#doolan

Former Hibs coach John Doolan reckons Liam Henderson will relish playing in Serie A

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Published: 06:30

Tuesday 04 June 2019

John Doolan reckons Hibs hero Liam Henderson has all the attributes to hold his own in Serie A.

The 23-year-old…

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Partick Thistle have paid Kris Doolan his goal bonus after the striker’s “ghost goal” against Morton was controversially disallowed.

Doolan’s 57th-minute shot hit the back of the net during his team’s 1-0 Scottish Championship victory[1] but as Thistle’s players and fans celebrated, officials ruled out the effort.

The club is awaiting a Scottish FA response to its request for the decision to be explained.

Doolan donated his bonus to charity.

And Thistle matched the player’s gift to its official charity partner, Beatson Cancer.

The club, who wrote to the governing body on Tuesday morning, say the striker “deserves credit for what would appear to be a perfectly legitimate goal”.

Doolan, 31, is Thistle’s sixth-top scorer of all-time, but has yet to get off the mark this term and “still can’t understand what the officials have seen to disallow it”.

“I doubt I’ll score a goal that good again this season but I’ve built a career on hitting the back of the net so I know if I keep working hard and getting into the right positions the goal will come soon enough,” he said.

“Hopefully the next time I hit the net there won’t be so much controversy around it, though!”

‘I just want an explanation’

Thistle boss Alan Archibald is “disappointed” to have “heard nothing from the SFA or match referee since Saturday”.

“Even though we finished with the victory we had two players booked as a result of the decision (after remonstrating with the officials), and in a league this tight goal difference could come into play by the time we’re done,” he said.

“As managers we sit in meetings every season with the association and the referees department where they talk about being open and communicating about decisions and rules but that conversation has to work both ways.

“I seem to remember other managers in the past couple of seasons getting a call to apologise for wrong decisions but I’m not after an apology, I just want an explanation.”

‘Unbelievable’ ghost goal repeats history at Firhill[2]

No SFA punishment for McGregor[3]

References

^ 1-0 Scottish Championship victory (www.bbc.co.uk)

^ ‘Unbelievable’ ghost goal repeats history at Firhill (www.bbc.co.uk)

^ No SFA punishment for McGregor (www.bbc.co.uk)

BBC Sport – Scottish

Alan Archibald: Kris Doolan backs Partick Thistle manager

Kris Doolan insists Partick Thistle’s board are right to stand by manager Alan Archibald, despite the club’s Scottish Premiership relegation.

Thistle confirmed on Wednesday[1] that Archibald, 40, will remain in the post he has held since January 2013.

Striker Doolan, a Jags player for nine years, is backing the former Thistle defender to succeed.

“He…

Alan Archibald: Kris Doolan backs Partick Thistle manager

Kris Doolan insists Partick Thistle’s board are right to stand by manager Alan Archibald, despite the club’s Scottish Premiership relegation.

Thistle confirmed on Wednesday[1] that Archibald, 40, will remain in the post he has held since January 2013.

Striker Doolan, a Jags player for nine years, is backing the former Thistle defender to succeed.

“He…

Kris Doolan insists Partick Thistle’s board are right to stand by manager Alan Archibald, despite the club’s Scottish Premiership relegation.

Thistle confirmed on Wednesday[1] that Archibald, 40, will remain in the post he has held since January 2013.

Striker Doolan, a Jags player for nine years, is backing the former Thistle defender to succeed.

“He [Archibald] knows everybody at the club, he has great working relations with everyone,” Doolan said.

“To just cut ties with that would have been a poor decision and I’m absolutely delighted that he’s staying.”

Archibald made over 300 appearances for Thistle as a player, before taking charge five years ago.

He led the club to promotion to the top flight in his first season at the helm, and secured their maiden top-six finish in 2017.

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The Jags were relegated after ending the season 11th and losing their Premiership play-off final 3-1 to Livingston over two legs.

“The manager is a bit like myself, he’s been about for an awful long time and he’s got a real allegiance to the club,” Doolan, 31, told BBC Scotland.

“I can tell by speaking to him just exactly what the club means to him; I’ve played with him and played under him.

“He’s not just the manager, he’s feels a lot more than just being the manager.

“On a professional level there is expectancy, a lot of people with opinions, but personally I still wanted to check how he was as a friend because I think that’s important.

“In the modern game it’s very rare [for a club to back their manager], I think you see down south managers can have half-a-dozen games, if they don’t get results they are out the door.

“Obviously last season we let everybody down. We put our hands up, we let the manager down as well.

“We all made mistakes from top to bottom, maybe we became complacent that we’d made the top six before.

“Football is so cut-throat that you are out the league in no time at all, so there are are a lot of things to learn. But I think the manager is one person who knows the club inside-out.”

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Doolan, who is currently undergoing his Uefa A licence coaching course, has scored 115 goals for Partick Thistle, and admits the pain of relegation will take time to subside.

“I’m still hurting to be honest; it’s probably the worst thing in football to be relegated,” the striker said.

“Not only that, it’s a team that I love and I’ve been there for nearly 10 years now.

“Players will disappear and they’ll find other clubs but for myself and others, Chris Erskine people like that, it’s more than just a football club.

“I’m not just a player, I’m a fan as well, so from that point of view it still hurts and I’ve just got to learn to deal with that.”

References

^ confirmed on Wednesday (www.bbc.co.uk)

BBC Sport – Scottish

Dundee 0-1 Partick Thistle: Alan Archibald lauds goalscorer Kris Doolan

Manager Alan Archibald hailed the impact of Kris Doolan after the striker came off the bench to score the winning goal in a 1-0 triumph over Dundee.[1]

The win ensured Partick Thistle finished 11th in the Scottish Premiership, avoiding automatic relegation.

They now face a two-legged play-off final against Livingston,[2] with a place in next season’s top flight at stake.