James McPake insists he is ‘not bothered’ how his post-match ‘rant’ at Arbroath was received by his Dunfermline players.
The Pars boss is adamant it was simply down to frustration at a lack of the consistency he insists is needed to bring success to the club.
The Fifers racked up a third successive victory for the first time this season with the 3-2 win at Gayfield.
But they went from being 3-0 up and cruising to hanging on for a crucial three points.
That left McPake ‘emotional and angry’ at full-time. And he has confessed that was laid bare in his reaction, both within the dressing room and to the media afterwards.
However, the East End Park manager, who has been named Championship manager of the month for March, is content that his post-match criticism was justified.
Revealing some players also spoke up after the game, he said: “I’m not bothered how they reacted because it was thoroughly deserved.
“It was a bit of a rant and I was emotional after the game.
McPake: No-one happy with performance
“I don’t quite agree that when you win a game you should come out and say, ‘it was good, we got the points’.
“Since I got this job, I’ve said the one thing that will bring us success, as it’s perceived, is consistency in performance.
“To perform like that in the second-half, the players weren’t happy with it and myself and my staff weren’t happy with it.
“So, [it would be wrong] for me just to come out and say, ‘brilliant, we’ve come up to Arbroath and won. We were decent in the first-half and they threw caution to the wind in the second-half’.
“No, we conceded two poor goals and we weren’t at the races in the second-half. It was a wake-up call for everyone.
“Regardless of whether you’re winning 3-0 or you’re down 3-0 you need to keep that consistency or as close to that. You need to keep fighting, you need to keep working, and we didn’t do that in the second-half.
“But it wasn’t just me. There were a few players who had a rant before I even spoke in the dressing room.
“Then, I came out and wasn’t good with the press. But I’m young and I’m learning, and if there’s a time not to be great then it’s when you’ve won a game.”
Despite the criticism of his players, McPake has revealed he has not absolved himself of blame for the below-par second-half display against Arbroath.
Following first-half goals from Ewan Otoo, Paul Allan and Chris Kane, the Pars faced a nervy finale after a Scott Stewart double hauled the Red Lichties to within touching distance of a point.
McPake: ‘Monkey off our backs’
“I’ve analysed my team-talk at half-time and it wasn’t great either,” added McPake ahead of Saturday’s clash with Partick Thistle. “I’ll not go into it, but that maybe then set the tone for the second-half.
“So, there’s bits and pieces myself and Dave [Mackay, assistant] and my staff have had to look at ourselves for.
“The big thing is we’ve won three in a row. We were desperate to do that and we we’re desperate to make it four.
“That was the first time we’ve done it this season, so in that sense it’s a monkey off our backs.”
Meanwhile, Chris Hamilton will continue to be assessed after being substituted with a head knock at Arbroath. But Paul Allan (hamstring) and Ben Summers (back) will both miss the visit of Thistle.
