ARCHIBALD: CLEAROUT WAS ALWAYS THE PLAN
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ALAN ARCHIBALD admits he was planning a mass clearout of his tired Partick Thistle squad – whether they were relegated or not.
The Jags boss could see the squad that delivered a historic topsix finish the year before were running on empty.
And while hopes were dashed they’d have enough left in them to survive a play-off against Livingston he knew it was time for sweeping changes.
Now planning for life in the Championship, Archibald has released a whopping 14 players with some big-name casualties.
Abdul Osman, Danny Devine, Callum Booth and Steven Lawless topped the list with Conor Sammon and Baily Cargill returning to parent clubs Hearts and Bournemouth while Ryan Edwards invoked a relegation clause and moved on.
Adam Barton, Niall Keown and Miles Storey are all on the transfer list as Archibald begins a massive rebuild.
He said: “We needed freshened up and there was always going to be a big turnaround. I’d liked to have kept one or two that left but the idea was to have an overhaul.
“We need energy and mobility back. Hopefully we can do that.”
Chris Erskine, Kris Doolan and keeper Tomas Cerny have stayed with highly-rated youngster Andrew McCarthy set to be given his big chance.
Archibald said: “We’re more or less starting again but hopefully it brings freshness.”