Our manager Chris Macpherson talks about life without football, what might happen in the next few months and has a message of thanks to you, our supporters.
Chris it has been over two months now since our last match, how are you doing and how are you finding life without football?
Life without football is pretty tough to be honest. Yes, we all follow our own teams and the tv coverage is excellent. It is a small distraction as there is nothing like being involved with your own team and all the exciting and demanding challenges it brings. When you put so much into something then it’s all but taken away from you, it’s a tough one to deal with. Thankfully, the main thing is that the players and their families are all safe and well and in regular contact.
Before the season was suspended the team were playing well and you had a 100% record in the league, it must be frustrating that the opportunity hasn't been there to continue the good form?
Yes, frustrating is the word, if there was one team that didn’t need this to happen it was us. We were on a good run of form, feeling confident and the general feeling I got was that there was much more to come from us. Yes, we had won all our games, but I felt at times we could have been more clinical in front of goal. I felt that we were looking really sharp latterly in training and it’s unfortunate that we haven’t had the chance to continue our winning run.
Obviously you can't meet with the players at the moment but are you in regular contact with them and are they following a training schedule from home?
We have a tight-knit team and the boys are in regular contact. Several of them are following fitness programs, this is in addition to timed runs. I take my hat off to the players for their focus and motivation, they have certainly not dropped their standards when it comes to training on their own.
As we are currently in lockdown are you able to make plans for returning to action or is this not possible at this stage?
It’s hard to make plans until we have a definite schedule or fixture list. All I can ask the boys to do is keep fit and be ready should the league restart. Myself and the coaches are in regular contact and as always are discussing plans for the future in terms of transfer targets and other general improvements. It keeps us all busy and focused on our philosophy which is constant progression.
Nobody has a crystal ball and we don't know what is going to happen next but in your opinion do you see the season resuming and being completed?
Thinking positively there is the chance that we could play everyone once this season if we played on a Wednesday and a Saturday. We would need to have a bit of a preseason and some friendlies too before we returned to competitive action. I think it would be difficult but not impossible. The main thing of course is to ensure that we can get back playing if it is safe to do so.
Would you be in favour of playing matches over the summer months in order to complete the current season?
I wouldn’t be against it but I’m not sure if everyone would be the same. This season is totally different of course, I can’t see many people going on summer holidays so there would be more of an opportunity to confine the season until completion without disruption.
Lastly, it is nearly a year since Tayport supporters were allowed to attend a match at the Canniepairt, have you got a message for the supporters who are really missing watching their team?
I’m glad you asked me that as of course the fans are very important to the club. There’s nothing I would like to do more than have them back in and give them something to shout about. I would like to reward them for their loyalty and generosity during the Covid period with a team they can be proud of on the park. I regularly remind the players of the privilege they have to represent this club and try to instil the values that is expected of every player that pulls on the famous red shirt. My message to the fans would be to thank them for their help and support during the lockdown period and I hope it won’t be too long till they can come and see our new look attacking team. We have assembled a close-knit, honest and hard-working set of players that will give everything every time they take the field and I hope that we can do you proud.
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