Gerry Docherty moves west

"I hope that Dunfermline do it this year, I will be sad to miss that part of it having been with the boys for three or four years."

The hands have it for the physios

As one Gerry departs Paisley another arrives and this one is charged to have his charges alive and kicking.  Club physio Gerry Docherty is in his last week at Dunfermline and he talked over his feelings during a brief break over the treatment table.

"I have mixed feelings and there will probably be mixed emotions at the weekend. I am sad to leave but sometimes you just have to move on. I can get excited about the new job, the new people and new environment. It is something to look forward to."

Gerry leaves after nearly four years at Dunfermline. In physio's terms that's a fair term but he did do six years at Raith Rovers and nearly ten at Millwall:-

"When I came back I was finding my feet with nine months at Falkirk and five at Hearts. I stabilised here. I am very grateful to Stephen Kenny for bringing me here but without being disrespectful it wasn't a great time here; it just wasn't happy but certainly now team sprit is fantastic since Jimmy came in. He had the benefit of being involved at that time and maybe knew what it needed to lift the place.

"People on this side of things have been great; they are good to work for and great staff. Everybody has got on really well and the players - some were here when I arrived - and the new ones have been really good. Hopefully I have contributed to the spirit as well. It is as good a bunch of players as I have worked for. They are very professional, good environment, no real hassle with them, no cliques or anything like that. They respect what I am trying to do and I have no complaints at all.

"It is nice to come to your work and be happy. I have worked at other clubs when the atmosphere has not been like this. In this environment it is part and parcel to have a bit of banter - to do your job and have a bit of crack as well. That has been the case since Jimmy took over.

"I am thankful to Jimmy and Cabie for letting me do my job properly. You have to have a good working relationship - I am not here to keep anybody out of training if they don't need to be. There is 100 per cent back up from them and the rest of the staff as well."

The injuries are predominantly lower limb injuries rather that shoulders and hands. Goalkeepers get finger and neck injuries but it is a long time since I have dealt with a fracture like Greg Paterson's.

"Down at Millwall I had one similar but these don't come along too often. There are not any different injuries now than when I started here. You can have a bad run."

Gerry described Greg Paterson's fracture as one of the worst and then a setback when one of the pins that was inserted had to come out. He then had a reaction to the bone healing when that pin was removed.

"He also developed a sore and found out that the fibula, the outside bone, wasn't healing. They plated that but couldn't do that until the ulcer on his leg healed. We lost a bit of time but after the plating he was back at Christmas and has been in full training now since the turn of the year. I really hope that he goes on with continuity to develop his career. He is a great lad and he has conducted himself really well. Part of my job is man management as well; recognising what works for the player - psychologically picking him up and getting him motivated. Thankfully he made that part easy."

Gerry says that there would be nobody more pleased than him to see Dunfermline promoted to the SPL:-

"I hope Dunfermline do it this year, I will be sad to miss that part of it having been with the boys for three or four years. Hopefully this could be their year and fingers crossed that they get over the line and hopefully St Mirren stay there as well. If they were both in the SPL next year I'd really look forward to that."

The hand over to new physio Kenny Murray has been meeting the key people down at HMS Caledonia, the radiology staff at the hospital and inheriting a list of telephone numbers. The ongoing injuries have been passed on to Kenny and Gerry explained who that involved.

"Steven Bell is the main one that he is going to be working closely with but he is a footballing guy and he knows his way about. If he enjoys himself half as much as I have he will be fine."

Everyone at Dunfermline Athletic thanks Gerry for his hard work and wish him well with his new club, St Mirren.