New chapter and all on the same page

Chairman Ross McArthur talked to the website about the changes to the management structure at Dunfermline Athletic

Ross McArthur started by admitting that it is never an easy thing to do.

“The thing that you can’t do is create a scenario where you remove one structure and then be looking around like a rabbit in the headlights, wondering what you do in terms of the next structure.

“Like any good board of directors you are always looking, reviewing, thinking about how we can improve. What we have done is create a slightly different structure with Stevie Crawford as head coach and Greg Shields will be part of the coaching staff along with another coach who we still have to recruit. We have also got Jackie McNamara providing technical support to the board.

“Sometimes you need to change, especially in an environment that is fast moving like football. Sometimes you need to bring a freshness, fresh ideas and impetus. That is what we are trying to do, to create a young, energetic, enthusiastic coaching staff who will challenge what we are doing, challenge me as Chairman in terms of things that they think we can improve and challenge each other.

“Stevie has his own ideas, he was a top player but he has also worked at the highest levels as a coach. Greg took the step to go to America to progress his career. He took a big risk in doing that and he is highly regarded as a Youth Development coach out there.

“Greg is coming in with a whole set of new ideas of how things were done across the water and that will challenge what we are doing. He has a track record of developing young players and getting them ready to take the pathway into the first team. Again this is something that as a club we have not done enough of. We feel that this is an added dimension to the coaching staff.

“Over the last thirty years we have not brought through enough young players, probably Jackie McNamara is the last who came in as a young player, admittedly not through the academy system but then went on to Celtic for a considerable sum of money at the time. That is something that we have not done compared to some other clubs.

“It is not easy to develop young players and get them through to the first team but we think that we do have some good prospects. We need to improve the coaching environment to improve them and also give them the opportunity to see if they are going to be good enough.

“That is something that we want to do more of as a club going forward. Having people who believe in that is important but ultimately what defines your success is the first team. That is not diluting the first team because if you have a successful first team that puts the whole business in a better place.

“We do want to challenge to get back to the Premier Division and establish ourselves there. By the same token it is not all about prize money for finishing in certain areas of the league but also about bringing money into the club through developing and transferring players. That is the nature of the beast in terms of Scottish football. That is really what we are looking to achieve.

“Stevie and Greg’s Skills will hopefully be complemented by the additional coach that we are looking to build in allied to Jackie McNamara’s knowledge, experience and expertise that he can bring to us.

“Jackie’s role is to the board in terms of the technical support but Jackie will review all the different elements of the football side and help us develop that to move the club forward. That is his role.”

Stevie Crawford, Greg Shields and Jackie McNamara are possibly three of the most successful former players that Dunfermline fans respect and Ross feels that will be a great benefit in the quest for success.

“I am not being starry eyed or a romantic when I say. When you look at the club over the last fifty years, apart from the halcyon days in the sixties and maybe the Jimmy Calderwood era, the successful times were under Harry Melrose, Bert Paton, Jim Leishman, Dick Campbell. They were Dunfermline people, all of them had an affiliation with the club, they have been successful at this club before in their playing careers, they know what the club stands for and the expectations of the club.

“They know all the peculiarities of the club, the demands and everything else. They are familiar with the club and they all have a passion to be involved and move the club forward. They have a desire to improve and develop and that is important.”

For the chairman at a club without masses of resources, it has been a whirlwind time with little time for any sleep as he tried to piece it altogether. Probably spurring him on has been enthusiasm that has arrived as a result of change and change that had to happen quickly. He highlighted the problem that he had to address:-

“By making a change Stevie would have had to take thirty players to training. That was never going to be achievable so we had to try and move quickly but it was done in the right order.

“I would never do anything that would be disrespectful to Allan (Johnston). I had to let him know that we were going to move in a different direction. It was then full steam ahead but it doesn’t help when somebody is on the other side of the Atlantic. All credit to Greg, I spoke to him late in the morning and I could tell straight away that he was enthusiastic.

“I had spoken to Greg in the summer about John (Potter)’s role but within hours of speaking to me he had managed to sort out his exit at Carolina and on a plane within three or four hours. His wife Lorraine is still in America, he travelled through the night with two hours sleep to be in for half past nine on Thursday morning.

“That shows you the commitment that he is willing to make for this club and what it means for him. We have had a difficult period this season but the fans will see what the club means to the guys by the commitment that they are making. It is important for them to realise that, get right behind the new coaching team and help us move the club forward.

“We are always more successful when we are all pulling in the same direction, when there is a togetherness. You know that is maybe something that has been lacking over the last few months. Hopefully if we all pull in the same direction we can get back into contention for the play offs, finish the season on a high and see where it takes us.”

Exciting times for Dunfermline Athletic Football Club for all concerned and no one more optimistic than the chairman himself:-

“I am excited by the changes that I have made. Other people were strong candidates but we felt that we were looking for a certain criteria that I believe we have in the people that we have got. We still have one addition to make who will tick the right boxes for us.”

The speed of the change did seem to indicate that there had been some planning and it wasn’t just reactionary. Change had been in the mind which Ross confirmed with his own question:-

“Why would you not be discussing things like that at board level? You have to be strategic all the time and look and strive for improvement so we have been looking at different things. I even discussed with Allan certain things that we needed to do that we have done now.

“Sometimes it is difficult to make changes within an existing structure. When the structure changes in its entirety then it is easier to do it. Everybody had to buy in to it, believe in it.

“The values of the people that we have got involved, in terms of what they stand for, what they believe in is important. We are all on the same page and that gives you great hope for the future.”

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