Whit ye sayin’ Gowser? Nowt
Paul hopes he won’t have to go on rant again
PAUL McGOWAN hopes to keep Dundee on a winning streak – as he reckons he’ll not be sent out to speak if they lose again.
The midfielder’s stunning solo goal saw off Arbroath, two weeks after he slammed his Dens team-mates for their tame 2-0 defeat at Ayr.
McGowan, 33, hopes Dundee have turned a corner now and that there will be no more dark days like the one at Somerset.
He grinned and said: “I think if we have another result like that again, I will be off the interviews, that’s for sure!
“I am not proud of it as I didn’t want to have a go at my team-mates. I included myself in it but we needed a boot up the backside.”
McGowan’s expletive-laden rant seems to have had the desired effect.
He included himself in the withering assessment of the squad’s failings.
His no-holds-barred blast was followed by a lengthy clear-theair meeting between the players and coaching staff at Dens on the Monday.
McGowan added: “I make no bones about the interview I did.
“I got loads of messages from people saying it was nice to see somebody being honest.
“But I am not going to come out to do an interview and lie – that’s not me.
“I am not saying for one minute that interview spurred the boys on but a few things had to be said and you can see the difference in the team.
“There is a buzz about the place now and I just hope we can carry it on.”
Arbroath keeper Derek Gaston had denied the home side several times but he was helpless to prevent McGowan opening the scoring with his stunning strike in the 35th minute.
The midfielder hit a shot with the outside of his boot from the edge of the Red Lichties’ box that clipped the inside of the post before nestling in the back of Gaston’s net.
The Dark Blues held on to end a run of three defeats in a row with McGowan now determined to build on the victory when they travel to face Inverness Caley Thistle on Saturday.
He added: “We need to go on a run and push up that table.
“It will be another hard game next week at Inverness as they are a good team. But I am confident that if we play the way we did against Arbroath we will get the win.”
The result left the Red Lichties second bottom of the Championship table and still looking for their first league win of the season. And Arbroath’s James Craigen insists the tide will only turn once the team learn to play for the full 90 minutes.
He said: “I thought with the second-half performance, we could have snatched a goal.
“We are obviously disappointed that we have lost and have nothing to show for our efforts.
“We have not been putting 90-minute performances in this season. We need to put that right.
“If we can play like we did in that second half, we will pick up points.”