Manager on Thursday
Thursday, 3rd Feb 202203/02/22: JH - “I am seeing a good spirit but winning does that. Winning brings a spirit and a confidence so long may it continue.
The Pars face Ayr United on Saturday and it will be the first time that manager John Hughes will come against the Honest Men’s new manager. He is looking forward to the encounter and is respectful of the opposition:-
“Although we beat them the last time, they beat us the first time down at Ayr. Lee Bullen played for me at Falkirk for a number of years, I have phoned him, text him and wished him all the best.
“He is very astute and in his first time in management I think he will have success. It is not as though he is a fish out of water to it, he has experience from down at Sheffield Wednesday and I have noticed that he has brought in a few players.
“We looked at them on Tuesday night against Partick, we will prepare for the game and hopefully we can go down there on Saturday and do it.
“We are starting to put a lot of things right but we have only won two away league games over the last year and a half. With that one down at Queen of the South you can see it going in the right direction. But don’t sit back and rest on our laurels, let’s keep driving it forward. We enjoyed the weekend, now we are looking forward to Ayr United. Let’s start getting mentally tuned in and ready to go.”
Graham Dorrans returned to the starting eleven team for the first time this calendar year and in a number 10 role that the manager felt took the opposition by surprise:-
“Some were waxing lyrical about some of his skills, I hope he does the same again this Saturday. When I first came to this club I noted the quality and the technique of Graham Dorrans. All we need to do is to keep him fit.
“He has had covid a couple of times and picked up one or two injuries but when he is in that number ten position he has got a goal in him. We were giving him stick that he should have had a double maybe even a hattrick, he has acknowledged that. When he is playing in there if he is not scoring goals he is slotting passes and it is up to the other team to get to him.
“Having said that he can still play in that sitting midfield role. Maybe when we play away from home we might look to play him there. It is good that we have all these irons in the fire and at our disposal. When Graham Dorrans is in the team playing like he did on Saturday then we are a better team.”
Joe Chalmers, signed from Ayr United last week made his debut at Palmerston Park on Saturday and his new gaffer felt that the 28 year old midfielder had a fantastic debut:-
“He is one that I have had on my radar for a number of years. I have just seemed to have missed him. We have been at the same clubs - Ross County and Inverness - and we just seem to miss each other. We were looking for that natural leftie and he gives us physicality as well. He is at an age where his best years are still in front of him and I think Joe has a massive part to play at this club over the next couple of years.
“He trains well, he is a really fit boy and gets on with it. He encourages his teammates and as I said, he has that habit of passing to his own teammates. It sounds easy me saying that but trust me it is difficult. Joe does it with a real touch of class. The way he passes it, the roll of the ball, side on the pass and the speed on the pass. He will be a massive asset for us going
“I felt a lot of them played well and I think they are looking over their shoulders saying ‘what’s going on?’ As long as there is healthy competition for places, we want that.
“I am seeing a good spirit but winning does that. Winning brings a spirit and a confidence so long may it continue. We have been in the game long enough to know that football has the habit of kicking you up the backside. It is right back down to work and looking to keep this unbeaten run going down at Ayr United on Saturday.”
Watch manager’s interview with Jordan Burt for ParsTV
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