Pressure does not affect me. I set myself very high standards
THE pundit’s chair in the Sky Sports studios that Neil McCann vacated to take charge of Dundee has been replaced by a seat that is getting hotter every week.
Without a victory in the league this season, his pointless team prop up the Premiership.
A humiliating 3-0 Betfred Cup exit at home to Championship Ayr United merely deepened the dark mood around Dens Park.
With Livingston and St Mirren having already parted company with bosses Kenny Miller and Alan Stubbs, the spotlight is now firmly on McCann. A recent online poll in the local
Evening Telegraph recorded 80 per cent of fans wanted the 44-yearold, a hero in his time as a player at Dens, to leave his post.
But it is not just in cyberspace that Dundee fans can be heard screaming; disgruntled supporters have been getting increasingly vocal during games.
Plenty questioned McCann’s wisdom 17 months ago in swapping a stable career holding a Sky microphone for a precarious post under the spotlight in a dugout.
However, he was surprisingly upbeat yesterday as he insisted he had not sought assurances over his future from Dundee’s managing director John Nelms.
Ahead of a tricky return to face former club Rangers at Ibrox today, McCann declared himself ready to meet the strains of his current predicament head-on.
‘I’m not frightened of pressure,’ he declared. ‘I came into this job (as interim manager) under an enormous amount of pressure to take it. I then had pressure to take the job permanently.
‘I’m not frightened of where we are in the table. I haven’t looked for reassurance and it hasn’t been given.
‘I have a great relationship with John Nelms. We speak all the time.
‘I don’t feel any pressure from him. I work under my own pressure because I set myself high standards.
‘Of course, I am mindful of the fact that we’ve not been getting results. But we started similarly last year in terms of results. We are working and trying very hard to turn it around.’
The feisty McCann is often the living embodiment of the famous PG Wodehouse quote: ‘It is never difficult to distinguish between a Scotsman with a grievance and a ray of sunshine.’
Admitting defeat hits him hard, the Dundee manager finds no escape from football in golf due to his ultra-competitive nature.
‘This job consumes your life,’ he added. ‘When you work hard all week and then you get a negative result, that affects you.
‘I would like to think that every manager and player takes defeat badly. When you go home on a Saturday night, defeat beats you up. The first thing I want to do is watch the game back, which can put paid to plans you pencilled in for that weekend.
‘You must find a release the best you can. I go and watch football. I am not a good golfer as I am too angry to play golf.
‘When I have lost at golf, there have been a few clubs needing repaired. My handicap has gone through the roof since I became a manager.’
McCann allowed his players time off during the international break to get away from the stress of being stuck at the foot of the table.
He has requested any unhappy Dundee fans use him as a lightning rod for their frustrations today and let his team get on with their jobs.
He said: ‘They can give me all the stick they want but the most important thing for me is that the players get support. Hearing groans from the stands has never helped a player, certainly not ones who are maybe lacking in confidence.’