"Brutal": Dunfermline director addresses defensive frailties and miserable start to Championship in supporters rallying call

“Brutal” defensive mistakes have been pin-pointed as a contributing factor to Dunfermline’s poor start to the cinch Championship campaign.

East End Park. (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

Sporting director Thomas Meggle highlighted the individual errors while issuing a rallying call to supporters to get behind the Fife side, who sit bottom of the second tier after four matches.

Their miserable start has seen Peter Grant’s side score just three times and Meggle acknowledged the Pars do have to strengthen their defensive foundations before adding the “salt in the soup” of attack.

“In every game, a brutal individual mistake steers us in the wrong direction,” he said. “We probably defend too carelessly and lose the ball in spaces where it is often deadly. But there are always opportunities to get back into the game. Unfortunately, we haven’t used our chances. Currently, we’ve only scored three goals, although we have 3-4 very good scoring chances in every game. That’s not enough.”

Meggle added: “The first thing is to avoid individual mistakes, but players are human beings. Each individual must focus on his task and not switch off for a second.”

The sporting director speaks to boss Peter Grant regularly, but after acknowledging the frailties that have raised concerns among the Pars support – he also asked for a response in return.

"I can understand everyone who is dissatisfied and articulates this. They give time and money to watch games. They love this club.

"No player loses on purpose. We have a very young and motivated team. Support from fans helps the team more than negative sentiment. I can only ask every fan to support our players.”

The Pars host league leaders Inverness this weekend.

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