Pars make solid start as Bamba gets set for Watford

So the season officially got underway for Dunfermline on Saturday in the 1st round of the highly prestigious Scottish League Challenge Cup. The priority of this tournament was reflected in the attendance of just 1340 for the clash with Stirling Albion at East End Park but the Pars got their season off to a confidence boosting start, easing to a 3-0 success.

Of course, victory over part-time second division opposition in this particular competition does not immediately give an indication as to how the season will go but the manner of victory will give manager Jim McIntyre belief that the team, starting with Saturday’s First Division opener away to Partick Thistle, can mount a challenge for promotion.

There was growing discontent prior to the season starting about McIntyre’s failure to sign strikers other than Graham Bayne, having lost the likes of Mark Burchill and Stevie Crawford in the close season. And while Bayne in his early performances has gone some way to winning over any doubting supporters, concerns still remain about the lack of a suitable partner for the former Inverness target man.

This has been put down to being priced out of signing targets, but the club received an unlikely boost this week thanks to Dundee United and former player Noel Hunt. His sale to Reading for £600,000 provided the Fifers with a £120,000 windfall, generated by the 20% sell on clause negotiated in the deal which took Hunt to Tannadice in the summer of 2006.

But the chances of McIntyre seeing that money are pretty slim in order to appease the club’s finances. However, the manager’s budget looks set to be given a boost with the sale of popular defender Sol Bamba. The Ivory Coast under 23 skipper has been on trial with Championship side Watford and manager Aidy Boothroyd, impressed with what he saw, has tabled a bid of over £100,000 and a deal should be concluded in the next few days.

The erratic performances of Bamba has made the sale an easy one for the fans to take, added to the fact that we have the likes of Greg Shields, Scott Wilson and Scott Thomson all able to slot into the centre back positions. He has also made no secret that he would like to try his luck darn sarf so a move will benefit all parties.

So the freeing up of Bamba’s wages will ensure McIntyre can hopefully sign a new striker for Saturday, and rumours of interest in ex Hearts and Kilmarnock player Gary Wales again resurfaced on Saturday as he was supposedly spotted in the directors box.

If he was, he’d have been impressed at how Dunfermline confidently knocked the ball about and created a lot of chances using Bayne as the lone front man in a 4-5-1, with the likes of Kevin Harper and Alex Burke supporting. Burke opened the scoring on 4 minutes and Harper set up Nick Phinn, impressive in midfield, for the second while young striker Iain Williamson netted the third.

Some fans again had reservations about the system operated by McIntyre. Needs must while the striker search goes on but if the formation is successful, who will complain? 4-5-1 doesn’t immediately mean a negative way of playing- look at Holland at Euro 2008. Using quick and incisive midfield players to create can result in a fast moving game, and that was the case on Saturday.

So the championship charge starts at Firhill this weekend, probably without Bamba, and perhaps with a new striker in tow. A start has been made, while promotion favourites St Johnstone and Dundee slumped to defeat in the Challenge Cup; now it’s time for the team to hopefully send a big travelling support home to Fife with real optimism for the campaign ahead.

Young joins Dundee as Bamba shines in Toulon

As anticipated in a previous post, Darren Young has officially left Dunfermline and has agreed a 2 year deal with First Division rivals Dundee. Young’s rejection of a new contract with the club signals the end of his five year association with the Pars and he will look to help the Dees to First Division glory next term. Having struggled with fitness in the past season, this is a move I feel suits all parties. Manager Jim McIntyre now has more room for manouver within the transfer market with more wages freed up, while Young himself will no doubt relish a new challenge at Dens Park.

He alluded to this himself, by saying ” There are a lot of positive things happening here.

“It makes you want to come here and play for them and do well.”

I wish him well up there, but hopefully not too well as we can but hope the Athletic will be chasing the title.

However, Alex Rae has been busy in the transfer market as well as signing Young. He is rumoured to be on the verge of bringing former Scotland goalkeeper Rab Douglas back to Dens. The 36 year old played for the Dee in the 1990s and his form won him a move to Celtic. Since leaving the Hoops for Leicester in 2005, his career has stalled. Loan spells with Millwall, Wycombe Wanderers and Plymouth Argyle have been unsuccessful and Douglas was released by Leicester following their relegation to League One.

Rae is clearly looking for experience and if he adds him, along with another rumoured target, former Kilmarnock and Nottingham Forest midfielder Gary Holt, then the Dark Blues could well be in a strong position to challenge at the top next season. A challenge which both Dunfermline and St Johnstone will look to match before the season kicks off.

But back to Dunfermline and defender Sol Bamba, who seemed to fall out of favour towards the end of the season, has been busy making a name for himself in the Toulon International tournament over the past fortnight or so. As captain of the Ivory Coast side, he has starred as they have marched all the way to the semi finals, where they narrowly lost to Chile. Bamba’s side will take on Japan in the third place play off and commentators on Eurosport, who have been showing the tournament live, have been impressed with Bamba’s play overall. During one match, and forgive me for paraphrasing, but a commentator suggested something along the lines of ‘you’d have a very hard time getting around him’.

It is good to see Sol doing well while representing his country’s under 21 side in France. Rumours have suggested that the Pars are looking to offload the big man, but if he can regain his confidence and given the right kind of coaching, he could become a good player. He has pace, is very strong both on the ground and in the air and can tackle but at times erratic play creeps into his game, leading to him giving away possession cheaply. If he works on his passing and composure on the ball, then he’ll do a very good job for Dunfermline.

But, thats for the future. Well done to Sol on having what appears to be a successful tournament and he is all set to represent the Pars in this summer’s Beijing Olympics by playing for the Ivory Coast in the football tournement. Could la Bamba have a gold medal in his pocket by September? Stranger things have happened……

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