Dunfermline’s Martin Hardie has spoken of his shock following the sacking of former manager Jim McIntyre last week.
It was the first time in the veteran’s long career that a boss had been dismissed in this way and Hardie and the rest of the Pars’ players bid an emotional farewell to McIntyre at a hotel last Saturday.
However, the midfielder insists that the squad are now fully focused on Saturday’s game against St Mirren, which will be new manager Jim Jefferies’ first in charge.
He believes the former Hearts and Kilmarnock supremo’s experience at the top level can make the vital difference in the Pars’ battle against relegation.
Hardie said: ”It is up to people higher than us to make the changes. I think there was a shock factor the way things unfolded but we as players have just got to get on with and look to the next game on Saturday.
”That’s the first time in my career I have been at a club which has sacked the manager and, like most of the lads, I was shocked to hear it.
”I had been swimming with my kids, and Ozzy McCann had sent me a text and then I had a voicemail from Gerry McCabe.
”I spoke to Jim McIntyre on the phone on Friday night and then we all met up with him in a hotel for 15 minutes or so and he said what he had to say to us.
”His message to the players was the same since we came back into the SPL just to work hard and get points on the board to keep the club in this league. That has been our main objective since the start of the season.
”We have three games before the split and he told us all of them are World Cup finals. He also said that we are getting a few players back from injury and it should help us.
”He reminded us that we have a good squad of players he just maybe didn’t have them all to pick from.
”But in any industry, including the football one, you don’t want to see anybody lose their job, especially when he was the person who brought you to the club.
”Every player who was signed by Jim has that loyalty as well as some of the young players that he brought through. But we are here to try to win games between now and the end of the season and I am sure we will give Jim Jefferies the same effort that we gave to Jim McIntyre.”
For most of the Pars players, Thursday’s training session was the first time they had worked with Jefferies. However, it was more of a reunion for Hardie who formerly played under the 61-year-old at Kilmarnock.
He said: ”He signed me for Kilmarnock from Partick Thistle. He had been at Hearts and Bradford and then came to Kilmarnock and I think the year before I joined they had finished fourth.
”It’s just the way football turns around but I honestly didn’t think I would be working with Jim again, given the level he’s worked at.
”It’s maybe unfortunate that he left Hearts but I’m glad to see him come in and I’m sure his experience between now and the end of the season will be good for the rest of the players.
”Generally there are no major differences between him and the previous gaffer. He likes winners, that’s generally been the way he’s been. He likes his teams to work hard, like any manager does I’m sure anybody would say that, even when the old manager was here.
”You want your players to be hungry and you want them to be winners and there’s been a few occasions where we’ve been unlucky not to take any points from games, and that’s been weighed up and that’s why there’s been the change.”
Jefferies has already experienced the frustration felt by his predecessor over injuries with the news that Andy Barrowman has suffered a major setback in his recovery from a calf problem.
He said: ”Andy played in a closed-doors match this week and had to come off 25 minutes into the game with a small tear in his calf that will put him out for four weeks. Kevin Rutkiewicz is touch and go and we will give him a fitness test on Friday.”
Photo David Wardle