Manager on Thursday

John Potter's birthday on Monday was one of the most hectic of his 35 years

The new Dunfermline Athletic manager explained that it was not until he sat down on Wednesday night that it all finally started to sink in. He told the media at his Thursday press call that it had been great:-

"I’ve loved the first wee bit of it and it might be a wee bit nerve-wracking on Saturday but I’m looking forward to it. Over the last couple of days it’s probably been other stuff away from the football that’s been different – taking phone calls from newspapers, the board, agents, that sort of thing. So the football side has been great. We’ve really enjoyed it and the boys have worked hard – it’s just the off-field stuff that’s new and will take a wee while to get used to. 

"This was the plan, it’s been discussed by myself, Jim, Neil and the board in the past, and this was hopefully the plan that was going to happen. I had the opportunity a couple of years ago to go to different clubs as youth team manager or Under 20s manager and the manager at the time told me if I wanted to be a first team manager then it’s best to stay here because you’ve got a good opportunity of doing it.

"I wanted to stay here. This is my club, this is where I was brought up, this is the club my family support and the club I came to watch when I was younger, so for me it’s a great achievement and I’m really proud to be manager of the club. Hopefully we can go and do well and be a success.

"It’s just a case of learning on the job. Jim told me there’s another side to it that I didn’t really believe, but I’m finding out quite quickly! I just have to deal with that though – I don’t have a problem speaking to people and for me honesty in the best policy. I’ll be as honest as I can with everyone I speak to and that’s the way I’m going to go about it.

"In football terms I’ve got a fair idea of what I want to do, where I want to go and being out on the training pitch is the bit I really enjoy. It will be a wee bit of a learning curve for me, but hopefully I can learn that quickly."

 There has been a learning curve too for the players who overnight have had to change from calling him Potts to gaffer. John claimed that had cost a few fines already, but the boys were getting there:-

"Seriously though, the players have been great and I had a wee chat with them on Wednesday morning about what’s happened, where I am, what I am wanting from them, what my ideas are. It’ll be different, although I worked with Jim, I was basically the Under 20s manager so I’ve got different opinions on things – on players, on training, days off, how we train, where we train.

"That will be put into place in the next few weeks and already a few things have changed. The players have been great, they’ve been quite receptive and they’ve enjoyed it, but at the end of the day it’s about getting results on Saturdays and hopefully we can do that.

 "Results have been disappointing to be honest. Before the last two games they had picked up a wee bit, but the last two had been really disappointing.The Stranraer came and it was a big game and we didn’t perform, I’m not going to say anything else, they deserved to win because they were better on the night. Against Airdrie it was the same, we didn’t play well and they did. They took their chances but we didn't.

"I know the games have been disappointing for the fans and we feel for them because we know they want to see us win on the pitch, but for the players and coaching staff it’s probably more disappointing. They have been really hurting at what’s happened and it’s up to us to go and change it."

The first match of the Potter era this Saturday is once more against Stranraer:-

"It’s not an easy baptism but for me I wouldn’t want it any other way. It’s a home game against the in form team in our division. Stranraer are doing really well, they have not been defeated in a while so it will be a really difficult game. They’ll come here and want to do what they did to us in the Scottish Cup last week but it’s up to us to stand up and show what we’re all about. We’ve almost got a fully fit squad, training has been great the last couple of days and we’ve got an idea of a team in our head. It’s now up to us to put that into practice.

"It’s a great game for us. We’ve got to start the game right and give the fans something to cheer about. The players will get their backing but they know the recent form has not been good enough and they’ve sensed the fans’ frustration at times, but I told them that we are the only ones who can change it. If we go out there and give it 100%, give everything we’ve got and start scoring some goals, we’ll get the fans on our side quite quickly.

"Only we can do it, there is no point in being nervous, we’ve got to be confident that we can go and do well. We believe that we’ve got a good team; a good squad of players there are just wee things that I think need to change. If we do that I am quite confident that we’ll do well."

Lewis Martin trained on Thursday and was fine. Ryan Wallace was on the training ground too after getting 70 minutes in the SPFL Development League on Tuesday. John Potter said that he was pleasantly surprised with his striker's fitness after his four months out.:-

"We’ve got those two back, we’ve got Jonathan Page back from his loan deal, so Ryan Williamson’s the only one who’s not fit at the moment. Ryan Wallace is not fully match fit to play 90 minutes but apart from that we’ve got a full squad to choose from and it’s up to us to pick the right team."

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