KRIS DOOLAN yesterday sealed an emotional return to Firhill as the popular former player was appointed as a coach in Partick Thistle’s youth set-up – but supporters should not expect any other incomings during the January transfer window.
Doolan, who sits fourth in the Championship’s all-time top scorer list with 121 goals to his name, spent a decade at Firhill between 2009 and 2019 before being controversially released by then-manager Gary Caldwell a matter of months before his testimonial.
The 36-year-old has been appointed as the Thistle Weir Youth Academy’s head of youth phase, where he will help youngsters transition from under-18s football to the senior side, and he admits the offer was too good to turn down.
“When the opportunity to return home to Firhill presented itself, it was one that I jumped at,” Doolan told the club’s website.
“Partick Thistle gave me countless happy memories as a player and I’m now looking to use the experiences I’ve had in red and yellow to help develop players within the academy to become first-team players for the club.”
The cult hero’s homecoming was met with an overwhelmingly positive reaction online by excited supporters but they should not expect any additions to the playing squad this month to bolster the Jags’ push for promotion.
“I’m always looking at players but we had a board meeting on Thursday morning. We won’t be able to do anything just now,” explained manager Ian McCall. “Not a thing.
“No [the loan market is not an option], nothing like that. We are trying to move things around so we can keep [on-loan Kilmarnock defender] Lee Hodson. But we will only be able to do that if we move things around.
“It is what it is. We have seen all sorts of financial figures for clubs [St Mirren posted a seven-figure loss for 2021/22 earlier this week]. That might change in the next week or so, you never know. As a football manager you just get on with it.”
McCall puts a brave face on it but there is no dancing around the truth: Thistle look set to exit the January window in worse shape than they entered it. Forward Tony Weston, who was on loan from Rangers, has returned to Ibrox and centre-back Tunji Akinola as been told he can leave. With no replacements lined up, it leaves the Thistle boss a little short of options – particularly at the back, where McCall has already admitted he would like further reinforcements.
He said: “Tony is away and Tunji has been told he can leave. Him and his agent are actively looking for something and once that happens, Hodson will be staying. But I can’t do anything until that happens.
“I’ve been concerned that we don’t have enough defenders for months now, since the last window. We will see what we can do. That’s all I can say really.”
Thistle head to Dens Park this afternoon looking to build on last week’s 2-1 win over Greenock Morton but McCall will not have a full compliment of players to select from.
“Steven Lawless turned his ankle on Tuesday, he’ll definitely be out,” McCall revealed. “We have doubts about Brian Graham and Cammy Smith but we’ll see how they are. Harry Milne trained and he is fine again.
“Steven went in for a challenge and just turned his ankle. He has done great this year. I would like to get him fit for the three home games in a row. It was a bit of a freak one but I’m hoping he will be back in two or three weeks. It’s a blow but it’s a position we have cover in.
“Brian has a wee spasm in his back that’s maybe been affecting him for the last couple of games. Even if we get him through Saturday, it may be the case that we get him sorted and then he misses a game.”
Fourth-placed Thistle currently sit six points behind Queen’s Park in the Championship standings but with the top three all benefitting from a game in hand, McCall knows a defeat at Dundee this afternoon could prove costly for his side.
The Jags manager likes to separate the season into four distinct quarters and he is confident that his team will remain there or thereabouts in the race for promotion going into the home stretch of the campaign.
“I would love to see where we are with a quarter to go,” McCall added. “The third quarter is like the Saturday of The Masters, it’s moving day. If we are in and around the top four and within striking distance of the top…
“If we have a third quarter like we had our first quarter – and we have got six points out of nine already. We need to improve our away form but our home form… only Celtic have scored more goals than us at home.
“The three home games after the Dundee game are pivotal and we have to look to try and win all of them. We know Dens Park is a really hard place to go and we are expecting a hard game.”
