.
But Archibald himself recognises that the well of their patience isn’t bottomless, and that wins must be put on the board as soon as possible if he is to escape the fate of colleagues like Jim McIntyre and Lee McCulloch.
“I’ve always been grateful,” said Archibald. We’ve had that kind of good relationship over the years and we’ve always looked at the bigger picture; that’s always been the case.
“But look, that can’t last forever, I’m well aware of that. I’m grateful for the relationship I have with the board and that I can speak openly with them, but I don’t take it for granted.
“Maybe it’s because we have been here before that I’ve been given a bit longer than some others. You always draw on your experience, whether it’s good or bad. But we can’t just think because we got out of it before that that’s going to happen again. We’ll need to work to get out of this.
“It’s the same pressure that comes all the time. I’ve been here before and it was the same then – you always feel it when you’re in this position.
“But it’s good if the pressure is on me rather than on the players. I felt, towards the end of the Kilmarnock game last Saturday, that one or two of them had stopped showing for the ball. We’ve got to make sure that they keep their chests out and want to get on the ball – that’s the most important thing.”
Archibald recognises that it is a tricky balancing act between getting his point across to his underperforming players and denting their fragile confidence further.
“I think they know,” he said. “They feel it and see it themselves and they hear the crowd and know things aren’t good.
“I don’t think you need to berate them too much. As the week goes on you need to try and pick them up towards the Saturday. You need them all to go out and play for you.”
And play for him they must as Thistle approach two monumental games against Dundee on Saturday at Firhill and Hamilton on Tuesday night in Lanarkshire.
“They’re six-pointers, as simple as that and I’m sure I read the other managers saying the same thing,” Archibald said.
“If you don’t win then it is doom and gloom. They are massive games. It could be a massive week for us coming up.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here