Dundee’s latest trialist Graham Bayne swapped the press box for the football pitch … and he couldn’t have been happier.
The last time this writer spoke to Bayne, he was sitting scribbling away in his notebook at the back of the Dens Park stand the next time it was after he had done his best to liven up a drab goalless draw between the Dark Blues and Partick Thistle at Firhill.
Bayne had not played since turning out for Dunfermline against Ayr United on December 5, 2009, and has gone through injury turmoil after suffering from tendon trouble in his foot. An operation failed to cure his condition of plantar fasciitis and he was told to rest and hope the pain receded.
It has now done so and he felt able to answer the call from manager Barry Smith to help out his former club, even if it meant putting down his pen and paper.
Given the length of his time on the sidelines, Bayne would have been forgiven had he feared for his future in the game but he insists that at no time did he consider quitting.
“There was one report when I succumbed to the injury saying that was it for me but that was never the case,” he said. “I was out of contract at the end of May 2010 but Dunfermline extended my contract to the end of August to give me a chance to recover after surgery.
“I would like to thank Dunfermline, who have been unbelievable to me. They have looked after me and I have so much gratitude towards them.
“I had hoped that the operation would allow me to get back that summer but the injury came back again. Since then, I have been doing things like the media work and coaching kids in Fife so that has kept me going.”JuggleHe continued, “I can play three games as a trialist and Barry is trying to juggle things around to see what games he needs cover for. So I will just see how it goes from here.”
That Bayne had such a pleasant tale to tell was lucky for his former colleagues in the press pack because there was little else to write home about.
This was a really poor game played out on a dreadful surface. You do prefer to give the benefit of the doubt to teams when the pitch resembles a dustbowl, but the surface only excused some of the mistakes.
At least Dundee march on with their unbeaten league run now standing at 18 matches, and manager Smith said, “It wasn’t a great game but it was a hard-earned point for us. The pitch made it difficult, but it was the same for both sides and right to the end my players were throwing themselves into it.”
Jags boss Ian McCall has had to work on a shoestring this season and had a dig at administration-hit Dundee for dining out before making their way to Maryhill.
“It is nice that Dundee can afford to go for a pre-match meal because we can’t,” he said. “I feel sympathy for Chis (sacked Dens boss Gordon Chisholm) and the boys that lost their jobs, but two of their players earn as much as 10 of ours.”