Paul praises standards of huff and puff Pars

“They have set the bar up there and when they don’t get there, you see the fans getting on at them a little bit.

After five appearances in the five weeks since joining Dunfermline on loan from Dundee Paul McGowan has great respect for the achievements of his new team mates especially given the difficulties faced when visiting teams play at The KDM Group East End Park.

“I can understand the fans frustration but teams are coming here to sit in against us. They don’t want to open up against us but fair play because they are coming here with a game plan and it’s up to us to try and implement our game plan to try and break that down.

“Especially in the games at home, I have been quite surprised how teams have not really come at us, apart from maybe Falkirk who tried to play a little bit. The boys are top of the league by eleven points for a reason because they are a really good side.

“I don’t mean it in a disrespectful way, I have been very surprised with the quality that is in that changing room. You see the demands that the manager puts on us day in, day out and see the fans going away disappointed with a draw. That’s all credit to the boys. They have set the bar up there and when they don’t get there, you see the fans getting on at them a little bit. That’s because they have set a high standard throughout the season.”

Although he only arrived on 25th February to be re-united with his former management team, Paul can see that it can be a tremendous season for Dunfermline and warned that they just need to maintain that momentum:-

“We just need to keep going and get it over the line. We don’t want it to peter out. Even when the time comes and we can win the league, we keep going until the end of the season because I have been told that there are still a few records to be broken with clean sheets and things like that.”

Paul was speaking in the aftermath of the goalless draw with Kelty Hearts that even his manager categorised as boring. He could understand the frustrations vented from the stands but pointed out that respect for the league leaders can cause teams to arrive with severely defensive game plans. Referencing Saturday’s match Paul added:-

“I think frustration is the word, it was one of those games but on the other side, teams are coming here and showing us huge respect. They are not opening up against us and we need to find a way to get that goal just to settle the place down with that early goal.

“The longer the game goes on, it does not become desperate because I don’t think Deniz had a save to make the full game, but it was one of those games that felt like we were never getting into any trouble. We did get into great areas but it is just that final ball, we are over hitting it or under hitting it. It was one of those days to just dust yourself down, it was another clean sheet and we go again next week.”

No goals on Saturday but after coming on as a 59th minute substitute Paul came close to scoring with one of his three attempts:-

“My other two shots weren’t too close but the header I had to get a little glance on it and it just creeped past the post. That just summed up our day. All credit to the boys for keeping going. We are going to end up giving a team a doing once we get that first goal it takes the shackles off the team.

“The manager could have come in and had a go at us but he came in and said just not to be too down on yourself. We huffed and puffed on Saturday and it just never happened for us.”

Eleven points ahead of second placed Falkirk with eighteen points left to play for, the league title is imminent if you listen to the chants from some areas of the ground but Paul revealed:-

“The manager is not letting anybody talk about it. I know that we are eleven points clear but it is not done yet. Anything can happen in football. We need to keep setting these standards for ourselves. It is a young team but there’s loads of quality in there.”

Because of the experience of his 35 years and playing over 300 matches for Dundee, Paul has been signed on loan until the end of the season.

“I will do anything to help, starting or coming on or helping the team in any way because I’m a senior player in a young squad. Any experience that I can bring whether that’s on the field or off the field, I will bring that to the table. I have enjoyed it and as I say, I am very surprised at the quality in the dressing room. That’s not me being disrespectful to the boys, there is a very high standard and you can tell that’s why they are so far in front in the league. It is all due to them because they have been brilliant.”

Paul was out for four months earlier this season and admits he is still trying to get back to full fitness.

“In the game I started last week I did alright and I’m just slowly getting into it. It has been a long time, probably the longest that I’ve been out in my career. I have been doing extra for my fitness and trying to manage my minutes.”

Paul has his eye on the Falkirk game coming up next adding, “we have a great game against them next week to go again and we are all looking forward to that.

“The last game against them was great. There was nothing in it first half but in the second half I felt we blew them away. It will be a tough game on an Astro pitch. We will take a big crowd, by all accounts we took two and a half thousand. It will be a great one to go and play in. If we can get another one over them, it will be great and we can go and win it at Peterhead so it is a big incentive for us but we need to take care of Falkirk first and then worry about that.”

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