There’s no getting away from it – Saturday was a disaster for Dundee.
There are no excuses for the performance put in by the Dark Blues in the 6-0 thumping by Hearts.
They were so open and lucky it was only six.
Dundee were off the pace, didn’t have the physicality to match Hearts and their shape was miles off, too.
There have been question marks about their defending all season.
They’ve always then seemed able to put in a good performance and show they are good enough to defend well at this level.
But it only lasts a couple of games and then we see these soft goals come back.
The worry for me is that being unable to get over all this hurts them – and results in getting dragged down into the battle at the bottom.
If Dundee don’t get a couple of wins soon then they are in a relegation battle, the table doesn’t lie.
A lot of teams have found consistency but Dundee are still very up and down and you just don’t know what to expect from them one week to the next.
Opposing teams are well aware of that as well.
They know if they can go hard at the start and get Dundee rattled then they’ll lose their way quite easily.
A lot of that comes from the lack of experience in the squad for me.
Clark Robertson has done really well since he’s come back from injury.
Saturday, though, was an off day for him.
But it shows when that happens and then it filters throughout the team.
The young guys in that defence will have relied on Robertson to calm things when it gets a bit nervy or whatever.
But when he’s having a bit of a nightmare, it does more than just affect his part of the pitch.
I know when I came through at Dens I absolutely needed boys like Barry Smith next to me, Stephen Tweed and Rab Douglas as well, to keep me right and sort my head out at times.
Something might rattle you but then you hear this experienced guy next to you talking you through the game.
It makes a huge, huge difference.
I don’t think Dundee have enough of those types in the team right now.
What they can’t do is allow this result against Hearts to impact the rest of the season.
These games happen – nothing goes right for you, everything goes right for them.
I don’t think there should be any real long-term worry. It’s not like this sort of performance is a regular thing. They have shown more than enough that, as a team, they can compete in this league.
Dundee can’t go forgetting that.
And certainly not at Celtic on Wednesday.
That’s not a good fixture after a thumping but it could end up being the best thing for them – there’s nothing else to do but turn up determined to fight or you will get rolled over.
Lyall Cameron will have an interesting night after news of his signing for Rangers in the summer.
We’ll see his character in that environment and the rest of his team-mates’, too.
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