Dark Blue Dick

Confirmation understood, thanks. I can't speak for the majority of Dundee fans, I can only speak for me. I would prefer that we stayed up. I have no idea if Dodds would have made a difference or not, and that's not the point. I just wish that all fans would put the club first, ahead of our individual 'feelings'. Because I think that gives us the best chance of success.

Let me get this straight. You are happier that we are relegated, than we employed Billy Dodds and stayed up?

Tanner said some stupid stuff, but lets focus on this one sentence ……. "The fans who undermined Jim McIntyre and their club by blocking Billy Dodds' appointment, should be ashamed". So would Dodds have made a difference? Who knows. Were Dundee right to fire McIntyre? Absolutely. But did JM think that Dodds would have helped? Was Dundee's assessment of JM made on the basis of results he achieved with BD? Was JM coming into a very difficult appointment? Did the BD situation make JMs job harder? The answer to these questions is yes. The fact that we fans put our 'feelings' ahead of the possible saving of the season is unforgivable. Tanner is right, we should be ashamed. There are a lot of lessons to be learned from what has been perhaps Dundee's worst ever season. A lot of blame to go around. The best we can hope for is that lessons are learned, and mistakes are not repeated. But that includes us as well. It's time for us fans to learn what it means to support the club. It means doing whatever it takes to improve the chances for the team on the park to succeed. Irrespective of our 'feelings'. It's as simple as that.

I'm concerned about Nelson. He was an absolute beast in the first 15 minutes against Motherwell, totally terrorised their defence, a goal was coming. Then he takes the injury. Bad one, looked concussed. Played on, but never kicked a ball again. Doesn't start next 2 games. I'm concerned !

So 16 games to go. The final round of 11 matches plus 5 after the split. We find ourselves in the unbelievable position of just having to match St Mirren point for point and taking 2 more than Hamilton over the remaining course to avoid relegation. Given the season we've had, and the paltry points accumulation from the first 22 games, it's incredible that we remain with a realistic opportunity to avoid the drop. However, while it might sound feasible to get out of this self inflicted mess, I've experienced too much Dens disappointment to expect that we will. I can't help feel that a win tomorrow is essential. Despite the boost from the Heart win and the performance of the new boys, we're running out of winnable games and I don't think we can afford to lose any more of these. Am I confident for tomorrow? Not a chance. But at least I'll be at Dens tomorrow with butterflies, and not the the usual leaden weight of despair in my stomach. Sorry it's the best I can do - perhaps I should have just posted 'mon the Dee' …..?

Great to see Kallman back. I thought he was going to be out for months. Had a great game against St Mirren.

Clearly the problem isn't one of motivation. McCann is a fantastic orator. I mean, after last years car crash of a season where we squeaked avoidance of relegation, buying a season ticket wasn't something I was looking forward to with relish. Then I watched the video of McCann's Q&A with the fans in the close season, and I swear, I was ready to buy two! Playing out from the back just made so much sense ……. Maybe that's the problem now; each week when Nelms phones up to ask "wtf"?, 20 minutes of listening to the McCann patter later, and John thinks we're still on course for Europe …...

And I'm getting fed up hearing this 'good first half' pish. I counted 2 or 3 good chances for Hibs, and bugger all for us. Parish saving us big time on one occasion. It was only a matter of time before we lost that game,

I gave up and left the Coxy with about 3 minutes to go, just before Hibs got the third. As I'm walking past the main stand, out comes Archie. I have no idea why he was at Dens today.

Archie Knox was at the game today. Now there was a manager.

Archie was without doubt the best manager we've had in that time, but the only decent manager? Hmmm. Thinks...... Nope, I think you're right. Cowboy maybe, but never got a chance. Ironically, I think this is one area where I am in support of the current board. They've been willing to go after a potentially great manager, and they've been willing to give said manager time. Sadly they've struck out both times, and the key now is cutting our losses before the situation becomes unsalvageable. But I can't fault the strategy. The only chance we have to make waves is to appoint a superior manager. We can't buy success, so we need an exceptional manager. Problem is, proven exceptional managers are out of our price range, so we have to gamble on the next bright young thing.

