Meet the Manager Evening

GMcC:- "We have been caught short before because of injuries and suspensions. The team with the strongest squad will certainly have the biggest say in this league."

PICTURES FROM CRAIG BROWN
The Meet the Manager night was held in the Kingdom Suite on Thursday 10th February. Approximately 60 fans came along to hear Jim McIntyre, Gerry McCabe and players Joe Cardle and Pat Clarke answer questions from the floor.

Jim McIntyre started off with the wretched Scottish Cup exit at Aberdeen:-

"We were devastated by the way the game ended. We felt our game plan worked really well. If there is any wee criticism than the few chances that we did have, we didn't work the goalkeepers especially Kirkie's one early doors and Nicky's just before they went up the park (and scored). But that is me really nitpicking. I thought the boys were excellent; they played really well.

"Aberdeen changed it a little bit in the second half to put us under more pressure. We were trying to get them up the park but it didn't quite work out. We still didn't make the danger. The defence with Burke and Mason in front of the back four did an exceptional job which allowed the four in from of them to interchange and attack - I think that worked really well."

Something to take out of the game at Pittodrie was that this Dunfermline team could hold its own against SPL opposition but the Manager was keen to point out that first of all they have to get there!

"This is a tough tough league to get out of . Over the three seasons that I have been the Manager, anytime that we have come up against Premierleague opposition we have given a good account of ourselves. Albeit the 7-2 at Ibrox was a sore one. We should have scored four on that night as well - going forward we were good but committed the cardinal sin of giving cheap goals away. In terms of Premierleague sides that we have faced here and away from home, I think we have done quite well."

Joe Cardle expressed his view that feeling that Dunfermline have a good chance of promotion.

"We have had a good season so far and towards the end of the season we just have to push on and hopefully get there for next season,"

Pat Clarke stressed the importance of staying together as a team and battle through.

"I don't think that there is much difference between many of the teams in the league but we are in a strong position. There are not many points between us and Raith Rovers; we just need to stay focussed on what we want to achieve and hopefully it will happen in the end."

Gerry McCabe felt that the squad of players now at Dunfermline are capable of success:-

"The style of play that we play sometimes leaves ourselves open and teams like to counterattack us. But with the players we have got, the Manager and myself feel that's the way we want to play football. If you look at January - we have come through a sticky spell, we know that - but we are five points behind with a game in hand. There's still a lot of football to be played but we have great belief in this squad of players. We will be very disappointed if we don't go on and win the league this season.

"We have players returning from injury, the Manager has been adding to the squad and we know that you need a big squad in this league. We have been caught short before because of injuries and suspensions. The team with the strongest squad will certainly have the biggest say in this league."

Asked about below par performances against teams that were not necessarily the ones at the top of the league Jim McIntyre stressed that the game was more about what his team did:-

"When we are in ascendancy and attacking we have got to score when you get the chances. I feel that often we haven't taken our chances and teams are always going to have wee spells in the game where they will come at you.

"Gerry has just touched on the way we like to play where sometimes our full backs are pushed on and teams do counterattack but it is something that we have got to handle. If you go back to the very first Raith Rovers game; there were two mistakes - Nicky wasn't in the position where he should be - stuff you had worked on in training. Players do that, I have done it myself as a player. Individual mistakes you cannot coach. You can take them, show them on the video, tell them listen 'this is where you should have been' and I have spoken to you before about it but it happens.

"We want our centre backs to pass the ball" continued the Manager who wanted to comment on fans thinking that his team tried to play football against
Partick Thistle recently on a pitch ill designed for the purpose:-

"My game plan was get them turned. Don't bother trying to play football on this park because it is not conducive to playing the type of football we want. They were told to get in behind Thistle. Down the sides of the pitch and in behind their full backs because of the difficult conditions. We just didn't play well on the day. If you have four or five players who don't 'turn up' you are not going to win a football match. That is just the way it is.

"People can say that the players weren't playing hard enough but that is a load of rubbish. Players don't play well, players have off days and when four or five of them do then you are going to struggle."

The Manager agreed that his team had gone through a sticky period since the turn of the year but acknowledged that now is the time to hit the ground running. The recently revised fixture schedule he feels is a great opportunity for them to go and put a winning run together:-

"This is the time in the season where you need to grasp it. The boys know that but they will not go and win every game - it is such a difficult league. I really mean that and that is not me trying to be negative at all, it is factual and that's just the way this league is. Look how long it took St Johnstone out of this league. The last relegated team to bounce straight back up before Inverness Caley Thistle was Hibernian under Alex McLeish.

"We have definitely got the squad this year and we expect to be there right to the death to win this league. That is our aim, our goal and we believe that we are good enough.

