ANYTHING BUT FUN
McPake is relishing Dens job... but not enjoying it!
JAMES McPAKE is remembering the one and only match day where he achieved something close to managerial bliss: ‘Alloa, 10 minutes to go. Actually, make that five minutes to go. I thought: “Right, we’re not going to concede four here”. It felt great.’
Five minutes in six months doesn’t seem like a particularly good pleasure-to-toil ratio but the Dundee boss knew exactly what he was signing up for back in May as he accepted the challenge of succeeding Jim McIntyre following Premiership relegation.
‘I don’t know how comfortable anyone is in the job,’ he says. ‘There is a lot on you — fans want you to do well and the staff are desperate too.
‘I don’t know if I will ever get to a point where I enjoy standing out there during a game.
‘I didn’t as a player. I don’t know if that was because, as a defender, there was always a worry that something would go wrong.’
Still only 35, McPake played out the final years of his career at Dundee before injury forced his early retirement and a move into youth coaching. As such, he was well versed on how tough a crowd the Dens Park natives can be.
Yet last Saturday offered something different. At 4-1 up against 10-man Dunfermline, Dundee were cruising. And then the booing started.
As his team held on for a 4-3 win that ended a three-game losing
streak, that serene 3-0
Even when we are winning I feel we should be doing better. But that’s me
October victory at the Indodrill Stadium felt like a lifetime ago.
‘I came out pretty emotional in the press and it looked as if I was gutted, he reflects. ‘It reminded me of how I responded to beating Falkirk in the Scottish Cup semi-final with Hibs. Same scoreline, same reaction.
‘But that’s me. Even when we’re winning, I feel we should do better.
‘As a manager you never get away from the negatives. I was worried because we’d been on a bad run. We’d lost three games in a row and I know that isn’t good enough.’
An ability to overcome adversity has shaped McPake’s career. As a youth player at Livingston he sustained a serious injury and later underwent back and knee surgery as he progressed through spells at Coventry, Hibs and Dundee.
Such was the price for his on-field bravery. To watch McPake throw himself into a 30-70 challenge could be an eye-wincing experience but he never found any of the treatment, surgery or rehab a cause for despair.
‘There are people out there with illnesses going through a lot worse and I can speak through experience because it happened to my dad,’ he continued. ‘The worst that happens in football is that you are going to get beat or get injured.
‘As footballers we’re fortunate as we get the best of treatment. The surgeon who did my back also operated on Tiger Woods. Yes, I think I could have done better had I stayed fit — particularly at Coventry — but you need to put things in context.
‘I was always able to do that. Every day I was just trying to get my knee better. It was never life-threatening. I never looked at it as anything other than a part of the job.’
Now, the pressures are different. The struggles on match day are real but there is another matter hanging over his head.
In February, McPake and Forfar defender Gary Irvine face trial over charges relating to an incident in a Dundee bar in October. Both have submitted pleas of not guilty.
McPake is not at liberty to discuss the matter but he has been leaning on a strong and seasoned support network. First-team coach Dave Mackay is his most trusted ally.
And in Jimmy Nicholl he has an assistant with a reservoir of coaching and managerial experience at all levels of the game.
He views the presence of Gordon Strachan at the club as another blessing. Strachan returned to Dens with a remit to overhaul the club’s academy structure but has made himself readily available.
‘It would be madness to close myself off,’ continues McPake. ‘I don’t feel comfortable enough to do that. Jimmy is still the Northern Ireland assistant. I’ve known Dave for 15 years. And look at where Gordon has worked — English
Premier League, Celtic, Scotland. I’m never too afraid to ask for help and I’d be a fool not to use Gordon’s experience. I speak to him daily.’
When Strachan managed Celtic, he occasionally railed against shock jocks and radio phone-ins for distorting the debate around the game.
Since then the advent of social media has warped the landscape further. McPake’s former Hibs colleague Lewis Stevenson spoke out last week to claim that he would advise young players against having any social-media presence.
McPake approves of the sentiment but knows the reality is that most young people are irreversibly tethered to their smartphones.
‘I played at the time social media took off and you didn’t need to look far to get abused,’ he notes.
‘I think I am thick-skinned. You need to be able to take the emotion out of it and see it for what it is.
‘We are in a privileged position, doing a job everyone wants to do. You need to be able take the criticism that comes with that.
‘But anybody who says it doesn’t get to them at all is lying. It’s about how we deal with that.’
Barbs will inevitably fly in the lead-up to Friday’s Dundee derby at Tannadice, a fixture that has troubled McPake’s team this term.
Beaten 6-2 back in August, Dundee also lost the return to the Championship leaders at Dens.
The six points have been useful in opening the 17-point gap that separates the neighbours. ‘The derbies have been disappointing but they are great games,’ adds McPake. ‘Friday games are great if you win but it’s a long weekend if you don’t — especially in a derby.
‘It’d be wrong to come out and say our aim is to catch them. Ultimately our aim is to get back to the Premiership. We’re realistic, we know how early this is in the process.
‘We have had 12 new players in, numerous players have gone out. It’s taken longer than we’d hoped but not longer than we imagined.
‘It was always going to be a big transition.’
McPake feels pressure but enjoys a strong working relationship with managing director John Nelms and owner Tim Keyes.
‘I know results will ultimately dictate what happens but look at Hibs, United, Rangers. They all found it tough to get out of this league at the first attempt,’ he says.
‘We’ve gone from a team that wanted to get a few results to stay up to being a team that needs to win every week. That’s a tough transition in itself but I think we are doing it. I think people can see the signs. At times, we have been very good.
‘It’s not been often enough for anyone’s liking. We know that. But we fully believe, we know, we will get it right.’
His view is backed up by the manager of the month award he picked up for a decent set of results in October.
The team’s November downturn increased the pressure but a win on Friday will go a long way towards silencing the doubters.
In the build-up he’ll seek counsel from the club’s technical director.
‘Gordon has lived it,’ adds McPake, a smile creeping onto his face. ‘Now that you mention it I’m going to ask him if he ever enjoyed standing out there, see if there’s any chance I might get there myself…’