HAY FIELDS QUESTIONS AT FANS FORUM

Last updated : 14 October 2004 By Pars Mad
The Pars new signing...Aye right!!
Pars manager Davie Hay faced the wrath of the Pars fans at Tuesday night's Fans Forum held in Crossgates. The panel, also including Chairman John Yorkston, General Manager Jim Leishman and Assistant Manager Billy Kirkwood, answered questions on a whole range of Pars-related subjects.

Hardly unsurprisingly, Hay was quizzed by Pars fans about the club's disastrous start to the new campaign - at start which sees the Pars sit third from bottom, only two points above rock-bottom Inverness Caley.

Hay spoke of his dismay at his side's poor form saying "I'm aware of the fact that, with the team doing so well last season, there are high expectations. The big thing was the European exit and probably as an individual I suffered the reaction to that from fans at the Motherwell game."
He continued saying "The bottom line in football is to get results but I would be more concerned if I wasn't getting commitment from the players or if they weren't playing well. I'm relatively confident we'll climb the table. We're doing our utmost with the coaches and players to improve."

The Pars gaffer was also questioned about his decision to view matches from a seat in the stand, a move widely criticised from Pars supporters.

Hay replied, saying "I think because it's perceived that every other manager is watching the game from trackside, your passion is called into question if you're not jumping about. If you're honest, you do get a better view from the stand rather than the dug-out."
Hay ensured his passion for the Pars should not be in doubt, saying "It doesn't make me any less committed and I curse and swear in the box sometimes at referees as Leishman would tell you. It's the way I like to work and hopefully it will be successful but it's almost as if I'm doing something wrong!"

Hay's number two, Billy Kirkwood, answered angry Pars fans questions in relation to the aforementioned UEFA Cup exit to Icelandic part-timers FH Hafnarfjordur. Rather than admit any managerial errors, Kirkwood chose to criticise the refereeing, saying "I wanted to win the game as much as anyone. If you look at the two goals we conceded, the first one was offside and the second was handball. The only way we're out of Europe is two refereeing decisions."

On another note, Chairman John Yorkston admitted that the much-publicised 'plastic pitch' experiment had so far been a failure. The Chairman admitting "It has not lived up to our expectations. It was good when it first went in apart from the fact boys did get burns in their legs."

In a somewhat lighter - if not surreal - moment Leishman stated how the Pars were, at one point, in the market for recent Blackburn signing Youri Djorkjaeff. In an attempt to fill the goalscoring void left by Stevie Crawford, the Pars had cited the French World Cup winner as the solution to their striking problems before bulking at the Frenchman's huge wage demands. The words Taribo West, Diego Maradona and 'Publicity Stunt' seem to spring to mind!