I will always be thankful to Ayr but Thistle is where I belong
We just need to get the red and yellow back into this club
IAN McCALL’S first spell in charge of his beloved Partick Thistle came to a premature end amid serious personal issues.
Following his departure from Firhill in 2011 he spent four years out of the game, before revealing to the BBC that he had decided a professional sabbatical was necessary to overcome a gambling addiction.
Rescued from the football scrapheap by Ayr United in 2015, McCall has spent almost five years at Somerset Park proving how shrewd chairman Lachlan Cameron was to hand him a return to management.
Not only did he lead the Honest Men to the League One title and promotion two seasons ago, he made them the surprise package of the Championship by reaching the play-offs last term, and currently leaves them joint top.
McCall’s gratitude to Cameron meant that approaches from other suitors were routinely turned down. They included another of his former clubs, Falkirk, as well as a previous attempt by Thistle to lure him back after they sacked his good friend Alan Archibald.
The Jags always remained close to McCall’s heart, however, and when the chance arose to return this time round, following Gary Caldwell’s departure, he felt it was an opportunity he could not refuse any longer.
‘It makes me proud — and there aren’t many people proud of me, maybe my son (Edson) and my mum — that I’m sitting here as manager of Partick Thistle after coming through that time in my life,’ said the 54-year-old.
‘I’ve never really told the full story and I never will because it’s a very personal thing to me. I had one problem which was bad and very serious.
‘At the time, I felt I should’ve been helped a bit more but, over my recovery period, I recognised that what Partick Thistle did for me was unbelievable.
‘I could’ve been totally ostracized and I wasn’t. They kept a lot of things in-house. But it makes me proud that I’ve come out the other side of it.
‘That’s why Lachlan Cameron is a very important figure in my life. You know what football people are like. They are not great at giving second chances. So without Lachlan, I don’t know if I would’ve got back into football.
‘He’s just a top man. I spoke to Lachlan on the phone from California five years ago this coming January — and we never once spoke about football. The next day he offered me the job. I’ll never forget that. I’ll always be in his debt.
‘Probably wrongly, I feel I’ve let Lachlan down (by leaving), although he says he doesn’t feel like that.
‘There will be some supporters that question my loyalty but I hope the vast majority will appreciate how I’ve left Ayr United.
‘I was there nearly five years — only Derek McInnes and Tommy Wright have been in their posts longer in Scotland.
‘And I had a few chances to leave — for more money.
‘I could not come back here the last time (when asked in October 2018). I would not have taken Archie’s job. I just would not have done it.
‘It’s really emotional to come back to Partick Thistle and see the red and yellow. I’m delighted to be back. This is an incredibly special football club.’
McCall has appointed Archibald and Neil Scally, his right-hand man at Ayr, as his assistant managers. As well as being a former Thistle manager, Archibald was McCall’s captain during his first spell at Firhill.
They have much work to do, with the Jags sitting bottom of the second tier after six games.
The new boss hopes they can also help the club rediscover their identity after a period when Thistle lost two of their greatest managers — following the deaths of Davie McParland and John Lambie last year — and an unfortunate spell under Caldwell when he purged the place of popular long-serving players like Kris Doolan and Chris Erskine.
Jags fans will have been delighted to hear McCall hint that a return for Doolan, who he signed for Ayr, could be on the cards.
‘We lost Mr McParland, the club’s greatest-ever manager, and then we lost The Great Lambino, who is in the top three,’ said McCall, who will be in the Parkhead stands when Thistle face Celtic in a Betfred Cup quarter-final tomorrow night before taking charge of the team at Inverness on Saturday.
‘Alan Archibald went through hell in his last year (before being sacked) and then Kris Doolan and Chris Erskine both left.
‘I signed Dools for Ayr United and I could see how much it hurt him leaving Thistle.
‘If it was my decision, I wouldn’t have let Kris Doolan go. That’s not to slag off Gary Caldwell but maybe it could have been handled better.
‘Kris has a genuine love of Partick Thistle and, you never know, he could be back here in the future because he’s got a lot to offer. He’s got Thistle in his identity.
‘It must have been a nightmare being a Jags fan in the last couple of years. That’s got to change.
‘I’m not saying it’s anything to do with the football on the pitch. I saw them beat Ross County 3-2 in the cup this season and there are good players here.
‘We just need to get the red and yellow back into this club.’
For McCall, Thistle’s potential justifies his decision to leave a team who are joint top of the Championship for a side who are rock bottom.
‘We started well again this season but how long can you do that when you’ve only got 12 to 15 players?’ he reasoned.
‘At Thistle, I think success can be more sustainable. If you have success here, as Alan Archibald has shown in the past, you can get up and you can prosper. But it will be a lot of hard work to get us there.’