Caldwell upbeat despite a losing start

GARY CALDWELL’S reign as Partick Thistle manager started off in defeat yesterday as Alloa Atheltic ran out winners at the Indodrill Stadium.

Having been appointed on Monday, the new Jags boss had a full week to work with his players but was unable to turn around their poor away form.

Caldwell was described as ‘different and precise’ by Firhill midfielder Stuart Bannigan in an interview with Sportsmail this week, and it was clear from the starting XI that things had certainly changed since the Alan Archibald era.

Thistle lined up in a 4-1-4-1 formation, with Brice Ntambwe coming into the side in front of the leaky back four in order to add more protection.

As a result, Thistle picked up significantly more possession in the first half to keep Alloa quiet, but they were limited in terms of the chances they created.

Both sides improved after the break, with Miles Storey picking out Chris Erskine with a low cross inside two minutes, but the Partick veteran’s shot was blocked. It was then Alloa’s turn to step up.

In 50 minutes, a dangerous cross caused havoc in the Thistle box as the ball ping-ponged around the defence. Dario Zanatta capitalised, holding on to posession with a bit of trickery before slotting the ball into the bottom corner.

There was a bright spark for Thistle when summer signing Souleymane Coulibaly came on for his debut after finally gaining international clearance with over half an hour remaining.

Despite the added firepower, Caldwell’s side did not look like finding an equaliser and were lucky not to go two down in the final ten minutes. A quick counter-attack from the hosts ended with Zanatta receiving the ball in the six-yard box — if it hadn’t been for the leg of Cammy Bell he would have scored a killer second goal.

‘The result was very disappointing,’ said Caldwell. ‘But the performance was good for large periods. I said that to the players. I’m happy with what I’ve seen since Tuesday’s training.

‘There are fine margins that need to be right if you want to win games. We looked solid and compact. We gave ourselves a better platform to play into the game.’

Even without the second goal, Alloa held out for their first win of the season.

‘I’m absolutely delighted, more so with the result,’ said Wasps manager Jim Goodwin.

‘It was well documented that we didn’t have a league win up until today, so I’m delighted for the players to get that monkey off their back.

‘They have been working ever so hard. Today was a real team effort.’