Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
McCann set for talks with Sky and Dark Blues
NEIL McCann will have discussions with both of his employers before giving any indication over whether he will remain as Dundee manager.
McCann suffered his first defeat in four matches since swapping punditry for an interim role as Dundee boss but the Tayside club had already secured their Ladbrokes Premiership status before Wednesday’s 2-0 loss to Inverness.
The f ormer Scotland winger will be back in the Sky Sports studio for the William Hill Scottish Cup Final on May 27 but his main priority is Saturday’s final league game against Hamilton.
McCann, who admitted he had “absolutely loved” his spell in charge, will then hold talks with Dundee managing director John Nelms and his television bosses.
“I had a brief conversation, 20-second stuff, regarding the conversations that will take place after the Hamilton game,” the 42-year-old said. “That has been the consistent message.
“I need to do my j ob properly, and that is setting the team up to win games. And, afterwards, once the guys go away for a well-earned break, I will sit down with the club.
“I will, of course, sit down with Sky because they have allowed me to come out of a job which I am contracted to do, to come into this one. So I need to oblige that favour and give the honour back to them. I have still got a job to do with Sky at the cup final.
“I have absolutely loved the j ob and I wouldn’t disrespect the club or Sky by giving any indication of what way I’m going to go. I need conversations.”
Dundee were second bottom when they sacked Paul Har tley after a seven-game losing streak but McCann’s positivity helped them win their next two matches.
McCann admitted moments before the Inverness game he had “loved every minute” of his job but he had to get used to a new feeling when the bottom side went two ahead inside 10 minutes.
“I didn’t enjoy the start of the game, I didn’t enjoy at night going over in my mind what I could have done differently, what we could have done differently as a group,” he said.
“There were certain things as a manager I learned and certain things as a coach I learned, and I have kicked myself. Maybe I should have done certain things to help the guys. So I will take stock of that. It was a difficult night but I am back in ready to go again.”
The former Dundee , Hearts and Rangers player took his portion of the blame for a tactical switch i nvo l v i n g Fa i s s a l E l Bakhtaoui.
“I changed it a wee bit,” he said. “As a coach you do things you think are right and each game has been very different.
“I set us up slightly different with the deployment of Faissal up top as a straight striker coming in from the left. And the first goal comes from a throw-in which maybe the disruption of our shape might have led to that.
“I certainly believe that, so I am going to take a wee bit of responsibility.”
There are a few bumps and bruises throughout the squad while Tom Hateley is still to recover from a dead leg but will likely be available for tomorrow.