ONE BAD NIGHT AT ABERDEEN SHOULDNOT FINE ME
Well fans will remember when we annihilated Hibs and I had great times as manager of Millwall, Wolves, Reading and Brighton... DEE
MARK McGHEE admits the best way to get the doubting Dundee supporters onside is by keeping their team in the Premiership.
The experienced boss is the man the Dens Park board have controversially turned to after sacking James McPake, who had won his last two games.
The Dundee fans all had their own managerial shortlists and it’s clear McGhee wasn’t high on any of them.
The 64-year-old’s last top-level management stint was back in 2017 when his second spell at Motherwell came to an end.
Since then he has had different roles at Barnet, Eastbourne Borough and was then assistant to Simon Rusk at Stockport, who now becomes his No.2 at Dens.
He can boast a half-decent CV, with spells at Reading, Wolves, Leicester, Brighton and Millwall.
McGhee had stints at Motherwell and Aberdeen while he was also Scotland assistant to Gordon Strachan – who helped him land the Dark Blues gig. The new gaffer feels he has made a lasting impression at most clubs he has been at and now plans to do the same at Dundee.
A lasting image was a video that went viral of him having a go at an Aberdeen fan after he had been sent to the stands at Pittodrie as Motherwell manager.
However, McGhee said:“I am always trying to prove people wrong. I also want to prove people right and prove to myself that I can do things. But I would like to think the highlight of my career for a lot of people isn’t what happened at Aberdeen.
“I’d like to think some Well supporters remember the night we annihilated Hibs in the season we finished third.
“Speak to Wolves supporters, Reading supporters, Brighton supporters and Millwall supporters – I had three-and-a-half years at those clubs and had great times.
“So one incident at Aberdeen that wasn’t really my doing is not going to define me, that’s for sure.
“But having the opportunity to
manage again in Scotland at a club like Dundee is fantastic.
“It’s a dream to manage again. Like any other manager does, I want the supporters to love me and when I do eventually leave I want them to remember me fondly.”
Dundee are second bottom in the table but McGhee is looking to climb to safety – although he is well aware they may have to keep one eye on the play-offs.
He believes he is well equipped and has had successful survival battles with Motherwell, Bristol Rovers and even in his brief helping hand at Eastbourne. McGhee said: “In terms of the position the team is in, I have faced this before in my career when we’ve been fighting relegation.
“I have gone in and kept teams up in the short term. I did it at Bristol Rovers and Motherwell so I do have a history of turning clubs around.”
Former Brighton coach Rusk will be doing a lot of the day-to-day training but McGhhe will be overseeing everything and the final decision will be his.
The veteran has the job until the