Very strange and risky too

Not for the first time, and not for the last, the sentence “It’s never dull at Dens Park” springs to mind.

The timing of James Mcpake’s sacking is very strange – and very risky.

I know there have been plenty of Dundee fans calling for change for a while.

And Tim Keyes and John Nelms have backed James when other clubs would have acted differently.

There have been a few occasions when it has felt like he was on the brink.

But the fact he won his last league game at Tynecastle last Wednesday shows you the dressingroom was still behind him.

Some people will try to say Dundee were lucky that night and it was down to Hearts playing poorly, but you can’t diminish a victory at one of the toughest grounds in the country.

But Dundee are probably in a relegation battle for the rest of the season and the fact that Mcpake’s players were still up for the fight means this is a real gamble.

The other part of the gamble is that the new man won’t have a transfer window. He’s going to have to sink or swim with another manager’s squad. Picking up the odd free agent is as much as he’ll be able to do.

It was about this stage last season that Kilmarnock appointed Tommy Wright.

Tommy has a wealth of experience in the Premiership but even he couldn’t turn things around with a squad he inherited.

For James, it won’t feel like it just now, but the timing may end up working in his favour.

He’s got a promotion on his CV in his first

management job and when he was sacked it was on the back of winning a big league game to take his team off the bottom of the league.

And he also left with them in the Scottish Cup quarter-finals.

Dundee took a chance on appointing someone unproven from within.

James can leave with his head held high, knowing the first team is in a better place than when he took over.

• The Arbroath boys all enjoyed the Scottish Cup spotlight on Sunday.

It was a great day, which the town really embraced.

To have more home fans than away supporters in the ground when a big club like Hibs are visiting is

something to be really proud of.

If we’d scored a second goal when we were 1-0 up, who knows, it could have been ourselves in the hat for the last eight draw. Credit to Hibs, though. They turned up with the right attitude and got the job done. However that comes about is all that matters in a cup tie.

For us, the cup party is over. It’s about getting back into a rhythm of winning league games.

We’ve got the long trip to Dumfries this weekend and a change of manager always brings a bit of uncertainty.

Wullie Gibson knows Queen of the South and the players inside out and they’ll be fired up.

Fond farewell as James Mcpake bows out.