Phone a Friend

20/03/13: Jim Jefferies invites all Dunfermline Athletic supporters to "bring a pal" to the big occasion.

Jim Jefferies is still praising Pars fans after a great turnout of support at Raith Rovers last Saturday. 1951 fans made the trip to Starks Park and he was in no doubt that this helped his team. He is now urging as many as possible to attend Saturday's home game against Dumbarton:-

"We would benefit even more if they come, plus bring a pal along as well.  It is at home that we need them to come along to our ground for us to benefit."

Referring to the total being 49 short of the point where Raith Rovers had promised to return takings to Dunfermline:-

"It was a great gesture by Raith but they cannot determine who was going to come or not, they can only make the gesture. On Saturday we get every penny and it would make a better atmosphere. Atmospheres like last Saturday's lifts players and you get a better game, so it's a double barrel for us on Saturday.  Not just from the financial side, but creating an atmosphere to get the players going and everybody pulling in the same direction. That's the aim of the cause now to make sure this club survives.

"It was a fabulous atmosphere, you could hear the noise even in the dressing room. Ok it was a derby and it wasn't the best of days, with the pitch etc, but both teams made a great fist of it and the supporters were delighted with the effort that the players put in.  To be fair, the fans have appreciated what the players have gone through ever since this started and they have done their best to get behind them.

"I made the point to the boys at half time a couple of weeks ago at the Partick Thistle game that if they are going to fight for the cause then you have to do your bit on the pitch. They have been great the last couple of weeks, they have put everything behind them and took that on board.

On Saturday, for most of the second half Raith couldn't get out out of their box. I thought we looked like more of the team that we were earlier in the season. If you look at the balance of the side there were boys back that were missing the week before, like Geggs and McMillan.  They make a big difference to the side, and that is no disrespect to the younger players who have come in to do a job and you are asking them at a tough moment to do that.  They will have gained from the experience.

"We have Josh and Andy Barrowman back in training so fingers crossed if they come through the training this week they could be in contention for the weekend. It's like we are getting everyone back.  Chris Kane took a knock on his ankle in Monday night's Under 20s game.  He wanted a game because he may turn out in the semi final on Sunday.  Chris, Alex Whittle and Shaun Byrne are all available to do that.  With these boys coming back, it maybe frees us up to do John (Potter) a wee favour in the semi final."

The Manager and players were boosted by the positive signs emanating from the Steering Group last Saturday. The squad were having their pre match routine at the ground when they were updated and that gave everybody a lift.

"There is a long way before anything is agreed or settled yet but while there are talks going on and time available and people working behind the scenes to make it happen, so fingers crossed.

"We know all about Dunfermline's tradition over the years, the history of the Club.They are like a lot of clubs, I'm sure there are a lot of sleeping ones that they are hoping to entice back and maybe this time they will start to come back. Gavin (Masterton) has made it known that he is going to move on and its going to be a fresh start, until that actually happens then I think whoever comes in will get the benefit.

"If it goes into the right hands, then I have a better task of sitting down with players. Right now everything is up in the air, you don't know what is going to happen- will players stay?  Who could blame them.  Somebody else might come along and say 'well at least we will pay you'.

"If the Club was to get itself sorted out then my job would be to convince them to stay and kick start what we set out to do.That has all been on hold for obvious reasons. It would kick start our way of going forward and to improve things with the players that we have got and who knows we might be able bring players in. If one or two do move on, then we could have good replacements coming in."

What goes on behind the scenes concerns everybody at the Club but the Manager claims that there is nothing the players can do about that:-

"All they can do is get on the pitch and concentrate on the football side of things and we have to leave that in capable hands.They informed us on Tuesday morning that time is short and that is the difficulty for Jim and the Steering Group and anyone that is negotiating because these things cannot be done overnight.

"I am sure they are trying to buy us a bit of time, but I am sure we have probably bought a lot of time in the past. At the end of the day you can only tell them (HMRC) so often, it's a bit like the boys were with the wages. These boys are working to a very tight schedule and let's keep our fingers crossed. Everyone is putting in a lot of effort, I'm sure they have meetings but they have their own business's and concerns to look after and they are giving a lot of effort to help this Club see it through. Hopefully they are successful."

As far as Jim Jefferies is concerned he would really like to see a packed East End Park for Saturday's First Division match against Dumbarton:-

"The fans have turned out when the Club has been going for promotions against their rivals, 8,000, 11,000 but this is far more important than that. I know that you can always argue that if something happens you can restart again, but there is a big process to go through before that would ever be accepted.

"I think it would be a bigger occasion to turn out to help the Club than it would be going for promotion.The fans that used to turn out for the promotion games, get themselves along on Saturday and try and save the Club because you need the Club to ever be in that position again to compete for promotion.  Without the Club you will never have those games."

The Gallery Bar will be open to all fans at this match, open from 1.00pm.

A bucket collection is being organised by the Steering Group to take place at both the Dumbarton match on Saturday and at next Wednesday night's home game against Falkirk. Anyone willing to assist is asked to email jason@dafc.net