Partick Thistle striker Steven Craig knows what it takes to win a First Division title as he did it less than a year ago. However, if he is to be successful for two seasons in a row, he recognises that it will need to be done differently this time.
Craig was with a Ross County side that romped away with the IRN-BRU First Division Championship on the back of a 34 game unbeaten run last season, however no side is as dominant this time out in the race for a SPL place.
As well as the Maryhill side, Morton and Dunfermline Athletic are involved in a three way race that has plenty of twists and turns to come with Livingston set to emerge as promotion dark horses if they pick up points from their 3 games in hand.
Craig said: “Last season in the First Division was very different as County were relentless and won the title without a serious long term challenge. This season it will go right to the wire and whilst everyone talks about three sides, it could well be four with Livingston joining us Dunfermline and Morton.
“It is certainly a terrific league for the fans.”
Jackie McNamara’s side were the long term leaders this season, however a run of four games without a win has seen them slip back to third spot. The run began with a defeat from new leaders Morton on Boxing Day and carried on with draws against Airdrie United and Livingston before Dumbarton’s revival continued with a 2-0 win over the Jags last Saturday.
Craig is philosophical about the run saying: “All the teams will go through a bad patch at some stage and whoever comes through that the best will be in a really strong position. In fact whoever copes best will be the league winners and Thistle will not be far away.”
“Hopefully that is our bad patch out of the way but it has not been a case of us playing poorly. It has more to do with things not going our way at crucial times.”
The 31 year old added: “Teams have been setting up to stop us playing as opposed to challenging us but that is what happens when you have been at the top of the league for most of the season. We have to and we will learn to cope with that.”
This weekend Craig and his team-mates welcome one of his former sides Falkirk to Firhill with the striker reflecting on the changes at the Bairns since he joined them in 2000.
Craig said: “I joined Falkirk when I was 19 after 3 years at Raith Rovers. When I joined them I signed for 3 years and stayed for two and a half. They were playing at Brockville then which is very different ground to the Falkirk Stadium they use now.”
“Brockville was not the greatest ground to look at but when it was full it had a great atmosphere. I played in some big games there and they were always great to play in. I enjoyed my time there.”
Craig continued: “I had really good team-mates in David Nicholls, Greg Denholm, Mark Kerr, Myles Hogarth and Jamie McQuilken and by and large it was good time on the park especially in my first season.”
“That season we pushed for promotion although we eventually had to settle for third place behind Livingston and Ayr. The second year was a bit more difficult as a pretty dire financial situation was emerging and that put the club in a bad way.”
Craig never completed his third year as he explained: “I left midway through my third season for Motherwell and SPL football. I had 18 months there and then had a year at Aberdeen in the SPL as well before playing for Dundee and Livingston and then I joined Ross County in 2008.”
“County got to the SPL at the end of last season and I would like to make that a double with Thistle.”
Craig’s time at Dingwall came to an end in August when he joined Thistle on loan and that temporary move became a permanent one early this year and Craig said: “I want to be playing football and I had enjoyed my time on loan here so it was an easy decision to make. I was delighted when it was all done.”
“I had been given a fair crack of the whip and even though Ross County was SPL football it was pretty plain I was not going to get that much football for whatever reason.”
County’s loss has been Thistle’s gain with the striker saying: “My own form has been good with 8 goals in 14 games which is a pretty reasonable return. That has been brought about by playing week in and week out.”
Craig also has a role as one of the more established players in McNamara’s squad as he explained: “I suppose I am one of the experienced guys at Firhill. I have won a First Division title as has Hugh Murray with St. Mirren and Alan Archibald who won it with Thistle but there is not a lot of old heads about apart from us three.”
“We are a young side and can be a bit naïve at times but we are learning all the time. Sometimes you need a couple of struggling performances to learn.”
The First Division is a tough environment to develop in with Craig saying: “It is a hard league to learn in and players are on a quick, quick learning curve. Experience is the key difference between this squad and the one that won the title last season with Ross County.”
“Derek Adams put together a squad of experienced players at County and when you consider most of them had reached a Scottish Cup Final by beating Celtic at Hampden it shows the knowledge that they had. You have to go through things like that to gain experience.”
Craig added: “The boys here are learning fast so I have no worries about this disappointing run dragging on.”
As for facing the Bairns Craig said: “I missed the first game of the season against Falkirk as I only joined a couple of weeks after that. We drew at Falkirk in a game where they restricted us to a few chances and they are a good young side as well.”
“The financial restraints that have been placed on Steven Pressley have forced him to go down that route but to fair that looks like being the future of Scottish football.”
Craig added: “Last week when they played against Morton they had an average age of 19 and a half and if Steven can keep his squad together for two or three seasons they will see the benefits. This will be another tough game for us.”
The striker is of course following in the footsteps of his father, Joe, by playing in the red and yellow of Thistle. Craig senior was a goalgrabber in Maryhill from 1972 to 1976 and played more than 100 games before joining Celtic and scoring for Scotland in his only international appearance in dark blue.
Craig the current Thistle man said: “My dad is well known for being at Partick and he comes to all our games now to watch me play. He has told me that he had a wonderful few years here and it is slightly ironic that I signed nearly 40 years to the day that he signed for Thistle.”
“He joined Thistle not long after they had won the League Cup by beating Celtic 4-1and he learned a lot here before going to play for Celtic and getting his Scotland cap. It would be great to emulate some of the good times he had here by having a great season in the First Division and adding a second title to my CV.”
Partick Thistle would like to remind under-16 year olds that they all get in FREE to our home league games. The club have been in touch with schools in Glasgow area, Cumbernauld and East Kilbride as well in a bid to bolster numbers.
Youngsters turned out in great numbers for the Dunfermline game on November, 11 and the club are hoping that they all come back for the visit of Falkirk on Saturday.
A free under-16 season ticket can be arranged by filling in a form at the club offices or by emailing in to [email protected].
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