Another season ends in disappointment for Dundee.
The Dark Blues are heading back to the Championship with some big changes coming this summer.
Gordon Strachan has already been putting pieces in place for the new campaign, which starts in just over seven weeks.
There will be changes to the playing squad, of course.
But who are the players out of contract now?
Charlie Adam
The Dundee skipper and talisman’s two-year contract came to an end on the final whistle at Livingston.
He’s already stated his desire to move into management at some point and says he will not play for another club in Scotland if he moves on from Dens Park.
Talks are expected this week between club and player, though the manager’s office being vacant makes things uncertain.
If it is the end, Adam finished off at Dens Park in style with a screamer against Hibs last week.
That was the 100th goal of his senior career while Monday past was the 18th anniversary of his first-team debut for Rangers.
Appearances: 65 Goals: 11
Declan McDaid
Winger McDaid has had a mixed time of it at Dens Park since becoming James McPake’s first signing back in 2019.
There were flashes of real promise – a brace in a win over Arbroath and another strike two weeks later at old club Ayr United in his first season spring to mind.
He won the Championship Player of the Month for that burst of goals in October 2019.
But at other times he dropped out of the team and headed out on loan. The first was an aborted move back to Partick last January before he spent the first half of this season at Falkirk.
Under Mark McGhee, McDaid was pressed into action as an emergency striker, starting three Premiership matches and emerging with credit.
Appearances: 70 Goals: 4
Christie Elliott
Not always a fan favourite, Elliott’s attacking instincts from full-back were better suited to a team at the top of the Championship than a Premiership relegation battle.
Indeed, the former winger’s defending against top-level players let him down at times.
But he finished his season off on a high note with the opening goal against Rangers in March.
The 30-year-old played a big role in Dundee’s promotion run a year ago, stepping in to cover Jordan Marshall’s injury at Dunfermline.
Appearances: 56 Goals: 3
Danny Mullen
Mullen ended this season as Dundee’s top scorer with seven goals this season but turned down a contract extension to stay at Dens Park.
The frontman was a tireless worker, often with little support, and came up with some important goals.
After narrowly missing out on a move to the Dark Blues in January 2020, Mullen arrived in the summer.
Not a prolific scorer, Mullen did come up with some key goals in his time at Dens Park including the opener at Rugby Park in the play-off final second leg.
He will leave a big hole to fill.
Appearances: 63 Goals: 15
Liam Fontaine
Thirty-six-year-old Fontaine is also coming to the end of his Dens Park contract.
Fontaine was a mid-season arrival in 2020, providing an answer to some serious defensive issues with assured displays.
He also provided a goal threat with a flurry of three strikes in four games before playing a key role in the promotion run.
Back in the Premiership, the Scottish Cup winner played 24 times last season. If he is leaving, his influence in the dressing-room will be missed.
Appearances: 48 Goals: 4
Vontae Daley-Campbell (loan ends)
Brought in from Leicester City, Daley-Campbell made a big impression in his early days at Dens Park.
He was impressive on his debut in a 0-0 derby at Dens Park but made a different kind of mark in his second game.
That saw a wild tackle in the dying minutes punished with a straight red card against Ross County.
The 21-year-old started just one of Dundee’s final 12 matches.
Appearances: 10
Zeno Ibsen Rossi (loan ends)
Bournemouth centre-back Ibsen Rossi arrived in a deadline-busting loan move that didn’t actually go through until nine days after the transfer window shut.
A technical hitch meant Dundee had to involve Fifa to get the deal done.
However, despite all that, he made little impact.
After three starts in a row, the defender lasted just 23 minutes against Livingston as Dundee were torn apart at home with the score already 3-0.
He would appear just once more after that but returns to Bournemouth with a second relegation from the Premiership in two seasons, having also gone down with Kilmarnock in 2021.
Appearances: 4
Rest of the squad?
Contracted to 2023: Adam Legzdins, Cammy Kerr, Jordan Marshall, Ryan Sweeney, Jordan McGhee, Alex Jakubiak, Paul McGowan, Lee Ashcroft, Josh Mulligan, Luke McCowan, Paul McMullan, Fin Robertson, Ian Lawlor, Cillian Sheridan, Max Anderson, Lyall Cameron, Sam Fisher, Harry Sharp, Ewan Murray, Niall McGinn.
Contracted to 2024: Shaun Byrne, Jay Chapman.
Contracted to 2025: Zak Rudden.
