Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Experienced boss needed — Mann
FORMER Dundee skipper Bobby Mann wants an experienced manager to take the helm at Dens for what is “a massive month” for the club.
Yesterday, the club took the decision to sack manager Paul Hartley after Saturday’s defeat to Hamilton left the Dark Blues in the relegation play-off spot with just five games remaining.
And on the back of seven straight defeats, Mann insists Dundee need someone who can immediately pick the players up to keep them in the division.
Among the bookies favourites to take over from Hartley are Brian McClair, Jim Duffy and Alan Stubbs.
Mann said: “They need an experienced man for the five games and then reassess where they go in the summer. Someone who knows what they’re doing and has the experience to keep them up.
“They’ll have the summer to properly iron things out but this is a big decision to take this late.
“It is a massive month ahead for Dundee.
“There are a lot of names bandied about and it’s difficult to know who is and who isn’t on the radar of the board.
“There are a few that come from left field, too, but they need someone who can pick up the players.
“The timing is vital — there’s no game this weekend and that will give the new man time to work with the players and to try to get a settled team.”
Mann says only time will tell whether the decision to change manager at this point in the season pays off.
However, the prospect of relegation back to the Championship is something the board could not consider especially with recent talks of a potential new stadium in the works.
“The main objective is to stay in the league, that’s the most important thing,” added Mann.
“Then they can take on from there whatever plans they want to put in place.
“It’s a lot of money to lose if they go down to the Championship and it’s a difficult division to get out of, Dundee have seen that before and you can see this season with United struggling.
“It’s hard to say if sacking Paul will keep the team up — we won’t know until the season finishes but if they felt he wasn’t making progress then they had to do something.
“It’s a difficult one, though.”