Scott Thomson last night lifted the lid on his hurt at being reduced to the role of bit-part player under Stephen Kenny and losing the Dunfermline captaincy, writes Graeme Dey.

And Thomson—at 36 the longest serving member of the Pars squad—revealed how, having been restored to active service by Jim McIntyre, he is determined to have a playing future at East End Park way beyond the expiry of his present contract next summer.

Last term should have been amongst the most memorable of Nipper’s time with the Pars.

It was his testimonial season and a match with Manchester United helped ensure he enjoyed a bumper benefit.

But that was overshadowed by his dropping out of the selection reckoning despite having recovered fully from a series of operations.

And as he opened up on the subject at Dunfermline’s Austrian training camp there was no doubting just how painful a memory he was laying bare, revealing as he did that he had feared he would be forced to leave his beloved Pars.

“I’ve been with this club 10 years and if someone had said to me I’d spend that length of time at Dunfermline when I first signed I’d have laughed at them,” he said.

“But I’ve really enjoyed myself there and am entirely settled and happy.

“I’m not sure I could have said the same thing a year or so ago, however.

“Because of the way things were shaping up I thought I might have to move on.

“I never had any arguments with Stephen Kenny.

Nor is it true we didn’t get on. Nothing could be further from the truth.

“It’s just he didn’t pick me. That was his right, of course.

“It’s part and parcel of football that a new manager comes in and perhaps doesn’t fancy you as a player. But it looked as if my time at the club was up.

“And what made the situation particularly hard to take was that I’d been assured I’d be involved.

“I was fit and felt good and after I played most of the games in pre-season he told me I was going to be playing.

“But it just never happened. He got a side he wanted and settled on a defence that I wasn’t part of.

“And without wishing to sound big headed I wasn’t used to being a sub or not being part of the team at all.”

Worse still for Thomson was being replaced as skipper by Scott Wilson because he was not featuring.

“The lowest point of all came when I lost the captaincy. I found it very strange the way that happened and felt the timing was poor.

“If he’d said at the start of the season that he was going to go with somebody else because I’d had 18 months of bad injuries and you don’t know if you’re going to be available for every game, then I could have accepted it.

“But it happened several months into the season, maybe only two or three games before he was sacked.

“He told me he needed a captain on the pitch.

“But I’d always felt that even though I was club captain we also had other guys on the park making sure everyone was mucking in and doing their job.”

Kenny’s departure and the appointment of Jim McIntyre saw Thomson return to the side and secure a new 12-month contract.

The captaincy remains in the hands of Wilson, but that is not something he takes issue with.

Thomson added, “Big Scott has kept the job and I’ve no problem with that.

“I felt privileged to be the captain of Dunfermline but I’ve had my time.

“And I appreciated the way Macca handled the whole thing.

“When he took over we had a chat about the captaincy and how he saw things for me.

“He told me he intended playing me and was true to his word.”

From the point McIntyre replaced Kenny, Thomson figured in 21 games as the Pars moved away from the play-off zone to eventually finish fifth.

In so doing he removed any doubts over whether he was capable of still contributing after a couple of seasons wracked by fitness problems.

Not that he felt he had to provide proof of that.

He added, “Yes, I’ve been unfortunate with injuries over recent seasons but people are too quick to write off older players.

“They forget that young lads get injured all the time, not just the more senior boys.

“There’s Steven Bell joined us and almost immediately done a cartilage and Greg Ross has had a really unfortunate time of it.

“I didn’t feel like I had a point to prove to anybody.

“I’ve played football for 16-17 years and I don’t think it’s by luck that I’ve been at Dunfermline as long as I have.

“I’ve not been part of the set-up here because a succession of managers have thought I’m a good lad.

“I must have something more than that to offer.

“And I believe I can continue to contribute for a while yet.

“At 28 I’d have laughed at the idea I’d still be playing at this stage.

“But I’m feeling really fit and maybe the couple of years I missed because of injuries are going to be given back to me now, extending career.

“I might have an extra bit mileage there.

“I certainly hope so.

“I feel I’ve got at least another couple of seasons in me.

“I’ve been keeping up with the younger lads in pre-season and feeling good. Hanging up my boots couldn’t be further from my mind.”

Fuelling Thomson’s desire to carry on playing is a determination to bring top flight football back to East End Park and then sample it.

“I’ve been through some really good times at Dunfermline,” he said.

“But the last three or four seasons through wage cuts, being down near the bottom of the SPL, relegation and then last season failing to get back up have been pretty bad.

“For five, six years before that we were disappointed if we didn’t make the top six.

“That’s how far the club has gone back.

“I know that mixed in amongst the bad stuff were some cup final appearances but really if you’d offered us, say, making the Challenge and Scottish Cup Finals last season, or winning promotion, then there’s no question which we’d have taken.

“Being back in the Premier League is the most important thing for this club.

“We wanted to get there last season but didn’t. The aim is to put that right this time. It would mean everything to me personally to get up.

“After the disappointment of missing out last year it would mean twice as much to do it this time and get another kick at the top flight.”

Despite changes to the Pars squad—13 of the players involved in pre-season last summer have moved on—Thomson reckons there is cause to believe the club will put a far stronger campaign together—not least of all because McIntyre has some young talent at his disposal he is prepared to utilise.

“Apart from me, Kevin Harper, Greg Shields, big Scott Wilson and Macca himself it’s mostly younger lads at the club.

“And while it falls to us to use our experience and help them, maybe they, in turn, will do the getting about the park for us.

“I actually think we’ve got a good mix this year and certainly some decent kids coming through.

“Scott McBride went on loan to Arbroath and has benefited from the experience, Iain Williamson did well when he featured last season and Stuart Dearden looks a player.

“I played alongside Stuart in the reserves a couple of times last season and he showed he was prepared to listen and learn which is important in a young lad. I think he’ll do really well.”