Weather, pitches and postponements have interrupted Dundee’s season just when it was getting interesting.
Satisfaction at their recent form at Dens has turned into frustration at the inability to build on their best run under manager James McPake.
Four wins on the spin and seven unbeaten overall shows the Dark Blues are heading in the right direction.
If only the weather would allow that to continue.
Momentum is everything in the Championship, we’ve all seen that in recent seasons.
Just look at my team Queen of the South now. After seeing them defeated easily by Dundee I thought we were goners. Just a few weeks later and we’re flying.
The way the Dark Blues went about their business against Hearts shows the Doonhamers aren’t the only ones on the up.
Their big problem right now is they haven’t been able to build on that yet.
The 3-1 home success over the Jambos should be the springboard for their campaign after a poor start.
It’s vital after such a massive victory to win the next league game to keep the pressure up on rivals.
Fast forward 18 days, though, and Dundee still haven’t had the opportunity to do that.
League leaders Hearts have added another three points to their tally in that time and stretched their lead to eight points.
All the Dee can do now is win, win again and then keep on winning if they are to catch Robbie Neilson’s men.
With the lack of league action recently and re-arranged games coming up, that’s why this next 10 days could be the most important of Dundee’s season.
Arbroath away on Friday is followed by Ayr at home Tuesday and then a trip to Raith Rovers next Saturday.
Nine points in the space of eight days would be a massive shot in the arm to belatedly follow up the Hearts victory.
Dropping points in these matches wouldn’t spell the end of any promotion hopes but I can’t help but feel the leaders won’t slip up too often between now and May.
They have a tough wee spell themselves next week as well.
A home and away double dunter with Raith before hosting Dunfermline isn’t easy by any means.
There’s no predicting how Rovers will have been affected by their Covid outbreak but they’ll fancy their chances of picking up something.
At the very least for Dundee, if they stick some wins together they’ll be stealing a march on the teams around them in the play-off spots.
Second place is wide open on Friday night.
We all know how tough things are at Gayfield – even just to go spectate.
A January trip there isn’t many people’s idea of a nice Friday night out but that’s the job for Dundee.
The Red Lichties have struggled this season and are bottom for a reason.
They’ll not be giving anything away for free, though. Not with Dick Campbell in charge.
However, Friday night will tell us if Dundee really mean business as they try to chase down leaders Hearts.
Dundee United have become kings of the draw recently in the Premiership.
While it’s handy to keep the teams below you at arms length by not losing to them, the Tangerines are allowing others to sneak up.
Still sitting in sixth, though, at this stage of the season is a fine campaign for Micky Mellon.
Remember this is his first season at Tannadice, too, and he’s yet to really put his mark on the squad with signings.
Being renowned for a 0-0 draw isn’t the best I must admit but this year, with all that’s gone on off the pitch, staying up in the Premiership is the only thing that really matters.
Bringing in more prize money for a better finish would be a tidy wee bonus as well.
A breather this weekend could be put to good use ahead of a massive match with St Mirren next week.
The Buddies have a bunch of games in hand so victory would be very nicely timed for United.
Get to 31 points with that and they can start eyeing up the 37/38-point mark that has been enough to guarantee safety most seasons for the past 10 years.
Top six is within Dundee United’s grasp nine games before the split.
They’ll need to turn some of these draws into wins, though, if they want to seal that place and stop their rivals sneaking up past them between now and April.
Neil Lennon’s days at Celtic look numbered after his astonishing blast at the outside world.
When your boss publicly apologises and you immediately destroy that image of contrition at the first opportunity, trouble is coming.
I don’t want to attack Lennon because he’s clearly had more than enough of that throughout his life.
However, it’s clear he doesn’t realise just how serious the pandemic is and what a terrible example heading to Dubai was.
The complete lack of awareness shown by the club has been staggering – Lennon might now find himself the scapegoat for that.
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