Jim McIntyre Post Partick
Saturday, 15th Dec 2007"I wouldn't attach any blame to Glassy. The pitch didn't help, he said he slipped and actuall
Jim McIntyre talked after the 1-1 draw at Firhill:-
"We didn't start the game well. I think we didn't start with enough tempo in the game. Both teams were a wee bit flat to start but Thistle created a couple of good chances and Paul (Gallacher) had some great saves. He kept us in it at that stage but I thought in the last fifteen minutes of the half we started to get on the ball and Mike McGlinchey was causing them a problem by drifting in. We had a couple of half chances ourselves."
Asked whether he thought his team was guilty of sitting back on the lead, Macca replied:-
"You have to look at how many players we had playing out of position. I had to shift players all over the shop, it is a thankless task for some of the boys when they are getting played out of position because they are just trying to fill in and do their best when we have got such injuries."
It was a surprise that Kevin Harper returned in a right back role:-
"Yes, it was a surprise but I thought he was the best player on the park. He was different class, I don't think he lost a header all day and his energy level, for somebody who has not played for three months, was excellent.
"Also we had Stevie Crawford who was ill. He put himself up for playing. Although he felt ill before the game we decided to go with him but we changed him at half time because he was struggling."
Scott Wilson got injured near the end, was that a bad one?
"Scott hurt his hamstring so that was a blow but to be honest, their goal - if Dinger had been there that might not have happened. Scott Thomson was really unlucky to get blocked off; you could say good play from their point of view but we have to deal with a high ball like that better.
"The players have been fantastic, they really have. They have worked their socks off, we are trying to increase the fitness levels a wee bit because we do need to be fitter."
Missing the penalty was crucial?
"It was a crucial point in the game. I wouldn't attach any blame to Glassy. The pitch didn't help, he said he slipped and actually hit both feet. Normally you can stick your mortgage on Glassy but he will definitely be taking them again because he is a class player."
You must have thought your luck was starting to change when you got that penalty to go potentially two up?
"That's it. You get a great finish from wee Burchy to start, great reactions from him and then obviously you get the penalty and you are hoping if that goes in you are going to be on to a win. It wasn't to be and fair play to Thistle, they created enough chances to merit a draw that's for sure."
Asked about the vacant Manager's position at East End Park, Jim replied:-
"The Chairman knows, I have not put in an application, but he knows that I am interested in the job. It is up to me and the boys to get the results, we are all in it together that's for sure."
Will you be getting an interview for the job?
"You will need to ask the Chairman that."
Partick Thistle gaffer, Ian McCall was not happy with the draw:-
"I don't think we played well but I think for the way we want to play the pitch didn't help us I'm afraid. We had the chances and it could have been three or four nothing before they scored.
"Paul (Gallacher) had a couple of great saves in the first half, Kevin McKinlay's header - you have just got to score from there. But you know what they have a real spirit about them now. When they got a penalty you are thinking 'what are we doing'. They battled back and got their goal. We could have won it when we threw a lot of bodies forward.
"Because we scored so late it doesn't feel like a defeat but when you analyse the game and the chances we missed it does. We made a lot of chances that is why I am so disappointed to draw."
Ian McCall was not convinced that Dunfermline deserved their chance from the 70th minute penalty:-
"It was not a penalty, its as simple as that.
"I know the target this season was not to win the league but I feel that we are not far short. Two or three players maybe but if we had got that result today we would have been a wee bit clear in third place. If you look at the games at home against Dundee, St Johnstone and Dunfermline its really six points we have dropped. We have a lot of young players and it is going to happen."
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