It’s been a tough old summer for Dundee fans but what a difference 24 hours can make.
Not just a big positive on the insurance case front but also a major, major signing in Charlie Adam.
On top of that they actually had a real live football match to play.
We’d almost forgotten those things happened below the top flight.
I was lucky enough to be one of the guinea pigs allowed in to test out Dundee’s match-day protocols ahead of the new season.
Have to say it was fantastic to be back at a football stadium for a match.
I’ve enjoyed writing plenty of the stories and features over the long, long summer but writing about matches is what I really take pleasure in.
Normally friendlies bore me to tears but, after six months on the sidelines, anything would do!
Regardless of the result against Peterhead, there wouldn’t have been a single Dee feeling better about their club this morning than they did just a day ago.
What with everything that’s happened at the club this summer thanks to the shutdown, the wait on the Financial Conduct Authority case had been slightly forgotten about.
Suddenly, it’s back on the agenda and it sounds like Dundee might just be getting their payout some time down the road.
And then came the real bombshell.
The long wait to see Charlie Adam in dark blue after signing a deal with the club he’s supported all his life finally ended.
https://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/fp/dundee-fc-charlie-adam-james-mcpake-boss/
Sadly, the match against the Blue Toon came too early to see him out on the pitch but I’m sure it won’t be long before we see him strut his stuff at Dens Park.
I wrote the other week it was Roy of the Rovers stuff for Dundee.
The comic book usually ends in success so fingers crossed.
We still have to be pretty patient in waiting for the real season to start.
Time is ticking by, though. You can almost taste the anticipation around the club and among the fans ahead of the Championship season.
They’ve seen the clubs in the top flight, including rivals Dundee United, playing plenty of football.
Now, with a 26-times capped Scotland international to team up with Graham Dorrans, 12-times capped, and a very able supporting cast, belief will be building.
Too right, I say.
There’s a month and a day until the league kick-off. Can’t wait.
Dundee United have taken a bit of a kicking over the past few weeks.
What had been a very positive return to life in the Premiership has turned a little sour.
Three defeats on the bounce with no goals scored and very few attempts on target as my colleague Lee Wilkie ably pointed out yesterday.
It’s a tough time at Tannadice right now. But, as with good form, this too shall pass.
The Tangerines need to ‘keep the heid’ and focus on the games to come.
Losing to Celtic and Rangers is no shame and no surprise for a recently-promoted side.
Neither is going down at Kilmarnock, even if they aren’t at the level of a few years back.
The big job on now for manager Micky Mellon is to keep the confidence of his squad up for a big clash at home to St Mirren this weekend.
They’ll have star man Lawrence Shankland to call on again and will have Ryan Edwards, too.
Any suspension for the defender for that tackle on Alfredo Morelos would’ve been a nonsense. A fuss over nothing.
It was strange to see punters in stadiums in Aberdeen and Dingwall over the weekend.
Not in the way you might think. More the nature of the 300.
This wasn’t the visual film epic of the same name, no Gerard Butler yelling ‘Sparta!’ and attacking Persians every six seconds.
In fact there was no yelling at all. Or standing. Or effect.
I hope this isn’t the future behaviour expected of supporters – we might as well just keep the cardboard cut-outs in place.
If you ever want to see the worst side of football, go watch the end of the recent PSG-Marseille clash.
Five red cards would be dramatic, but mainly it was just grown men falling over pretending to be hurt.
Pathetic stuff.
https://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/fp/dundee-1-0-peterhead-paul-mcgowan-strike-gives-dee-victory-at-empty-dens-park/
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