News | Manager post FC Edinburgh

18/03/23: link to audio of James McPake`s post match thoughts

After watching his side being held to a goalless draw against FC Edinburgh manager James McPake told the media:-

"We`re extremely disappointed in the level of performance. We started okay actually. Matty`s injury...Matty started the game very well, he has to come off, and I just think, on the day, we certainly never deserved to lose the game, but I don`t think we did enough to win the game today, which is disappointing.`

How is Matty Todd?

`I don`t know, we will get him assessed, it is just a bang so hopefully we will be okay with him.

"They turned it into a bit of a fight, and probably won the fight if I`m honest. In the first half anyway, they were first to most balls, and we weren`t fluent. I thought apart from Kane Ritchie-Hosler, he was the one real threat in the team, with some great balls in, but it never clicked today for us. You sometimes get days like that, but it doesn`t stop it being disappointing.

The manager made three half-time subs, introducing Lewis McCann, Paul Allan and Aaron Comrie for Kevin O`˜ Hara, Chris Hamilton and Kyle Macdonald.

"We made changes to try and win the game of football. It didn`t work, clearly. I feel for Kevin a wee bit, because he`s been excellent, but it was probably the change of shape that cost Kevin his place in the team. The other two were tactical changes.`

Rhys Breen`s injury?

`That`s football. Again, we will get him assessed. It might be his hamstring but I honestly couldn`t tell you, it`s just fifteen minutes after the game.`

You sound frustrated by the afternoon?

"These boys have been great for this football club, but I want to be honest. I don`t want to come out and kid on I`m happy with a point. I don`t want to come out and dress things up.

"My mood`s my mood. We`re disappointed in the performance. Take away the result, it`s the performance that disappoints us today. We were nowhere near what we can be. Probably, in my opinion, that`s our worst performance of the season, over the course of that game.

"That`s why I`m disappointed. I`m a human being, I want to win games of football, like all those players do. I want to perform well. We`re big on how the performances have to be right to play for this football club. Today it wasn`t there and that`s everyone. That`s myself, the staff, myself, it just wasn`t a good performance."

Clean sheet, but maybe not the most important aspect?

"That record, we`re very proud of. When we`re not winning games, we don`t seem to be losing them at the minute which, again, you`ve got to take as a positive. There`ll be positives when I sit down and watch the game and go over certain things.

"Deniz was pretty comfortable all afternoon again, so it is another clean sheet, it`s another one to add on to the season, and it`s a point but, other than that, right at the minute, with the rawness after the game, there`s not much else I can take from that."

Are you at the stage of ticking games off?

"I`m at the stage now where I`ll watch this one tomorrow, and then we`ll move on to Montrose next week. I couldn`t care less if there`s eight games to go or 28 games to go. The message from us, and the message we relay to the players, is we take each game at a time, and that`s what we`ll continue to do up until the very last game of the season, regardless of what happens.`

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