McIntyre slams ‘disappearing’ act at Dens
FURIOUS Dundee manager Jim McIntyre accused some sections of his team of “disappearing” as they capitulated to this costly Tayside derby defeat – and insisted they need to inject some serious attitude into their ranks during the January transfer window in their quest for survival.
McIntyre was powerless at the touchline as he was forced to watch his relegation-threatened troops crumble in their final game of 2018 as St Johnstone swept past them with alarming ease to set a club record of six straight away wins in the top flight.
The Dens Park club are stranded at the foot of the Premiership and must now endure the four-week break before a chance at redemption at Tynecastle in late January.
This latest set-back leaves them winless in six games and languishing two points behind second-bottom St Mirren in the Premiership. But more worrying was the manner in which so many of their players appeared to surrender.
While Tommy Wright’s on-form side strolled to yet another win on their travels thanks to Scott Tanser’s opener and Liam Craig’s 58th-minute clincher, the lack of fight evident within the home ranks wasn’t lost on their manager, who has already told six first-team players they are free to leave.
McIntyre said: “We had four players who made contact with the St Johnstone boys, which is not enough. If you are seeing players not committed, not seeing that fighting spirit, and seeing people disappear then it’s very frustrating. You learn every day and that’s what I saw. Everyone knows we have to get players in and this underlines that fact again. The team clearly needs strengthened in January. We need to bring a freshness to things and the board know that – they’re not daft. I’m very confident I’ll get the backing we need.”
St Johnstone arrived at Dens Park buoyed by their Boxing Day win over St Mirren, and were up and running after just 35 seconds. Chris Kane fed the ball wide to Tanser. The Saints full-back cut in before sending a looping cross which caught home keeper Jack Hamilton by surprise, and came back off the far post before eventually crossing the line.
The pressure was relentless and only occasionally did Dundee venture out of their own half, one such instance coming in 25 minutes, but Jesse Curran couldn’t get his shot away eight yards from goal.
Saints, though, remained on top with midfielder Matthew Kennedy coming close with a half-volley 10 minutes before the interval.
Kennedy was making a habit of getting into dangerous positions and did so twice in quick succession early in the second half, but failed to hit the target. But just prior to the hour mark, Kennedy’s cross from a short corner causing havoc in the home defence and allowing Craig to bundle the ball home from just a few yards.
Saints could easily have enhanced their lead with Kennedy especially giving the home defence multiple problems and Hamilton having to look lively to prevent further damage.
On the final whistle the abject hosts were greeted with a merited chorus of boos f rom their own supporters. Wright, in stark contrast to his opposite number, had nothing but praise for his players.
“That was as good as I’ve had from any of my teams,” he said. “The only thing I can be negative about is that we should probably have had more goals, but it was unbelievable stuff.”