AROUND a year ago, with Partick Thistle hovering around the bottom of the Premiership, the noises coming from their players – and then manager, Alan Archibald – were gloomily familiar.

They had the stomach for the battle. They had the players to dig them out of the hole they were in. They could go on a run and climb the table. What else could they say?

Little did Thistle fans think that those days would be seen as something of a golden era now. Having subsequently been relegated, the bright side was the clean sweep of the club that could be made for a tilt at bouncing back up. There would be no new broom though.

The Thistle board gave Archibald the chance to rectify his mistakes, and I have no doubt sentiment played a part in that decision. ‘Archie’ was, and remains, a club legend. But having searched his soul and decided to take on the challenge, it proved a bridge too far for him.

Of his summer signings, it is difficult to rate many a success thus far. Injuries have played their part, with those suffered by Tam O’Ware, Shea Gordon, Cammy Bell and Souleymane Coulibaly (who was also unavailable due to the dispute with Al-Ahly at the start of the campaign) hurting the Jags badly. The injury to O’Ware, such a seasoned campaigner in this division, most of all.

Jack Storer sunk without trace as glimpses of talent were overshadowed by attitude problems, while Jai Quitongo is also off the books following an arrest for an alleged assault on his girlfriend. Max Melbourne is but a fading memory.

Of the other eight players to arrive, perhaps only Craig Slater has made a positive contribution to the first-team over a sustained period. Not a good strike rate, by any stretch.

When the decision was finally made to sack Archibald in October, chairman Jacqui Low outlined it came at a pre-determined point of the season when they would reflect upon the start Thistle had made. The thinking behind that was to give Archibald a fair crack of the whip, while still being able to salvage their promotion bid if things weren’t going to plan.

Having made that painful break with the past though, the future isn’t panning out the way anyone at the club expected. The arrival of Gary Caldwell as manager was supposed to herald a bright new era, but results have deteriorated further.

When a loss to Ross County brought the axe down on Archibald, Thistle had won three of their opening nine league fixtures. Since then, they have won only one of 11.

It’s hard to see things improving as they travel to Tannadice to take on Dundee United this afternoon, given they have only one point on their travels – a 1-1 draw with an under-strength Falkirk – all season.

The dilemma for the Thistle board as 2018 drew to a close was obvious. With Thistle requiring another major rebuild to now simply stay in the division, do they entrust funds to a manager that some fans are already losing patience with?

The answer was yes, and I can’t see what else they could have done. The last thing Thistle want is to gain a reputation as a club who hires and fires, and in any case, Caldwell has been working with another manager’s players. I am a great believer that a manager should be given at least one transfer window to build a team. Ideally, two, but Thistle may not have that luxury.

So, barring a catastrophic thumping at Tannadice, Caldwell will be given the backing to build upon what he has started with the arrivals of Steven Saunders, Conor Hazard and Joe Cardle.

Bringing in fresh faces, sorely required as they are, is one thing though. Shaking off the torpor that has led to Thistle being beaten almost before they have set foot on the pitch, is quite another. And Caldwell’s job depends upon it.