As is so often the case with most managers, James McPake’s reign at Dunfermline came to an unfortunate end.
The 40-year-old’s sacking just two days before Christmas brought to a close two and a half years in charge at East End Park.
It all got off to a promising start following his appointment in May 2022, just three months after being axed by Dundee.
With plenty of twists and turns along the way, the rollercoaster finally came off the tracks when Saturday’s 2-0 loss at Morton proved the final straw for the Pars board.
Courier Sport has taken a look at some of the highs and lows along the way.
League One title
Dunfermline were in a troubled place when McPake was assigned the challenge of reinvigorating a team newly relegated from the Championship.
After the ill-fated reign of Peter Grant and John Hughes’ failure to avoid the growing spectre of relegation, McPake was viewed as the man to rebuild the club.
Few would surely have anticipated things going so smoothly, as the Fifers romped to the League One title with the loss of just one match.
Fourteen points was the final gap over rivals Falkirk as records fell in the league.
Only three times previously, and not since 1933, had Dunfermline gone a full season without being beaten at home.
They racked up the fewest defeats (one), the fewest away defeats (one), the fewest goals conceded (21), the longest unbeaten run (24) and the most shut-outs (24 for Deniz Mehmet) in their history.
Promotion was expected in some quarters but with Falkirk in their fourth year in the third-tier there was no guarantee.
To have achieved so much in a short period of time was impressive.
Talent nurturing
One of the attractions of McPake was his work with younger players at Dundee.
Starting out as the U/18 coach and progressing to the first-team job, the former Dark Blues defender handed the likes of Lyall Cameron, Fin Robertson, Josh Mulligan and Max Anderson their full debuts in his time in charge at Dens Park.
It was a theme the de facto Dunfermline owners, DAFC Fussball, wanted him to carry on at East End Park.
The likes of Lewis McCann, Matty Todd and Paul Allan had already made their top-team breakthroughs but were relied upon heavily to return to the Championship.
And Ewan Otoo and Kane Ritchie-Hosler made huge impressions on loan before making their moves permanent at the end of the promotion campaign.
Since then, the likes of Andrew Tod, Sam Young and Taylor Sutherland have become regarded as first-team players, despite still being teenagers, and others have been given debuts along the way.
If Dunfermline’s aim is to develop young talents and sell them on, in the mould of Josh Edwards, then McPake has done what was expected of him.
Fife derby record
Having bossed their meetings with sworn enemies Falkirk in League One – with two wins and two draws – McPake was unable to repeat that record against Fife rivals Raith Rovers.
In eight derbies during his spell in charge, Dunfermline won just once – the 2-0 triumph against ten men in September.
Last term, Raith sealed five consecutive victories for the first time in the history of the fixture.
They included a miserable 3-0 defeat for the Fifers at home in the Scottish Cup.
The bragging rights were firmly held by the Kirkcaldy club.
Too often, McPake’s Pars failed to reach the levels required to come out on top in such massive encounters.
Lowly league positions
If things could not have gone much better in his first season in charge, it has been almost the polar opposite since.
There was plenty of optimism after the title win but just 18 months on the outlook is completely different.
As ever, there have been mitigating circumstances.
McPake will rightly point to a horrendous injury list last season in the first year back in the Championship.
This term, a lack of ambition in the transfer market and more injuries to key players, such as Kyle Benedictus, Chris Kane and Todd, have hampered hopes.
However, he will also be fully aware of the old cliche that football is a results business.
To have the Pars nudging towards a possible promotion play-off spot last term was maybe acceptable in the circumstances, but fans still expect more than sixth place in the second-tier.
And, setting aside those extenuating factors, they will certainly have hoped for far more than second-bottom – and just four wins from 18 league outings – this term.
McPake’s replacement will be charged with competing at the top end of the division and not simply surviving in it.
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