Lack of respect at The Royals inspires Marc to be a Tannadice king
Marc McNulty has been in football long enough to know that sometimes a player’s face just does not fit.
A new manager can come into a club and decide to go down a different path in terms of team selection.
However, what the striker cannot accept is continuing to maintain his own high standards of professionalism – but still end up being treated with a total lack of respect.
That’s the sad situation McNulty found himself in this summer when he was made to train with the kids at Reading.
The 29-year-old Scotland international joined the English outfit in 2018, signing a four-year deal with the Royals.
However, with a managerial revolving door at the club – he had five bosses in three years – he found himself loaned out to Hibs twice, Sunderland and then Dundee United last season.
McNulty is in the last year of his contract with Reading, and has returned to Tannadice on loan again.
He is now looking forward to reigniting his career with the Tangerines, and hopes to open his account for the club once more in today’s eagerly-awaited derby with Dundee at Tannadice.
McNulty said: “As a player, you get excited for certain games and this is one of them as it is going to be a sell-out.
“I am still getting up to speed. But I have had a good couple of games now and am getting there.
“Not having a great pre-season affected my first couple of games.
“I was playing with the youth team at Reading. I was literally training with the Under-18s, kids of 16 and 17.
“So I was pretty much playing catch-up when I came here.”
He added: “I could sit here all day and rant about it. But it is one of those things and it is done now.
“I think I had five different managers in my time at Reading.
“You understand as a player that sometimes you are not wanted, or you don’t fit a system, or the gaffer just doesn’t fancy you. These things happen in football.
“But sometimes in football, you just want to be given a little bit of respect.
“And by respect, I mean not turning up to training every day and applying myself correctly – yet having to train with 15 and 16-year-olds.
“It wouldn’t happen in any other line of work, so I don’t know why it should happen in football.”
McNulty is fully focused on doing well for himself and United, but insists he has absolutely nothing to prove to Reading.
He said: “I am just glad to be back up here, training at a club where I am wanted.
“Look, I am out of contract at Reading in the summer. So it’s a big year for me to go prove myself, and try to get myself something a bit more stable for the next couple of years.
“I am not too bitter. I am not going out to show them what they are missing, I am going out for myself, my club and my family.”
McNulty has experienced the Edinburgh derby while at Hibs and cannot wait for his first taste of the Dundee version.
He admitted he has been picking the brains of everyone at Tannadice in a bid to get a flavour of what to expect.
McNulty added: “I have been asking all the boys, manager and people who work around the club.
“It is intriguing for me to ask these questions because I am not experienced. I just want to know a little bit about it.
“What are the fans like? Is it a bit tasty in terms of the fans getting at each other?
“That is good to know as a player because sometimes you feed off the atmosphere.
“The boys have said it is a really feisty game, so I will be prepared for it.”