Dunfermline manager James McPake had high praise for striker Alex Jakubiak particularly after his stellar performance in the last home game. “When he is like he was on Friday night against United he is too good for this level,” James claimed.
Alex has 243 senior appearances to his name and has made 13 starts and 10 off the bench since joining Dunfermline in September. He helped Dundee to promotion last season making 30 appearances for the Dark Blues and he has had no fewer than ten loan spells in England and Scotland.
“He has done everything in my opinion right” continued James. “He had loan spells when he was young and played in the Championship for Watford and made his debut at the age of seventeen. He was keen to get out on loan from a young age, he was very powerful, very strong and tried his hand in coming on loan to Scotland. He finished last season brilliantly and was a massive part to play in Dundee getting promoted.”
Alex was disappointed that he played in the promotion winning team but was not kept on at Dens Park.
“That’s Dundee’s decision” said James. “He had a few options that went on and on before he decided to come here. He missed pre season, it took him a while to get a goal – that was frustrating him until he got the couple down at Ayr. He picked up another injury away to Queen’s Park at Hampden. Then for Alex it maybe felt like Groundhog day for him.”
The striker then missed four matches with a hamstring injury before returning as a sub in the away win over Partick Thistle. He has been in the starting eleven for the last four matches and James McPake praised how Alex bounced back. “He is always hungry to improve and he is hard on himself. He works hard on his game like Lewis McCann, they are perfectionists.”
James believes consistency is the final hurdle for the 27-year-old striker to overcome to reach the highest levels. “It must frustrate Alex because of where he has been but to get back to those levels to go and play every week in the English Premier League, Championship or League One in England there needs to be a level of consistency. If he finds that then we have a hell of a player.
“Alex has a lot left to his career if he gets to that, and I’m confident that he will. I’m delighted for him, I wish he had got a goal because I know that he would have loved to have scored against Dundee United. For me his performance was by far the best on the pitch.”
Now with Chris Kane alongside him the manager feels that they are two very good strikers regardless of whether they score or not. “If they don’t score then the likelihood is that they are annoying centre backs and defenders that much they bring others into play like Jak did with Kane Ritchie-Hosler and like he did with Matty Todd. The perception is that strikers are judged on goals solely alone, you hope for their own sakes they get them.”
Regardless the manager deemed his performance “by far the best on the pitch” and has challenged him to maintain that level consistently. “We need more of that from him and I have told him that bluntly as well, he knows.”
