A strange time in City of Discovery

The reactions of this city’s two sets of fans at the weekend show just how much perception skews the views of football folk.

Dundee supporters were quite happy after their team’s showing at Celtic Park on Saturday despite leaving with nothing due to a 1-0 defeat to the champions.

Dundee United followers, meanwhile, were furious after their side’s loss at Livingston.

Online opinions in particular showed a total loss of patience with manager Ray McKinnon, something I struggle to understand.

Especially as the Tangerines had just been on a good run of six matches unbeaten, with a couple of very decent wins thrown in for good measure.

Their form right now — one defeat in eight — overall is excellent, despite Saturday’s poor performance at the Tony Macaroni Arena.

A team that only loses one game in every eight across a season is one that’ll find itself at the business end of the table come spring time.

Compare that with Dundee, whose loss on Saturday made it just two wins from their last seven games.

A different level, I know, and with that comes different expectations but we’re always told this game is a results-based business.

However, it’s strange that here it seems like the team that’s winning has grumbling, unhappy fans while the one that’s not has a fairly content support.

I’ll no doubt be shouted down by both sides for over-simplifying things with my argument.

However, one thing I always try to remember is that football is a simple game. Scoring more goals than the other side is all it really comes down to. The rest is all just background noise. Dundee fans, though, should be fairly happy with the way their team is shaping up under Neil McCann.

The past few weeks have been pretty positive and suggest a relegation battle doesn’t look likely.

Getting into the top six, though, appears a stretch with a lack of real quality at the sharp end of the pitch.

For United, it seems like all the frustrations of the past three years bubble up with every defeat but the Championship is always very difficult to navigate without hitting any bumps.

I expect them to get back on an even keel this Saturday at home to Inverness.

How long that satisfies supporters we’ll have to wait and see.

United fans are disgruntled at the moment while Dundee followers seem quite upbeat.