"A lot of it will come down to the head to heads against the other two teams who are pushing just now but don't discount Queen of the South if they were to go and win their four games in hand. That is possible when you see the run that Partick Thistle have had. When have Partick Thistle been beaten? They have been beaten by the form team in the league. Thistle started the season badly but they are still a good side. There was nothing between the teams in the 0-0 draw here."

Jim McIntyre explained that things had been totally restructured in terms of the finances since he took over. Nevertheless there has been progress year on year and he feels that he has now built a side that the supporters want to see and to produce results.

"Consistency has let us down in the last couple of years but now we have started the season really well, we have had our sticky period, we are five points off top with a game in hand. I think anyone in this room would have taken that in February at the start of the season. We have been first or second place all season - now that is progress."

Pat Clarke compared the First Division to the SPL and remarked how little time First Division teams give you on the ball:-

"It has been the same for years now and we need to adapt to that. We get the ball down and pass it. We need to keep doing that and believe in the way we play - passing and moving the ball. The way we train, the Manager and Cabie expect us to play that way. It is difficult to keep doing that when teams make it difficult for you. When so called smaller teams sit in and defend against us, it is an easy option to just launch it and go long but as players we don't want to do that. We try and play in the best way that we have been taught."

Asked about his goalkeepers, the Manager replied:-

"Young Paterson made his debut but then got a really bad leg break. It is great to see him back because we think he is a keeper who has a bright future in the game. He has already been through a horrendous back operation as well. One thing you know about Greg Paterson is that he has character in abundance to come both of those situations. He had a few set backs with his leg break when he had to go back in a have a small operation on it because it wasn't quite healing. He has had to deal with all that. We expected him back in September. He is not long back now; he has played a couple of bounce games and as in any long term injury you start to pick up wee niggles here and there when you are coming back.

"Young Kyle (Allison) has had to be patient and wait. He did really well at Aberdeen in his first start in a big game with high pressure and television. It is not easy for the kid to come into that.

"Smith is my number one, I rate him as our number one goalkeeper at this moment in time."

The Youth Initiative is important to the Manager who said that there had to be a pathway to the first team:-

"Especially in these times while the money in football is declining. If you can have a successful youth policy like Hamilton have - they have done very well. Dundee United have a good set up but we have a good set up here. We have gone full time again with the 19s and what we have been doing in these arranged games against Hearts yesterday and against the Old Firm a couple of times and we are back to Lennoxtown next week, they are mixing in with the boys who haven't been playing first team. That's invaluable.

"No disrespect to the reserve league that we were in previous seasons but for these boys to go to these places with state of the art training facilities and play against the likes of Rangers, Celtic, Hearts, Hibs Reserves it is far more beneficial for them. They are also getting to play with and against first team players so they learn far quicker. Hopefully that will benefit the first team in the long term."

In a climate where managers are under pressure to get results is there a place for a youth policy is the much posed question.

"Managers have always got to look to put structures in place for the future, whether it is for you or whether it is for somebody else. At the end of the day, no manager is bigger than the club. The club has got to keep going regardless."

Away form was raised but Jim McIntyre dissected that by saying that we need to look at how those away games were lost:-

"Was it the system or was it individual mistakes. There have been a few games where we have been rubbish and we have deserved nothing. There was a key moment at Morton where Davie Graham was through on the goalie and it was a sending off and a penalty. It wasn't given, we lose Steven Bell and then after that we were the poorer team and we deserved to get beat.

"At Partick Thistle it was our poorest performance of the season and we deserved to get beat. Sometimes you have just got to put your hand up and say 'we never played well today'.

"We went to Raith Rovers and a few people slaughtered me for playing 4-5-1. Now the two wide men were told to stay up the park and play 4-3-3 to keep on Raith Rovers full backs so that we could try and isolate the two wide men with one on one situation. Sometimes it doesn't happen like that. We controlled the game for sixty minutes; we never really looked like scoring ourselves but we were never in any danger. They get a couple of mistakes and game over. At the goals Woodsie got twisted up and Nicky as I mentioned earlier.

"So I like to look at games individually and say right, lets look at ourselves first and foremost - did we have the wrong tactics there? First thing when we look back at the video is could we have done things better. In a lot of the games for me, the tactics have been fine. We have just conceded at key moments. I think now with the way the weather is and pitches, we will definitely look to mix it up more. Just basically because of that."

Gerry McCabe recounted how a two goal lead had been surrendered at Dens Park:-

"Dundee are a good side but when we look back on the video and look at the mistakes. Two horrendous mistakes, Chris Higgins just falls at the last minute and the boy Griffiths capitalises when Davie Graham loses the ball in the corner. How can you legislate for that?"