The Main man is a Dee – Tony Docherty has a new striker to lead the line at Dens Park.
Curtis Main arrived at Dundee this afternoon, putting pen to paper on an 18-month deal.
He’s well known to Scottish football fans, having spent five years as a Premiership player with Motherwell, Aberdeen and St Mirren.
But what can he add to the Dark Blues in the second half of the season?
Competition
Main comes in at a time when Dundee’s current strikers have contributed to performances but without scoring many goals.
Amadou Bakayoko is top scorer in the league with five while Zach Robinson and Zak Rudden have two goals each in the Premiership. Diego Pineda, meanwhile, has barely featured.
The last six games have seen just two goals between them.
Adding more threat at the top end of the park was certainly an ambition for Docherty this month.
Main may never have been a prolific goal-scorer – 25 in 147 Premiership appearances tells you that.
However, Docherty knows exactly what he is getting. The Dens boss was assistant to Derek McInnes when Main signed a two-year deal at Aberdeen in 2019.
His new gaffer says Main can bring the best out of his team-mates. A physical presence bringing real work-rate, Main is one who makes an impact whether he’s on the scoresheet or not.
And his performances last season with St Mirren proved key in helping the Buddies to a top-six finish.
History
Born in the north east of England, Main started his career with Darlington in League Two before getting his big chance at Middlesbrough in the Championship.
There he scored six goals across three seasons before dropping to League One where he achieved his only 10-goal haul in a season at Doncaster in 2014/15.
What will make good reading for Dundee fans, however, is last season saw him register the best league scoring tally of his career.
Notching nine goals in the Premiership for St Mirren, Main was a key player for Stephen Robinson’s side as they landed a sixth-placed finish – their best since 1985.
What the stats say
Main’s game time was restricted somewhat in India, starting just four Indian Super League matches for Bengaluru in the first half of this season.
He managed two goals in that time, meaning he still leaves with a scoring rate among the top 20 in the Indian top flight.
Unsurprisingly, he places high when it comes to contesting aerial duels, with only four players managing more per 90 minutes.
There are similarities with his last season in the Scottish Premiership when he netted nine league goals and chalked up three assists during the 2022/23 season.
Each of those nine goals led to positive results for the Buddies, including a brace in a 2-2 draw at Celtic Park and another double in a 3-0 win away to Dundee United.
Only Dundee United’s Steven Fletcher had more headed attempts on goal last season than Main and only two players contested more aerial duels than the 31-year-old.
Main can beat a man for pace as well as outmuscle them and isn’t averse to shooting from distance, even though most of his work is done in the opposition penalty area.
Only three players had more shots than the new Dee recruit overall last season: Fashion Sakala, Lawrence Shankland and Kevin van Veen.
What his new manager said
“I’ve got a good relationship with Curtis from my time as assistant manager at Aberdeen and I built up a strong bond with him,” a delighted Tony Docherty told the Dundee website.
“He has done fantastic work in the Scottish Premiership, he knows the league really well and he brings real quality in the type of striker that I feel the whole team will benefit from.
“Curtis is also a fantastic professional, I know what he will bring to the club and to the changing room, he has a really strong attitude along with a winning mentality.”
Docherty is hoping that winning mentality helps his side to a Scottish Cup victory at Kilmarnock on Saturday, with Main on course to make his debut.
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