Dundee will start 2023 in a far happier manner than they did 2022.
That’s not difficult.
It’s been quite a year for the Dark Blues.
A club that loves to send the emotions of its fans on an eternal rollercoaster has taken it to new levels over the past 12 months.
We’ve had sadness, ambivalence, happiness, satisfaction, pure joy and outright fury in the past year.
Now, though, the promise of far better things to come is an enticing one.
And it’s made even more enticing when you think about the lows the fans and players have endured in the recent past.
Easy to forget
It’s easy to forget when all is rosy right now after seven wins on the bounce, top of the league and gunning for promotion just how low the club got in the first half of 2022.
Things hadn’t been going brilliantly but the timing of the decision to sack James McPake rocked the club to its core.
People might be forgiven for thinking the appointment of Mark McGhee, the man with a six-game ban hanging over his head, was a fever dream.
But no, it really did happen.
And it didn’t go well. . .
Fans voted with their feet in a Scottish Cup quarter-final, their belief in a positive outcome had been shattered by what was going on at Dens Park.
Some of those issues still remain.
Belief among the players was very low, too.
And relegation eventually was inevitable.
Dark times to dancing
Dundee are a club that have experienced more dark times than most.
But the end of the 2021/22 season was right up there with any of the past decade.
Bringing all that up may not be the cheeriest of festive messages!
However, I’ve not done it for any morbid reason – it demonstrates just how far Dundee have come to find themselves in their current position.
👏👏👏 #thedee pic.twitter.com/Hy93PsQaOR
— Dundee Football Club (@DundeeFC) December 24, 2022
Fans are turning out in numbers, plenty making a long journey on a horrible winter’s night to cheer on their side on Friday.
And the players responded with a display to remember.
To go from the despair of last season to dancing at Somerset Park has taken some doing.
Bowyer effect
New boss Gary Bowyer deserves a huge amount of credit for that.
The move to Gardyne has been a big help, too, so John Nelms and his staff deserve a bit of credit also.
But Bowyer has brought a brightness to the club that was missing.
A chirpy, positive attitude and honesty with his players.
The squad has clearly responded to it – no matter who is missing, seven wins on the bounce with changes every week tells you that.
They’ve hit the sweet spot of competition for places.
The players now know they have to perform or someone else will get their place.
And know if they do perform, they’ll keep it.
Nothing, though, has been won in terms of prizes.
The reaction to Friday’s win at Ayr, though, suggests Bowyer and his team have won the hearts of the fans.
Looking back at the disconnect between fanbase and club in the spring, that’s some turnaround.
Let’s hope 2023 continues in the same manner.
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