Partick Thistle Football Club

It’s been, in the main, a fairly quiet summer round Firhill way. However, with pre-season training starting yesterday and our first pre-season match, a bounce game with Queen’s Park, now just 9 days away things are beginning to heat up ahead of the 2010/2011 season.

Included in the squad that assembled for pre-season training yesterday were some familiar faces and we are delighted to announce the return, in a variety of capacities, of Ian Maxwell, Simon Donnelly, Craig Hinchcliffe and Jackie McNamara.

Manager Ian McCall explained to www.ptfc.co.uk what roles the quartet will be fulfilling at Firhill in the coming season.

“Ian Maxwell has joined us for another season and will be doing so in the capacity of Assistant Manager. Ian will also be registered as a player and will play if and when required.”

 “Craig Hinchcliffe has also joined us for another season and will combine his duties as our goalkeeping coach with being second choice goalkeeper. We have really high hopes for young Ryan Scully and we see Craig as the ideal person to help bring Ryan on. We are also very hopeful that we will be able to sign Bryn Halliwell, and again we see Craig as the ideal person to work with him.”

“Bryn maybe hasn’t had the best of fortunes in recent seasons but we saw at Ross County towards the end of last season exactly what he is capable of producing. When he was with Clyde I think he was just about the best goalkeeper in the First Division. Craig feels, indeed we all feel, that Bryn is more than capable of getting back to that level and Craig we hope will play a big part in providing Bryn with the self belief and support he needs to get to that level.”

“While Ian Maxwell and Craig Hinchcliffe might not play too big a part in the first team in the coming season that will not be the case with either Simon Donnelly and Jackie McNamara, both of whom I see being first team regulars.”

“Firstly, a little word about Jackie’s fitness. Jackie saw a specialist on Tuesday and he was given the all clear to start jogging and light training. With Jackie working closely with our physio Kenny Crichton we are confident that if he isn’t fit for our first league match of the new season then he will be fit for the second league game.”

“While Jackie and Simon will have big parts to play on the field with the first team they will have just as big a part to play in helping to develop the young talent that we already have at the Club. Towards the end of the week their attention will on be on the first team fixture coming up but in the earlier portion of the week their focus will be firmly on working with the full-time youth players in our squad.”  

“I’m delighted that we have these four individuals back on board at Firhill. They will all play an integral role in helping take Partick Thistle forward.”

Having taken time to outline the roles that the four returnees will fill the manager also took the opportunity to take an overview of the general situation at the Club.

“Next season promises to be a very challenging one for us. I don’t really want to spend too much time talking about budgets and money but it could well be that, with the exception of the part-time teams, we will have the smallest budget of all in the First Division.”

“I’ve every confidence that out strongest eleven is more than capable of matching anything on offer in the First Division but in operating with a small squad, as we will be doing, you are left vulnerable to injury and suspension.”

“We hope to add maybe one or two new players to the squad but it could be that we will be going with a squad of around 15 or 16 supplemented by players from our under 19 squad.”

“Unlike other clubs we don’t have an individual at Firhill that is capable of pumping money in year after year. As such we need to find other ways to help develop the football club. Creating a youth structure worth talking about has been a priority of mine since I became manager here but in the current climate it becomes even more important.”

“Even in acknowledging the challenges and difficulties that we potentially face next season I’m still excited about what we are in the process of putting in place at Firhill. The first team is the most important team and must always be the main priority but equally we must pay as much attention to the long term future of the club as we do what happens in the short term. This is why we are channelling so much effort into creating a youth structure at Firhill that will be the envy of many. A youth structure that will allow our young players flourish. ”

“In the past Thistle have perhaps been guilty of starting and then abandoning youth policies but that most certainly will not be the case this time. The budget for youth development is separate from that for the first team and the Board of Directors are in full support of what we are trying to achieve.”

“We’ve got the right people in place trying to make our youth structure the best it possibly can be. Gerry Britton is great in his role as Head of Youth Development, Ian Cameron, although not full-time, is doing an excellent job with the under 19 side and in Simon Donnelly and Jackie McNamara we have two individuals who will set a perfect example to those that they will be coaching.”

“It’s not enough just to have ability. It’s as much about lifestyle as it is about talent. Simon and Jackie will coach the boys really well but they will also lead by example when it comes to looking after themselves in terms of diet. The training that the young boys will get will be really quite intensive with two sessions a day at the start of the week and we aim to develop them not just as players but physically as well.”

“We have players such as Kieran Burns, Ryan MacBeth and Ross McGeough that we feel that can play a part in the first team this season but looking deeper into our youth pool we see as many as five or six other players that can really push on and be part of our first team the following season.”

“What I would ask of the Thistle supporters is to really stick with us during the forthcoming season, especially during any difficult spells that we might encounter. Yes we might have a small squad this season. Yes money is tight but we are in the process of building something that in years to come will really see the club move forward and become a stronger, better club. Much is made of season ticket sales helping the first team budget but they are also an investment in the future of Partick Thistle.”