If Gary Locke was in any doubt just how much the derby with Dunfermline means to Raith fans, he has been reminded in no uncertain terms by veteran supporter “Super Joe”.
Sprightly Glenrothes Strollers legend Joe McCafferty still goes running every day and often pops in to see Raith training at the Michael Woods Centre in the town.
And he has made sure that Rovers boss Locke knows exactly what will be at stake when the Kirkcaldy side meet the Pars on Championship duty at Stark’s Park tomorrow.
The manager said: “Derbies are normally hectic and 100 miles an hour, so it’s important we’re prepared for that and we can go and put in a good performance.
“We’ve got a couple of Raith fans that come to the training and there’s a guy we call Super Joe, who is about 80-years-old and he’s been around Fife football for an unbelievable number of years.
“He’s great. He runs everywhere and must be the fittest 80-year-old you’ve ever seen.
“He’s a fantastic guy to have about the place.
“So, we get told by them every day just how important everything is.
“But, I’m well aware of that. Every derby you’re involved in is a special game.
“But for me and Darren (assistant manager Jackson) it’s not just the derby games that are important, every game’s an important one.
“You want to win every game you play in, if you can. Obviously, we know that’s impossible.
“But you’ve got to treat every game the same and we’ll be treating this game as being just as big as last week’s one was.”
Tomorrow’s match will see Locke’s good pal, Dunfermline boss Allan Johnston, in the opposite dug-out.
However, the Rovers manager admits friendship will be forgotten for the duration of the game.
He added: “We’re great mates. We go way back and obviously I was his assistant at Kilmarnock as well.
“We’ve been friends since we were 16 and on the ground-staff at Hearts.
“I’ve got a great relationship with Allan and (Pars assistant) Sandy Clark. They’re two people I’ve got huge respect for in football.
“They’ve done a fantastic job there and I was over the moon for them last season when they got Dunfermline promoted.
“But friendship goes out of the window for 90 minutes and we’ll see what happens in the technical area this weekend!
“He was manager at Killie when I was manager at Hearts, so I’ve faced him before, but it’s a derby this time.
“I spoke to him the other day because we had a closed-door game against Dunfermline.
“We’re looking forward to the derby and hopefully we’ll still be mates after the game!
“I’ve won a couple and he won a couple, so we’re pretty even. But I’ve got huge respect for him and Sandy and I’ll look forward to seeing them again this weekend.”
Rovers will go into the Pars game sitting top of the league after winning their opening two league fixtures.
However, Locke insists no-one at the club is getting carried away.
He added: “I’m delighted with the start. But it’s two games, that’s all it is. We’ve not achieved anything and we’re certainly nowhere near the finished article.
“It’s important we keep our feet on the ground. It’s great the boys are getting a bit of praise at the moment, because they deserve it, but we’re well aware of how quickly it can turn.
“Two weeks from now, we could be getting criticised.
“So, it’s important we keep playing the way we’re playing and if we do that then we’ll give ourselves a good chance of winning a lot of games.”
