Boss hails midfielder as ‘leader’ after picking up player of year award

Dundee Player of the Year Paul Mcgowan epitomises everything fans want see in a player according to Dens boss James Mcpake.

The Dark Blues gaffer was full of praise for his former team-mate after the crafty midfielder was awarded the prize for 2019/20 – in his sixth season at the club.

Mcgowan, often a contender for the Andrew De Vries Trophy, joins Scott Bain, Kane Hemmings, Nathan Ralph, Cammy Kerr and Glen Kamara among others on the winners list after just edging out Jordan Mcghee in the voting among fans.

And Mcpake insists the honour is more than deserved.

He told Courier Sport: “Paul Mcgowan has been consistent for six seasons now and very rarely gets injured. More than 200 games and it’s not just that, it’s what you get from him in training.

“People will see him from the stand and you see the demands he puts on his team-mates, he’s like that in training and was like that when I played with him.

“He is an absolute joy to coach because he’s still, even now, wanting to learn.

“Under every manager he has played to a very high standard, he’s a real winner and I am surprised he hadn’t won the award before but there has been real quality at the club and Gowser has been there or thereabouts for the awards.”

He added: “He’s a fans’ favourite because of the way he applies himself in every game, they see probably a bit of themselves, the passionate fan in Paul Mcgowan.

“Screaming at his team-mates to be better, to raise the tempo, to do things differently – fans maybe see a bit of him in them. They have the passion and desire to do well for the club and he epitomises that. I think that’s why they took to him right away.

“I am delighted for him, he’s still very fit and he’ll be looking to add to the games he has played for this football club.

“I know he still believes there is a lot more football in Paul Mcgowan and I think he’s had another excellent season.”

The duo arrived at Dens as players in the summer of 2014 and became firm friends, driving up to Dundee from Glasgow every day.

Now Mcgowan’s boss, Mcpake admits their relationship has changed somewhat from the days when he’d be on the receiving end of a regular verbal volley on the park.

“If there were three people around him