Dark Blue Dick

I like Gayfield. One of my favourite grounds. Lets you get close to the action. I stood right on the touch line just inside the Arbroath half for the first; got to see Cammy Kerr in all his impressive glory. You see balls fizzed towards you at what seems 100 miles an hour, and Cammy pulls them down with one touch. Great stuff. Jack Hendry was composed, very vocal, well organised, but clearly off the pace. First 2 touches were disasters, then a bad tackle to give away a stone wall penalty. Hopefully just rust, looks promising. Lacklustre first half all round. No good performances, no sense of urgency, although lots of individual good moments, but no cohesion as a team. Arbroath deservedly ahead at the break, although to be fair no keeper had been worked. Second half far better. Higher intensity of play, loving the aggression of Woulters, even Williams looked good. Highlight of the afternoon was the steak of black pudding pie. Outstanding. Will be back at Arbroath again this season when the Dees are away. Good luck to our Angus neighbours, played well today.

Centre half called Hendry eh?

Unless we expect to be a striker down in the near future ..........

Dees sign striker on loan from Celtic. Michael Duffy.

Biggie's in. Who else is with me?

But seriously. This is our time. Monday night was ridiculously good fun. The accumulated weight of decades of disappointment, washed away in a sea of anticipated delirium. But we have to make it count. This city ain't big enough for the both of us. Merger is not an option. We have to be number 1. Every boy growing up in Dundee must want to be a Dundee fan. We must be the number 1 team. Our crowds must grow, out income must increase. We must grow. United must become irrelevant. United must become irrelevant enough to become every Dee's wee team. Think about that. United almost finished us when we went down in 76, this time we must repay the favour, but make it stick. We can't control what happens at Tannadice, but we can control what happens at Dens. We must be consistently successful next year, and the next, and the next. This is our time. Make the city ours. Make the city dark blue. Forever.

Game on !

PS For all the dismay at the way Hearts played, I wish we could defend like that. I think "streetwise ' is the term. A bit tighter at the back and we'll be sorted.

Nice touch from the Dens Park DJ to play a little ELP yesterday at half time. Brought a wee tear .....

Who's not delighted with our form in 2016? Much of the plaudits have rightly gone to O'Dea for steadying the defence, also to Nick Ross for coming into impressive form in the holding midfield role. But I can't help feeling that the catalyst has been the loss of Thompson. As good a player he was, his injury record meant that the midfield never got a chance to settle, chopping and changing almost every week. Now he's gone, Ross and Gowser have had the chance to bed in as a partnership, Ross especially has benefitted from the stability. Not to discount Hemming's goals, but I'm pleased most with the stability at the back that's allowing our ridiculously talented front players to shine. Flies in the ointment? Only depth of squad. As I Dundee fan, I still have a pessimistic fear of an injury or two* completely derailing the season. DBD *maybe except in the front line. What about Wighton, eh?

Umbro? No, Admiral. I had the full kit, plus tracksuit, which had a dapper white top with plain dark blue bottoms. Class.

Based on the start of the season, we're now down 4 players; luka, Roberts, ferry and Thompson. Surely room on the wage bill for a couple of reinforcements?

Anybody know what's up with Simon Ferry? No sign so far, I think we need a good pre-season from him if he's to make a meaningful contribution this year.

OK, so it was a friendly, but still a disappointing performance. 2 games in, still finding our feet, but it's a mixed bag. I thought Nicky Low was the standout performer at Raith, and I liked the formation. Harkins anchored the midfield diamond well, and Stewart likewise led it. McPake is as good as ever, and I liked McGinns energy and zip when he came on. Andy Black looked pretty good too. Onto Brechin, I though Nick Ross was the standout today, never wasted possession, and looked better then he did at Raith. I've still to see what Rory Loy can do, service to him in both games has been dreadful, Kane Hemmings looks very promising. Full backs today, Kerr and Black were the standouts for me. I really hope I'm wrong, but I'm not impressed with Holt so far. Others have raved about him, so I hope it's just me who is wrong, we really need a good LB. McGowan looked off the pace today, hardly surprising, but it could be well into the season before we see him back to his best. For me, he was our Mt Indispensable last year. Gary Irvine was Gary Irvine, decent squad player, but not a starter. Mitchell in goal did little to inspire confidence unfortunately. Roberts and Tank, I doubt will see much first team action. Big plus? Spanish lad Extra B has been very assured, good football brain, can pass a ball. Would like to see him bed in with McPake. No Konrad or Meggatt today, hope they're not injured. Would like to see if Meggatt can handle LB. Anyway, onto next week, back at Dens with higher standard opposition. Should start to get a better idea of the team as the week progresses. Also remembering, this is a young team we have now. Things should only get better !

Is it really attitude? I agree he was good against Celtic, but all other times I've seen him, he just doesn't look good enough.