Graham just the ticket

"We have to make East End Park a horrible place to come to and start picking up points at home.

David Graham has made 15 appearances for the Pars since joining from Hamilton Accies at the end of January. In an exclusive interview with the website, the 26 year old from Stirling said that it had been an enjoyable 4 ? months.

"We are all disappointed with our home form; we have the best away record and if we could have got a few more results at home might have challenged for the title more than we did."

It was hoped that David arrival at East End Park would be a lucky omen since he had been promoed from the First Division in successive seasons at Gretna and Hamilton.  Alas it wasn't to be three in a row:-

"I am disappointed that my record has come to an end, I supposed it had to at some point.  When I came here I felt that we had a right good chance but we were really inconsistent.  That is something that we need to address for next year.

"East End Park needs to be a fortress;  opponents need to be afraid to come here and not want to come here.  Whereas there was a stage where they were happy to come here to play us.  That is not usually the case and that is something we need t put right next season.

"We need to make it hard for teams here and put emphasis on us attacking them rather than us sitting in a little and soaking up.  We have to make it a horrible place to come to and start picking up points at home."

There were times last season that opposing managers were using the Pars poor home form to lift their teams expectations in a ground where they could lift their own game:-

"It is a great stadium, the best in the league - it is a Premier league stadium with a good pitch. Opponents enjoy coming here.  We need to make them not want to come back"

Results apart David has also enjoyed his new home stadium.

"This is where you want to play when you are younger.  I have played at some bad grounds when I was at Gretna and when I played with Dunipace Juniors. To come here on a Saturday to play is great; it's just a pity that it is not full every week, that's up to us.

"We need to get back into the Premierleague to get the attendances up.   We have a good squad that is the most frustrating thing about the season just passed.

"There is a good blend of youth and experience but for some reason we just couldn't get back to back results.  I couldn't tell you why. The boys were going out giving their everything week in week out, it just wasn't working."

David feels that young managers like Jim McIntyre need to be given their chance:-

"I have been happy to work with the gaffer since I arrived.  He has been good to me, he has brought me here to play.

"Fergie has now won 11 titles, imagine if Manchester United had booted him out the door when he never won anything in his first couple of years. Look what they would have missed out on. You cannot be too rash nowadays.  You have to give people a chance, I think the gaffer deserves his chance.

"We finished third which is the highest that we would have done in the end.  He has done well to finish third in the First Division which is the most difficult league in Scotland to get out of.  It is disappointing that we never went up but it is still an achievement for a manager in his first full season."

David reflected on the gap between First Division football and the SPL where he started last season:-

"There is not really much difference.  Player-wise there was possibly more youths at Hamilton whereas here there is a bit more experience. Obviously ethics are the same, we still want to get the ball down, play and attack teams.

"Hamilton put a lot of money into their youth system, it paid off for them but is not going to pay off at every club, just look at Rangers and Celtic.  You just need to do what works, it worked for Hamilton and hopefully we can find a formula here that works for Dunfermline."

Even though David has left the Lanarkshire club he was delighted that they had secured their SPL status before the final fixture of the season:-

"I'd like to think that I played my part in keeping Hamilton in the Premierleague but now my main focus is on trying to help Dunfermline get back there."

Macca has been encouraging David to try and find the net more often:-

"I don't score too many.  Every manager has had a go at me for that.I know that I don't score enough goals for being an attacking player.  I have had my fair share of assists which sometimes goes amiss as well.  I want to score as much as anybody and I will be trying my hardest to get a few more next year.

"When you play up front you have to chip in with your fair share of goals. It is not up to Kirkie and Baynee all the time."

Although he grabbed two goals for Dunfermline, against Livingston and Clyde both from well outside the penalty box, shot shy is something that David cannot be accused of:-

"If you don't buy a ticket you will not win the lottery. I would like to get as much luck as Nick Phinn.  Everything seems to drop for him in the box.He gets deflections and breaks off the keeper.  It is the sign of a good player to be in the right place at the right time, hopefully I can get a slick of his luck next year and get a few more goals for myself."