Comedy gold at Dens not slowing down

A MONTH in, and the great Mark McGhee Laugh-In at Dens Park is not proving to be a disappointment.

Brought in from the cold — and we are talking colder than the dark side of Uranus here — with the help of old chum Gordon Strachan, McGhee (right) breezily insisted that being banned from the dugout for the first six games of his reign as Dundee boss ‘won’t be a problem, it really won’t’.

Turns out, surprise of all surprises, he now describes it as ‘horrendous’. The revelation that, holed-up with Covid, he was talking to coach Dave Mackay during last week’s loss to Rangers while watching a feed two minutes behind real time — and didn’t even know what the up-to-date scoreline was — is priceless. Right up there with insisting no one could tell him anything he didn’t know about the squad at his unveiling — only to admit he had no idea who the captain was. Dundee might be saved by the fact they are up against St Johnstone in the relegation dogfight, surely the only team in world football who could win a heroic cup double and finish up with even less of a public profile than before, but it is unlikely.

What to do, then, other than sit back and chortle at the entertainment? You know, Auntie Beeb, it still isn’t too late to get a TV crew in there for a bit of fly-on-the-wall action. Scot Squad doesn’t hold a candle to this.