Diamonds in dire straits as Gordon Dalziel admits Airdrie have no money to hire coach

Gordon Dalziel dismisses rumours of various people being lined up to take the job of Airdrie head coach as 'pie in the sky'. Picture: SNS/Alan Harvey

The Diamonds were plunged into turmoil when majority shareholder Tom Wotherspoon stepped down as chairman last month and dramatically reduced his funding.

Former Rangers captain Barry Ferguson has been linked with the dugout vacancy after Mark Wilson stepped down in June, but the club also desperately need to add reinforcements to their young squad.

Of the team that started Saturday’s 2-0 Betfred Cup loss to Livingston, nine of the players were 22 and younger and Dalziel fears it will be a difficult campaign unless they strengthen on and off the pitch.

Dalziel, whose side host Partick Thistle this evening, said: “We are discussing one or two in terms of getting a new head coach but once again it comes down to finances.

“It’s great people saying, ‘go and get so and so’. There’s not a lot of people – unless you’re myself – who are out there doing a job for nothing. You’ve got to try and find a wage and that’s where we’re working very hard.

“This is where the problems arise. I’ve heard and read that so and so is going to take the job, it’s pie in the sky.

“In terms of trying to attract new players, we can give you full-time, a shop window and some fantastic facilities. But unfortunately just now we really can’t give you anything after that.

“There’s people working very hard behind the scenes to try and get a bit of investment in but it will be a long road and it will be a long struggle.”

Partick defender Callum Booth hopes his injury worries are now firmly behind him after getting his season off to a belated start.

The former Hibernian left-back has enjoyed a clean bill of health throughout much of his career. But a string of niggles during the second half of last season often left him a frustrated spectator as the Jags recorded their best league finish in 36 years.

Booth was then left to curse his luck again as another knock ruled him out of Thistle’s Betfred Cup opener against Livingston last week.

However, he was back in Alan Archibald’s team as the Firhill men smashed St Mirren 5-0 on Saturday and admits he is looking to avoid the treatment room from now on.

Booth told JagsZone: “It’s good to be back. I was so frustrated and upset when I got a small thigh strain a couple of weeks ago. It was difficult at the end of last season as I was picking up a few niggles for the first time in my career really.

“I came back to pre-season looking to put all that behind me and was feeling good and feeling fit. We went down to England and I got a few games under my belt but then on the first day training back up here I felt my thigh go a little bit, so that was pretty gutting.

“I was disappointed to miss the Livingston game but now I’m feeling good again and hopefully it stays that way.”

Booth’s return is a big boost for Archibald, who has seen his League Cup plans hampered by a string of injuries.

However, they bounced back from losing their opening game with Livingston on penalties by thrashing Saints and will hope to book a slot in the last eight with victory over Airdrie and Stranraer.

Ahead of the trip to the Excelsior Stadium, he said: “On paper we should win the next two games but football is never like that. We need to be professional and then get the results that hopefully should be enough to get us through.”