Shadow Play

1940 - but that was for a top flight fixture* *just getting in my excuses because I’m sure we are going to have less than that attending on Friday.

Genuine question, where did get the stats from or do you keep a record (mental, or otherwise) of how many away supporters attend each Dundee derby?

Great to see Johnston and Hemmings linking up again in the lead up to the goal. I really think they can form a great partnership.

I’m sure Old Man Danger can ask for himself.

Until being forced into it due to injury at the QOS game McPake didn’t really give Johnson and Hemmings a real chance to form a partnership (they have scored 4 goals between them in 2.5 games since Johnston came on as a sub. McDaid flatters to deceive. Ness injured. Byrne has been dreadful when used. Gowser has only once ever scored more than 2 league goals in a season in the time he has been with us. Dorrans gets deeper and deeper as each game goes on. Nelson has constantly been played out of position. When you add in the fact that Forster and Hamilton are first choice in our defence I suppose it is no suprise we are on negative goal difference.

Yes. I said one if the largest in Scottish football. That is factually correct. No guarantees money ensures you get good players (but having money does help........greatly). That is why being a great motivator, a good man manager, and being tactically astute (to name but three qualities) is so important. Unfortunately I don’t see any of these three qualities in McPake.

With one of the largest budgets in Scottish football that is the very, very least I would expect from any half competent manager.

No doubt about it there are some fans go way over the top with their criticism and they need to have a look at themselves. Interesting that if fans shout and bawl at players it’s being negative but if players like Gowser shouts and bawls at younger players in particular he’s just showing his passion. Just saying.

To be fair to Forster he joined in the banter by misplacing his pass

Funny you should say that. Yesterday I thought I saw Hemmings leave the pitch on his own almost immediately at full time, rather than staying with the team to acknowledge the fans. Maybe nothing of course.

I know a couple of Americans that have invested heavily over here. I don’t think they are going to make any money though.

I agree, a large number of ftse 100 stocks earn a significant proportion of their earnings abroad. Lloyds, and RBS on the other hand earn almost all their income in the UK. The point I was trying to make was, people are still adamant that Brexit will cause all sorts of problems. If they genuinely believe that and are in no doubt whatsoever that will be the case there are many ways of making money out of it, including shorting the £.

Use it to your advantage. Sell a significant proportion of your shares now and buy them back when they are cheaper if you feel Brexit will drag shares down.

Correct Adam. If I was going to the Brentford game I’d rather be drinking tea with the taste of the Thames.

Madness to give McPake more money in January. We are 17 points off the top spot and only 8 off the bottom spot. If that’s the best McPake can do after 16 games with the budget he’s been given where are the signs he would use the money wisely or get the best out of any players he signs? This season is over in terms of promotion as we have no chance of going up through the play offs if we finish 4th or higher. Surely McPake doesn’t need more money just to keep us from worrying about the bottom of the table! It’s already shaping up that McPake will be binned sooner, rather than later. Why lumber ourselves with more players that any new manager may not fancy?

We haven’t even got to this stage yet:

If past appointments are anything to go by, anyone who thinks they can work out who Nelms will name as our next manager would be better off using their skills to pick the next six lottery numbers!

Exactly what I’ve been thinking for a long time. Someone on here posted the e mail address for Nelms when we were about to appoint Dodds. I was happy to oblige and send in an e mail to Nelms letting him know exactly how I felt about it. If someone could post up the e mail address for Keyes I’d be more than happy sending another e mail.........

I actually agree with you that at this stage of his career Dorrans is more suited to playing a bit deeper. For those of a certain age, a bit like Ray Wilkins (although obviously not as good as one of the greatest Chelsea players ever). DeeTillEhDeh is 100% correct though when he says our tempo is way too slow. Dorrans can spray the ball about but he has to have players, particularly the wide players, making the intelligent runs behind the defence. I just don’t see these runs and I don’t think we have the players that can make these runs. As an example McDaid constantly comes back to get the ball but very rarely takes on his man, unless running inside where he runs into trouble and invariably passes the ball backwards.

So a one year pay off whenever he gets punted. Not sure Nelms will want to make the phone call to Keyes and hold his hands up to making a third mistake in a row regarding managerial appointments. A guilty verdict for McPake gives Nelms a far easier option. Nelms can claim he still has every confidence McPake will turn things around but his conduct cannot be tolerated by the club.

How long is McPake’s contract and how much would it cost to pay him off? In all seriousness we should still be hanging about 4th, 5th, 6th for the next month or two. Nelms would be able to offload McPake for nothing if McPake is found guilty of the Braes incident. Nelms may well choose to wait and see what happens at court.

Has McDaid done anything other than his Riverdance thing over the ball today?

Because of an injury just before half time last week McPake was forced into playing Johnson and Hemmings together for more than a half. Now McPake thinks it could be a good idea to play two strikers. Why did nobody else think of this? The man’s a genius.

Have I missed something?

Sorry Mexico, you seem to have misunderstood what I am saying. It’s not about simply winning. I am fairly certain Dundee will win tomorrow. The issue is the quality of football, the style of football and the tactics being employed by McPake. I’ve been to Celtic Park and Ibrox on many occasions watching Dundee. Each time I’ve gone I was pretty certain we would get beat but I’ve gone because there was something about what was happening with the club that was exciting and positive.