It’s been hard for our fans... to go from top six in the Premiership to League One in just three years

HOWEVER difficult it may have been to find an equitable solution to the curtailment of the Scottish season as a result of the pandemic, few would dispute that the hand dealt to Partick Thistle was especially cruel.

One point behind Queen of the South with a game in hand and nine Championship fixtures yet to play when football came to an abrupt halt, no matter how poor the Jags had been up until then, their demotion was an affront to the notion of sporting integrity.

Although a joint legal challenge with Hearts failed to find fault with either the principle or the process that saw the club go down by virtue of an SPFL motion, for Thistle supporters, the matter is likely to fester like an open wound as they contemplate life in League One.

Wild horses wouldn’t drag Ian McCall to the heart of the matter yesterday. After four months of silence, the Firhill boss saw little to be gained in settling a score with the game’s authorities. Not yet anyway.

Despite acknowledging the anger so many supporters doubtless still feel, perhaps the 55-year-old is wary of the danger of the club being completely consumed by it. While the finger of blame will be pointed in due course, McCall also accepts full responsibility for where the club were when the curtain came down.

Asked about the bitterness that’s been palpable around the club since the League first floated the notion of divisions being called as they stood in mid-March, McCall said: ‘I don’t want players to feel resentment. I just want them to go out and play football and win matches fair and square.

‘Every manager uses what they can (as motivation). My mission was to change what I believed was a fractured club and to get everyone pulling in one direction.

‘Like any manager, there are many ways to do that. The best way to do it is to get good footballers, in my experience.

‘The one thing this has done is put me seriously under pressure. I need to do well this season.

‘With the amount of games left, we felt confident that the new signings were starting to turn things around and there was plenty of time for us to get out of it.

‘But that wasn’t to be. Never has it been more important that we get off to a fast start.

‘The other stuff, I’ll talk about further down the line. There’s enough going on around the world that I don’t want to add to that just now. Albeit, when I do talk about it, I think some of my words will be quite strong.’

The strength of feeling among the support does not need stressing to him, however. Although there is now an acceptance that Thistle will kick-off in League One, a deep sense of injustice is now part of the club’s DNA.

‘Our fans have been through the wringer,’ added McCall. ‘But that’s not just to do with what has happened in the past five months. It’s to do with what has happened over the last three years at our football club.

‘It hasn’t been good enough and I am part of that. The players I have now would hold their hands up too. It’s been a tough watch for our fans. To finish top six in the Premiership and then, three years later, find ourselves where we are in League One, it’s been hard.

‘There have been reasons for that but, ultimately, the team hasn’t been good enough. That’s what we need to put right.’

McCall is back in the moment, fully focused and committed to ensuring the fightback starts now. But he wouldn’t be human if, at some point in the past five months, the whole episode hadn’t dragged him down.

Others in his shoes, bluntly, might have turned their back on the game as a consequence.

‘I was disillusioned five years ago when I came through my bad illness (gambling) and Lachlan Cameron (Ayr owner) gave me my life back,’ he recalled. ‘That’s when I was disillusioned.

‘We are living in pretty weird times but, like everyone else, I’m looking forward to the football starting back again.

‘The one thing I hope it’s taught the players, and everyone else for that matter, is the importance of supporters. It’s been a tough watch sometimes with no fans there. I wonder if that’s why so many games are low scoring.

‘But I’m not disillusioned, I’m looking forward to getting back to winning matches.

‘I hate the phrase “the new normal”, but getting back to some kind of normality will be good.’