It is never, ever dull covering Dundee.
I can only imagine the strain it has on the emotions of fans following their team.
My team, Queen of the South, are generally rubbish. Occasionally good, but often you know what to expect from them.
James McPake’s Dark Blues, though, have a vastly different spectrum of levels and emotional carnage for fans.
Fan reaction
That’s why the supporter reaction to last week’s 5-0 home hammering by Ross County was so extreme.
Combined with the restrictions for fans last season, not being able to get to games, and a few very bad days for their side, it seemed like almost two years’ worth of frustration poured out in the aftermath of the County clash.
Then just three days later, eight of those 11 players were chosen to start again and put in a completely different performance.
There was no comparison between the displays – none that use PG-friendly words anyway.
Wednesday was a team that wasn’t good enough to play at Premiership level.
Saturday was a team that would not just scrape survival but would compete in the top flight.
And eight players started both games.
It was a remarkable turnaround.
Credit goes to both the players and manager for that.
Serious questions
Serious questions were being asked of all at Dens Park – John Nelms was getting it for sticking with his manager, McPake was getting it for his substitutions and tactics and the players for their display, or lack of one.
It was a debacle.
And those questions were right to be asked.
The beauty of this Dundee side, though, is they do bounce back.
Last week was the biggest example yet.
That’s all you can ask, really.
Every team will get beaten – Man U lost 5-0 last week, Liverpool got done 7-2
last season, Barcelona lost a Champions League semi-final 8-2.
Those are all clubs in a different stratosphere to Dundee, but the comparison applies.
Because it is all about how your respond to setbacks.
Terrible away record
Until Saturday, Dundee’s away record read five played, four lost, one drawn with an aggregate against of 12-2.
A terrible away record, really.
So, to respond with your first win on the road – and a clean sheet to boot – just three days after such an all-round dreadful display speaks volumes.
The clean sheet hasn’t really been talked about either – it’s only the club’s second Premiership shutout since September 2018 when Neil McCann was in charge.
The big job for McPake now is to narrow that huge spectrum between performances – bring the low point much higher.
Do that and bad performances don’t hurt nearly as much – some might even steal a few points.
Because, despite Celtic struggling a little this season, nothing but St Mirren levels once more will do on Sunday.
Who knows which Dundee will turn up, though?
Football writer George Cran’s column is published in the Evening Telegraph every Wednesday.
