ARCHIBALD SO GLAD HE STUCK AROUND
ALAN ARCHIBALD says the events of the last week show why he was right to rule out a move to England. The Partick Thistle boss has led the Firhill club to the Premiership top six, guaranteeing their best finish in the top division since 1980-81. The Jags board has also announced plans for a £4million training complex funded by lottery winner and club patron Colin Weir and his wife Christine. The subject of an approach from League One Shrewsbury seven months ago, Archibald raised eyebrows when he stayed put. He said: ‘There are other managers that are envious of me. ‘The board have been good. When I’ve had a bad run, they come and ask me if they can help. They don’t say: “Oh, you need to win on Saturday”. ‘It’s: “What can we do to help you? Can we take you away?” ‘Everybody knows it is getting harder and harder to get that security in football. When you are on a really bad run, sometimes you can struggle to get out of it. ‘But we’ve always done that by relying on a good core group of players.’ Debt-free thanks to the assistance of the Weir family, Thistle hope to have their new training base up and running by 2019 after years of badgering by Archibald. Admitting he lied to prospective signings about the club’s facilities in the past, Archibald beamed: ‘Partick Thistle in the top six and getting a training ground, you don’t hear that in the same sentence. It’s fantastic for the club. ‘I know what it’s like as a player here. You used to jump in the car and didn’t know where you were going from day to day. ‘So to get something like this is fantastic. It gives the club a real identity. ‘When I signed somebody a couple of years ago, I told them the Glasgow Science Park was our training facility. That was a wee porky pie, but I won’t need to lie now. ‘It will definitely help. I think sometimes being in Glasgow helps as well. It helps us against our rivals if everybody is similar, and having our own training facility will help as well. ‘It gives us a real hub and it gives the club a real identity.’