Aberdeen boss Jimmy Calderwood revealed the sympathy he has for Gretna's plight is partly due to his own brush with the dreaded administrators.The Dons are scheduled to play Gretna on Saturday but the game is in serious doubt as the crisis-stricken Borders club teeter on the blink of extinction.

Gretna are currently without the cash required to fulfil this weekend's fixture and it appears unlikely they will be able to raise a team for the scheduled SPL match at Pittodrie.

Calderwood has first-hand experience of a football club being involved in serious financial problems as, in February 2004 when manager at Dunfermline the Fifers called in accountants Deloitte & Touche to stave off administration.

Players and staff took significant pay-cuts to continue to existence of the East End Park club.

At the time Dunfermline were perilously close to the £2.7million ceiling on their overdraft facility with Halifax Bank of Scotland and Calderwood remembers it being a particularly difficult time.

"At Dunfermline we had to make major cuts in wages to deal with a debt that had occurred," he said.

"We had a wonderful group of players and they accepted what was, on average, probably a 20% cut in their wages.

"It was a massive disappointment for a lot of players and also for the management."

Calderwood accepted Dunfermline were never in the same position as Gretna, where the withdrawal of sole financial backer Brooks Mileson's funding has left the Black and Whites facing oblivion.

A change to the wage structure was enough to ease Dunfermline away from their troubles.

Somewhat ironically, Calderwood believes the Pars' problems actually ended up benefiting the club in one respect.

Dunfermline went on to have a memorable season, finishing in the upper reaches of the top flight and reaching the Scottish Cup final where they were beaten by Celtic.

Calderwood was delighted at the way his squad at Dunfermline dealt with the drop in their salaries, saying: "All credit to that group of players because they accepted it.

"Everybody reacts differently but they were very positive about the situation and it showed in how they played.

"It hurt but it galvanised us. We went on to finish fourth top of the league, got into Europe and lost in the cup final to Celtic."

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