NEWS: We deserved more says Dark Blues boss McPake

[News Bot]

Dundee boss James McPake says his side “deserved more” from their trip to Arbroath after their run without a win extended to four matches.

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[Cobra]

I would have thought we were quite lucky that our one shot on target went in and only one of Arbroath's five found the back of the net.

[RossBFD]

It's almost like I turned up at the wrong game on Saturday. Granted, we had a good few chances near the end that could've sealed it, but we were completely outmatched until Gowser came on.

[CW 90+3 02/05/16]

I thought we were lucky to get a point and Arbroath were the better hungrier team.

We could have nicked it late on though.

[Huggs66]

Its Like baby steps, 1 up front not working, 12 games to realise this ??, put 2 up front and don't realise how we feed 2 up front instead of 1, we then put Gowser on the park where he then changes the shape of the game. It will be half a dozen games of not learning from this before the penny drops.

Struggling to learn that Meekings alongside Forster is a train wreck, compounded by playing Mackie in at left back - "Disaster"

Struggling to learn that playing Dorrans so deep is not playing to his strengths, possibly because he is paranoid of the weakness in the CH position

Struggling to learn that Todd is not the player that McIntyre thought he was.

Only beginning to learn that Ness is only a 30 minute man, anything longer will result in weeks on the injury table.

I appreciate that many others will have a different slant on things, however it is evident that we have a manager who is not seeing what the majority of the fans are seeing from the Terrace.

I do not know where our next victory is going to come from with the current set up.

[RossBFD]

Aside from the first derby of the season, which was a freak result, and I suppose the Partick collapse, we don't get hammered by teams. We are always shaky as f**k in defense, not conceding too much but enough for us to desperately need to rely on the forwards converting the slim pickings they receive in order to even keep us in games. Too often this season (end of Aberdeen LC game, late 1st half of 6-2 derby, end of Partick game, goal from Ayr, Morton equaliser, end of QotS game) our goals have been conceded from a lack of attention, and once something major happens we seem to just switch off and give the opposition free reign to slip balls past us. The issues aren't necessarily skill ones (though with some players like Mackie and perhaps Forster that is the case), but mental ones. You have to believe these mental issues stem from the negative tactics they are given, as well as the players' own complacency. Of course, the negative reception from the fans also will have an impact on this, but I think that's more part of the downward spiral rather than a cause of it.

If this team is going to improve this season under McPake, I think he needs to improve his attitude. Every time I see pictures of him, he's always got his hands in his pockets with his head down, no fight within him. I'm sure it's there, but I feel he really needs to show it. The team has no fight at the moment, they're going through the motions. You think Dick Campbell would stand for that? f**k no! He'd scream at them to wake up and do their f**cking jobs. I feel McPake needs to instill that passion in himself and the team. Jimmy 'sit n' do f**k all' Nicholl isn't helping attitude-wise, so Jazza needs to coax the fire. Everything is negative right now, and at some point he needs to say 'screw this' and not be so nice, complimenting the opponent at every chance. Respect is good, but to do this job in this position requires a bit of fight and a bit of pride, I feel. Make yourself and the team believe "We're better than you and we're going to show it to you".

For Dunfermline, I'd keep largely the same squad, except replacing Byrne with McGowan (and obviously Marshall for Mackie if he's fit). You could see a clear improvement with Gowser on, and the team flows better with him in it, and he allows for faster passing and a quicker tempo. They need to keep that flow consistent throughout an entire game, and give the opponent as little room as possible. If we can do that, as well as limit the amount of counters we give up (as QotS and Arbroath were countering for fun), then we might start to see improvement.

In short, McPake needs to give himself a right kick up the a**e, give the squad a reason to fight for him rather than looking down at his shoes.

[Barryboy]

1 hour ago, rossbatchelor9 said:

In short, McPake needs to give himself a right kick up the a**e, give the squad a reason to fight for him rather than looking down at his shoes.

Agreed..Compare him to Drunken Duncan's performance at Goodison...That gave the players and the fans a tremendous lift..