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i have decided to start a cm 03/04 game managing east fife in the scottish 2nd division. here is my story, its my first venture into this thread and i liked the look of it, i hope you like my adventure
Well, i say joke, it was more of a dare or a challenge if you will. bored one cold december day- gino dooba-mackay and his friend reginald decided to go and watch a random game of football, anywhere in the british isles. it would be like road trip but with pies, cups of coffee and match programmes. whichever club was picked out at random would be chosen, whether in england, scotland, ireland, wales or northern ireland. reginald ran his hand over the creased newspaper.....
'stop,' dooba-mackay cried.
'well, who is it?' he inquired.....
East Fife!!
'East Fife?? Thats bl00dy miles away!!'
'The hand has spoken.'
Its funny how little details can change lives. as dooba-mackay and reginald drove up the m90 past dunfermline, on the way to the bayview stadium in methil, nobody could have envisaged how a decision based on a whim would lead to the biggest opportunity of dooba-mackay's young life.
the road trip had been eventful and successful, the type of adventure that is made fun by its randomness. spontenaity often leads to the most enjoyable occasions. dooba-mackay and his friend had not however picked the best game to watch. east fife had been hammered 4-1 by greenock morton on this cold december day. but that was far from the end of the adventure. it was only the beginning.
75 minutes gone and with morton 3-1 up, reginald received a phone call from his sister in glasgow. she had been burgled and her house had been ransacked. being the protective type, and very much a worrier, reginald decided to leave the game and see to his sister, especially given that he hadnt seen her for 2 years since she moved out of their home in essex. they agreed that dooba-mackay would keep the car, reg would take the train to glasgow, and dooba-mackay would pick him up either late that night or the next morning. a big inconvenience, but thats life. family come first.
gino dooba-mackay was not averse to his own company, and wasn't too bothered about this twist of fate. he had been to a completely new stadium miles away from home and could tick it off the list. something of a trainspotter, except with football grounds was dooba-mackay.
the disgruntled fife fans had left early, and having nothing else to do gino went to the club shop to look around and kill some time. it was here that his life would take an unexpected turn. the then chairman g dow, was also in the club shop and was having angry words with what seemed to be a friend or colleague of his. his car had broken down and he needed a lift home.
'i might be able to help you there' dooba-mackay insisted.
dow was delighted and as a gesture offered to buy mackay dinner. they would become friends at this dinner, and something about dooba-mackay stuck in dow's memory when it came to having to hire a new manager after the shock departure of east fife's previous gaffer jim moffat. despite being a 1000-1 long shot, dooba-mackay received a phone call from dow in mid-july 2003, offering him the manager's job at lowly east fife.
dooba-mackay jumped at the chance, despite thinking it a joke at first, but when a limo was sent to pick him up and take him to methil it dawned on him. what would have happened if dow's car hadn't broken down? what if reg's sister had never been mugged? what if they had chosen a completely different team to go and see all those months ago?
Gino Dooba-Mackay wasted no time in raising eyebrows in the scottish leagues.
'My ambition is to take East Fife to the upper echelons of the Scottish Premier League within the next 5 years. And by upper echelons, i mean challenging for trophies.'
With these words, local newspapers and comedians had a new focus. The press room actually burst out laughing upon hearing these words. burst out laughing. But Dooba-Mackay was an ambitious man, something Dow maybe noted in the past.
East Fife had already played 2 pre-season friendlies when Dooba-Mackay joined:
vs Albion Rovers - LOST 2-1 (A)
vs Dundee United - LOST 2-1 (H)
the challenge was there for all to see. Dooba-Mackay (or D-M for short, occassionally) wasted no time in assessing his squad, calling a meeting with the two members of coaching staff and one physio available to him. his decisions came quick and fast and it didn't take long before he transfer-listed a few player, in an attempt to bring in some much needed cash.
His first pre-season game in charge was not the start he wanted.
Montrose 4-1 East Fife
Goals: R Henderson, G Sharp, N Stephen, M Simpson G Love (for East Fife)
Dooba-Mackay's 1st Post match press conference
- 'The result slightly flattered Montrose, 2 wonderful free-kicks at 1-1 make the score look worse than it should to be honest, but i am aware of the task here and i was glad to take my seat as manager of this club. I would like to take this opportunity to declare my interest in the man of the match Mark Simpson, he had an excellent game and i have seen him play before. He needs to be at a higher level and he should know he can take that next step here. i will be looking to make him an east fife player if i can.'
Journalist- 'still on course for your 5-year plan?'
D-M:- 'don't be ridiculous, we've only played one game.'
East Fife 3-1 Stirling
Goals: B Kerr, G Love, K Deuchar S Roycroft (Stirling)
Post-match analysis
Dooba-Mackay: 'A good result, ross currie had an outstanding debut at the back, a real 8/10 performance, but the sponsors gave Craig Martin the MoM award for his goalkeeping. Im pleased with the team as ive installed a new training schedule, new tactics, a new formation and new personnel and the lads still performed to a good standard despite the changes. Our next game will be tough, but Aston Villa at home is a great chance for us to test ourselves. im optimistic, and hope the fans are too.'
