The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Davidson excited by new job with Pars
Former Scotland defender Callum Davidson admits he is relishing the challenge of trying to help resurrect Dunfermline’s season after joining the club as first-team coach.
Davidson will link up with head coach Stevie Crawford, whom he played alongside at national level, and assistant Greg Shields in the East End Park dugout on a deal until the end of the season after vacating a similar role at Stoke City last month.
The former St Johnstone number two and Scotland coach is hoping his expertise can help Crawford revive the Pars after the Fife outfit were pulled to within two points of the Championship relegation zone ahead of today’s visit of Inverness.
Davidson, who joins a club still searching for their first win under Crawford since he replaced Allan Johnston on January 10, said: “I got a phone call from Stevie last week. We did our pro licence together and I played with him back in the day.
“He told me there was an opportunity to come in and I spoke to him about it and was quite excited.
“It’s that time of year, it’s crunch time and it’s why you play football, pressure football – it’s brilliant.
“There will probably be no meaningless games between now and the end of the season and we will be putting everything in to trying to win every game and getting back up that league.”
Former Saints, Blackburn, Leicester and Preston left-back Davidson, who spent five years as Tommy Wright’s number two at McDiarmid Park, added: “You always learn from experiences, you learn different things at different levels.
“St Johnstone, Scotland and Stoke are all different levels and it’s something I can hopefully bring to the table here to help Stevie – and fingers crossed we can get some good results and start pushing up the league.”
Meanwhile Pars striker Bruce Anderson admits he is being looked after by landlord Faissal El Bakhtaoui off the pitch and learning from the Frenchman on it.
The on-loan Aberdeen youngster, who joined on deadline day, is staying with El Bakhtaoui during his temporary spell at East End Park.
The two also formed Dunfermline’s attack in the recent 2-1 defeat to leaders Ross County on what was a bittersweet afternoon for Anderson after he netted a debut goal.
The 20-year-old hopes his relationship with the on-loan Dundee marksman can help him in his quest to force his way into Dons manager Derek McInnes’ plans.
Speaking ahead of today’s visit of Inverness, Anderson, who has scored two goals in 17 appearances for his parent club, said: “I’ve settled in very quickly, I’m living with El Bakhtaoui and he has welcomed me and is looking after me. All the boys have been brilliant with me since the first day. I’m settled in and it feels like I’ve been here for a while.
“Faiss has been very good with me since I’ve been in. He took me under his wing, looking after me and is making sure I’m all right. I’ve no complaints with how he’s been treating me.
“Living with him and learning off him, it will only be good for me.
“He does all the cooking, I’m not quite up to scratch yet. He does all these fancy foods, I leave him to it and I just enjoy it.
“I’ll learn from everybody here, including him, and hopefully myself and Faiss can build up a partnership.
“We played alongside each other for the first time against County and I really enjoyed it and feel like we’ve got an instant connection there.”