East Fife's 'Jekyll and Hyde' nature cannot continue, says boss Greig McDonald ahead of Spartans clash

East Fife boss Greig McDonald admits the ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ nature of his side cannot continue if they want to be considered as serious contenders for a League 2 promotion play-off spot come the end of the campaign.
By Ben Kearney
Published 27th Nov 2023, 00:17 BST
East Fife management duo Greig McDonald and Paul Thomson on the touchline (Photo: Alan Murray)East Fife management duo Greig McDonald and Paul Thomson on the touchline (Photo: Alan Murray)
East Fife management duo Greig McDonald and Paul Thomson on the touchline (Photo: Alan Murray)

Coming off the back of a two-week break, having already been knocked out of the Scottish Cup by East of Scotland premier division outfit Dunbar United, the Fifers sit in seventh spot having only collected 13 points from their 13 outings so far.

And that total currently sees them trail The Spartans in fourth by seven points going into Saturday’s meeting with the Edinburgh club this Saturday at The MGM Timber Bayview (3pm kick-off).

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"We missed a real opportunity to go into fifth spot four points behind The Spartans going into a match against them,” manager McDonald said ahead of the match. “We can be a handful against anyone and we need to get back to the levels we showed against Clyde but if we play like we did against Bonnyrigg then we will lose games. We need to work on our standards and that consistency.”

East Fife were beaten 4-2 at Bonnyrigg Rose last time out midweek after notching a 4-0 away win at Clyde four days previous and McDonald reckons that it is the lack of consistency that is killing his side’s chances of climbing a congested fourth tier table.

He continued: “We got what we deserved. Bonnyrigg deserved to win the game. We started slack and lost a poor goal from a throw in. It was hard to believe that it was the same squad of players from Saturday. We did well to pull ourselves back into it and we managed to get a goal back and at half time we were positive about what we wanted to and how we could cause Bonnyrigg problems.

“But the second goal is criminal. It kills us. Then after it we give away two penalties – you cannot give away four goals and expect to win football matches. We got a brilliant clean sheet against Clyde but individuals’ levels dropped from the Saturday. We were so disappointing in the second half. We were outfought by them. We knew what it would be like. We capitulated.

“But it is on me and I will take responsibility for that. I spoke recently about standards and consistency. We’ve been Jekyll and Hyde I’m afraid. We’re making too many mistakes.”

Related topics:League 2ClydeScotlandBonnyrigg