Liam: Neil destined to end up in dugout
LIAM CRAIG had Neil McCann marked down as management material six years ago when he joined in with training sessions at St Johnstone.
The former Rangers and Scotland winger was talking a good game as a TV pundit back then but his competitive streak hadn’t been dulled.
Now Perth midfielder Craig is backing McCann and No.2 Graham Gartland to get Dundee on track after a winless start to the Premiership season.
But he hopes the Dens revival starts after Saturday’s Tayside derby.
Craig said: “Neil used to come in to train here.
“He was just keeping himself fit and was fitting it in around the Sky Sports commitments.
“But you could see what it meant to him. He wasn’t going to be signing for us but Neil was so competitive, so demanding.
“Neil did strike me as management material but at the time he had his job with Sky. He would be doing a match down south then jumping on a plane and training with us.
“I also played with Garts at Saints so I know he is a winner. It was a good move by Neil bringing in Garts from Shamrock Rovers as his assistant.
“They will be hurting badly with the results and be looking to put it right against us. We know it is going to be difficult but we have enough in our squad to win this game.”