partick thistle 0
AYR united 1 Rose (77)
Partick Thistle boss Gary Caldwell changed dugouts to welcome Ayr – but saw the same old result.
After the game he warned that players could soon be changing clubs unless results improve.
The Jags have now lost five league matches in a row and are just one point clear of the Championship relegation play-off spot.
Caldwell decided to take what was formerly the away dugout for his first home match as manager at Firhill so he could get a better view of the action.
He said: “The players have to understand that when you lose there are repercussions.
“Players maybe think the manager keeps changing in modern-day football, but the way the club has been, the players will change.
“The January window is coming up and I’ll find the reason we aren’t winning and make changes to make this club better and stronger.
“I see improvement in performance but, as I said to the players, it’s not good enough.”
Caldwell’s men started the match brightly enough and there was less of the rather tentative play that has typified the Jags’ disappointing start to the season.
Creating a clear-cut chance was all that was lacking, but that came 10 minutes after the break.
Jai Quitongo slid the ball across the face of goal but Blair Spittal got his feet all wrong and managed to miss the target from close range.
The temperature of the game rose a notch when the Jags’ Sean Mcginty and United’s Lawrence Shankland went flying into the technical area as they fought for possession, sparking an on-field melee.
After order returned, the Honest Men came close to getting the ball
in the net three times in a minute, before finally scoring the decisive goal.
Shankland started it off by lifting the ball over Cammy Bell and hitting the bar and a follow-up by Craig Moore was cleared off the line by Christie Elliott and scrambled away for a corner.
The resulting cross was headed against the bar by Michael Rose and came down just over the line.
Moore made sure it was in and was claiming the goal but most of his team-mates were congratulating Rose.