Jim Jefferies signs up to direct Dunfermline survival fight

DUNFERMLINE’s hopes of making a dramatic escape from relegation were boosted yesterday when they announced that Jim Jefferies had agreed to become their new manager.

The 61-year-old former Hearts boss, who takes over a club who are four points adrift of Hibernian at the foot of the SPL, is expected to be unveiled at a 12.30pm press conference today.

Talks between the Fife club and Jefferies had been going on for some time, and had apparently reached an impasse over the issue of how long a contract should be for. Dunfermline had initially wanted to appoint a successor to Jim McIntyre only for the remainder of the season, whereas Jefferies wanted to reach an agreement which included next season, too. Having identified Jefferies as their only target, however, Dunfermline decided they could not risk allowing the deal to break down, which would leave them managerless for Saturday’s home game against St Mirren. They therefore agreed a deal which extends beyond the next couple of months, although last night club chairman John Yorkston declined to provide any more detail.

“Jim has signed a contract with Dunfermline,” Yorkston said. “It is not until the end of the season. More details will be revealed at a news conference on Wednesday.”

The sacking of McIntyre last week was unfortunately timed, coming at the end of the second week of a three-week period in which the club had no fixtures to fulfill.

An earlier decision to part company would have given Dunfermline more time to find a replacement, but it is thought that the board had been divided for some time on whether McIntyre, who had managed the club since the end of 2007, should be allowed to continue.

Jefferies, who was removed from the manager’s post at Hearts at the start of this season and refused an offer to stay on at Tynecastle as director of football, will work initially with Dunfermline’s experienced assistant manager Gerry McCabe, who has been taking charge of training since McIntyre’s departure last Friday.

There had been speculation that Hibernian assistant manager Billy Brown would move to be reunited with Jefferies, but it is understood that Brown will honour his current contract, at Easter Road, which runs until the end of the season.

What happens after that is likely to have formed part of Jefferies’ negotiations with Yorkston. But any recruitment of an assistant could also depend, like so many other aspects of life at Dunfermline, on what division the club find themselves in next season.

Had Hibs won the Edinburgh derby on Sunday and stretched their lead to seven points, Jefferies might well have decided there was no point in agreeing to attempt a rescue job with just seven games to play. But Hearts’ 2-0 win in that game not only maintained the gap at four points, it also heightened fears at Easter Road that the relegation battle would go the distance.

On Saturday, while Dunfermline have that game against fellow-bottom-six club St Mirren, Hibs are at home to in-form Dundee United. The following weekend the Edinburgh club go to Inverness while Dunfermline visit Tannadice. Then, in the final round of fixtures before the split, Hibs are at home to Motherwell while Jefferies has an early chance to test his new squad against his old, when Hearts visit East End Park.

Hearts manager Paulo Sergio, who took over from Jefferies at Tynecastle at the start of the season, yesterday welcomed his predecessor’s return to the front line. “I think it’s great,” he said.

“A fantastic guy like Jim should be in football, not at home. He should be working in football.

“It’s my pleasure to have met him. He used to come after games to our office and stay a few moments with us, so we have a good relationship. I believe it’s in football that he belongs, not playing golf.”

Dunfermline, whose last game was a 2-0 home defeat by Motherwell on 5 March, have yet to win at East End Park in the league this season. Of their current total of 19 points, eight were picked up in their first four games.

Jefferies won the Scottish Cup in 1998 during his first spell as Hearts manager and, in his second, was unbeaten in the Edinburgh derby. But, if he pulls off the great escape with Dunfermline to send Hibs down to the First Division, it may well outrank any of his previous achievements – and would certainly be seen by many Hearts supporters as his greatest triumph over their city rivals.