Firhill boy working hard to become Thistle’s main man

MARTIN GREIG February 24 2006

DICK CAMPBELL may harbour dreams of Scottish Cup silverware but, long-term, he is concentrating on polishing one of Firhill's emerging gems. Adam Strachan is his name, and the Partick Thistle manager has worked diligently to smooth off the kind of rough edges which only serve to blunt prodigious talents.

The 19-year-old signed a 21/2-year deal last month to ward off potential suitors including Hamilton Academical, who tabled a five-figure bid for him during the last transfer window. It is a testament not only to Strachan's talent, but to a new-found maturity which has ensured that his career has remained on track.

Chic Charnley is Strachan's Thistle hero, but Campbell has had to rein in some Chico-style excesses from his young protege. "He was a wee bit of a silly adolescent when I came here," recalls Campbell. "I think he had a wee bit of a strut about him. I pulled him in in September and told him: 'Life's not a bed of roses son, you've got to go and earn what you want'.

"All of a sudden he's changed. He's now around the place in the afternoon, helping out the kit boys. We've worked hard with him on his movement and I've worked hard with him on the way he treats the game."

The winger stays just a corner kick away from Firhill and used to jump the wall to watch the Maryhill side as a youngster. The pull of local ties and the chance to develop his game under Campbell, and his assistant Jimmy Bone, were the key factors in his decision to snub outside interest and entrust his future to Thistle.

Campbell explains: "A club came in for him before the window and I said: 'What do you want to do son?' He said 'I don't want to go anywhere gaffer. I love it working for you and for Partick Thistle'. I said to him that there was an opportunity here if he wanted it. He's got great pace and skill. He just needs to add that wee bit of maturity to his game.

"If he plays on Saturday [against Hearts in the Scottish Cup quarter-final at Tynecastle] he'll be a handful. He's an exciting player but gone are the days when you beat five and six men. That's Hotspur stuff. He's now becoming a team player and I think that was evident up at Inverness and here [in the last round of the cup]."

Campbell also revealed that he attempted to get another promising Scottish youngster, Hearts' Calum Elliot on loan at the start of the season. Since then, the 18-year-old has fought his way into the Hearts first team and scored six goals. "I like him," said Campbell. "I tried to get him on loan and George Burley was quite keen on it. But he's [Elliot] taken a chance and is keeping all the big stars at bay."

Mark Roberts, the Partick Thistle attacker, believes that pulling off an upset at Tynecastle tomorrow would be a bigger shock than Clyde eliminating Celtic. "We're in the second division and they're the second-best team in the country. It won't have the same effect as [Clyde v Celtic] but in our eyes it will be bigger," said Roberts, who was in the Kilmarnock squad who won the Scottish Cup in 1997.

"We're massive underdogs. If they play the way they can then they'll beat us, but it's the cup, things happen. We've got to get stuck in and keep it tight for the first hour and hopefully their crowd will turn against them. We're going to give it a right good go and hopefully get some luck. The last couple of years haven't been great [for Partick Thistle] but we're aiming to get into the first division and eventually play against the big boys all the time."

Taken from the Herald