Player movement

09/01/20: Dunfermline Athletic confirm the recall of Greg Kiltie by Kilmarnock and the loan deal that takes Andy Ryan back to Airdrieonians.

Dunfermline Athletic confirm the recall of Greg Kiltie by Kilmarnock and the loan deal that takes Andy Ryan back to Airdrieonians.

Manager Stevie Crawford said that he was disappointed to see Greg go back but he goes with the club’s best wishes.

“With his performances on the pitch he was excellent for us. Even through the uncertainty of the management team changing at Kilmarnock he was consistent with his levels.

“Off the pitch he was great, he was one who had the players respect in the dressing room. He was low maintenance from a management point of view, never an issue and he has got high standards so yes we are disappointed but for all the right reasons Greg now thinks that the opportunity has opened up for him to go back to Kilmarnock and compete for a first team place.”

Since coming in at the start of September, Greg made 16 appearances for Dunfermline, scoring three goals. He missed out on only two matches - the Scottish Cup tie against Stranraer so as to avoid being cup tied and the away match at Inverness through suspension.

“He started in every game for us. That was his aim to come and get as many games under his belt as possible. When I first spoke to Greg before he signed, my intention wasn’t to solely play him as a wide player.

“I think if you look at most of those performances we hit a bit of form when we played him out on the left hand side. Ideally probably not Greg’s position but he had a really positive effect on the team at that time.

“It showed that there wasn’t a selfishness about him although he was dropping a level to come and get games. He showed a different side to his make up and I thought he was very creative. Not just the goals that he contributed, he also played a bit part in assisting as well.”

It was a win-win situation for the player and Dunfermline.

“As I said earlier this week that we brought in Ethan Ross on the back of how we treated Bruce Anderson. He came down from Aberdeen and had a positive loan spell on and off the pitch for us. Likewise, hopefully from the way that we have dealt with Greg we will have a relationship going forward with Kilmarnock that we can look at the loan market or future signings from them.”

The Pars manager confirmed that efforts have been stepped up to find a replacement for Greg Kiltie and he hopes to have news on that before Dunfermline play Morton on Saturday.

Andy Ryan is a striker who has been limited to appearances in the team. He has made 19 appearances this season with almost half of them off the bench. His last start was against Partick Thistle in November, he scored three times this season the last the winner against Ayr United in October. Stevie explained that he felt that it was right for the player and right for the club that he goes out on loan.

“We won’t stand in anybody’s way. Airdrie have expressed an interest in him and having spoken about it feel that is right that Andy goes out and gets some game time between now and the summer.

“It wasn’t something right out of the blue but in terms of getting something over the line I was not aware of that happening earlier in the week.

“Airdrie have been great in their manner and trying to get the deal through with the chairman. As I say I think it is right for both parties at this moment in time.”

What happens after the loan?

“Andy has a clause in his contract, where if we feel fit to extend it then we can. Short term it was important for Andy to get out and get games. Longer term that is something that we will have to review when it comes to the summer.”

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