When he was a player at Coventry City, James McPake was managed by a certain Chris Coleman who took Wales all the way to the semi-finals of this summer’s Euros.
Now, the big Dundee defender insists the work Dens boss Paul Hartley is doing is of a similar high quality to that of Coleman’s.
McPake, who is gradually working his way back to full fitness after his horror knee fracture in the New Year derby with United, has watched on as the Dark Blues have turned things around in the last two games with victories over Hamilton and Motherwell lifting them off the bottom of the table.
And he believes those wins are a fitting reward for the amount of time and effort his manager puts in on a daily basis.
He said: “The gaffer spends hours and hours with us and his work ethic is terrific.
“The work he does for this football club . . . and anyone who knows him realises that.
“This isn’t about talking up Paul Hartley, it is me being honest.
“I have worked with a lot of managers.
“The way everything is done at this football club is as good as at any club I have been at and I have been at some big ones.
“You could say Hibs is a decent-sized club and Coventry is a massive-sized one.
“We were in the Championship at the time, working with Chris Coleman who has gone on to show he is a fantastic manager.
“In my eyes, the work Paul Hartley is doing is not any worse than what we were doing at those clubs.”
