Simon again proving the doubters wrong

PLENTY people have written off Simon Murray over the years but he keeps proving them wrong and Dundee are in the perfect place to take full advantage of just that.

I was delighted to see Simon get his two goals against Partick at the weekend. It’s reward for his hard work.

He gets a lot of stick from people, I guess because they don’t think he’s good enough to be playing at that level.

However, he keeps showing that up at every step he’s taken from the junior ranks right to the top of the Scottish game.

What makes you root for him is his workrate and his attitude to make himself better — that’s what has taken him this far.

There’s talent in there and, more importantly for Dundee, goals.

I think he’s the type of player every manager would want in their team.

Attitude is spot on and he’s more talented than people give him credit for, even if it is still pretty raw.

That’s something that’ll interest managers like Neil McCann — and Neil Lennon, for that matter.

Everyone knows he’s got the ability to find the net but the rest of his game is something to be worked on. The potential is certainly there.

In that regard, he reminds me of my old team-mate Nacho Novo.

When he turned up at Dundee, he’d have maybe six one-on-one chances and score one or two in a game.

There was the same raw ability but the rest came after time and he went on to have a great career.

At Firhill, Murray was similar in that he had four looks at goal before he notched.

You’ve got to feel now, though, that after getting his first strike, and then a second, he can really start to hit his stride in dark blue.

That’s something that still feels strange.

It’s not long ago he was running about in tangerine but now he’s kissing the Dundee badge after scoring — how quickly the tides have turned!

I’m joking, of course, and I think he was actually running to his Dundee-supporting mates in the crowd.

The fans do appreciate that sort of thing and it’s good to see the Dark Blues have local boys like Murray, Cammy Kerr and, hopefully, Craig Wighton all in the same team.

Simon Murray celebrates his first goal for Dundee, shortly before adding No 2 and all three points at Partick.