James McPake has no idea where he’d be if he wasn’t managing Dunfermline.
The Pars boss took up the reins at KDM Group East End Park in the summer and has led his side to a nine-point lead at the top of League One.
He and his assistant were this week rewarded with two-year contract extension, keeping them at the club until 2026.
However, McPake said he may not have taken the job in the first place had Dave Mackay not also been brought in.
Mackay was still under contract at Dundee when the now Dunfermline manager held initial talks with the Pars board.
Massive thank-you
“I wasn’t in any position to negotiate really when I had just been sacked,” said McPake.
“The only thing I had to make sure was done was that we got Dave out of Dundee. They backed that fully.
“At the time I hadn’t managed a game for the club, I hadn’t taken a training session, but they agreed to do that.
“That could have been a deal-breaker.
“Without that happening, I wouldn’t have been here. So a massive thank-you to the board for that.”
Negotiations over the new contract have been ongoing since January and McPake praised the commitment, which he says is “two-way”.
He thanked the board for their support, adding: “A lot of it is down to the staff we’ve had at the club, the full football club has got behind us since we got in the door.”
“It’s an honour to manage this team.”
Building process
The Pars boss and Mackay have both said they are “building something” at Dunfermline.
For McPake – who was speaking ahead of Saturday’s trip to Montrose, that means identifying a way of playing football, consistency in personnel and developing youth.
“We hope the club can produce its own players,” said the Pars boss.
“We have that just now with Matthew Todd, Lewis McCann, people like that. And the younger ones coming through the academy.
“We want to be consistent and not have eight, nine 10 changes every transfer window.
“That’s part of the building process. We want to get our better ideas across.
“We realise that nothing happens overnight. We believe we’re still early in the process.
“Building a crowd, we see that now coming back. The building process is the full club, it’s not just me and Dave.
“The players deserve more credit than anyone. We want to be a football club that’s continually getting better, and I believe we’re doing that at the moment.
“The owners are showing what they are trying to build as well.
“We want a team that can compete at any level they’re at and doing that with a core group of players and a core group of staff as well.”
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