Archibald praises patient Thistle board after another managerial casualty
Alan Archibald acknowledged with gratitude the patience of the Partick Thistle board after Mark McGhee became the latest hot-seat casualty.
Alan Archibald acknowledged with gratitude the patience of the Partick Thistle board after Mark McGhee became the latest hot-seat casualty.
Motherwell announced the departure of McGhee on Tuesday morning following four Ladbrokes Premiership defeats, including a 7-2 thrashing at Aberdeen and a 5-1 home drubbing by Dundee at the weekend, which saw them drop to 10th in the table.
With just over four years in the job, Archibald is the longest-serving boss in the top flight but since bringing the Glasgow club up from the Championship in 2013 he has had to work hard to ensure survival.
Ahead of the trip to Dundee on Wednesday night, where victory will see the Jags leapfrog their sixth-placed hosts, the former Firhill defender conceded that his relative longevity gives him a sense of satisfaction but recognised boardroom backing has been crucial.
He said: "It makes me grateful for the board I work for and I have a better board than some other clubs.
"I have probably had a worse run at certain times than those managers who have lost their jobs.
"So I am thankful for the board I have got and they stuck by us and hopefully we can reward them by winning more games.
"I have an open relationship with them, we work well together. I know the remit of the job and we get on well and long may that continue.
"You are aware you are under pressure all the time. You are not silly to think you are invincible.
"I know that is the case here as well. You have to win games at certain times and you don't have the leeway that you wish to have so I am always under pressure and I think every manager is.
"Mark had a lot of players missing and they had a tough run of fixtures.
"That will be the most disappointing thing for Mark, he will probably still feel they would have got to the top six because of the fixtures they have coming up.
"They did that last year and deservedly so.''
Thistle's 2-0 win over Hearts at the weekend made it three wins in a row and left them eight points ahead of bottom side Hamilton who host Aberdeen on Tuesday night.
And while the Maryhill club are aiming for a top-six spot against Dundee, who are unbeaten in four games, Archibald has not taken his eye off the relegation battle.
He said: "We have all been fighting a top-six battle and at the same time a relegation battle.
"I don't think it will change any time soon.
"Our incentive is to get in the top six and pull away from the teams below us.
"I have watched Dundee's last couple of games and they are flying high. It will be a real tough affair.
"As I said before, we still know we are not too far from the bottom but we know a massive three points will take us further away.''