WE DON’T HOLD A GRUDGE
Beating United was on Jags’ radar whether Neilson snubbed us or not, says Doolan
DUNDEE UNITED will be hoping to get the better of Partick Thistle for the second time in a week when they arrive in Maryhill this afternoon.
The Tannadice club were closing in on hiring Robbie Neilson on Tuesday when he was contacted by the Jags with a view to taking over from the recently-sacked Alan Archibald.
But the former Hearts and MK Dons head coach ultimately decided his future lay in succeeding Csaba Laszlo at the struggling Tayside club.
Thistle striker Kris Doolan denied that Neilson’s snub has left the Firhill players fired up to prove he made the wrong choice.
But the 31-year-old striker admitted that, if the Jags can spoil the new United boss’s dugout debut today, it will show Thistle’s next manager the talent is there to lead the club straight back to the Premiership.
‘We won’t be going out there to show Robbie Neilson that he should have come here,’ claimed Doolan.
‘I’m sure he will be trying to put his stamp on United. But we will just be going out to show our next manager what he is coming into and just how good this club is.
‘This remains a great job for someone. (Managing) Partick Thistle is a very attractive post.
‘We still feel we can go up this season. Promotion was the aim from the start and that has not changed.
‘I see the players here every day in training, in games and I know how good they are.
‘We have a very good squad and I’m sure the new manager will be excited about the team he is taking over. Then it will be about getting results on the park.
‘This is a fresh start for all of us and it’s still quite early in the season. We just need to get stuck in for the rest of the campaign and push our way to promotion.’
Archibald was axed last Saturday night after a dismal 2-0 home defeat to Ross County left Thistle toiling in eighth place in the ten-team Championship.
Doolan believes the sad way it ended for his friend and former boss should not tarnish the legacy of a club legend.
Admired as a player and captain at Firhill, Archibald led Thistle to the Premiership as manager and secured a top-six finish in 2017 before tumbling back to earth with last season’s relegation.
‘It was a tough one because Archie had been at the club for 20 years of his career,’ added Doolan, part of a Thistle team who will be led by club chief executive Gerry Britton today while the search for a new boss continues.
‘Across those 20 years, he achieved so much. All of that can’t be tossed aside because he has now left. ‘He has been such a big figure around this club that it just won’t happen. ‘I hope his time in charge as manager, and his time as player and as captain, is looked back on fondly because he will always be a legend of the club. ‘The full ten years I’ve been a Partick Thistle player I’ve been beside Archie, either playing with him or playing for him. ‘He wasn’t just a manager. He was my captain and my friend. It’s tough but for the sake of the club as a business, there are times when changes have to happen. ‘I spoke to Alan after it happened at the weekend and that was his view, too. He knew it was not personal, and that it was just business.’ Doolan now hopes to see Archibald quickly find a job at another club and prove his management credentials all over again. He’s a good young manager with a lot to offer, said Doolan.
‘I know from speaking to him he still has that hunger and desire. It has been a tough time for him, getting criticism.
‘Obviously, that takes its toll but Archie is a big guy and a strong character and I’m sure he will go on to do well. You don’t become a bad manager overnight. Sometimes in football things go against you and sometimes things just don’t work out.
‘But Archie has all the attributes to go to another club and show once again exactly how good a manager he is.’
With United’s new boss Neilson (left) firmly in place, and looking to recreate his Championshipwinning season in charge of Hearts in 2014-2015, midfielder Fraser Fyvie insists the team are ready to hit the ground running under his stewardship.
Skipper Fyvie, who is back fit again after knee surgery sidelined him for eight months, has been impressed by what he has seen so far. He believes Neilson can breathe new life into United’s promotion push after the team stuttered badly under Laszlo.
‘The new boss has come in with his own ideas and it has been really enjoyable,’ said Fyvie.
‘He has been telling us how he wants us to play and what he wants us to do to implement it.
‘His ideas are different. Csaba had his style and Robbie Neilson has a different one.
‘You need to move on quickly in football, so it’s up to us to listen to the new manager, adjust to things and learn fast.
‘Training has been a bit sharper but we are still doing things we did under the old manager.
‘Robbie Neilson knows the league and what is needed to win it. They smashed this league at Hearts when he was their manager. But it’s a different group of players now and I’m sure he will be busy working out the best way to win matches.’