Manager’s Monday Press call

14/01/19: SC - “Ideally we want to get players who are banging on the door and have supporters come and watch them playing at East End Park.

Stevie Crawford and Greg Shields were formally introduced to the media on Monday as Dunfermline Athletic’s new management team. Stevie was asked if he had any qualms about accepting the challenge:-

“Under the circumstances it is never nice. I think it was done respectfully. Ross has an honesty and a vision for the club but it must have been a difficult decision for Ross, I know it was having spoken to him.

“In terms of the opportunity, how often do these chances come up? Having spoken to Ross and knowing how his visions are and how he wants the club to progress it was a no brainer for me.”

Stevie described how he had been appointed to the manager’s job at East Fife in April 2009 which was very early in his coaching career:-

“Then I went to work under Steven Pressley and Robbie Neilson as an assistant and I have always tried to add more knowledge to my own mindset and I have managed to work with some great people involved in football on the coaching side and out and about in the game so I feel that I was ready for it.

“When an opportunity comes up like this and with the connections that I had with the club it was too good an opportunity to turn down.”

Asked if there was any progress on bringing in a third coach, Stevie said:-

“The important thing for me are this point is to make sure that it is the right person. Greg has been involved in bringing on young players and that will be a big part of the way we see this club developing. I was lucky having worked with Steven and Robbie that they had a belief in them and I have seen in Greg in the short space of time since him coming in that he knows how first team football works but also has the skills to help young players to be challenging for a first team opportunity.

“We maybe need to go a bit left field to see if somebody maybe has the experience to cover all bases. I am not rushing into this one, Ross knows where I am with that and it is important that we get this final bit of the jigsaw right.”

Stevie said that as well as having a passion for the club he also had a passion for young players and he hoped that he could bring some through to first team football.

“Me and Greg can remember what it was like to be given an opportunity by the managers and coaches. It stays with you throughout your career. You have a responsibility to make them change from young teenagers to become men. We are duty bound to try and learn them their trade. Hopefully they will progress to get an opportunity at this club but if they don’t we have to make sure that these boys are valued and they fit back into football at some sort of level.

“Things like that I don’t think you can hide. Ideally we want to get players who are banging on the door and have supporters come and watch them playing at East End Park.

“It has probably been a good number of years, nothing against the previous management team, I am talking about even when I played, when was the last time that we sold a player? It was probably Greg (Shields) and Jackie (McNamara).

“We have got to win games but also I want an identity to the club where we can get young talent so that supporters feel that they are part of them as well. It works two ways, the support up at Dundee United at the weekend was great. I know that the responsibility lies with us, if we start winning games we will get more people through the gate, more people behind us and that will drip back through the club. I know that Ross is going to back that 100%.“

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