From last season’s “uproar” to this campaign’s “calmness” – six months can be a long time in football.
The majority of the playing squad at Dundee is the same but there’s a feelgood factor brewing at Dens Park this summer.
Coming just a couple of months after the dismay and disenchantment brought about by a dreadful relegation season, it is a remarkable turnaround for the Dark Blues.
Closing in on 300 appearances for the club, midfielder Paul McGowan has played under five different managers at Dens Park before Gary Bowyer arrived this summer.
‘Uproar’
Combined with the benefits of moving to the new training centre at Gardyne Campus, the 34-year-old credits the new management team for cultivating the positive mood around the club.
“Credit to the manager and (assistant) Billy Barr, they’ve made it an enjoyable place to come and work,” McGowan said.
“Considering the season we had last year when Jaz (James McPake) left and the uproar after that.
“He’s come in and steadied the ship.
“He’s brought a calmness in and doesn’t over-complicate anything.
“The manager has come in and set out his ideas, the way he wants to play. He wants a hard-working team, going after the opposition.
“It’s been tough but he’s been clear in the message of what he’s wanting and the boys have bought into it.”
‘Buzz about the place’
So far, that has shown in their results in the early-season matches.
Heading into Saturday’s final Premier Sports Cup group stage match against Forfar, Dundee have a 100% record after victories against Hamilton, Stranraer and Queen’s Park.
In doing so, they’ve scored eight times and conceded just once as they look to book a place in the knockout stages of the competition.
That consistency on the pitch McGowan says has been helped by a real summer of introspection for everybody at Dens Park.
“The manager coming in has given everyone a fresh start,” McGowan added.
“There is a buzz about the place and we are probably ahead of where we thought we would have been at this stage.
“We’ve shown that in the games, I think we’ve been terrific. We’ve been scoring goals and creating chances.
“Everybody is buying into the way the manager wants us to play and the games have been really enjoyable.
“We look threatening, we look solid and we’ve had a couple of tricky games as well.
‘Everybody has had to re-evaluate’
“The way the manager and Billy have gone about things has impressed me.
“It’s what we needed. After James left it was uproar and then the new manager came in, it didn’t work.
“I think everybody at the club, top to bottom, has had to re-evaluate everything.
“We moved to the new training place at Gardyne and we’re doing things right. Things we should have been doing.
“You can see the difference.
“You don’t mind coming into Gardyne and doing double, triple sessions.
“At Dens, you are all on top of each other in that dressing-room.
“At Gardyne, you have freedom to go to the pool, go to the gym.
“It’s been a massive change – the boys have loved it.”
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