PARTICK THISTLE chairman David Beattie has paid tribute to Firhill legend John Lambie.
The former Jags boss died on Tuesday at the age of 77.
Lambie became one of Scottish football's most famous and loved characters during his time in the dugout with Thistle, Hamilton Accies and Falkirk.
And Beattie reckons he will leave a lasting legacy as figures from across the game remember the former Firhill hero.
He said: “What can you say about John Lambie? Well first of all he was, is and will always be a legend at this football club.
"He was here for Partick Thistle when the club needed him most and his achievements during each of his spells in charge were truly remarkable – they really speak for themselves.
"More than that though, John was one of the last great characters of Scottish football and will hopefully be remembered as such for a very long time.
“Who could forget his one liners – “just tell him he’s Pelé and get him back on” – his cigars, his pigeons – he was unique.
"I knew John well and he loved Partick Thistle. During each of his spells in charge he bled red and yellow and it was his determination to succeed that got us through some incredibly dark times.
"His ability to sign the right players at the right times during an era with no transfer windows was remarkable and was undoubtedly one of his greatest talents.
"However, it was his man management for which I will always remember him. He would get every last ounce of talent out of players who many others had written off.
"You only need to look at the number of coaches and managers to have been coached by John to see the influence he so clearly had and continues to have in the Scottish game.
“I’m sure many will be devastated to think they won’t ever see John around Firhill again and I will personally miss him very much, but the legacy he leaves, not only at Partick Thistle but also on Scottish football, is one very suited to a man of his stature. Rest in peace John.”
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