Angry fans do not want Dodds

JOHN NELMS has all but ruled out a return to Dundee for Billy Dodds as new boss Jim McIntyre’s No2 after objections by fans. The club’s American managing director claims to have been inundated with emails from supporters opposing the former Dark Blues striker’s potential appointment after

he voted against a deal which allowed Dundee to emerge from administration for the second time in 2011. McIntyre’s preferred choice for the post after they worked together at Queen of the South and Ross County, Dodds was Gordon Chisholm’s assistant when the club slid into administration in 2010. When a 6p-in-the-pound proposal was put in front of creditors the following February, administrator Bryan Jackson revealed Dodds was among those who had voted against it. Despite losing his job after the Calum Melville regime ended in tears — with the Company Voluntary Arrangement being ultimately approved — a section of the Dundee support still hold Dodds in contempt on the grounds that the club would have been liquidated had more voted with him. Evidently believing the strength of feeling is too great to ignore, Nelms said: ‘It’s a very sensitive issue — even more sensitive than I would have expected. ‘I wasn’t here at the time, but I have taken a lot of advice and talked to a lot of people. I have spoken to Billy as well because I want his side of things, I want the full picture. ‘The fans, based on the information they have, have every right to not want him through the door. But it’s a tough one. ‘There are candidates out there but Jim and Billy came as a team — and that’s his No 1 candidate. But we do have other candidates.’ Asked if it was unfair to rule out someone who ultimately lost their job as a result of the mistakes of others, Nelms was unapologetic. ‘A lot of them (fans) see the big picture but they are very passionate about the club,’ he said. ‘If anyone is seen to do something bad to the club — right, wrong or indifferent — then you are going to have an opinion on that. ‘If they talked to (Dodds), they might have a slightly different opinion, but it’s the same thing — the vote was the vote. ‘What he said in the past and the way it was construed... it’s bad.’ Nelms effectively said Dodds was now a non-runner for the post. ‘I’m responding to the well-written emails I’m receiving which have true animosity and I’m willing to speak to a few of them as well to get their thoughts and understanding,’ added the Dens Park managing director. ‘I’m looking at this from a third-party perspective as we weren’t here. ‘I understand what happened at the time. It was a horrible situation for everyone — the fans, the staff, everyone felt shafted. ‘Some people handled it in ways which — in hindsight — they may have wanted to do differently. It was a situation no one wants to live through again.’ Asked if there was any chance of Dodds yet coming back on board, Nelms replied: ‘I think it will be very tough for him to come into this environment.’ James McPake, Barry Robson and Jimmy Boyle are now more likely candidates to become McIntyre’s No 2.