SPL Fanzone: Dunfermline

We had hoped for festive cheer but didn’t get a Merry Chris-Smith. Now we need to build a team around Gallacher, Dowie, Thomson, Willis, Graham, Kirk, Cardle and Rutkiewicz ie the players who are clearly SPL-standard.

With a tiny budget, Jim McIntyre thought picking the cream of First Divison players in the summer would keep us up, but you get clots in cream and it hasn’t worked.

Our next two matches – against Inverness (Cup) and Hibs (SPL) – will decide our season. If we lose them, we would be stricken, so we cannot afford the luxury of any more squad players.

The performance against Celtic suggests the team does not lack spirit for the battle ahead in the 18 SPL games left.

John Lloyd