Hartley and the Dark Blues – the real deal?

It should come as no surprise that football teams mirror their managers. Take professional, street-wise and quietly going about his business Tommy Wright as an example, and professional, street-wise and quietly going about their business St Johnstone.

You could probably say the same about Derek McInnes and Aberdeen.

Then there’s Celtic and Ronny Deila – OK and nothing to get really offended about but ultimately underwhelming.

Rangers and MarkWarburton? Both man and group are very impressive at times but more style than substance at others.

Defining Paul Hartley’s Dundee though hasn’t been easy for long parts of this season. And that’s probably been the case even among the Dark Blues’ support.

The early Greg Stewart-inspired thrashing of Kilmarnock on day one and comeback at Tannadice were offset by some pretty ropey home performances and heavy defeats in Dingwall and at Parkhead.

Rewind less than two months to the New Year derby and I would suspect that as many Dundee supporters were fearing defeat at Dens that day and a possible relegation battle thereafter as were anticipating a victory and a challenge for Europe.

Back then the suspicion lingered that if Dundee weren’t quite a one-man team, they were more overly-reliant on one man than most other teams in the league. And defensively they were too often too easy to break down.

Since the 5-2 loss against Ross County and the “disgraceful” goals Hartley accused his team of conceding, there has been a run of form that has cast off that dodgy at the back/dependent on Stewart characterisation.

There has only been one loss in nine, plenty of clean-sheets and, even though Kane Hemmings has been prolific, the goals and man of the match performances have been shared around.

You still get the feeling, though, that the stock of team and manager can rise yet further. And this is the week that could ensure that happens.

Dundee’s style of play is tailor-made to expose Rangers just as St Johnstone did in the League Cup in September with inventive counter-attacks

And before that there’s a clash with a mediocre and under-pressure Celtic side that should bring opportunity rather than fear.

Rightly or wrongly, nothing grabs the attention of the football public, shapes perceptions or increases self-belief more than a win against the Old Firm.

And, even if it doesn’t lead to Europe or Hampden, a week with at least one positive result in Glasgow will confirm the growing impression that Paul Hartley and Dundee are both the real deal.

Hats off to Craig Thomson

It’s not often you would say the actions of a Scottish referee should be held up as a shining example for others in the trade to follow, but that was the case with Craig Thomson at Hamilton on Friday night.

By taking the time to warn Ziggy Gordon about his grappling while waiting for a corner and then punishing the Hamilton man when he chose to ignore him, Thomson was entirely in the right to award Celtic a penalty.

It’s now up to Thomson’s colleagues to make sure his actions don’t stand alone. If they follow his lead, and clamp down on the American football blocking, the game will be all the better for it.

Dundee’s style of play is tailormade to expose Rangers...

Paul Hartley’s Dundee have been hard to define this season.