McCann football philosophy won’t change: MacDonald

Peter MacDonald believes Dundee fans should have total faith in Neil McCann to be a success.

And that means getting behind the style of play his old Rangers teammate is trying to implement.

Playing out from the back hasn’t pleased everyone at Dens Park.

In the recent home game against Hearts there were loud shouts for the ball to be played back to front quicker than the Dundee players had been instructed by their boss.

But MacDonald insisted they are wasting their breath as there is no chance McCann will abandon his footballing philosophy.

And he also predicted that it will bring Premiership rewards.

The Championship title winner with the Dark Blues said: “Neil won’t change his mind and why would he? That’s the way he wants to play.

“If you bring a guy in you let him do things his way or what’s the point? I think he’s a good fit for Dundee.”

MacDonald added: “I was with Terry (McCann) at Rangers. He always had the fire in his belly that would make him a natural manager.

“He certainly doesn’t suffer fools. He’ll have his team playing for him, that’s for sure.”

MacDonald got to play alongside some of Dundee’s first team players and emerging youngsters in Dave Mackay’s testimonial last Friday, and he liked what he saw.

“Jack Lambert did well,” he said. “And there were a few others who impressed me.”

MacDonald is currently playing with Mackay’s Stirling Albion.

He won’t be rushing into retirement but his stint as cointerim manager with Clyde, as they successfully steered the club to SPFL safety last season, has whetted his appetite to follow Saints’ Scottish Cup-winning skipper into the dugout.

“I’m not playing at the highest level anymore but I’m still enjoying my football as much as ever,” said the 36-year-old..

“As long as my legs keep going, I won’t be hanging up my boots.

“When I do finish up I’d like to go into coaching – whether it’s as a coach or a manager.

“It was full on when I was at Clyde. There was a lot of pressure on us.

“We were asked to keep them up and we did it. It was job done.

“We brought in three players – two from Dundee (Kerr Waddell and Kyle Gourlay) and David Goodwillie – and they helped keep us up.

“It was a good experience and made we want to get back into it.”

Peter MacDonald played with Neil McCann at Rangers.