The Partick Thistle players have had to respond to their fair share of adversity over the past month or so but they have done so in fine fashion – and Harry Milne is no exception.
Last month’s 3-2 defeat to Rangers in the Scottish Cup was Ian McCall and his assistants’ final match in charge of the Jags, with Kris Doolan then handed the reins on an interim basis. That position was made permanent on Friday and it isn’t difficult to see why. Four games under the new regime have produced 10 points and three clean sheets, reigniting Thistle’s push for the cinch Championship title with nine games left to go.
Last week’s 3-1 win at Dens Park has been the pick of the bunch of the performances under Doolan and the visitors found themselves responding in emphatic fashion just as the pressure was racheting up. Two goals from Brian Graham had given the Jags the lead before Jordan McGhee threatened a Dundee comeback – but those hopes would be extinguished within 60 seconds when Milne restored his side’s two-goal advantage.
“It was good to have a quick reaction,” said Milne, after winning his third McCrea Financial Services Player of the Month award of the season, as voted by Jags fans. “I think last time we were up there we got off to a flyer, same as we did on Tuesday night.
“They pulled one back and started to pen us in a bit and it got a bit touch-and-go. When they scored and the goal went in, I think the fans maybe thought ‘ooft, here we go’. But it was good to have that reaction straight off the bat. And that effectively killed the game for us, which was good.”
Milne’s goal had another startling effect, too. Disgruntled fans in the home end were given a flicker of hope by McGee’s intervention, only for Milne to then snuff it back out almost immediately – causing a few Dundee supporters to head for the exits early.
“As an opposition player, that's what you like to see! You want to see them leaving and your fans bouncing, so that was great,” the full-back added. “I think they were starting to get a bit fed up and starting to go, then they scored and they all came running back in. And then before they sat down again, they start to walk again. So it was very pleasing to see.”
That immediate reaction against Dundee mirrors the team’s upturn in form under their new manager. Just like Milne did at Dens, the team have reacted in excellent fashion – and have wasted no time in doing so as Doolan has hit the ground running.
“It was always going to be a bit of a difficult situation,” Milne said of the change in management. “There's a bit of a bit of a shock for everyone but it's the direction the club wanted to go in, which you have to respect.“We are professional here, we want to maintain good standards, so for us it would didn't change too much in terms of what we what we can give towards the team.
“Dools reiterated this a couple of times and you know the minimum the fans expect is for everyone to work hard. I think everyone's continued to do that and we've managed to put together quality on the ball as well.
“It's obviously good to just get something and set in stone and we know where we all stand. It's good for Dools as well, he knows where he stands now and everyone can just get back to focusing to matters on the pitch.
“Since he's come in the results we've picked up are really good. I think the second half in Arbroath [where Thistle drew 0-0] was probably the only 45 minutes of football we've not actually played very well. We were maybe lucky to get out with a draw in the end there.
“We've worked hard and we've all just stuck to our task and we can see this year with the league it’s really tight. It's topsy-turvy and anything can happen so we've managed to get ourselves back in the mix which we're pleased about. We've got what nine games left so we'll see where we end up.”
Partick Thistle's Player of the Month Awards are proudly sponsored by McCrea Financial Services - visit www.mccreafs.co.uk to find out more.
