GREG Shields reckons it"s time for the old guard to make way for the youngsters at East End after agreeing to play his football in the USA.

The 32-year-old is about to sign a two-and-a-half year deal with Carolina Railhawks after- bringing to an end his second stint at the Pars.

Shields said, 'I"ve not signed for this team yet but things will probably be tied up next week.

'That"s me finished at Dunfermline now and I"m unemployed as of 31st May.

'It"s sad. It"s been seven and a half years I"ve spent at Dunfermline, the longest part of my career, and the club"s been great to me.

'Myself, my wife and kids, my parents, we"re all Dunfermline supporters now, which shows you what it meant to us and how much I"ve enjoyed it.' Scott Thomson and Scott Wilson have also left the club this summer - there"s more than 25 years experience at the Pars between the trio - and Shields reckons the time was right.

'Sometimes you think, "Maybe I"ve been at Dunfermline long enough" and it"s time to move on and let the younger ones come through.

'I"ve never wanted to stand in their way and with the two Scotts leaving too, maybe it needs a change.

'They maybe won"t have players with our attitude, in the sense the three of us support Dunfermline, but players like Adam Hammill and Jim O"Brien gave us some spark before.

'I hope that"s what happens but it"s the right time for me to leave.' His new club have a Scottish manager called Martin Rennie, they"re currently top of the USL1 and their season continues until September.

Shields plans to head out in June and start playing in July when the transfer window in the States allows.

And he"s been given the chance to "do a Beckham" as his American club has said he can come back and play on loan when the season in the States is over.

The former England captain is on loan at AC Milan from LA Galaxy and Shields laughed, 'Yes, it"s the same idea but on a smaller scale I"d imagine!

'I can come back in October when the season finishes and they"ve said I can go on loan.

'I"ll see what happens.' A perma-tanned former colleague - it wasn"t Jimmy Calderwood - helped persuade Shields to make the switch while some typical Scottish weather made him feel at home.

''Paul Ritchie (ex-Hearts and Rangers) is there but he looks completely different as he"s totally tanned now,' he said.

'I hardly recognised him but I had a chat with him and he"s loving it!

'It was Richard Huxford (ex-Pars man and Carolina"s fitness coach) that said to me about the move and the manager took it from there. 'I"ve watched the team, although the match was delayed for 90 minutes because of a thunderstorm, and it"s a completely different style. It"s much slower and the standard is probably similar to Dunfermline but I think I"ll enjoy it.' Shields and his wife Lorraine flew to North Carolina earlier this month and, all going to plan, the whole family will move to the States next year. 'Dunfermline knew it was a good opportunity and were good enough to let me go and see what I thought,' he said. 'North Carolina is really nice, beautiful in fact.

There"s lots of golf courses, the facilities are great and the football pitches are perfect.

'It"s a bit like Scotland, but warmer!' Shields reflected on his time with the Pars and said he"d plenty of happy memories, such as leading Pars out for a Hampden final and playing in Europe.

But he recalled, 'I came from Rangers in 1998, a big club with exceptional players, but because they attacked so much they didn"t really work on the defensive side of the game.

'Dick Campbell must have been horrified I was so raw but they worked with me and made me a better player. I can"t thank them enough for that.' 'Probably my best season was 2005-06 under Jim Leishman and I really enjoyed it.

'We got to the CIS Cup final, which was brilliant although we lost 3-0 to Celtic, and you think that"s it but we were back the next season for the Scottish Cup final.' He continued, 'I"ve had good managers here, Jimmy Calderwood, Leish, Davie Hay, Stephen Kenny and Jim McIntyre and I"ve learned from every single one of them.

'I still keep in touch with some of them.

I"ve played 250-odd games for Dunfermline and like to think I"ve played my bloody hardest.

I"ve not played well in all of them but I"ve played my part in getting the club into Europe and into cup finals.

'My biggest regret was getting relegated and not being able to help get us back to the SPL.

'We feel we"re an SPL side and it"s not happened for the last two years, which is really disappointing, but Dunfermline"s time will come again.

'I just hope it"s next season.' Shields had words of praise for the fans, the club and manager Jim McIntyre.

'He"s been brilliant with me,' he said. 'I was honest from the start about this and he was great, disappointed I was going but there was nothing he could have done about it.

'I"ve enjoyed working with him.' McIntyre said, 'He"s been a fantastic player for Dunfermline.

'Greg"s been a bit unlucky with injuries in the last couple of years but he"s done great for me.

'I"ve always thought, the way he lived his life on and off the pitch, that he was a model pro and he"s got a chance of something completely new for him and his family.

'He"s decided to take it on and I wish him well.'