McIntyre hoping Kamara can help Dark Blues click

JIM McINTYRE has expressed a desire to hang on to midfielder Glen Kamara in the face of reported interest from the Bundesliga and beyond.

The new Dundee boss has inherited a team struggling at the wrong end of the Premiership table but that hasn’t stopped clubs casting envious glances at 22-year-old midfielder.

Kamara, who scored his first goal for Finland against Greece during the international break, is out of contract next summer and has been linked with Celtic, Rangers and Sunderland.

Bayer Leverkusen are the latest club mentioned in connection with the former Arsenal man and McIntyre admits he too admired the cultured midfielder during his spell out of the game.

He said: ‘Glen is a quality footballer. He makes the game look simple because he’s technically very good.

‘He’s definitely a player we want to keep.’

McIntyre admits he will move quickly to rally the Dens Park dressing-room in the wake of Neil McCann’s sacking last Tuesday.

The former Ross County boss had hoped to appoint long-time assistant Billy Dodds as his No 2 but club managing director John Nelms has blocked that on account of Dodds’ decision to vote against a company voluntary arrangement when the club was placed into administration in 2011.

McIntyre will now look elsewhere but, meantime, will make a point of ensuring senior players such as Kenny Miller and Darren O’Dea buy into his plans. He added: ‘There are some big characters in the dressing room and some I don’t know, a few of the foreign lads.

‘It’s about me finding out who reacts to what because we’re going to need everyone.

‘The gauntlet is there for the players — it’s up to you to get into the team and show you want to be part of what we’re trying to do. Then we’ll know where we are and how strong the squad is.’

McIntyre delivered a trophy during the course of his three years at County but ranks saving the club from relegation in his first season as a greater achievement than lifting the League Cup in 2016.

‘Our sole focus is trying to move off the bottom of the table,’ added McIntyre. ‘To be honest I haven’t thought about what a trophy would mean to this club because it has been a whirlwind start and there are games coming thick and fast.

‘This is a massive club and if we were to have success it would be a fantastic place to be. Going in at Ross County, winning a trophy wasn’t uppermost in my mind, but the thought grew.

‘You’re just thinking we need to stay up. That was a big challenge — and it was a hell of a challenge — especially as we had to strip a squad and build it again.

‘We took over in the September and it wasn’t until, probably, February 14 that we went on the run, and it was an unbelievable run, with nine wins out of 12.

‘It was phenomenal and probably one of the highlights of my managerial career.

‘I see that achievement as bigger than winning the cup. It’s not just the five games, there was so much more work, planning and detail into putting that together.

‘Dundee is a big club with a brilliant history and a core group of fans that can swell in numbers if you get the right results.

‘That’s the aim — to put a smile back on the punters’ faces and bring some good times back here.’