New Partick Thistle signing Robbie Crawford reveals Ian McCall connection made Firhill move an easy decision

The experienced midfielder is determined to build on his unbeaten start to life at Firhill this weekend
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Robbie Crawford insists he has rekindled his love for football again at Partick Thistle after teaming up with his former Ayr United boss Ian McCall.

Upon his return to Firhill in September 2019, McCall inherited a side low on confidence and staring relegation to the third tier in the face but he quickly set about changing the mentality at the club and stamping his authority on the playing squad.

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Since then, the transformation both on and off the park in Maryhill has been emphatic, with Thistle now seeking to secure a return to the top-flight of Scottish football.

Ian McCall led Partick Thistle to the League One title. Picture: SNSIan McCall led Partick Thistle to the League One title. Picture: SNS
Ian McCall led Partick Thistle to the League One title. Picture: SNS

That opportunity has been made possible due the tireless hours of work put in by McCall and Crawford, who played under the Jags manager at Somerset Park for five seasons, admits he jumped at the chance to be reunited with him.

The midfielder signed a short-term deal until the end of the season last month after being frozen out of the first-team squad at Premiership side Motherwell.

The 27-year-old said: “Ian was a major factor in me coming to the club. I worked with him for four or five years at Ayr and I really enjoyed it so when I got the chance to work with him again I jumped at it.

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“There is a real togetherness here and I think he’s done something similar to when I was at Ayr.

“When he came in there were a few cliques, the dressing room wasn’t together, but he managed to fix that.

“He had us challenging in the Championship and then a lot of boys moved on.

“From my first three or four weeks here it’s definitely something similar to what he built at Ayr in terms of togetherness and team spirit.

Partick Thistle's players celebrate a fine win.Partick Thistle's players celebrate a fine win.
Partick Thistle's players celebrate a fine win.
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“I had a couple of options, but I just wanted to get back enjoying my football and I know I did that under Ian previously.

“It was a pretty easy decision, especially with Thistle being a massive club that want to challenge at the top end of the league.”

Asked why he felt McCall seems to get the best out of players, Crawford added: “He puts a lot of thought and research into what boys are like, not just as players, but as people too.

“That’s a big part of it. It’s not just whether you are good player or not, you need to be a certain type of person to play under him. That can only stand us in good stead.”

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Since his arrival, Crawford is still to taste defeat as a Thistle player and he is hopeful of maintaining his unbeaten run when they host Queen of the South on Saturday.

“I’ve enjoyed it so far,” he admitted. “I knew a few of the boys before I came so it’s been really easy to settle in. Hopefully that (winning run) can continue.

“It was a good win against Ayr in midweek, it was a hard game for us. The pitch wasn’t great, but we got the goal and saw it out well.

“It’s about trying to build some momentum now. With the midweek games a factor now, the games will be coming round pretty quick.

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“If we can keep picking up three points at the weekend then you are bouncing into the midweek matches and that obviously builds momentum.

“Confidence is high at the moment, the boys are believing they can win going into every game and we need to keep building because there are a lot of hard games coming up.

“We’ve got boys who have played a lot of games at this level, so there isn’t many lacking in experience in the team.

“That can help when you’re grinding out results if you’re not playing well, so we must continue to do that.”

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