Andy Tod in Morocco

“Casablanca was really good; a good atmosphere, a good crowd and the Dunfermline supporters could be heard above all of it.”

Andy Tod returned from being on loan to Stockport County to make an impact on the Pars winter break matches in Morocco. He told the website:-

“It is good that I have been brought over to Morocco and to be involved in the squad again after being at Stockport. Then there was all the confusion about whether or not I was getting game. I have had a couple of halves over here so it is good.”

The trip has given big Tody an opportunity to show the management what he could do and what he might contribute to the team. After putting in good performance in both tour matches Andy recognised:-

“I just have to bide my time and hopefully get back into the plans either that or someone has to come in and buy me. If nobody buys me I will just stick in and hopefully get a game. I’ve been in Dunfermline for a long time now, I don’t want to leave but I am 29 now and to be playing first team football. If I don’t get it I will look elsewhere.”

Andy does seem to have played himself back into contention because after the Willem II match manager Jimmy Calderwood said of him:-

“I thought he was magnificent; I know how much he is hurting, I was a player myself. I have spoken to him just now about it. As long as he is at Dunfermline he is in my plans but the way we play Rossi and Skerla are before him and he knows that. But the way he played against Willem II, against those kind of players Andrei Skerla has more problem with these kind of guys.

“We tend to forget that Andrei is only 23; I had Jaap Stam three times when he was younger, he thought that he could win every tackle but you can’t win every tackle. When the ball is played in to a good centre forward you have no chance of winning the ball. Andrius gives silly free kicks away and tries to nick balls against players who are strong bodied. He can’t win every ball he should just wait because as soon as he turns it’s your ball and don’t let him get away from you. Kenny Dalglish was world best at it, just turning you with his body.

“It’s a learning process for Andrei but Tody does that a lot better. Andrei’s worst games have been against St Mirren’s big Yardley. Tody would eat him up so he is not out of it altogether. The lad wants to play given the age that he is at now and with the service that he has shown to the club. He is a great professional as he has just shown and as he showed in training with a hard session last Friday. He could be right fed up with me and Jimmy and quite rightly so but you never see it on him. If I did see it on him he wouldn’t be here.”

So it would appear that Andy Tod has every chance of resurrecting his Dunfermline career and prevent having to up roots and move somewhere much further away from home. It does appear that the player would accept a move since his experiences in England were favourable. Andy Tod again

“Stockport was good; I liked it down there and I was getting a game every week. I was playing a few big games against the likes of Bolton and Blackburn. The First Division down there is a really hard league. It is like back in Scotland when I was in the First Division with Dunfermline – it is a hard league to get out of.

“Stockport is one of the lower teams down the division but they played some good football and did well. Since I left I did notice that they have had some no bad results. I have made a few friends down there and I keep in touch with some of the boys.”

But Wednesday night in the Mohammad V stadium in Casablanca was like nowhere else that Andy had played, he concluded:-

“Casablanca was really good; a good atmosphere, a good crowd and the Dunfermline supporters could be heard above all of it.”

Could it be that Andy Tod could yet again win over the support of the Dunfermline faithful?

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