Stuart Bathgate: Pars’ passion not enough to overcome quality gap

HEROIC failure. That was the result of Dunfermline’s bid to snatch a last-gasp winner at St Mirren on Saturday, and it will also, surely, be the outcome of their attempt to escape the clutches of relegation.

That is how the position at the bottom of the SPL has looked for more than three months now, and with games running out there is no reason why the prognosis for the Fife club should improve. They have been playing their hearts out, giving their all, and yet it is just not enough.

Hibernian were woeful under previous manager Colin Calderwood, and not much better for long enough after Pat Fenlon took charge, but they have a better and bigger squad. And, in the end, that is usually the most telling factor.

It’s certainly true that no team are ever too good to go down, and true, too, that Hibs have had that haunted look about them for much of the season. But, even when they were playing really badly, they were still invariably doing just enough to keep their noses in front of Dunfermline. The Fife club, conversely, were often playing out of their skins, yet doing no more than hanging on to the coat-tails of their rivals.

It could have been over in January, and it is to the immense credit of the Dunfermline squad and their then manager Jim McIntyre that it did not end there. When they lost 3-2 to Hibs at East End Park, in a match they had thrown everything into, Dunfermline might have been tempted to throw in the towel as well. Instead, they showed massive character to go to Rugby Park just a week later and claim all three points.

But there is only so often a team can perform like that – and only so often, as well, that they can come up against opponents like Kilmarnock who have days of liberality in which they allow the other team to play. And that probably explains why Jim Jefferies has not been able to get the victory which would give his team a massive lift.

Jefferies, who succeeded McIntyre last month, is an excellent motivator of players – but when those players are already playing to the best of their ability and to the limits of their energy, there is little additional motivation to be done. It has therefore not been a great surprise that in their four games under their new manager, Dunfermline have drawn two, both with St Mirren, and lost to Dundee United and Hearts.

Lest anyone think that two points from four games is a meagre haul for the new boss, it should be pointed out that it’s not that bad compared to much of what went before. The start to the league campaign went well for the newly-promoted club, as they won two and drew two of their first four games but, in the ensuing 26 matches under McIntyre, they picked up just 11 more points.

It is thought that the Dunfermline directors had been split for some time on whether to persist with McIntyre or try someone new, and that they parted company with their manager only when there was a change of mind in the boardroom. That decision was a tough one but, given how much it would mean to Dunfermline to stay in the SPL, it is understandable that the directors opted for one last throw of the dice.

And, given the situation the club were in by the time Jefferies was interviewed for the vacancy, it is just as understandable that he held out for a longer-term deal rather than the agreement for the rest of this campaign that was initially on the table. The former Hearts boss would hardly have sat there and said to his interviewers “By the way, you’re already down, so let’s talk about next season”, but he has always had a realistic grasp of the probabilities in any footballing situation.

He could have ducked out altogether lest relegation be seen as a blot on his reputation. Instead, by being willing to commit to the longer term, he showed he is prepared to take on a task which may well be even tougher for Dunfermline than avoiding the drop – getting back out of the First Division next season.

Final tally highlights Hampden’s weakness

IT WAS obvious that the SFA were always going to mount a strong campaign to keep the Scottish Cup final at Hampden. In fact, their defence of the Glasgow stadium began even before we knew that this year was going to be the first all-Edinburgh final since 1896.

“Don’t go getting ideas about Murrayfield,” a senior SFA official told me when I arrived at Hampden last Sunday. “It’s not going to happen.” That was about two hours before the Celtic-Hearts game kicked off, when most rational observers would have put their money on the champions joining Hibs in the final.

The financial implications of abandoning Hampden, even for one match, were what exercised this particular official most. The governing body has a contract with the stadium to hold certain events there, and it would cost money to break that contract, as well as to rent an alternative venue.

And, as even those most eager for a one-off move to Murrayfield would accept, there are other arguments in favour of Hampden. For one thing, the Scottish Cup is a national competition and Hampden is football’s national stadium. Not all the Hearts and Hibs players grew up supporting the clubs they now represent. For them, as for their peers at other SPL clubs, turning out in a Hampden final represents the fulfillment of a dream, so playing the 19 May game at a different venue would leave them feeling short-changed.

But no matter the sound arguments for Hampden, there is one inescapable factor in Murrayfield’s favour – size. Fewer than 52,000 can get into Hampden while the capacity of the SRU’s ground is over 67,000.

There is a minimum number of tickets which the SFA are obliged to hold back at Hampden, for debenture-holders, sponsors and other people not related to the finalists, which is why Hibs and Hearts have only received 20,000 tickets each to sell to their supporters. At Murrayfield, both clubs would probably have been able to get at least an extra 5,000 each.

Demand for next month’s match is obviously very high, but not uniquely so. Rangers and Celtic, too, could easily sell far more than the allocation they get for Hampden finals. And yet we are stuck with a national stadium for our national sport which is too small, and so misses out on what would be valuable extra income.

There’s no point in recriminations here. It is now 13 years or so since Hampden was rebuilt, far too late to reopen debates about what could be afforded and who should foot the bill. Nonetheless, the debate about where the cup final should be held has again highlighted the pitifully diminished status of a ground which could once boast of hosting some of the greatest crowds in the history of world football.