John Nelms has told Dundee fans to direct their fire at him rather than Paul Hartley or the club following the sale of Kane Hemmings.
The Dark Blues’ managing director stuck his head above the parapet to address supporters’ concerns after the shock departure of star striker Hemmings to Oxford United thanks to a transfer clause in his contract being triggered by the English League One side.
The American said: “If there is to be any criticism or heat from this then you should direct it at me.
“Not at Paul, not at the club – at me.
“It’s about the contract.
“Paul does a fantastic job and our players do a fantastic job.
“If they (fans) are upset about information not coming out about contracts then direct it to me.
“If they are saying: ‘We’re upset because we don’t know what’s going on’ then, again, that should be directed at me not Paul or the team.”
The Hemmings fee is believed to be worth more than the £250,000 transfer clause trigger but not close to the £470,000 paid by Oxford to Aberdeen for Dean Windass in 1998, according to reports down south.
Nelms was asked if he could understand why supporters would see that as a poor bit of business for the Dark Blues.
He replied: “Of course, I do see that but they don’t know what the deal is.
“We have not talked about financial deals and we will never do so.
“If you ask me about when we first signed Kane, people weren’t that excited when we signed him at that point in time.
“He has developed into the player that he is, while Greg Stewart, Cammy Kerr and Craig Wighton have developed into the players that they are. All that has happened at Dundee.
“It is the reality of football. That’s the way it is.
“Did the club fight hard to keep Kane here? Absolutely.
“But there are so many teams down south who have resources that, no matter what number has been thrown out there as regards clauses, they would meet them.”
Nelms fell short of confirming that the Hemmings money would all go to Hartley in order to buy one or more replacements for the striker.
He said: “The playing budget is the playing budget and it modifies as things happen but we pay very close attention to that.
“We are looking for another player and we have been looking for some cover at the back and will be looking for someone up top.
“We have targets and we move on to the next target – that’s what we do.
“Whether or not we can get the top targets that are on our list remains to be seen.
“But those conversations are starting.”
He was then pressed for a more specific answer as to whether the money would be Hartley’s to use.
He said: “The money that is coming in is going into the budget and how we move that budget will be seen (sic).
“We are once again talking about financial things that we don’t talk about outside the group.”
Nelms insisted Dundee have not yet given up hope of persuading Greg Stewart to sign a new deal, despite the player once again being linked with a move, this time to Birmingham City.
Asked if there was any chance of Stewart staying now that Hemmings has gone, Nelms said: “I hope so.
“Greg is a fantastic talent but, once again, he came from Cowdenbeath and has developed under Paul.
“I’m not going to say we are not a selling club but we do not have to sell.
“If the right opportunity comes and it’s good for the club then fine.
“If this clause wasn’t in Kane’s contract it would have probably been very hard for us to sell him.
“He is a fantastic player and person and we don’t want to sell any of our players.
“I would prefer that they stick with us for the term.
“Now if it means that our club is going to be financially sound and we have the opportunity to replace the players and do the things we think can move the club on then we will do so.”
