Young off as Pars set to welcome new boys

Darren Young looks set to have played his last game for Dunfermline after rejecting the club’s offer of a new deal. The midfielder, who has considered the offer for what seems like a millenium, will be off to pastures new in the summer, with rumour rife that he will re-join former club Aberdeen.

Young has had a bit of a stop start career at East End Park. In his first season, he was a mainstay in midfield and helped the club finish 4th in the SPL and reach the Scottish Cup final, scoring in the replay win over Inverness Caley Thistle. He also netted the penalty to take the Pars into the CIS Insurance Cup final in 2006 against Livingston at Easter Road and was man of the match in last year’s Scottish Cup final loss to Celtic.

But he has had his injury problems this season and last, resulting in him missing a lot of games. I feel that he’s a good player but we can’t afford to keep carrying players spending more time in the treatment room than on the pitch, and Young’s dithering over accepting or rejecting a new deal shows he was never going to stick around. Fair enough, no problems and while I wish him well, it frees up a significant wage and allows Jim McIntyre to bring new bodies in.

And to that end pre-contract signings Steven Bell and Austin McCann should formally complete their moves to East End Park today. 23 year old midfielder Bell has signed from Stirling Albion after an impressive campaign for the relegated Binos, scoring 6 times from midfield, including one against ourselves. A neat and tidy player with a good engine, we hope that he can provide creativity and energy in a midfield which has lacked both all season.

McCann arrives from English side Notts County having previously served Hearts and Airdrie. It is his spell in Gorgie that he will be most remembered for, and a screamer of a goal against Celtic to hand Hearts a 2-1 win in a league encounter.

Hopefully, he will bring experience and solidity to the left back spot for the coming season. The defence improved as the season has gone on, so hopefully we can continue working from a solid base and move forward next season.

A 3rd name to sign with the Pars is Airdrie midfielder Graeme Holmes, who played with boss McIntyre at Dundee United. The 24 year old has been heavily rumoured to have already signed on at East End, but director of football Jim Leishman refused to confirm this. He has played 87 games since signing for Airdrie, scoring 5 goals and is highly thought of by the Airdrie support. There is more available on the club’s official website on all 3 new signings. A warm welcome to all.

And the club have announced that the Purvis Group will continue as the club’s shirt sponsor for next season. Exciting stuff eh?