Clear-out notice given as Jags flop yet again
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.
He did that to get a better view of the action. It’s one of a number of things he’s altered to try to rouse the struggling club from its slumber.
He said: “The players have to understand that when you lose there are repercussions.
“This club shouldn’t be losing football matches and we should be higher up the league.
“We are where we are for a reason – and that has to change.
“Players maybe think the manager keeps changing in modern-day football, but the way the club has been, the players will change.
“If you’re falling out of favour with Partick Thistle in the Championship, where do you go after that?
“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 or two 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.
Ayr manager Ian McCall was delighted to see his high-flying side return to winning ways, although he conceded it wasn’t the style of victory the fans are used to.
He said: “We weren’t clinical, which isn’t like us. We had four or five really good opportunities.
“Our players will never give up. I wasn’t sure who scored, whether it was Michael or Craig – and Moore’s saying it’s his.
“It was like a home game for us. We brought 1,000 fans and there is an expectancy we should beat Thistle. You look at the infrastructures of the club and it’s night and day.”
McCall wasn’t pleased when Bobby Madden failed to award his side a penalty against Rangers last month and was further irked when the ref didn’t call him to apologise.
This match might have reopened those wounds for McCall, who added: “I spoke to him before the game and we were all friendly.
“We had three very good shouts for penalties but Bobby Madden doesn’t give Ayr United penalties.”