PARTICK Thistle manager Ian McCall has slammed his side's horror home drubbing at the hands of Dunfermline last Saturday as the WORST showing since he became manager.
He saw his side ripped apart 4-1 by the Pars in front of a shellshocked Firhill support in a result which has seriously damaged their promotion challenge.
Now, with Thistle also out of the Scottish Cup, it could be a long run-in for followers of t
he Maryhill side.
McCall said: "That was the worst performance and worst result we have produced since I became manager here.
"I think it is important to stress that we can't begrudge Dunfermline their victory, it was thoroughly merited, as was their winning margin. It doesn't lessen the pain any, and it is very painful right now, but Cardle's hat-trick was as a good a hat-trick as you are likely to see. Some of the goals were outstanding."
"One of the annoying things for me is that at 1-0 down we had a couple of great chances to get right back in the game.
"These weren't half chances either but the type of chance that you really expect your strikers to be taking when they get the chance. If we take one of those chances then the complexion of the game changes completely.
"Far too often in pivotal moments in games we have failed to take chances and that is killing us. If there was even a hint of a bright side to the afternoon it was the fact that Liam Buchanan got a goal before the end of the match. Hopefully there will be a few more to follow from Liam in the next few weeks."
"I didn't think that I had a single player that played well on Saturday. We've made big strides here over the last two and half years but results like today's really do set you back.
"In saying that I don't want to single out the players for criticism. Everyone was responsible for Saturday's performance including myself and the staff.
"We were going into the game on the back of a bad result against Raith Rovers but, in general this season, we have always had a good response to a bad result and I expected the same again. We had the players in early on Saturday and spent some time working on a few things, but it turned out to be a really bad day for us."
Thistle's woes continued to mount this week when it was revealed they will be without three crucial players for this Saturday's league visit to Inverness Caley.
Paul Paton and captain Alan Archibald are both suspended for the match while midfielder Paul Cairney is in plaster after he chipped an ankle bone.
