I owe Archie but maybe a change was for the best
SAYS STUART BANNIGAN
IT’S ALL new for Partick Thistle today — a new boss, a new approach, a new era as life under Gary Caldwell begins against Alloa. What hasn’t changed is a desperate need for points.
For midfielder Stuart Bannigan there are mixed emotions. He has welcomed the new manager’s impact on the training ground this week. But he also laments the departure of previous manager Alan Archibald whose five-year tenure was brought to an end after a dispiriting sequence of results.
What pains the midfielder further is his frustration that a lengthy ligament injury meant he could do little to avert the crisis.
‘This is something totally different, somebody I don’t know,’ Bannigan told Sportsmail in reference to the club’s decision to appoint Caldwell and break from habit by bringing in someone from outside Firhill. ‘He’s been fantastic so far. Training’s been magnificent, he’s a breath of fresh air and brings new ideas.
‘He’s had a great career as a player so he’s well respected. I’m looking forward to working with him. Maybe it’s been needed, a fresh approach. Maybe things got a bit stale, results weren’t great, let’s be honest. We weren’t winning games; our away record is diabolical.
‘He’s very precise in what he wants, and he wants to play a certain way. It’ll take time for him to get his ideas over but I’ve been impressed. It’s not just criticising, it’s pointing out to players exactly what he wants and how it can affect the game. He 100 per cent wants to get results straight away that’s a certainty.
‘It’s a new era. Hopefully, we get a result and get us back up the table because it’s been a nightmare. Two or three wins on the bounce and you’re right back into the play-off hunt and then take it from there.’
News of Archibald’s departure took Bannigan by surprise. A phone call after the 2-0 defeat to Ross County told him the boss had been relieved of his duties.
Archibald had a major influence over Bannigan’s career. With the midfielder coming through Thistle’s academy, it was Archibald who coached him at reserve and first-team level, as well as sharing the pitch as team-mates.
‘I gave him a call when I found out he was leaving, just to thank him for everything he’d done for me. I was gutted for him, I really was,’ said the 26-year-old, who picked up Thistle’s McCrea Financial Services Player of the Monthy trophy.
‘Can you say you were too surprised? Probably not with the way results were. We’d won three games out of nine and were relegated the season before. He took the chance to rectify it, but it didn’t work out. As players, we let him down.
‘He was unbelievable for me. The amount of times he stuck by me, he could’ve easily got me out the door. But now we need to move on with new challenges.’
If it wasn’t for Archibald, it’s likely Bannigan would no longer be part of Thistle’s future.
The midfielder suffered a horrendous cruciate ligament injury at Tynecastle in March 2016 which was predicted to keep him out for a year.
His plan to embrace a new challenge elsewhere when his contract expired that season disintegrated in that instant, but his manager wasn’t going to leave him out to dry.
He was offered a two-year deal to give him security as he fought back to fitness.
Complications in recovery, however, doubled the length of time before he would be back — allowing only for brief cameo appearances at the beginning of last season. It meant Bannigan didn’t experience the top-six season as a player or help when the club was relegated.
‘Missing relegation was worse,’ he admitted. ‘The boys did magnificent to get top six, a fantastic achievement. But there were games where you’re thinking we’d be better if I was playing.
‘You need to think like that, you need to think you’d be a better team if you were playing. Small things that I could’ve helped. You never know, but I feel that way.’
Mercifully for player and club, Bannigan’s injury nightmare looks behind him. A consistent run of games and the fans voting him player of the month is a welcome boost.
‘Maybe they’re trying to get my confidence up, but the fans were fantastic in my first couple of games back really giving me the backing,’ he said. ‘To get back playing, I’m delighted.’
lMcCrea Financial Services, an Independent Financial Adviser based in central Glasgow, and long-term sponsor of Partick Thistle, provide a wide range of services for getting the most out of your finances. To find out more visit mccreafs.co.uk