The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
McPake looks for star defender to kick on
Manager delighted with free transfer despite being hampered by hand injury
There is more to come from star defender Jordan McGhee at Dens Park says Dundee boss James McPake.
The former Hearts defender proved an excellent capture last summer and was named Players’ Player of the Year after a superb first season.
McGhee was a regular standout even when things weren’t going so well for the team.
On top of that, the 23-year-old played much of last season with a broken hand after putting off an operation until after Christmas.
“Jordan McGhee has been fantastic,” said McPake.
“Bear in mind this is a relatively young lad and he played the whole season injured. People will play it down because it was an injury to his hand but it restricted him.
“He put off the operation to play for the football club and that’s the kind of character we want.
“He missed the last game against Ayr after getting injured on the Saturday but he was desperate to play and we had to make that call.
“He’s one who will play when he shouldn’t.”
Picked up on a free transfer after leaving relegated Falkirk, McGhee featured 30 times for the Dark Blues last season.
Having been used as a right-back by the Bairns, the defender has shown he is adept at playing all across the backline in his time at Dens.
He also popped up with a couple of goals, scoring twice in three games – bagging a winner against Alloa before gaining a point with a header at Queen of the South.
After sealing the Players’ Player gong, McGhee ended up tied with Paul McGowan for the Andrew De Vries trophy, voted for by Dundee fan groups.
In the tie-breaker, McGowan came out on top but, to come so close to two big club awards, shows how impressive McGhee was last season, according to his boss.
“I was delighted for him to receive the Players’ Player of the Year award – that’s as important an award as any,” said McPake.
“It’s your fellow players who vote for you so for him to pick that up certainly shows what our team think of him.
“And to go so close to the Player of the Year award shows what the fans think of him as well.”
McPake played against the versatile defender early in his career at Tynecastle and reveals that, although he knew he was getting a good player, the Dens boss was pleasantly surprised McGhee exceeded expectations in his debut season at the club.
McPake added: “He was excellent all season. He’s great to work with and he’s everything we thought we were getting and actually a bit more.
“He has so much more to give and he’ll agree with that. He’s always wanting to learn and we are delighted we’ve got him.”
Dunfermline chairman Ross McArthur insists he was left with “no other option” but to take the “horrendous” step of releasing 17 players because of the ongoing uncertainty hanging over Scottish football.
The Pars became the first club to announce major lay-offs when they told all squad members whose contracts expire in the coming days that they will not be getting new deals.
The list includes skipper Paul Paton, vice-captain Lee Ashcroft, former Celtic midfielder Joe Thomson, keeper Ryan Scully and ex-Inverness Caley Thistle defender Danny Devine, as well as strikers Andy Ryan and Callum Smith, and midfielder Tom Beadling.
The Fifers have previously predicted huge financial challenges ahead and supporters have rallied to raise more than £50,000.
But with a lack of clarity over when and how next season will kickoff amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis, the Fifers have decided they simply cannot offer fresh terms to any player at this time.
A statement insisted this was to “protect the future of the club”, which only seven years ago was plunged into administration with debts approaching £10 million before being saved by a fan-led consortium.
The move leaves manager Stevie Crawford with just 12 first-team players on the books for next term, including striker Kevin Nisbet, who was previously wanted by Hibs and Dundee United, Ryan Dow and Euan Murray, as well as a host of less-experienced youngsters.
McArthur insists the East End Park outfit considered signing players on short-term extensions and making further use of the government’s furlough scheme, in line with calls from PFA Scotland, but decided against it after taking professional advice.
“It was horrendous coming to this decision,” he commented.
“That’s the worst part of managing a business, when you have to tell people you have to let them go.
“It’s not just the players, it’s the families, some of whom you know, and there’s young boys who have got their careers ahead of them.
“I spoke to the manager after the calls he made and it’s not nice. It’s horrible situations like that.
“But, at the same time, I’ve got the responsibility to make what I feel is the right decision for the football club, to protect Dunfermline Athletic going forward.
“At the moment, there is just so much uncertainty.
“There’s no clarity about when we will be playing football next season and I’ve got to cut costs until I know when we’re going to start getting income again.
“We’ve not had any income since March. There are support mechanisms we’ve managed to utilise, but we don’t know when we’re going to get income into the business.
“So, I have no other option than to try to reduce costs further, and once we start to get some degree of certainty, over the coming weeks or months, then we can start signing players and getting them ready for pre-season.
“But, at the moment, we don’t even know when we’re going to be starting.
“People ask me, as Dunfermline Athletic chairman or as someone on the SPFL board, when this or that’s going to happen, but I don’t know because the government doesn’t know.
“So, we’ve got to manage the business at the moment based on the worst-case scenario and try to hope we get more clarity.
“I’ve told the manager, ‘I can’t give you a budget for players, because I can’t put together a budget for the club at the moment’.”
The 17 players released are: Lee Ashcroft, Tom Beadling, Danny Devine, Paul Paton, Ryan Scully, Joe Thomson, Andy Ryan, Callum Smith, Stuart Morrison, Gregor Jordan, Scott Cusick, Cammy Graham, Lewis Sawers, Josh Robertson, Lewis Crosbie, Craig Burt and Paul Brown.
He put off the operation to play for the football club and that’s the kind of character we want. JAMES MCPAKE