Manager on Thursday

16/07/20: SC - manager reflects on how his squad is shaping up.
“I have always said that it is important to build relationships with people in the game.”

After securing his sixth signing of the close season Stevie Crawford spoke about his most recent acquisition, Iain Wilson, and how his squad is taking shape:-

“Iain is a player we see as someone that we can help develop. He has made over 40 appearances for Kilmarnock over the years, so he has experience of being around a Premiership squad.

“The appealing thing is that he has spent the second half of the last two seasons on loan to Queen of the South due to him possibly not being able to force his way into a Kilmarnock side. Credit to him there is no negativity in him where he feels like he has been hard done by.

“He took the opportunity to go out and play men’s football and his Championship experience ticks boxes for what we are going to face this year.

“When you look at Iain he has got a presence, he is a big lad (6’2”) but he has also got good mobility to get about the pitch.

The manager has known Iain for a long number of years since he was in the same age group as his son Robbie. The young Craw has recently signed a new contract with Burntisland Shipyard but as a ‘98 came through the Dunfermline youth system, Stevie said that Iain Wilson was always a Kilmarnock opponent who stood out:-

“At 13 or 14 years of age he was a competitor and maybe too much of the red mist at times. He always had a good attitude to the game and we have kept an eye on him as a coaching staff from as far back as when he went down to Queens on his first loan spell. We think we have done our homework on him.

“He gives a balance to the team where he can play at right back and he played at centre half against us. That is not where we see him playing. We see him as a centre midfield player, he can play as a sitter but I also think that he has good legs to get up and down as well.

“We think that we can help him become a goal threat, he has a good strike on him. We primarily see him as a central midfield player but like other players that he have also brought and players that we have, I think that there is a lot of adaptability now.

“Aaron (Comrie) came in last year at right back and he will understand now that there are boys there who are pushing him. Matty Bowman has a big season ahead for him to kick on and create competition for that right back position.

“We have Lewis Martin and Euan Murray who can play anywhere along the back four and possibly play in a central midfield role as well. We will face testing times next year with injuries, suspensions and lack of form so it is good that we have boys who can play in different positions.

“We have Steven Whittaker who we have brought in as a midfielder and Iain comes into that bracket as well. Kyle Turner, Paul Allan and Matty Todd are all different types of players with different attributes so it is not like we are set in stone. We have boys that are adaptable and they have all got their own strengths.

“When you look at it we have Matty Todd, Paul Allan, Iain Wilson and Kyle Turner - if we can develop their weaker parts of their game to make them more into a more rounded footballer players, they have got a great number of years ahead of them in the game.”

Above: Iain Wilson and Matty Todd in opposition at East End Park, March 2020

In Iain Wilson, Stevie sees a player whose physicality can be used in Championship matches but also a bit more:-

“He is not frightened of the battles inside games, he is competitive but I don’t just want to say it is his physicality that attracts, we actually think that he is a good user of the ball and he is technically good. There is a rounded player there.”

Iain lives in Ayrshire but will now move up to the Dunfermline area and Stevie feels that it is important that the new signing develops off the pitch as much as he does on it.

The Pars squad are not all strangers to Iain since he was in the same Scotland Under 19 squad as Cammy Gill and Kevin O’Hara. Stevie was also pleased to hear that Iain received complimentary reports from his former Killie teammates Greg Kiltie and Dom Thomas about their experiences at Dunfermline.

“Those two boys spoke highly of the club and I have always said that it is important to build relationships with people in the game.”

First interview with Iain Wilson will be live from 19:00 Friday 17th July.

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