Todd Dutiaume calls for unity as Fife Flyers look to end 10-game losing run

Fife Flyers head coach Todd Dutiaume has called for unity as the club battles to salvage its season.
Fife Flyers head coach Todd Dutiaume. Pic: Scott WigginsFife Flyers head coach Todd Dutiaume. Pic: Scott Wiggins
Fife Flyers head coach Todd Dutiaume. Pic: Scott Wiggins

One of the lowest home crowds in years – just 1002 – watched the Kirkcaldy side slump to a 10th successive defeat on Sunday, losing 3-2 to Nottingham Panthers, to leave the Kirkcaldy side rock bottom of the Elite League and five points adrift of the play-off positions.

The woeful run – the club’s worst since season one in the EIHL when a rookie side went 14 games without a victory – has created significant angst among the support, with calls for a Q&A with directors set to be answered.

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Dutiaume is hoping a collective effort can get the club out of the mire.

“We need everyone to stand together,” he said.

“If I was to distance myself from my players, you would lose them in a heartbeat.

“This is why we’re going to continue fighting on because we’re all in this together.

“I’m not sitting in the office saying it’s their fault and, as far as I know, the players are not pointing at me, saying it’s his fault.

“We’re a united front. 

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“All that other stuff is on the outside and everybody is entitled to their opinion.

“That debate will rage on – even when we were winning the conference, people were saying ‘get rid of Dutiaume’.

“That’s sport – it’s generally sack the players, sack the coach – that’s the answer.

“If you kept sacking everyone when you go through a bad spell, then that doesn’t bring stability to an organisation.”

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The long-serving coach admits he feels under pressure, but stands by his record having guided Flyers to the play-offs in each of the last seven seasons, including three appearances in the final four.

“I’m not one to toot my own horn and I don’t look for any accolades,” he said.

“That’s not my motivation in this job. It is to be a loyal servant and do what’s best for the club.

“But I think our record from the way we’ve ran it from year one speaks for itself.

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“We’re not the Cardiff Devils – we don’t have the resources that some of these teams have, but we have a lot of other positives that these teams don’t.

“Our record of making the play-offs for the last seven years straight, I think is a tremendous accomplishment when there are teams out there that consistently miss out. 

“We’ve been fortunate to avoid that, and we’re still looking to avoid that.”

Dutiaume admitted, however, that he has been concerned with the form of his team from the early stages of the season. 

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“It was apparent early to me – probably in the Challenge Cup – that we were struggling with consistency issues,” he said.

“I knew that and identified it and it’s something that hasn’t really changed over the course of the season.

“The only thing that’s changed after Christmas is we’re not picking up points every weekend like we were before.

“Pretty much every weekend we were picking up points, it just wasn’t a consistent effort.

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“It’s even dropped that little bit more, which is frustrating for me as a coach, and I’ve felt under incredible pressure all season.”

Flyers host Cardiff Devils on Saturday before travelling to Glasgow Clan on Sunday, and Dutiaume is hoping for a similar effort from Sunday’s defeat to Nottingham, but a different outcome.

“The small positive is that we played pretty well on Sunday,” he said.

“A team that has thrown in the towel and given up would not have had that fight in them.

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“Cardiff are vying for a league title as they always are but they lost in Dundee last weekend and they’ve lost to us this year, so they’re certainly fallible.

“It’s not often you see Cardiff drop a couple in a row so they’ll be coming here with intent. We need to be prepared for that, and ready to put in complete performance from everybody. 

“Then Glasgow on Sunday – a team on similar trajectory to us right now – but we haven’t been successful against them this season.

“They have some offensive firepower that can sting you, and it’s certainly happened to us.

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“We can be playing a good game and they can bust out, so we need to watch that, especially when it’s in that building.

“We need to be sharp this weekend and continue to fight our way out of this.

Flyers could be boosted by the return of Sam Jones from injury with the club’s medical team assessing the player’s fitness in training this week.

“Having him back would be beneficial,” Dutiaume added.