Manager on Day One

04/07/12: Two trialists and two volunteers but no Gary Mason as training gets underway.

DAY ONE PICTURES
Jim Jefferies welcomed his squad back for pre season training on Wednesday. He was assisted by some interested volunteers in the shape of Billy Brown and Neil McCann.

"Billy has left Hibs and as I said to the players his wife gave me a phone call asking me to get him out of the house. He has offered his help for pre season and Neil was in a couple of times last season and always wants to get involved with us. He will maybe be more involved with us this year.

"We have a good back up squad through people giving up their time to come in and help. You need a variety in pre season so the more you have the easier it is. We do not have a big squad but its good to get people like Neil McCann in amongst them. He has not long given up the game so they can relate to that.

"We are starting up with Beep Tests to record their fitness levels so that we can go on from there. You usually find that most club's first days are just breaking them in but it will be stepped up each day. We will be out and about in different locations.

"It is not what it was years ago when there were ten weeks off, it is now a very short break. We have a game a week on Saturday although that will be played as a training routine with probably two different sides in each half. It is another step up in their fitness. I won't be looking too much in the way they play, more at fitness levels.

"The Hearts game and the Bristol City games will be good tests and we will need to be fit for those games. The other games will just be an opportunity to give everyone a feel of the ball."

The Manager's plans are still in limbo given the uncertainty surrounding the identity of SPL Club 12.

"I said to the players this morning that we have a situation where we were preparing to go down a different path. We sent that message out to supporters and they have been great and bought into that. Season ticket sales have been absolutely fantastic and they are looking forward to watching the younger element.

"It will be tougher but we could not go down with an experienced squad and still be favourites to come straight back up. There are other teams in the league that will be more established because we have a lot of new and young players that we are going to try to put the emphasis on. We still need the experience as well , even more if we go into the Premier League but that is the uncertainty at the moment.

"I have had to put on hold everything I do with the experience side coming in. Some of these boys that I wanted to keep this year, the likes of Andy Dowie and Liam Buchanan, they have come in but their situation has not been sorted out. There is no point in sorting it out now, we might be in the Premier League and it would be a different ball game for them. They have been good to come in and I appreciate their patience."

One disappointment for Jim Jefferies and Pars fans is Gary Mason's decision not to return to the Pars:-

"He has chosen a different lifestyle, him and his wife have considered their future and so he has taken a job outside football. That's disappointing because I felt that he was a good pro who could handle the First Division no problem. He would have been a good influence around about the younger players.

"But Kevin Kyle has been training with us this morning, he will take it gradually, we will not push him and it will be up to him what he does. He is on a rehabilitation course with his hip injury. He will know when to stop but even a half fit Kevin Kyle in the First Division would frighten the life out of the opposition."

Another trialist with Dunfermline on day one was Stephen Husband. A product of the Cowdenbeath and then Hearts youth system, the 21 year old midfielder was released by Blackpool and has received offers in England. Jim Jefferies is impressed with what he has seen of him, despite wearing a cast on his arm from an injury picked up in a charity match.