Macca's last interview

15/03/12; JM - "There is no doubt it has been a steep learning curve this year but hopefully it will make me stronger.

Thrown in at the deep end with Dunfermline second bottom of the First Division in December 2007, Jim McIntyre made an immediate impact. In the most difficult division in Scottish football it took him three seasons to reach the top but he did win promotion in style in 2011.

The SPL proved to be a tough test for the 39 year old manager. Speaking only a day before his departure was confirmed Jim McIntyre said:-

"There is no doubt it has been a steep learning curve this year but hopefully it will make me stronger. I have no doubt that you learn more in adversity than you do when things are ticking along nicely.

"What we have noticed is how ruthless this league is. If you don't defend well you get into bother and likewise when you get your chance you need to put them away. That has been the nature of it.

"Without a shadow of a doubt it is coming to the business end of the season where you are running out of games, so you do need to make sure that you are picking up points. There is no doubt in my mind that these players are capable, it is about doing the right things and doing them well on the day. The squad is looking a bit healthier for the home game against St Mirren and it is a game that we are more than capable of winning."

Macca told the Meet the Manager night last month that the players are prepared each game to go out with belief that they can win the match:-

"The league has definitely been hard, it is a step up and a First Division side can do well in the Cup but it is week in week out that is the difference when you come up. You soon realise that the players are that wee bit quicker, that wee bit sharper in the memory box and invariably they punish you when they get a chance.

"If you look at some of the games we should have won in the SPL, it shows that the players that we have chosen for the squad this season can compete. We might have had failings in putting the ball away or not defending well at times but there's lots of games we have been in it. We have not been dominated game on game, there have been umpteen opportunities to win matches and it is our own failing that we have not done that."