SAME OLD STORY
McCann’s brave new era begins on a bum note as Dens men are booed off
THIS was meant to herald an exciting new beginning for Dundee under Neil McCann. But instead it was more of the same deficiencies which brought back memories of last season’s struggles and their subsequent flirt with relegation.
McCann’s new-look side had been striving to hit the ground running and erase the memory of notso-long ago which instigated his arrival to replace Paul Hartley for a crucial five-game spell as interim manager, to help them escape the threat of the dreaded play-offs.
One of their aims was to make Dens Park a fortress in the season ahead, bearing in mind the Taysiders haven’t won on home soil since beating Rangers 2-1 back in February, but here they fell at the first hurdle.
By the hour mark, they had reverted to type as goals in either half from on-loan Celtic midfielder Jamie Lindsay and Christopher Routis meant County were well on their way to securing an openingday win for the first time in seven years, rendering substitute Jack Hendry’s 86th-minute header a mere consolation for the hosts.
‘We’re really disappointed with this opening to the campaign,’ said McCann. ‘We had a couple of chances early on and we started to force things towards the end.
‘But the big section in between when games are generally decided was nowhere near good enough.
‘There were no signs of this coming. We were really positive going into the match but I thought we let Ross County dominate us.
‘The disappointing thing is it’s two set-pieces which have cost us.
‘There are things there that happened during the game which leave you pretty annoyed.
‘But the biggest thing for me was that crucial middle section of the 90 minutes which annoyed me most. We showed glimpses of creativity here but didn’t do enough overall.
‘There is more to come from us but it’s important the boys understand it’s them who make things happen.
‘It’s only them who can turn it on and we basically didn’t earn the right to do so.’
McCann had been non-stop since taking the job on a permanent basis earlier this summer by making no fewer than eight new signings.
One of those, Roarie Deacon, began brightly by releasing Cammy Kerr whose cross from the right was perfect for Scott Allan, but the on-loan Celtic midfielder’s shot was blocked by County skipper Andrew Davies.
Then, just seconds later, Sofien Moussa’s cut-back fell for Mark O’Hara who saw his 10-yard effort parried away by visiting keeper Scott Fox.
County, though, began to assert themselves with former Dundee United playmaker Michael Gardyne cracking a shot from the edge of the penalty area which home keeper Scott Bain saw flash past his post.
However, the Highlanders didn’t have to wait too much longer for the breakthrough.
From Sean Kelly’s free-kick, Davies nodded downwards and without hesitation Lindsay struck an unstoppable shot low past Bain from 22 yards and clearly savoured his strike as he ran towards the small band of County supporters.
Dundee suffered a further setback early in the second half when striker Moussa limped off with a knee injury, and he was replaced by Faissal El Bakhtaoui.
To make matters worse for the hosts, County extended their lead in 61 minutes in the most simple fashion.
Kelly’s looping corner led to a free header from Routis, who directed it low into the corner of the net to put the visitors from Dingwall firmly in command.
Dundee, to their credit, did rally late on through substitute Hendry’s towering header from Allan’s corner, but even that late surge still couldn’t prevent them from being roundly booed off by their own fans on the final whistle.
‘I was really pleased with how we played, especially in the first half,’ said County manager McIntyre, whose mood was in compete contrast to that of the home team.
‘We probably should have got more for our efforts. But we passed the ball well and handled most things that Dundee threw at us.
‘When you lose the free header, that was the most annoying thing because I felt we were quite comfortable in the second half.
‘It was like the Alamo for the last five minutes.
‘But somebody told me we haven’t won on the opening day in quite a few years, so I’m delighted.
‘It’s a really tough place to come, so it’s a great start for us.
‘Obviously Liam Boyce is a huge miss, having left the club.
‘But we’ve got Billy Mckay still to come back. We had Craig Curran out today and Thomas Mikkelsen will get better, so we have plenty options in attack.’