Stevie Crawford - Manager of the Month Award

“It is nice to get the award but my staff have played a massive part in helping to put this team together as well with the way that we work.

October’s SPFL Manager of the Month award for the Scottish Championship was presented to Dunfermline manager Stevie Crawford today. He has won this once before in February 2019, just one month after taking over from Allan Johnston. His award comes after six wins in October over Dumbarton, Falkirk, Kilmarnock, Inverness Caley Thistle, Alloa Athletic and Queen of the South. Stevie told the media:-

“I think what is important for me here is one, Euan Murray gets the Player of the Month and then for myself, I would have swapped it for three points at the weekend!

“It brings a positivity to the club and gets people talking about everything that we are working towards as a team. I keep saying it, it is nice to get the award but my staff have played a massive part in helping to put this team together as well with the way that we work. We just have to make sure that we continue to work hard and face the challenges that are coming ahead.”

Turning swiftly to his captain Euan Murray’s success and his Player of the Month award Stevie heaped praise on the player he signed from Raith Rovers in the summer of 2019:-

“He is a great lad. I would probably go as far as saying that if I was ages with him he is the type of boy that I would want to have as a mate! I think that he has a great balance to his life. When he comes in to work he works but also he is very protective of people round about him.

“The journey that Euan has been on has not been easy, starting at Motherwell he found himself going from a few clubs to down south for a shot before having a very successful spell at Raith Rovers. We are now reaping the benefits of him stepping up a level and he has consistently shown this season what he is capable of doing.”

Although Euan’s contract expires at the end of this season Stevie claimed that it was too early to start talking about anyone’s contract for next season:-

“I have said before that the remit of the job is to try and develop players and coaches to help take the club forward. For all the right reasons Euan will be attracting attention as other players are as well. The biggest compliment I can give him is that he is a team player and obviously got the captain’s armband from us as well.

“Yes he is out of contract at the end of the season and there will be discussions between myself and the Chairman about that. But we also face other challenges at the moment with the covid situation. Nothing is easy but if he keeps performing like that you want to keep hold of your best players.

“It is about making sure that the stability of the club is there and then conversations that me and the chairman will have regarding the future. We are always talking anyway in that regard.

“It is about relationships that you have with players. The one thing about Euan when he signed, I genuinely thought that we could progress him as a football player. If he was given the opportunity to play, especially after what he faced last year in terms of the (neck) injury, he finished the season really strong before the break up in March. He has continued that form from the start of the season very much as a leader on the park.”

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