Manager post FC Edinburgh
Saturday, 15th Oct 202215/10/22: link to James McPake`s post match comments
- - Listen to this James McPake interview
"I am delighted for the group of players in there that they got what they deserved out that game. I thought they were excellent. They really were, really patient at times - they had to be. It`s a big three points."
A good performance from Sam Fisher and a goal from his shot?
"I know Sam, I know what he`s like. He`s claiming the goal and I`m happy to give him it. I think as a team we were excellent throughout the full game and thoroughly deserved to win that game."
Second half subs Lewis McCann and Craig Wighton made an impact as well?
"We spoke through the week about Lewis and what he can do - and Craig is coming back to a level where I think he`s starting to look sharp. What a luxury to be able to bring subs like that on. They were always going to feature at some point and come on in the hope that they can do it.
“I think it`s credit to our club and credit to our players that teams are coming here and playing the way they are playing, if I`m honest. The teams that have caused us bother here have been Airdrie and Falkirk. Peterhead came away with a point but it was a travesty that day, really. It was a smash-and-grab.
“FC Edinburgh have won four of their last five away games, they`ve scored 15 goals in those games - I think they`ve scored as many goals away from home as we`ve scored. To come and sit in the way they did shows huge respect, I believe, to our players and our football club. We expect that when teams come here now - we`re working on ways to deal with it and we`ll continue to do that. That`s what teams are going to do, so we need to be patient, the staff - the fans are patient and they get behind us. If that game had finished 0-0 it would have been a travesty today.”
Did their play surprise you?
"It did. We know the stats, we look at it - and it did surprise me. As I said at Alloa last week, it`s not my place to stand and decide how a team comes - I take it as a compliment to the players that they came and did that. But they had a chance to go five points clear at the top of the league if that`s their aim.
“It shows what they think of our players. Maybe that goes back to the game at Meadowbank, but we were at our best that day. We would have done that to any team that day. I was surprised. Late on with 10 minutes to go, it was like they had about 15 players on the pitch at one point. It looked like that because they were everywhere. To be fair, they nearly went away with a point and we`d have been devastated. I think everyone watching that game would have thought `wow`.
“In the end you normally do get what you deserve. We weren`t great against Peterhead and that`s why that came back to haunt us. We certainly got what we deserved today which was all three points - and I thought for 1-0 it was a really good performance. But we`ve got to be patient, particularly here. If teams are going to come and sit in then we`ve got to work on it - how to break them down. We`ll continue to do that and if that`s what teams want to do then fair enough. But you can bet that your Falkirks and Airdrie won`t do that because they came and caused us problems."
What was it like for you watching on?
"I think there`s a bit of pride in that because you know that they respect your players. It`s frustrating, of course it is. I want teams to come and open up because we work on that but we`re in a position where that`s what happening when team come here - it`s a great place to come and play football. It`s a fantastic pitch and it`s a fantastic stadium. People might look at us as the big club but we`re the same as every other club in this division because we`re in it. Because we got relegated.
“We`re just trying to win games of football and it`s just trying to find a way to win it. We had chances and balls were getting cleared off the line - I don`t think Deniz has had a save to make, if I`m honest. You`re just standing waiting for one to go in. The optimist in you and the football person in you, you kind of think `if it keeps going like this something will happen`. Inevitably it does happen and we got our just rewards. Sometimes when teams do that it`s a wee bit sweeter to win that way - with a goal, 1-0 late on. Then all of a sudden it`s all-out attack from FC Edinburgh."
How is Nikolay Todorov after his head knock?
"He`ll be fine, he`s brilliant. He puts his head where people put their feet. How he gets booked I`ve genuinely no idea. You look at his goals and he attacks the ball. His Montrose goal, similar to that - just the way he attacks the ball. If you`re getting booked for that then every centre-back, every player, as soon as they clash heads with somebody, they should be getting booked - because it`s never a booking. I hope the FC Edinburgh player (Lee Hamilton) is okay as well because he looked a bit dazed when he walked past me. Best wishes to him but Nikolay will be fine."
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