Managers post Queen of the South

09/12/17: AJ - ""We were miles off it, the worst we have been since I came to the club"
Link to audio of both managers post match comments

Dunfermline Athletic manager Allan Johnston felt that his side`s performance against Queen of the South was the poorest ever under him.

"It was a really poor performance from start to finish. Especially when you look at the performance last week, although we got beat I thought that there were positives. Today I thought our defending was really poor but it is not just the defenders it is the whole team. We have got to defend better than that and you cannot afford to lose five really poor goals.

"You lose the first goal and it was really cheap as well. Dobbie was probably a class act, he was miles ahead of everybody on the pitch. That is what you have to recognise as well, you have to pick him up. We had defensive midfield players in there, enough bodies in there and we allowed him just to dominate the whole game."

From 2-0 down at half time the Pars did get back into it in just the second minute of the second half. AJ continued:-

"The players showed a wee bit of reaction. We scored just after half time but the third goal killed us. It changed the whole outlook of the second half. We ended up chasing the game and they punished us as we started making really poor decisions and losing poor goals.

"The third goal was a schoolboy goal to lose, we know that is what happens when you are in the rut that we are in just now."

Asked about the first half substitution of Nat Wedderburn by Dean Shiels, Allan said:-

"We took Nat off because he was meant to be close to Dobbie. It was just trying to get close to him because he is a top player. He showed that he was a the top of his game today, he totally dominated the game from start to finish.

"But it is a team game and invidually I don`t think anybody was good enough. We need to work even harder, do better individually and collectively to get back on track."

The manager took a while to come out to speak to the media and so he was asked if there was recognition in the dressing room that the performance was not good enough.

"We were miles off it, the worst we have been since I came to the club, it was really poor and we have played against a lot better teams, no disrespect to Queen of the South, and put in a lot better performances than that. It was really disappointing, I think we let down everyone.

"At the end of the day I have to take the blame because I am the manager and rightly so. I pick the team that goes on the pitch, I pick the tactics. So you need to look at yourself and re-assess that as well."

Asked if he could pick the players morale up for the away day at St Mirren next Saturday, the gaffer said:-

"It is going to take a dunt after a result like that because it is as poor as we have been. You just have to make sure that they respond. Obviously the boys have got to show a bit of character next week and make sure that they respond. A bit of fight and determination because it doesn`t get much harder than against st Mirren. They are a real quality team but these are the kind of games that you want to go into after a game like this - playing against a good team where we have to make sure that we put in the challenges and be right up for the game."

The defeat leaves Athletic ten points behind Dundee United who won 2-0 at Morton, is a play off place the best that can realistically be achieved?

"There is a long way to go, you can see that with the St Mirren result last week, there are no easy games in this league. We are miles better than we showed today, it is nowhere near good enough. Obviously we are going to have to strengthen in January and people are playing for their place in the team."

Queen of the South manager Gary Naysmith claimed that his side`s performance was "different class":-

"We set the tone from the start of the game. We were that far in front that we were worried that we would switch off. We missed a chance to go 3-0 up and Lyndon has apologised that he slipped dived in and they got a goal. You think that`s the last thing (you want) and I will be honest for that five minutes after they scored we looked a wee bit shaky.

More on the audio link

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