Jefferies buoyed by bidder news

06/07/13: JJ- "We want to get back to where we have been, it might take a couple of seasons but as long as the Club is progressing ...

After Pars United were named the preferred bidder for the Club and stadium on Friday afternoon, Craig McWhirter went down to Pitreavie to discuss the implications with Jim Jefferies. Speaking exclusively to the website the Manager said:-

"He confirmed that he had received a phone call from BDO to relay that the bank had confirmed Pars United as the preferred bidder. They were all delighted since it had been a long hard process. We had never really been involved, we had just been kept aware of the situation but this was good news.

"Craig informed us that there are a few formalities to conclude since they need to sit down with BDO to show their make up. There is footballing debt that will have to be taken care of but then we can now all sit down and plan the future. That looks like it is going to happen and that has cleared a lot of uncertainty.

"You have to give a lot of credit to those who have allegedly lost money in the past but are still battling away in the background to try and make it happen. The players are mightily relieved even though they have come in and shown a great attitude all through the thing.

"I have just kept them posted and we were always confident that it would be sorted out. This is a club with too great a passion for a lot of people to be let go. It is that sort of passion that has brought the club through but you have to back that passion with hard cash.

"It will be tough in the first couple of years, there is no doubt about that because they are starting from scratch and having to build up. We are where we are, it has not been easy and there is no short fix.

"We want to get back to where we have been, it might take a couple of seasons but as long as the Club is progressing over that period then every effort will be made.

"The initial part is making sure that we are in contention for the league come January. There is a transfer embargo on us and it doesn't matter who takes over we are where we are with the players that we have got. We could get a couple of on loan signings but again they are young boys who still have to learn.

"When it comes to experience we hope to be in a good position both financially and by league position to have a push in the second part of the season when we can maybe strengthen the side. That has always been the plan and they have given assurances to make that happen."

Jefferies looks forward to sitting down with the new owners to discuss the way forward and players to sign up. Some existing players might even be offered extensions to their contracts.

"We understand that the bidder has not got massive amounts of money. They used that to try and get control of the Club. Now we have to help in every way we can. We are realistic in what can be done and we understand how difficult it is going to be.

"The good thing about it is that they are budgeting for things that they know. That is always better and there will be things that will happen that they don't know that will make it a little bit easier."

It has been a tough task and one that Jim Jefferies himself has been caught up in.

"I had planned to see my contract out to the end of the season but the response from everybody and the way that the players have conducted themselves has given me the buzz to continue to do it.

"I understand things are tough but it is nothing to do with me in personal terms, I just go with what is seen to be the right thing for the Second Division. That is not the issue, the issue is about how we are going to operate and make sure that things that happened last season do not happen again. They have given me assurances that the players will not suffer what they have suffered ever again.

"They have a chance to work and get support behind everything rather than wondering about their next salary and struggling to get into training etc. these are the kind of things that sicken players and staff. Is it worth it they'd say. But through the hard work of supporters and the response from the players it is very difficult to let that go."

Jim Jefferies is included in those whose contracts will need to be visited by the new owners

"I have just been on the payroll ticking them over until it has all been sorted out, well when I was getting paid! There was a couple of months when I wasn't paid and then in the month the administrators took over we couldn't get paid."

Jefferies, like the players, took a serious cut in salary to keep the Club alive but he was relieved to keep his job when even his assistant Gerry McCabe lost his.

"I thought I might have been the one. They asked me to stay but I had to take a cut. It is usually the manager who goes but certain people within had seen how my experience was helping them through this period.

"I was like everybody else although the players that stayed weren't on huge money anyway and it would have been hard for them to take even more cuts when they weren't getting paid anyway."

The famous Jambo has now shown such devotion to Dunfermline Athletic that he is fast approaching legendary status. Jefferies recalled a recent conversation:-

"Jim Leishman said to me the other day, 'it's funny how you have taken to the Club.' He was making the point that it was his club over the years but now I realise just what a great club it is. I have often gone on record saying that this is a club that I have thoroughly enjoyed working at.

"I didn't know that I would when I first signed up but now I have found the people have been terrific. I'll not say that I will keep on doing it for ever but this a period where those at the Club have shown that they are desperate for me to stay. That is always reassuring and satisfying."

PICTURES FROM TRAINING FRIDAY 05/07/13