‘It’s up to the players to sort out the issues’

Charlie Adam has opened up on concerns over his start to life as a Dundee player. The former Scotland, Rangers and Liverpool man admits he himself hasn’t been good enough so far in dark blue and says it’s up to the struggling Dens Park players to “find a solution” to their poor form.

The Dark Blues lay in seventh position in the Championship table after just one win in their opening five league games.

As well as the 6 -2 thumping suffered on the opening day of the campaign at Hearts, Dundee lost 4-1 to Hibs in the Betfred Cup and saved themselves from defeat late on in a 3-3 draw at parttime Alloa.

In a stellar career, Adam has played 26 times for Scotland as well as more than 200 appearances in the English Premier League and he has warned the club’s under-performing players that they need to handle the pressure of playing for a club like Dundee.

In their latest disappointment, the Dark Blues lost 2-0 at Ayr after conceding two soft goals early on.

“We are a football club going through a bad time at the moment on the pitch,” said Adam, who played 90 minutes at Somerset Park despite a hamstring injury.

“It’s not acceptable, it’s as simple as that.

“There were a few home truths told after the game. Sometimes you need to be told.

“This is a big football club and if you can’t handle the pressure of playing for Dundee in the Championship then going to the next level isn’t going to happen.

“Saturday was a tough afternoon for everybody and there were harsh words said in the dressing room, but they needed to be said because it’s been going on for weeks now.

“It’s a combination of errors we are making, not just one player, but it’s different areas of the pitch.

“Are we a soft touch? It’s hard to say but we need to react against Hibs on Saturday and then against Arbroath after that.

“T he manager could leave 11 players out this weekend, he’s made it that clear that’s how bad we were at Ayr.

“It’s a harsh lesson, a reality check for us – again. We need to look at ourselves because this is a big football club in this division.

“This isn’t what I signed up for, I came here to be successful in this team.”

Fans have certainly made their displeasure known, though they are unable to do so in the stands due to coronavirus restrictions.

Many lay the blame for the team’s struggles at the feet of manager James McPake.

Adam, though, says it’s up to the players to get things right.

“Right now we need to find a solution, it’s not about tactics, it’s about us as a group of players finding a solution ourselves ,” said the midfielder.

“That’s when you find out that you have a good team because the players so r t the p rob lem themselves.

“It’s tough to take and the supporters have the right to give their opinion.

“It doesn’t matter what your name is, whether you are Charlie Adam or Max Anderson, names don’ t matter, it’s about winning football matches.

“At the moment, I as a player am not contributing to it. That’s a fact.

“I signed up to try to be successful here, it’s not working right now.

“We need to find a solution as a group.

“We need to keep looking at it, go over the errors and find out why we are being soft, getting turned over by other teams.

“You look at it on the video, take that into training and the manager will have a plan.

“We have a good manager here, a young, ambitious manager who I am delighted to be working with.

“Hopefully, we as a group of players can solve what is going on. We have to find a way of winning matches, it doesn’t matter.

“Sometimes you have to look at yourself in the mirror and ask are you giving enough.

“We have a great opportunity to play for this football club and maybe sometimes players go into the comfort zone, but its time we stepped up to the mark.

“The supporters are sitting at home, paying good money to watch us and we are not producing at the moment.”