MONEY IN THE BLANK
McPake: Bonus row won’t distract us
JAMES McPAKE insists the Dundee players will not be distracted by their off-field dispute over win bonuses.
Talks between the squad and Dark Blues managing director John Nelms aimed at thrashing out a deal have reached an impasse.
The deadlock comes with Dundee sitting bottom of the Premiership without a win in the league so far this season.
However, manager McPake is adamant his players’ focus is on beating Aberdeen at Dens on Saturday – not what their win bonus will be if they do so.
The 37-year-old former Hibs skipper said: “This has happened at every single club I have been at and it will continue to happen.
“What I can say about the players is that I haven’t seen any poor reactions or bad feeling about the place.
“The bonus will have nothing to do with what happens on Saturday,
performance wise.
“It has had nothing to do with how they have performed in training because they have been excellent.
“It will be fixed but as I said, I have been there myself as a player and it is not going to affect the way the lads approach Saturday’s game.” McPake, who also starred for Coventry during his playing days, is certain the bonus situation will be sorted out sooner rather than later. The former defender said: “They will know roughly what will be resolved and what they will get. It is dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s. It is at that stage. You know there are ballpark figures at every club.
“Yes, as a captain you always wanted it done before the first game of the season but it never did as far as I can remember in Scotland. It seemed to be different in England for some reason.
“It is a negotiation thing and that’s where your senior players come to the fore. The club have always been fair here and it will get sorted. It is not a distraction – they just want to win football games.” Meanwhile, McPake played down the chances of Kevin McDonald becoming a Dundee player once more.
The 32-year-old started his career at Dens before moving to England to play for Burnley, Sheffield United, Wolves and Fulham.
The former Scotland midfielder had a kidney transplant in May but was back training with Dundee earlier this week.
However, McPake would not be drawn on whether there was a chance that McDonald could return to Dens on a permanent basis.
He added: “It was great to see Kevin and we are delighted with how well he is getting on. He trained on Monday and now I think he is back down south.
“The last conversation I had with him was that he would give me a call the next time he is up. What we are dealing with here is an individual who is battling back from a serious health issue, so let’s just focus on that.”
The bonus will have nothing to do with what happens on Saturday JAMES McPAKE SAYS HIS PLAYERS ARE COMMITTED