It’s been some journey for James and I... but now it’s all about getting that derby win
Once teenage team-mates, Courts and McPake will line up in opposite dugouts as Tayside rivals do battle
AS TEENAGE starlets at Livingston, Tam Courts and James McPake shared a dressing-room and a dream. A combination of rejection, luck and injury would force their paths to diverge before ultimately bringing them to within a street length of each other in the City of Discovery.
As the respective managers of Dundee United and Dundee they will today lock horns for the first time as the Tayside derby makes a welcome return to the Premiership calendar.
The elder by three years, it was Courts who enjoyed senior status over McPake back in those early days, yet it’s he who takes on the role of rookie as he prepares to manage in his first derby.
‘James was a wee bit younger than me,’ reflects Courts. ‘He was a young, burly, athletic and very quick striker, who was quite shy and innocent! It’s interesting to see how our career paths have gone in different directions since then.
‘And now we are going to be in opposite dug-outs on Sunday — it’s quite an interesting journey.’
A belt-and-braces defender, Courts made his debut for Livingston’s first team in 1999 but found his pathway blocked by the club’s aggressive policy of signing experienced players as it climbed to the top flight under the stewardship of chairman Dominic Keane.
After a handful of appearances, he was released in 2002, just as the club started to reckon with its spending excess and changed tack.
Yet his comparative youth gave McPake only a partial advantage. Regarded by Keane as a shining light within the club’s youth system, he was groomed as a break-out star until he suffered a broken leg in a Youth Cup tie against Celtic.
The injury not only set him back for the duration of his recovery but robbed him of some of the explosiveness that had marked him out for stardom.
Still good enough to progress to the first team, he would score the first goal of Richard Gough’s short managerial reign and it was under the former Rangers captain and his assistant Archie Knox that he was first remodelled as a centre-back.
Brave and aggressive, McPake excelled in his new role as a defender and became a mainstay under John Robertson before earning a transfer to Coventry City.
Later, he would return north to captain Hibs and Dundee and was capped by Northern Ireland.
Courts, meanwhile, dropped into Junior football and was appointed player/manager of Kelty Hearts at the age of 32. After leading the club to promotion to the Lowland League, he quit just a few months later in October 2018.
An opportunity to join Dundee United’s youth academy as head of tactical performance opened up just over a year later and he was subsequently fast-tracked to the manager’s office after the summer departure of Micky Mellon.
McPake had been even quicker into management. A serious knee injury sustained in a Dundee derby win in January 2016 would ultimately force him to retire and, after initially being encouraged into a youth coaching role by Paul Hartley, he would claim the top job in 2019.
Courts has watched his old colleague’s journey from afar and, although their paths have seldom crossed, he recounts one memorable meeting when they reflected at length on their respective journeys.
‘We were on a Pro Licence study day and Andre Villas Boas was
presenting,’ he recalls. ‘The SFA invited me along and James was part of the cohort. We actually spent a bit of time just catching up because it was the first time we had really been in each other’s company since those days at Livingston.
‘James was a forward player with a lot of potential. I remember his personality and the way he played the game— he was a very direct striker who could obviously handle himself. And I remember the series of injuries that kind of set him back.
‘As I left Livingston, the club went in a different direction and started to offer young players an opportunity. So James was in the right place at
the right time for that and managed to kick-start his career.
‘As with any professional who goes into management, you understand the challenges that football brings and injuries are a pitfall of a player’s career.
‘You have to adapt, evolve and deal with that. James has done that.’
Appointed as Jim McIntyre’s successor in the wake of Dundee’s relegation, McPake achieved promotion at the second attempt courtesy of last summer’s play-off wins over Kilmarnock.
He’s still searching for his first Premiership victory of the season but Courts has no interest in helping him out.
A landmark win over Rangers in August has helped United to a good start but Courts knows the jury remains out on his credentials. A win over the neighbours would do his standing no harm at all.
‘The key thing for me is to try to enjoy this experience and you only do that if you actually win the game,’ he says. ‘I have been at the club for the last couple of years, so I saw our 6-2 victory and us winning at Dens.
‘I have witnessed this group of players be successful, not only against Dundee but in being promoted and consolidating in the Premiership. We have had a solid start to the season and we feel it is a really exciting challenge at a good time for this team.’
McPake attempted a little mind games earlier in the week by highlighting how Courts had never faced a selection dilemma such as the one he must confront over whether to play Benjamin Siegrist or Trevor Carson in goal today.
The United boss handled that with aplomb by accentuating what a luxury it was to have such depth in a key position. Yet he is also capable of displaying a little steel, too.
While McPake has vowed to uphold Dundee’s pre-match ritual of walking along Sandeman Street towards Tannadice, Courts does not expect to share a refreshment with his rival after the game.
‘These days, the Covid regulations prevent that,’ he adds. ‘It’s probably difficult now for managers to communicate on game days.
‘Equally, a highly-charged affair like a derby is not your run-of-themill game.
‘You are not going to want to spend time together because one of you will be happy and the other unhappy. I hope that’s going to be him.’