A Plea from the Manager
Tuesday 8th December 2009
Saturday's fixture with Dundee was an ultimately disappointing one with the visitors recording a 2-0 win that had seemed barely credible on the evidence of much of the first half. There was, however, one hugely encouraging thing to take from Saturday and that was the size of the crowd. The biggest crowd for a league fixture during Ian McCall's reign as Thistle manager of 4,453 watching the fixture.
Speaking to www.ptfc.co.uk during the half-time interval of this evening's reserve fixture with Stenhousemuir the manager was keen to acknowledge the support that he and his players received at the weekend.
"First of all I would like to say a big thank you to all the Thistle fans that came to Firhill on Saturday and especially to those that brought a friend with them. I also need to thank both Jim Alexander and Ami Small who worked tirelessly in trying to encourage people along to the game."
"The increase in the crowd was something that was very apparent to me and although the game didn't have the outcome that we would all have wanted I think those there would have seen a group of players who are proud to wear a Partick Thistle jersey. We could easily have been 2-0 or 3-0 up at half-time."
"However, for the second time this season we ended up losing to Dundee. It hurt me to see Gary Harkins perform the way he did in the second half on Saturday while wearing a Dundee jersey so I can only begin to imagine how the Thistle fans must have felt watching him."
"I spent much of the weekend looking back at the game and the impact that a former player of ours had on it. Players of the class of Gary Harkins are players that we want to attract to Firhill and keep at the Club. I know that had we been able to offer Gary the kind of money, or even come close to it, that Dundee offered him he would still be a Thistle player right now."
"It's with that in mind that I would try and urge the Thistle fans not to make the big crowd that saw the Dundee game a one off. I can't stress enough the difference it could make to this football club if we could get that kind of gate at every home game. It could make all the difference in keeping the next player like Gary Harkins at Firhill. It could make all the difference in keeping the likes of Liam Buchanan and Jonny Tuffey for years to come."
"We have two important away games coming up but our next home game is against Queen of the South on Boxing Day. Can I ask as many Thistle fans as possible to make the effort to come to this match and keep bringing as many friends as possible."
