Positive is not a word that can be used in connection with Dundee right now.
After eight consecutive defeats and with a six-point gap above them to second-bottom St Mirren, with just four games of the season to go it appears not so much a case of the Dark Blues looking doomed – they are.
Never mind Saturday’s meek display as they went down to St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park, a run through that list of recent disasters tells you this is not a team that’s likely to turn things round.
Of the seemingly endless run of reversals since mid-February, there was a decent performance against Hibs – though they were deserved winners – and a battling display against champions Celtic that almost earned what would have been a merited point.
For the most part, however, Dundee’s weekly defeats have been the result of showings that, in terms of quality, were short of what the opposition produced and sometimes the opponents, themselves, were no better than ordinary.
The harsh truth of that has to be Jim McIntyre’s side are simply not good enough for the Premiership.
What makes things even more painful is a strong argument could be put up to suggest neither are the two teams above them – St Mirren and Hamilton.
There should be no doubt about it, in any other campaign Accies and the Buddies could easily have found themselves cast adrift at the bottom of the table, already all but relegated.
They have Dundee to thank for saving them and must realise, as they surely will, next season they’ll have to perform much better or face dire consequences.
That’s their problem and of no consolation to long-suffering Dundee fans who, right now, have every right to be angry.
Despite the good American owner Tim Keyes has undoubtedly done in bringing financial stability to Dens over the past few years, for the punters ambitious talk of a new stadium at Campderdown Park and a youth policy that will bring a flow of home-grown talent through to the first team, is no more than a bad joke.
The fact is yet again the support’s loyalty is about to be tested with at least one season in the Championship.
Since long before Keyes arrived on the scene, that’s been a regular occurrence that’s become increasingly difficult to face.
From as far back as the mid-1970s, Dundee have been a yo-yo club and, as falling attendances confirm, putting up with that has become too much for many of the faithful to take.
And while a brand spanking new ground and a team packed with fine local talent would be great, what fans want to see is a side on the park that’s capable of doing well at top-flight level.
What they’ve again had for the past three seasons is one facing a desperate struggle for survival and that is now about to succumb to the inevitable and go down.
The suffering this time has been made worse by the current side seemingly plummeting towards the drop without as much as a whimper.
Saturday’s defeat at Saints was unacceptable.
Not because Dundee have some divine right to beat their Tayside rivals – history tells us that’s not the case – but because fans have a right to expect their team, if they are going to lose, to at least go down fighting.
That wasn’t the case at McDiarmid Park and, going back to the very start of the campaign when different players were wearing the shirt, it’s been the way of things too often.
In short, while Dundee are now all but certain to go down, it’s up to the players and every member of staff to make sure they show more grit than they have to date. It’s what every fan wants to see and isn’t much to ask.
This article originally appeared on the Evening Telegraph website. For more information, read about our new combined website.