Pre-Season joy for East Fife: East Fife 2-0 Aston Villa
Goals: G Love 49', K Deuchar 69'
-Second half goals from Love and Deuchar see off Premiership outfit Aston Villa, to the delight of a packed Bayview. Manager Dooba-Mackay's new-look side performed brilliantly to overcome Villa, with 2 wonderfully worked goals clinically finished by the front men.
East Fife were the brighter side in the opening 20 minutes, creating good opportunities thanks to the midfield duo of brians kerr and blair. thomas sorensen had to be at his best in the opening period, palming away a long range effort from brian blair, as well as thwarting striker graeme love when through on goal. Aston Villa were fielding a strong side at the New Bayview, and Darius Vassell- a player who is worth more than the whole opponent's club, missed an absolute sitter screwing the ball wide in front of an empty net after a well worked move involving peter whittingham and de la cruz on the right flank. as the half wore on aston villa started to assert themselves and east fife were maybe lucky to get to half time a 0-0 given the chances created, lee hendrie missing a gilt-edged chance on the stroke of half-time.
the second half was a different story however, and east fife came out the better side. 49 minutes in they took the lead when a wonderfully worked move crafted by blair, gilbert, deuchar and kerr gave the love the chance to sneak in behind liam ridgewell and slot the ball home. 1-0 to the fife. this seemed to add to the confidence of the team and they played some great football, passing the ball around like a far better side than their league status implies. 69 minutes gone and a ross currie cross was headed home by kenny deuchar and their lead was further cemented. 2-0 and too much of a mountain for aston villa to climb. the game was played out in the midfield after that, although kenny deuchar fluffed his lines when through with a chance to make it 3-0 on 87 minutes. 2-0 the final score then, and a solid confidence boosting win for east fife.
Man of the Match: Kenny Deuchar
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other pre-season results:
East Fife 3-0 Clyde (H) J Rae '29, D Walker '36, B Fairbairn '48
'ive been pleased with how pre-season has gone, unfortunately we ended it with a defeat but it was a soft goal to concede from craig martin the keeper's point of view, ive made my feelings known about punching balls away and i hope he learns. he's a good young keeper and is very much in my plans for the Challenge Cup 1st round clash at home to Falkirk as long as he cuts out those errors. other than that it was a solid display against notts county, and the clyde game helped me learn a lot about some players who perhaps havent had much first team action in pre-season, a comfortable win there.
all eyes will be on our 1st game of the season in the cup.'
other news:
East Fife have been made 16-1 rank outsiders to gain promotion from the Scottish 2nd Division. the bookies aren't looking past the joint favourites Morton and Airdrie United, priced at evens a piece. time will tell.
Other Odds:
Airdrie - Evens
Morton - Evens
Arbroath - 5/4
Alloa - 5/4
Stenhousemuir - 6/4
Forfar - 6/4
¦
¦
V East Fife - 16/1
Gino Dooba-Mackay's first official game in charge ended in a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Falkirk today, much to the disappointment of all but the away fans at the final whistle. Mackay named a starting 11 of:
GK: C Martin
DR: M Hall
DC: R Currie
DC: G McCheyne
DL: R Donaldson (c)
MR: W Stewart
MC: B Blair
MC: B Kerr
ML: C McMillan
FC: G Love
FC: K Deuchar
(Subs:- G O'Connor, C Miller, P Kelly, J Rae, D Walker)
Falkirk's line-up included Russell Latapy and new signing James Panayi amongst others.
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East Fife 2-3 Falkirk
Scorers:W Stewart '26, D Walker '87
Latapy '34, McSween '68,'80 (Falkirk)
Sent off: B Blair '55
Match Report:
-Disappointment was in the air at the final whistle of today's game as 10 man East Fife crashed out of the Challenge cup at the 1st hurdle. it had all started so well for the fifers as willie stewart had scored a header on his debut from a brian blair corner midway through the 1st half, but within 10 minutes russell latapy had equalised for falkirk, firing home a low shot past craig martin, who won't want to watch the replay as he should have comfortably saved it. brian blair had been booked within 8 minutes for a foul on latapy, and the 20 year old's youthful petulance got the better of him at the start of the second half, with disastrous consequences for east fife. backchatting to the ref after a foul by graeme love, blair got himself sent off, and a look of steel from manager dooba-mackay as he left for the showers. the game completely turned around after this, and the scottish 1st division side assumed control.
woeful defending cost the fifers a second goal in the 68th minute, macsween sneaking in to net his 1st ever goal for falkirk after latapy was allowed to get a cross in that was missed by 2 defenders. woeful play. a 3rd goal soon put the game out of sight for east fife when macsween bagged a brace, tapping in a well worked move at the second attempt. the fifers did manage to pull one back late in the game when dooba-mackay chose to go gung-ho. dean walker got on the end of brian kerr's cross to head home a consolation for the home side. falkirk will find out their next opponents when the draw takes place tommorrow.
Attendance: 1,523
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Fan's view:
Gregg from Methil:- 'the manager has to have time to implement his style, but i think we need new defenders. obviously that will be hard as we have no money, but im confident for the season ahead. what a t!t that blair is though. he cost us the game if you ask me'
Fee-Fife-Fo-Fum 
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