This season Dundee have teetered on the brink of a form crisis – right now, though, the club is firmly in the depths of an identity crisis.
That was made startlingly clear on Saturday night when a tad over 1,000 home fans paid money to watch the Dark Blues play in the Scottish Cup.
What does Dundee FC actually stand for?
For too many years now it’s been drab football combined with high prices to watch a sub-standard product.
And that has increasingly alienated a loyal support.
This is a club that’s played in a European Cup semi-final against AC Milan.
It may be a provincial club but it’s one with serious history, and not all of it ancient either.
On the face of it, firstly £15 and then £20 to watch Dundee face a really good Motherwell side in the Scottish Cup fourth round doesn’t seem too high.
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But when it’s been year after year of dreadful home form and then a season like this that has continually failed to ignite, it’s obviously too much.
There is a caveat regarding the prices in the Scottish Cup, however, where it has to be agreed by the away side, too.
The kick-off time and being on the BBC are added factors – but you can’t tell me fans would have begrudged £20 to go and see their team have a real go at a Premiership club.
That’s the crux, though – supporters didn’t believe they’d see any different than they have for the past four years.
Dundee have won just one Scottish Cup tie since 2016 – that was against a lower-league Inverness Caley Thistle after a replay in 2018.
Why would this year be any different, especially against the third-best team in the country this season?
On a cold night and at a tough time of year financially, keeping that £20 note in the pocket and sitting in front of the box, or spending that money in the pub was a far more enticing prospect.
I can only hope it is a real wake-up call for John Nelms and Tim Keyes.
Everything off the pitch has been fine, stability superb, but, on the pitch, it’s been woeful since Greg Stewart and Kane Hemmings disappeared in 2016.
And it’s coming to the point where fans will stop paying out each season – that was clear at the weekend.
The owners are backing manager James McPake and that’s a good thing, young managers need time.
However, he needs some help in the transfer market this month – the only way to find their identity is by winning games and doing it soon.
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