Dee boss shouldn’t have taken the bait

A LOT of what Neil McCann is trying to do at Dundee I’m a fan of.

But, on and off the pitch, only a fool would defend his weekend actions.

On the pitch the performance in the 4-0 home defeat at the hands of St Johnstone was disastrous.

More of that later, because it was his involvement in the fracas at the side of the pitch and heading up the tunnel after the final whistle that hit the headlines.

First off, what I would say is I don’t know what was said to the Dundee gaffer during the game and as he was about to head down the touchline, so he could well have had a right to feel aggrieved.

And he certainly couldn’t be happy with his team’s disaplay.

But whatever went on and whoever started it, for me he should simply have shaken hands with the opposition bench and got himself back to the dressing-room.

Instead he had words with the Saints kit man and clashed with their sub goalie Zander Clark.

Then, along with his assistant Graham Gartland, he was involved in more bother at the doorway to the changing-room area.

As they were heading there, they’d had to endure the sight of Tommy Wright celebrating in front of his own fans.

I have to say I thought he was a bit over the top and I suspect he was at the wind up.

That doesn’t change the fact McCann and Gartland shouldn’t have taken the bait.

They did, it didn’t look good and the one thing you can be sure of is other teams will take note of their reaction and see it as a sign they are feeling the pressure.

They will also have taken note that, when it came to a battle in difficult conditions on Saturday, Dundee didn’t appear up for it.

They are now in a relegation dogfight and from here on in McCann has to make sure his men show plenty of fight.

If that means changing the team’s style of play in order to get results then so be it.

That doesn’t mean he has to abandon his principles on how the game should be played, but right now what Dundee need most are points on the board, not plaudits for playing pretty football.

Tommy Wright’s celebrations were a little over-zealous but Dundee gaffer Neil McCann should’ve kept his cool.