Five-goal half not enough to satisfy Dark Blues boss

Midfielder says Dark Blues now playing together

Dundee midfielder Paul McGowan has admitted that Saturday’s five-goal first half at Motherwell will be a hard act to follow.

But the former St Mirren man revealed that a truly stunning 45-minute display of attacking football didn’t completely satisfy the Dark Blues’ perfectionist manager, Paul Hartley.

“Coming off at half-time 5-1 up doesn’t happen very often,” McGowan said. “I’d like to think it could get better but it will probably be hard to top.

“Listen, there’s always room for improvement. The gaffer will say that.

“He came in at half-time and had a wee bit of a go at us in the dressing room. That’s the way he is.

“It was for the goal they scored. He was talking about winning the second ball.

“Nobody said anything back. I liked it. It kept the boys on their toes.”

MOTHERWELL 1 DUNDEE 5

The Dundee players have had to endure some loud and straight-to-the-point criticism from their own supporters on more than one occasion this season.

Midfielder Paul McGowan said that to hear the Motherwell fans turn on their side before the first half was finished on Saturday was music to his ears.

That’s what losing five goals in 45 minutes on home turf does to a crowd.

McGowan said: “We played brilliantly against Rangers and were the better team. We never let them settle. Today was the exact same.

“After they equalised to make it 1-1 we were awesome.

“Every time we went forward they couldn’t cope, and their fans were turning on them. When you hear that it breeds confidence right through the team. Of course it does.

“You get to 3-1 up and players want to get on the ball and start trying things, things that they maybe wouldn’t have tried if the game was still tight.

“I’m over the moon for everybody – the players, the manager, the coaching staff and the fans.

“I’ll be the first to admit we haven’t turned up and fought for each other in some games, but there’s definitely been a fight and attitude in these last two games and it’s been great to be involved in.

“The boys were absolutely terrific. I thought it could have been even more in the first half. Motherwell just couldn’t handle us.

“It was probably a bit our own fault that we took our foot off the pedal a bit in the second half, which is understandable. We were trying to settle the game down and make sure that they didn’t get a goal back which would have given them a bit of hope.

“But the first half was up there with the best football that we’ve produced since I came to the club.”

He added: “I’ve always known that a performance like that was there.

“You can talk about formations and stuff like that but it comes down to the players and, ultimately, we weren’t showing enough.

“Finally we’re playing together and working hard.”

Dundee’s first-half blitz started with an own goal on seven minutes, when Zak Jules sent a header over his keeper.

It might have been a freak goal but the Dark Blues were already on top and the Motherwell equaliser from Lewis Moult on 20 minutes was their first shot of the game.

Instead of sparking a comeback, it preceded a collapse. Three goals in eight minutes were to follow.

There was a bit of commonality to them – Motherwell all over the place when a ball came into the box, snappy movement from the attackers and clinical finishes. Marcus Haber, Mark O’Hara and Craig Wighton were all lethal when given a sight of goal.

Perhaps the softest of the lot from a home perspective was Haber’s injury time back-post header: as simple (and defendable) a goal as you will see.

Next for a red hot Dens Park side are Partick Thistle at home on Wednesday night.

McGowan senses an opportunity to nail down their top-six credentials.

“To come here and beat Motherwell 5-1 is a great result,” he said. “Now we need to push on.

“Our problem has been consistency. We have a good result and then get beat the next week. That’s the way it’s been. I’m delighted for the boys that the hard work is starting to pay off now.

“The top six is there for us.

Finally we’re playing together and working hard.

“Obviously Partick and Kilmarnock have both had good results as well. It’s about who can go on a run. Wednesday is a massive game and a win would be really important. It’s all there to play for.”

Mark McGhee is the latest Premiership manager to be put under severe pressure – a protest outside the ground and plenty of abuse inside it told you that – and McGowan is glad that his own boss is out of the spotlight.

“I’ve never seen anyone work as hard as him,” he said of Paul Hartley. “And I’ve worked with some great managers.

“He’s still young as a manager as well. He’s still learning. The results weren’t coming so we had to make ourselves hard to beat. It wasn’t pretty to watch. Now we’ve found a formation that is suiting us.

“I can’t speak highly enough of the gaffer. He’s had some stick – unfairly in my opinion – but that’s the way football is. Just look at Ranieri.”

Hartley said: “A lot of people will talk about Motherwell’s first-half performance but you have got to give our players credit. We were on the front foot, we came and had a go straight away, which we did last week.”