Stephen Kenny on Monday

"I am absolutely disgusted with the Clyde performance; livid because we all work extremely hard. I am not going to tolerate that kind of performance and I will expect and demand higher standards.

Stephen Kenny spoke exclusively to the official website on Monday lunchtime. The Manager felt that the game against Clyde at the weekend was probably the worst performance of the season:-

"We were extremely poor overall and I suppose we can only apologise to our supporters for the standard of our performance. A decent number travelled on Saturday so it was disappointing.

"Clyde set up their stall in a defensive formation to stifle play. That has happened a couple of times this season but I thought we had sorted out how to play against 4-5-1. When a team gets behind the ball and defends deeply it is important not to get caught on the counterattack.

"I definitely feel the first Clyde goal was offside and when we went 4-3-3 in the second half we were better but it still wasn't enough. Playing several players out of position is not ideal. We had Darren Young and Stephen Glass playing in the back four and ended up with Stephen Simmons in central defence. That is far from ideal, nevertheless we should have enough good players to get a result."

Fans have debated long and hard why their side has started the season so poorly coming forward with all sorts of theories but Stephen Kenny called "non-sensical" any suggestion that senior players were having an influence over him and creating rifts:-

"That is a ridiculous suggestion. We only had 12 fully fit outfield players, players do not influence my decisions, I take responsibility for that.

"In our previous six games we won three beating Stirling Albion, Clyde and Airdrie, we drew three against Dundee, St Johnstone and Livingston. Against Dundee and St Johnstone the so called better teams we basically dominated. We played well at Dundee and were on top against St Johnstone. Although players were playing out of position we were playing well enough.

"I am absolutely disgusted with the Clyde performance; livid because we all work extremely hard. I am not going to tolerate that kind of performance and I will expect and demand higher standards.

"It is interesting when I came here I doubted the infrastructure given the considerable injury list. Now the medical team that we have is as good as anything in the country. Doctor Bobby Robertson is very experienced in sports medicine, we brought in Gerry Docherty the physio from Hearts. He had ten years at Millwall and is the best physio I have ever worked with and Colm O'Neil is a lecturer in Sports Science. I thought injuries would be eradicated but players started being carried off in games. Greg Shields and Scott Morrison against BK Hacken, Scott Thomson against St Johnstone, Scott Muirhead had a metatarsal injury and now Aaron Labonte has a torn cartilage. These are things that you cannot legislate for."

On the positive side the Manager expects eight players to return within the next two weeks. He is optimistic about the prospects of Greg Shields and Scott Wilson being able to return for the match against Partick Thistle on Saturday but he certainly won't rush them in too soon by pitching them in against Hearts tomorrow night. "Scott Wilson and Greg Shields will give us greater stability in defence and there is a chance of Scott Morrison returning as well."

Jim McIntyre is back in training and went through a full training session this morning. "He is most influential for us" claimed Stephen Kenny and according to him, Jim was "absolutely flying". Scott Thomson, Jamie Harris, Scott Muirhead and Kevin Harper should all be back to fitness by the time a side is required to travel to Dumfries a week on Saturday. This is a situation that the Manager meets with relief:-

"We've had to rush players like Bobby Ryan back without any period of training or games. He was very good against Dundee but got through that on adrenalin. He needs a rest but needs must and we had to play him quicker."

All these injuries is not a situation that Stephen Kenny has encountered before. At one stage before he left Derry City they completed a schedule of 11 games in 33 days without a player incurring injury but he does acknowledge that at Dunfermline there are a couple of players with recurring problems saying:- "Once we get these players back we will be stronger."

Fans searching for answers have questioned the training regime but that was dismissed by the Manager:-

"The players are in every day training. It has been curtailed because of all the midweek games - Manchester United, BK Hacken, Clyde, Airdrie - players have been playing matches non stop."

Latching on to the endless debate and search for solutions Stephen Kenny said:-

"I am very disappointed in my own mind and as Manager of Dunfermline. Personally you learn from your experience and certainly I could not have envisaged us to be in this position after seven league games. We would have expected to have been doing a helluva lot better.

"Personally I have achieved success with three sides and known the balance of spirit, morale and determination required. Have we got the balance right? Maybe not but people are hurting. Supporters and everyone connected with the club is hurting. Are the players hurting? Yes.

"Have I made mistakes since coming in as Manager? I would say I have. When you come in from the outside it takes time to analyse the character of players and find out who are really good professionals."

What can we expect now? Stephen will not write off the points deficit as opposed to Hamilton:-

"Are we to write it off? No certainly not, in my own mind I have a team target because we have had an extremely poor start I have a points target at half way after 18 games. I want a realistic target and would like a six point deficit going into the second half of the season.

"You can't look beyond Partick Thistle. From the players point of view, forget about winning the league - win matches! We need to work to achieve that."

The Manager cleared up several other matters that had been mooted but greatly surprised him. On tactics he felt that there was a consistency in the way they approach games - "we go in and try and win every game. There is absolutely no interference from anyone with regard to selection and tactics.

"I am my own man, I have always been my own man and single minded. I would not welcome that. Everyone at the club has been more than supportive and any suggestions are nonsense really. I won't be hiding behind anything like that."

Reference to putting Phil McGuire out on loan when defensive cover seemed to be limited, the Manager explained:-

"We needed a player available to leave. Budgets are a factor and I made it clear to a couple of players that they could leave but they chose not to. Phil needed to play games and Souleymane had decided to stay. Scott Thomson was available and Jamie Harris was on his way back. I couldn't have envisaged losing Greg Shields and Scott Wilson so quickly. It was just one of those situations. Phil will be available again to us in January but he needed to play games."

He concluded:-

"Priority this week is Partick Thistle. We will not be rushing players back against Hearts. Souleymane Bamba and Calum Woods are our only recognised defenders and it means we will have to play players out of position but we will go there and see what we can do."