A derby ritual to get Dundee primed for walk on the wild side
Smith borrows from the past for long-awaited Tayside revival
AROUND 90 minutes before kick-off, Barry Smith will conclude his pre-derby team talk and invite his players to join him on a Sunday morning stroll. The walk will be short but it also promises to be noisy as the Dundee squad makes its way between the front doors of Dens Park and Tannadice, the home of city rivals United.
It is a ritual Smith first discovered as a player when Jim Duffy would set up his charges for battle with a little street psychology.
Along the way there will be cat-calls from opposition fans and the odd handshake proffered by those affiliated to the Dark Blues’ cause, but Smith reckons his players should be able to calmly block out the big match build-up as they approach the venue.
‘The main difference between the build-up to this and any other game is that I’ll do my team talk here at Dens Park then we’ll walk down the road to Tannadice. I did that as a player and I think it’s a good thing to do,’ he said.
‘It’s not too busy when you go down but there are fans about and you get some good banter.
‘By the time you’ve had the team talk you are focused on the game, so the banter walking down the street won’t really register. It didn’t for me anyway.
‘I was always just so focused on the job we had to do. The game is the only thing that’s in your head by that time.’
Smith is loath to invite comparison, but it is inconceivable he would be able to walk his players down the street on derby day were he manager of either Edinburgh club or the big two in Glasgow.
A sell-out crowd will ensure Tannadice is loud and rowdy today but while the rivalry will be keen — not least because this will be the first competitive clash between the sides since 2005 — it lacks the malice of the capital or Old Firm clashes.
‘Although the fans here dislike each other for 90 minutes, you go into the pubs at night and they will be drinking together,’ continued Smith. ‘I wouldn’t say the rivalry is friendly as such but it’s a good football rivalry.
‘The supporters want the bragging rights, they want to be able to go into their work on Monday morning and have the upper hand over their pals. It’s massive to them and the players know this. We’d love to get a good result for them.
‘The fans have been brilliant over the years, they did so much to keep the club open.
‘The club has come a long way. I was worried back in 2010, but the fans saved the club. That’s why I’m so pleased the derbies are back again because the fans look forward to them so much.’
Derby football is one of the added benefits of Dundee’s impromptu promotion to the SPL following the liquidation of Rangers.
Smith admits he would far rather Dundee had been promoted purely on football achievement but, having cut his managerial teeth in the First Division, he is determined to prove himself in the top flight. He said: ‘It’s great for this club to be back. I’ve always said we wanted to get back into the SPL by winning promotion, but those were the circumstances and we’ll take them.
‘We’ve had a lot of injuries and not a lot of time to prepare, so it’s been difficult. I’ve not had a minute to sit back and enjoy being in the SPL but I wouldn’t have it any other way because I feel so fortunate to be in this position.’
Although Smith played in several Dundee derbies before moving into management, few of the players who take the field today will have any practical fixture.
Taking friendlies out of the equation, none of the United players has contested a derby, while only goalkeeper Rab Douglas and striker Steven Milne did so in their respective first spells with the club.
Milne began his career at Dundee before moving to Plymouth, St Johnstone and Ross County, but arguably his best days came as a youth at Dens Park.
The signing policy which brought Claudio Caniggia and Fabrizio Ravanelli to Scottish football may have been reckless and ruinous to Dundee’s finances but the entertainment factor was high, as was the educational potential for young players like Milne and Lee Wilkie.
The striker recalls: ‘We had guys
insight
into the like Caniggia and Giorgi Nemsadze, so you were always confident going into games.
‘My record against United is good and I can’t remember losing to them — obviously I have at some point, but it was a long time ago.
‘It’s a different time now. Having been through administration twice we are building ourselves back up, but we do still have players who are capable of causing them problems and I’m sure we will.
‘The point is, there’s no inferiority complex — you never go into these games thinking you’re going to lose.
‘We are going to be a match for them, be first to every ball, hopefully, and if we keep creating chances the players have the quality to take them.
‘Most people will expect United to win but that’s not what we think.’