The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Adam not ruling out switch to Dark Blues
EXCLUSIVE: Boyhood fan grateful for chance
English Premier League star Charlie Adam hasn’t ruled out joining his boyhood team Dundee.
But the Scotland international wouldn’t be content to be a sentimental signing.
The 31-year-old has enjoyed a highly successful career down south with Blackpool, Liverpool and current club Stoke City.
Dark Blues supporters are hoping that he will find his way back to Dundee eventually but, if it does happen, Adam wouldn’t want to just “fill a jersey”.
He has pulled on a Dundee shirt on two occasions – in testimonial matches for Julian Speroni and Dave Mackay. But could it happen for real one day?
“That’s me done it twice,” he told Courier Sport. “You never know what will happen in the future.
“I always supported Dundee as a kid and it was great to get the opportunity to play again.
“We all grew up supporting Dundee in my family, even though dad played for the other side.
“Grant (his brother) got a couple of games as well.”
He added: “It is good banter and we do enjoy it. It does add a bit of spice to the game.”
“Hopefully he is feeling a bit better now and he will be on the edge of his dugout and we will get a bit of bite off him.”
Whether or not Caixinha’s remark was meant as a dig, only he will know. Either way, it is “water off a duck’s back” to Maclean and his team-mates.
“We have been called rugby players before but we just take these things with a pinch of salt,” he said.
“It is water off a duck’s back. “People try to come up with new things every year for us. If we are doing well and people want to have a fight then it is a compliment for us. We will take everything that comes our way.
“It is a good thing in life when somebody puts you down. It makes you want to come out the other end fighting.
“It is a good attitude to have to prove people wrong. It gives you a strong mentality when people say you are not good enough.
“Secretly we use it in the dressing room to try and finish as high up the league as possible.
“We enjoy folk having a dig at us because we know we have more sides to our game. We can fight when it gets dirty and we can play football as well.
“We have not finished in the top four for the past three seasons by just lumping it long.”
enicolson@thecourier.co.uk