Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Lee Wilkie
Dee players need to step up and give McPake time
DUNDEE have fallen off a cliff of late but, with a real, accountable, team effort, I truly believe they can still turn it around.
The not-so-distant past tells us they can do that.
The Dark Blues went through a wee spell not long ago where they were starting to play quite well and they looked like they’d turned the corner when they beat Hearts.
Their main problem right now isn’t in attack, it’s that they’re conceding so many poor goals at the other end.
They’re needing to score three or four goals every week to win a game, which they’re not doing, understandably. They’re not defending at all. Even simple corners or set-pieces have always been an issue for them, right from the start of the season.
The Dee need to improve on that and stop leaking goals if they’re to get anywhere near promotion – the crux of the James McPake, Dundee manager project.
McPake realises that – he speaks about it enough – and, for me, it’s down to the players as much as anyone else – whether that’s guys switching off, lapses in concentration or not having a strong enough mentality.
That’s always going to bring inconsistency if the players aren’t at it every week and doing their jobs for 90-plus minutes.
They need to step up and be accountable ahead of tonight’s visit of Inverness to Dens Park because Saturday’s draw at Morton was yet another blow.
There’s a talented squad there, between the likes of Charlie Adam, Jason Cummings and Liam Fontaine, but they aren’t doing the basics right now.
Dundee should be winning the majority of their games in this division.
They’ve found themselves in the position of having to come from behind to salvage something or throwing away a commanding lead too many times now.
Showing character to come back twice is all well and good but they shouldn’t be losing two goals or more like that week in, week out in the Championship.
Albeit we’ve seen Willie Gibson and Craig McGuffie blast absolute rockets past Jack Hamilton in recent weeks, the fact of the matter is, the Dark Blues are still too easy to score against.
That’s meant Dundee fans are more than restless now and, like United across the road, they demand a lot from their clubs in this city – rightly so.
There are a lot of Dees baying for blood right now and hoping McPake’s head will roll but, for me, he still deserves some time.
As previously mentioned in some detail, the players need to look at themselves and help their manager.
It’s too easy nowadays to blame managers for how players are performing.
There has to be an element of personal pride and a realisation they shouldn’t be drawing with Morton.
They need to win those games for their manager, because he’s a good young coach and deserves to see the season and this project out.