Dunfermline manager James McPake has lamented one of the lost arts of modern-day football.
But he has hailed skipper Kyle Benedictus for being the Pars’ ‘have-a-go’ hero.
McPake admitted after the recent 3-2 victory over Arbroath that he allowed his emotions to spill over in a post-match ‘rant’.
He later revealed that players had also got involved in calling out the team’s second-half performance at Gayfield.
Previously, even when he was out injured, Benedictus has been one who has not been slow in aiming criticism at team-mates.
McPake believes it is something that is dying out from the game. But he is thankful for the likes of Benedictus, Joe Chalmers and vice-captain Chris Hamilton for keeping players on their toes.
He said: “In my opinion, it’s gone from football, whether that’s right or whether it’s wrong.
“I can only go back to when I played, and then I’ve seen it getting less and less over the years, even when I was a player.
James McPake: ‘It’s standards’
“You’re not having a go at somebody just for the sake of having a go. It’s standards, it’s when people need to do better. But, equally, when they’re good, you encourage them.
“Bene [Benedictus] is great at that.
“After one of the games here, where we lost, he had his say, which was really good. He was injured at the time as well.
“I had it with Paul McGowan every game I managed at Dundee, and then when I brought him here.
“Joe [Chalmers] is good, so the older ones are good. The younger ones, it’s a bit different for them. Hammy’s [Hamilton] a bit in the middle where Hammy will have a go.
“It’s just trying to stress to them when you’re having a go at your team-mate, you’re not being personal, you’re not falling out with them. It’s just that we’re all in it together, so how can we make each other better?
“It very rarely happens now. Even in training, they don’t do it. They’ll kind of say, ‘unlucky’, and I get that at times.
“But sometimes when somebody’s been slack, or even if you just feel you need to give someone a jag at times, it [brings out] that kind of, ‘I’ll show you’.
“And then, all of a sudden, it just lifts the tempo again.”
McPake is happy to allow the players to sort things out for themselves wherever possible.
‘Some managers wouldn’t allow it’
It indicates a desire to drive standards from within, rather than him or assistant Dave Mackay having to barrack and cajole.
He added: “Some managers wouldn’t allow it, and they’d be the ones to speak.
“But if you can get the players to go in and sort it themselves, in a way, it makes my job and Dave’s job easier.
“Because then we just say, ‘you’ve had your say, we agree with what you’re saying’.
“They don’t fall out with each other. Bene came in and was himself again on the Monday [after the Arbroath game]. The rest of the players were as well.”
