GERRY BRITTON insists Alan Archibald should be forever remembered as a Partick Thistle legend despite his sacking as boss at the weekend.
The Firhill board brought an end to Archibald’s tenure in the dugout following a poor start to the campaign that has left the Jags ten points off the pace in the Championship.
Archibald was given a chance to take his side straight back to the top flight this term following their relegation from the Premiership last season.
And chief executive Britton believes his former team-mate’s achievements as a player and a manager will ensure he retains a place in the hearts of the red and yellow army.
Britton said: “It’s a fresh start. Alan’s legacy will be looked on favourably. “Probably not right away. Probably in a period of time people will look back and appreciate what he did.
“Now there’s the opportunity for a fresh start for the whole club. It’s exciting times.
“Alan was the second longest-serving manager in Scotland – for a reason. He is a good manager and the board felt he was the right man for the job.
“A number of critics were saying in the summer he should have been let go then to give the club a fresh start in the Championship.
“But the board firmly believed Alan was the right man to take the club forward and they had the courage of their convictions to stick with him.
“No way could the board be accused of short-termism or a knee-jerk reaction. It was after careful consideration.
“Without a doubt Alan Archibald should be regarded as a Thistle great. That’s what he is.
“He’s a top 10 appearance holder, captain, coach, his achievement getting Partick Thistle to the top six in the Premiership is unparalleled. There’s a lot to look back on with great pride and admiration.
“For us, now, it’s a fresh start and with the new training ground on the horizon it’s an exciting time for Partick Thistle.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel