Lambie’s words of wisdom ring true in Archibald’s darkest hour
NEVER a man to call a spade a gardening implement, those seated close to John Lambie’s celestial perch on Sunday evening may have wondered if walking through heaven’s gate these days was now conditional on the prolific use of profanities.
Just one month on from the untimely demise of Partick Thistle’s greatest-ever manager, the manner of his beloved club’s demotion from the top flight at least came with the blessing that the great man was not at Firhill to witness it.
Out-thought and outfought last Thursday by a Livingston side which had been relegated to the third tier just two years ago, the expectation for the return leg was of a sharper, smarter display to overcome the first-leg deficit.
What transpired, however, was every bit as dismal as the midweek offering. Second best all over the park against a side whose extraordinary work-rate has been their strong suit all season, Thistle’s five-year tenure in the Premiership was history long before Conor Sammon’s late missed penalty cost them the chance to avoid the indignity of losing both matches of the final.
When it was over, there were no tears or catcalls from the stands. Just a silent acceptance of a fate most were resigned to for quite some time.
If victory at Dens Park the previous weekend had given hope to the notion that their side might just escape by the skin of their teeth, there were just too many damning statistics for it to be that simple.
Alan Archibald’s men managed just 31 goals in 38 games, seven fewer than last season and the lowest of any of the top-flight sides. Although Hamilton, with 68, conceded more goals, the 61 the Jags lost was still seven more than last term. Sammon’s cluster of goals in the New Year put him top of their league scoring charts with just seven. Just six cleans sheets over the course of the campaign completed the recipe for disaster.
What is most striking about the sudden fall from grace is that it happened largely with the same group of players who made the top six this time last year.
Liam Lindsay was the one notable loss last summer. Sean Welsh contributed when fit but was too often injured. Ade Azeez departed with his reputation as a non-scoring striker enhanced.
For Archibald, there is no escaping the fact that those who came in — Blair Spittal, Miles Storey, Paul McGinn and Martin Woods — failed to take the club on.
It has to be said that his cause was not helped by injuries to the likes of Abdul Osman, Stuart Bannigan and Callum Booth.
But what is perplexing is the lack of impact made by mainstays of the club’s recent success — Chris Erskine, Stevie Lawless and Ryan Edwards chief among them. Only the lack of game-time afforded to the prolific Kris Doolan remains a deeper mystery.
Unwilling to be drawn on his own future immediately after the game, Archibald will doubtless reflect on his own part in the club’s downfall.
Without question a talented manager, perhaps he has just become the latest in a long line in his chosen profession to discover the hard way that continuing to capture the confidence of players after five years in the job is almost impossible in the modern day. ‘I hope the manager does stay,’ said Doolan of the elephant in the room in the aftermath of relegation. ‘I have a really good relationship with him. ‘I feel for him as it has been a tough old season and he takes the brunt of it nine times out of ten. But he knows that is the job and that is what he signed up for. ‘Ultimately, I do not want to see anybody lose their job and the manager is a friend as well as a boss.’ As Archibald left the room to begin what is likely to be the most painful of soul-searching exercises, it was hard not to reflect on Lambie’s words of wisdom to him this time last year. The top six, to paraphrase him, would be a curse rather than a blessing — presumably due to the increased expectation and the danger of players getting ahead of themselves. It is an argument Doolan can now buy. ‘We could have over-achieved,’ he reflected. ‘But when we did do that, we should have consolidated and made sure that we could reach those standards and heights again. ‘We did try and there’s nothing to suggest we didn’t. It is just that this season we simply weren’t good enough. ‘We thought we could kick on after last season and it shows how quickly things can change. ‘It is only one season and we have gone from the top six and everything being rosy, to all of sudden falling out of the league.
Top six last season would prove to be a curse rather than a blessing
‘That just shows you how close and how brutal this league can be.’
No one among the rank and file was reaching for the panic button when the side started sluggishly. It is just the way the team has tended to roll.
But the traditional New Year push failed to materialise. Having won two out of three around Christmas, a desperate run of one win in 14 across all competitions proved to be a downward spiral from which they could not recover.
‘It has been a trait of starting slowly and, by the turn of the year, gaining momentum — but we never got going this season,’ said Doolan. ‘Maybe we didn’t add enough players when we were struggling with injury and, on the pitch, we just didn’t deliver.’
It will take some time for the full enormity of the disaster to hit home. Always a highly competitive division, the Championship Thistle will compete in next season looks brutal: Ross County, Dundee United, Falkirk, Morton, Dunfermline and Inverness.
The men who failed Thistle this season may have a long time to consider the error of their ways.
‘It’s just miserable to be honest,’ reflected Doolan. ‘This is the lowest point of my career so far and not something I ever want to experience again.
‘It hurts deeply as I love this place and I love the club.
‘I am sure there are thousand out there who are hurting the same way I am. It is over a season and we have had many chances to pull ourselves out of this position but, ultimately, we left ourselves with a mountain to climb.’