Archibald is the best boss, says Maxwell

BRENDAN RODGERS could be set to land a Treble in his first season in charge at Celtic, but Partick Thistle managing director Ian Maxwell insists that — pound for pound — Alan Archibald is scotland’s top boss this year.

Although Rodgers is clear favourite to land the award following a so-far undefeated domestic campaign, Maxwell believes the Jags manager’s candidacy should not be ruled out just yet.

Partick head to Ibrox for tomorrow’s clash with Rangers safe in the knowledge they have avoided a relegation scrap after securing their first-ever Premiership top-six finish since the split was introduced.

Under Archibald (below), the club are guaranteed to end the campaign having achieved their best league performance in 26 years and could even match their 1977 feat of finishing fifth if they can overhaul Hearts’ three-point lead in the six games before the end of the season.

All of which has been made possible despite having one of the smallest budgets in the top tier.

‘There’s absolutely no doubt Archie is a legitimate candidate for manager of the year,’ said ex-Thistle defender Maxwell.

‘obviously Brendan Rodgers has the chance to win a Treble with Celtic, which would be a great achievement.

‘But for Archie to get us where we now are — and the way it happened with us being bottom of the league in December but then going on the run we’ve been on — we can definitely say we’ve got our money’s worth out of our manager.

‘You could even make the argument he’s a stronger candidate than Brendan.

‘Based on resources, he’s done arguably better because Celtic, with the best will in the world, are in a position where they should be winning the league.

‘obviously winning the Treble would be a fantastic achievement and I’d never take anything away from that.

‘But for Alan to keep doing what he’s been doing year in, year out, with what we give him — then you have to say he’s done incredibly well.’

After beating Motherwell 1-0 last weekend to secure their top-six finish, the Jags capped a perfect few days when announcing that they are to benefit from a new £4million training complex.

Thistle have never had a dedicated training base before, but that is set to change within the next two years after they struck a deal with lottery winners Colin and Christine Weir.

Assistant boss scott Paterson revealed that the players initially thought it was a joke when news emerged of the development. ‘Before the announcement of the training ground, we told the players and they all thought it was a wind-up, to be honest,’ he smiled.

‘They are all talking about it and for myself and Archie, we have always said we wanted our own facility and now we will — it’s great. ‘It’s not just great for the first team but also for the academy.’