Gary Caldwell: Partick Thistle appoint former Wigan manager as new boss

Gary Caldwell thinks 'massive amount' can be achieved as Partick Thistle boss

Gary Caldwell says "a massive amount can be achieved" after being appointed Partick Thistle manager.

Caldwell, 36, previously managed Wigan Athletic and Chesterfield after playing spells north and south of the border and 55 appearances for Scotland.

Thistle sacked manager Alan Archibald last Saturday after defeat by Ross County left the Jags eighth in the Scottish Championship.

Brian Kerr will be Caldwell's assistant and Partick face Alloa on Saturday.

"I am extremely excited to be here," Caldwell told the club website. "Right from my first interaction with the club, I have been impressed with how the organisation is run.

"It very quickly became clear to me that there are positive and exciting plans in place, backed up by a strong structure from top to bottom.

"There is a huge amount of potential in this squad. But it won't happen overnight. We can't do it on our own either, I need support from the fans and so do the players. If we are together, I have no doubt we can achieve a massive amount."

After starting his playing career at Newcastle, Caldwell featured for Darlington, Hibernian, Coventry, Derby, Celtic and Wigan before taking over as manager at the DW Stadium.

He won the League One title with Wigan but was dismissed in 2016 with the side struggling in the Championship and a short spell in charge of Chesterfield followed in 2017, during which the Spireites were relegated to League Two.

'He plans to build a strong defence'

Caldwell now faces the task of getting Thistle back into the Premiership after they were relegated via last season's play-offs.

Chairman Jacqui Low said the club were "blown away by Gary's interview preparation".

"In the space of a week, he had done an analysis of each player, identified a training schedule to deal with the fitness levels and pulled together a vision of how to get Thistle playing well enough to secure promotion," she added.

"Put simply, he plans to build a strong defence that allows us to then push forward and play attacking football.

"He can't succeed on his own so the board will back him come the January transfer window if he wants to further strengthen the squad."