I'll probably pass...... and I have a season ticket

We were going down under Hartley. McCann gave us the new manager bounce, and we got the 2 wins and a draw that kept us up in his first 3 games. Then we lose the next 2 , which with hindsight, should have told us something about McCann's longer term abilities.

I was afraid of that. I hope it's not true.

Anybody know why Gowser was missing yesterday?

When I look at last years season book, I see more unused tickets than used. Some games I can't make because of work, but others last year I just got sick fed up of the dreadful displays and the inevitable defeats. These performances are killing our club, at a time when we should be capitalising on our position as the top team in the city, and building and strengthening the fan base. I second the call for Neilson or Hopkin. Or even McCall.

I don't like throwing the manager under the bus after a bad defeat, but when you look at the results and performances since the beginning of last season, there's just no sign of either progression or improvement. Today was just abject. I was starting to feel positive after a competent display against Aberdeen, and the announcement of the signing of what looks like a good striker. Then kick off happened. Ayr all over us. No sense of urgency, no forward movement, sideways passes only, no penetration. Add to that bombscare performances from the centre halfs and goalkeeper, and there was only going to be one result. CW33 looked totally uninterested in the game, as did the whole team when Ayr had the ball. And Moussa. To be fair, he got stuck in when he came on, which was more than most were doing. I felt the ref was card happy with the yellow, but like it or not, he's the guy in charge. Moussa didn't get this, even with McCann screaming at him to calm down, and he still went on clattering into Ayr players with the inevitable result. Idiot. So is the latest depression any different from all the other Dens disappointments we've suffered over the last season? I think so. Why is Caulker on the bench? Another fall out keeping out best player out the team? Where's Gowser? Kamara just back from injury so I can understand him being on the bench. But this to me looks like a manager who has lost at least half the dressing room. Sad to say, McCann is a club legend, but I think it's time for a change.

Negative post alert. Shoot me down lads. So after enjoying a 4-0 away day yesterday, I'm still worried about the season. Stirling for me gave up for goals 2 through 4, making the result look good. But that's not our problem, so why am I worried? For one, I don't see any new stand out players, there's no Allen, Kamara or Hendry on show so far. The new guys look ok, but can we say they are better than what we had? Is Ralph better than Holt? Elton or Karl better than O'Hara, or Nick Ross (to go back a year)? Mendy was good, but better than El Bak, given that it's still lower level opposition? Defence still looks all at sea, and good for a goal or two against every game. Add to that the strong prospect of losing Kamara before the close of the window, then I see another relegation dogfight ahead of us. One positive is that we've cleared out lots of the dross, but this only helps if they are replaced with upgrades. Another positive is that by this time last year, I didn't spot Hendry or Kamara as stars; who could it be this year? Tell me why I'm wrong to be worried. Please.

Legend indeed, in the truest sense of the word. My favourite bedtime tale as a lad was to hear of Gillie's goals leading Dundee to the championship and into Europe......

Ralph didn't.

No Gowser ?

Here's an idea - lets have a 'moaners' section at New Campy for the "Eh've paid my money, eh'll say what eh like" brigade. And put it behind glass so they cannae be heard on the park .........

I hate to interrupt the flow of Dundee-FC92's genius thought experiment of 11 best Dees in Hartley formation, but back to the match. How many offsides were there today? Did either side manage a forward pass? One point in the first half, Gowser plays the ball forward to Cammy; flag goes up; Cammy jogs back into position; Gowser starts "hey linesman! that was in line. Fucking in line. Fucking hell. That was in line. hey linesman! That was in line!. f**k. " Gowser. Not his best game today, but I love him.

With Javier Artero as an unused sub .........

Stood behind the goal for he second half. Curran looked great at RB. Fas out of sync with Allan on more than one occasion. O'Hara's drive in the middle of the park was great to see, although the whole team was playing much better. Allan's pass to Woulters for the second was a joy, and beautifully finished.