Saturday 23rd November, 2013 at 2:24pm
Defeat is never easy at the best of times but Alan Archibald was extra despondent when he spoke with [link:HOME] after yesterday’s 4-1 defeat.
“That’s probably the worst we’ve felt on a Saturday afternoon all season. The first half we just didn’t turn up and we showed them far too much respect. I don’t know why, we warned them about the way that Dundee United play. They are a very good side but they become an even better side when you allow them to play and give them too much space and respect and we certainly did that in the first half.I think you saw in the first 20 minutes of the second half how we wanted us to play right from word go. ”
After being fortunate not to be more than 1-0 down at the interval that impressive period at the start of the second half saw Thistle level the game and we’re right back in what was a very open game at the time.
Said Alan;
“I think the game might have been too open at that point. When we got it back to 1-1 we were that eager to try and get another one that we pushed three or four bodies right into the far corner of the pitch and that left us wide open on the other side of the pitch and United picked us on the counter attack.”
The sending off of Conrad Balatoni with the score still 2-1 certainly didn’t help the Thistle cause any.
“It’s hard enough to deal with United’s movement when you have 11 men never mind 10 and then 9 men. The fact that their third goal came so soon after Conrad was sent off meant that it was a real struggle for us from then on.”
And what were the manager’s thoughts on the red card that Stuart Bannigan picked up?
“I’m disappointed with Stuart’s red card because if it goes with consistently then there could have been three or four red cards out there because there was a wee ten minute spell when there were three or four challenges like Stuart’s. With Stuart’s red card the referee actually changes his mind because if I think if you look at the footage of it you see him go for a yellow card and then change his mind and pulls out a red. I don’t know what has caused the referee to change his mind but he’s shouted Stuart back and told him he’s changed his mind and he is sending him off.”
Any positives to take from the game?
“The only positive is the 20-25 minute period in the second half when we showed that’s how we can play.”
Do recent results dent the players’ confidence?
“It definitely does. Anyone looking in from the outside will just see the result and see that we’ve lost three or four goals but in the last two games we’ve gone down to 10 men and then down to 9 men today. That will dent the players’ confidence but it is up to us to pick them up.”
