Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Neil still best Dee’s dismal
JUST under a year ago, Barry Smith, writing for the Tele, examined an abysmal run of Dundee results and urged manager-at-the-time Paul Hartley to stick to his principles and give himself the best chance of getting his team out of the mire.
It was sound advice and, incidentally, was much appreciated inside Dens Park. Barry, after all, was a man who knew better than most what these kind of sticky spells were like, not just because he has considerable managerial experience himself, but because he’d been through a similar run when he was Dark Blues boss trying to keep what was basically a second-tier team in the top flight.
Now, 11 months on, the advice he gave Hartley is just as sound for new boss Neil McCann as he battles to halt problems that predate his arrival.
Having been able to keep the team in the Premiership when he arrived as interim boss late last term, since being appointed manager on a permanent basis he’s set about changing the philosophy at Dens and produce a younger, robust team that plays a more open and attractive style of football.
As is so often the case with such projects, it has not been without its early difficulties, and Saturday’s ultimately-heavy defeat at Rangers left Dundee bottom of the table with just a single point from the opening five fixtures.
The gaffer, though, remains convinced his way is the right way and things will come good in the long term.
Despite the precarious league position, he does have at least some reason to believe he’s right.
If results have been depressing, generally speaking performances have been better than the scores after 90 minutes would suggest.
Even at Ibrox, Dundee held Rangers until just before half-time before then falling away as the second half progressed.
Other games, like the visits to Hamilton and Aberdeen, were all about missed opportunities and, had chances been taken, the outcomes could have been different. Dundee fans, though, are worried and understandably so.
Without wishing to concern them further, right now their team’s profile is that of one that could be heading for relegation.
Very often the team that goes down has not just had a bad season, the rot that led to the drop didn’t just start in that campaign, but earlier.