The relationship between Dundee Football Club and its fans is at its lowest ebb in years.
For some, it’s as low as it can get – with vows being delivered that long-held season tickets will not be renewed next season.
But why are Dees so unhappy right now?
It isn’t just that the Dark Blues are bottom of the Premiership and staring relegation in the face.
There is more to it.
An increasingly distant – and sometimes absent – managing director in John Nelms is the focus of attention.
But, to find out exactly where the issues lie, we spoke to supporters’ groups and individuals to find out where they feel things have gone off track – and what key questions club chiefs NEED to answer.
Communication
The biggest problem is one that has rumbled on for years and years under Nelms’ stewardship.
That is, quite simply, a lack of communication between the Dens chief and the club’s fans.
The appearance of an aloof ownership unwilling to engage meaningfully with the majority of the support has bred distrust.
There is a feeling of a clear inability to read the mood of the support and, most damningly, a lack of accountability for decisions made.
One key issue brought up repeatedly by fans in our discussions is a desire to bridge the divide between club and its support.
Rather than focusing on the distrust that is currently festering, there are a number of well-meaning fans keen to work with Nelms for the betterment of the club as a whole.
Now, however, there is a new hurdle to overcome after the resignation of the club’s supporter liaison officer (SLO), John Burke.
Dundee’s American owners Tim Keyes and John Nelms have reiterated time after time that they have no plans to sell the club any time soon.
But, until they work to engage properly with the fanbase, the disconnect between the parties is at risk of becoming an unbridgeable chasm.
Key question: Why is there such apparent unwillingness to work and communicate with supporters?
Managers
The manner and timing of the decision to sack James McPake and replace him with Mark McGhee was a tipping point for many fans.
The reaction of supporters to the change was characterised by anger, largely due to McGhee’s lengthy absence from Scottish football management – and the six-game touchline ban hanging over him.
A perception that technical director Gordon Strachan helped his old friend secure the job didn’t help.
But fan concern goes deeper than that. Since a few initial seasons of success under Paul Hartley, it has been a long time since things were right on the park.
And parallels have been made between this season and the relegation campaign of 2018/19.
That started with an inexperienced manager at the helm in Neil McCann, who was a favourite of fans as a player, before he was replaced by a more experienced man in Jim McIntyre.
McGhee’s appointment, like that of McIntyre, has not been readily accepted by fans, and many are worried this season is headed the same way as 2018/19: toward relegation.
Key question: What lessons around recruitment of managers have been learned by the club since that terrible campaign?
Negative publicity
Among other issues raised by fans are a string of avoidable events that have left supporters feeling beaten down over the past few years.
Chief among them was the SPFL voting saga and, more recently, this weekend’s furore over a banner in Dens Park’s South Enclosure and a bonus row with players earlier this term.
The managerial appointments already referenced can also be filed here – with McGhee’s ban and the attempted appointment of McIntyre’s long-time assistant Billy Dodds causing particular PR problems.
A running theme here is the aforementioned disconnect between boardroom and the stands and an inability to spot problems – and either avoid or get ahead of them – before they mount.
Key question: What can Dundee do to more successfully deal with issues affecting perception of the club?
New stadium
The club’s American owners say they are determined to move to a brand new home stadium at Camperdown Park.
That project, though, has been ongoing since 2017.
It has rumbled on for so long, with updates so few-and-far-between – and so information-sparse – that some fans now find stadium news amusing, with the physical process of actually building the new ground still seemingly miles away.
There is also deep concern over plans to ground-share with another club if Dens Park is sold off before ‘New Campy’ – as it has been dubbed – is finished.
Nelms addressed that issue in a recent meeting with the club’s now-departed SLO but, due to a more general lack of communication over the years, his efforts don’t satisfy many.
Key question: What is actually happening with the new stadium?
Dens Park
With all focus on the new stadium, the current one is becoming dilapidated.
Nelms also stated recently that there are NO plans to improve the club’s current home.
It is dirty and unkempt in places, so much so that a small group of fans took it upon themselves to clean the seats at the start of the season.
That shows there are supporters willing to put in hard work – for nothing – to help the club.
But for how long should their goodwill be relied upon by its custodians?
Key question: What happens to Dens Park over the coming years if the new stadium doesn’t arrive?
What next?
There are big problems for Dundee’s owners right now – and plenty of work to do to get an increasingly distant fanbase back onside.
If nothing is done, home crowds like that of last week’s Scottish Cup match against Rangers won’t be a one-off.
With the cost of living crisis biting, a season of Championship football next year is likely to see season-ticket sales – and revenue – drop, perhaps substantially.
For most fans, more transparency and a chance to work together to improve Dundee Football Club is all that is really being asked.
The biggest question is: will Dundee’s owners – Tim Keyes and John Nelms – listen?
