Q&A with DAFC Sporting Director, Thomas Meggle

We sat down with Thomas, who was keen to provide his perspective on where we are following the disappointing start to our league campaign.

DAFC Fussball GmbH agreed to acquire the second part of the DAFC shares in August. Since then, have you been able to travel to Dunfermline a few times? What is your impression?

First of all, I would like to thank all the people who have welcomed us so positively. We are proud to be a part of Dunfermline Athletic FC, a very proud Scottish community club that has existed since 1885 and will continue to exist in the future as it is supported by its community.

Last season it was frustrating not being able to travel to Scotland and tackle things because of Covid. So together we focused on important structural issues, such as a youth academy and a training centre. From my point of view, it is very elementary in a community club like DAFC - if only from a social point of view - to have its own youth department. The heart of every football club is also its own home. And this home usually consists of a stadium and a training centre.

How do you see your tasks on the board?

I try to bring in my expertise in the field of football. Currently, the club does not have a sports director. Basically, the tasks in the club should be distributed with the manager coaching the team and being responsible for the performance of the team. But he cannot take care of medium and long-term issues. This is where I see my task.

What kind of football do we want to play, what principles should be taught in the youth sector and in the professional team. Accordingly, profiles can then be worked out as to which type of player we want to sign. It is also important to organise and manage the individual departments around a team.

I`m referring to departments such as scouting/recruitment, video analysis, medicine, athletics and rehab. These departments have the task of making every player better every day in order to achieve the goals of the club.

That`s a good keyword. You talk about goals. What goals did you define together before the season?

Basically, as an athlete, you always have the goal of winning every game. But when we talk about the goals of a season, from my point of view it`s about the development of the team and the players, but of course games also have to be won in order to stand in the table according to the quality of the team.

I think that overall we have a squad that should have the goal of finishing in the top 4. However, as we all know, the Scottish Championship is a very tough evenly matched league. Anyone can beat anyone and you have to be careful not to get into a negative spiral. Unfortunately, that`s where we are at the moment.

You mention it, how do you see the team`s performance?

We started the cup season well and played very good football. But Peter and I were already concerned at that point that we had conceded too many easy goals. That then continued with the start of the second league and we didn`t get out of the starting blocks.

What is the reason for that from your point of view?

I exchange ideas with Peter and Ross every week either in person or on the phone. We work together in a very trusting and open way, and it`s part of that to speak the truth.

In every game, a brutal individual mistake steers us in the wrong direction. That leads to a loss of self-confidence and belief in ourselves. In addition, we probably defend too carelessly and lose the ball in spaces where it is often deadly. But there are always opportunities to get back into the game. Unfortunately, we have not used our chances to score. Currently, we have only scored three goals, although we have 3-4 very good scoring chances in every game. That`s not enough.

The basis, the foundation of success in football is the defensive work, the salt in the soup is the offensive. Maybe it didn`t help us that we played well and successfully in the League Cup. You quickly think it`s going to work by itself and then you`re no longer at 100 per cent performance. But to win games, you always have to reach your performance limits.

Have you already had such experiences?

Over my career I have of course also experienced bad periods, but what I have learned from that is that to go on to win you must always look forward and build confidence.

How do you think you can get back on track?

The first thing is to avoid individual mistakes clearly, but players are human beings though. Each individual must focus on his task and not switch off for a second. From the kick-off to the final whistle. If I do my defensive job, I help the team. Every single person has to do their part for success, which is not to concede a goal.

As a tight, compact block, it is difficult for any opponent to score a goal. Most of the time, the opponent`s counter-attacks cause problems for many teams. Therefore, don`t lose the ball in dangerous spaces and don`t allow the opponent to counterattack.

Defending standard situations has also caused us problems in some games, but it is a question of will and concentration not to let the opponent get the ball. When that happens the self-confidence increases, which then helps again in the offensive game.

Peter knows he is responsible for the team performance, but how is he supposed to change things in the last couple of weeks when he is sometimes on the training pitch with only 6 players. How is he supposed to practice defensive behaviour with the team?

In the last two weeks I was shocked that a game had to be forfeited because of too few players. We had 5 players self -isolating due to Covid, 6 injured players and 2 players were away with their national teams. I am proud to have national players in the DAFC team, but in this particular situation it did not help us.

The covid cases, the national players and injured players could not train again until Friday last week. The basis of success in football is training - if players cannot train, for whatever reason, it would be difficult even for Klopp, Tuchel or Flick.

How do you see the role of the fans?

I can understand everyone who is dissatisfied and articulates their dissatisfaction. They give time and money to watch games. They love this club and some of them have tattoos on their bodies that are meant to last forever.

No player loses on purpose. I think we have a very young and motivated team. Support from the fans helps the team more than negative sentiment. I can only ask every fan to support our players, but I also have to accept when they don`t do it. The team must focus on itself. They have to tolerate that they can only help themselves on the pitch by everyone fighting for everyone else. That brings me back to the theme, do your job for the team!

That`s a nice closing, Thomas! Thank you for taking the time to answer the questions.