As June looms, thoughts of the season just ended are probably large in the mind of fans but, for clubs, work for the 2018/19 campaign are gathering pace.
Pre-season training kicks off in just a few weeks and schedules for that and build up games are being finalised.
Over the next couple of weeks or so, managers will also be keen to get most of the new talent they need for next term, though, as ever, there are likely to be new arrivals right up to the summer transfer window closing in August.
That’ll definitely be the case at the city clubs, so we take an early look at the gaps Dundee and Dundee United will want filled by the time the Betfred Cup kicks off in mid-July.
At Dens Park, manager Neil McCann met one of his main needs by fixing up Hearts goalie Jack Hamilton. With Scott Bain gone and Jeremy Malherbe not being retained, it was vital another experienced keeper to at least provide back up for Elliott Parish, or hopefully competition, was found.
Hamilton secured, McCann can focus on his big target – finding a man who’ll regularly put the ball in the net. That’ll be easier said than done.
Dundee have been linked with Leyton Orient striker Macauley Bonne. He hit the net 25 times last season, so fits the bill, but word from down south is Orient want six figures and, should he move, there’s talk the player wants to stay in English football.
That could see Dundee take their search elsewhere and it won’t be an easy one.
In midfield the loss of Mark O’Hara to Peterborough has already been offset by the arrivals of Frenchman Kharl Madianga as well as former Kidderminster Harrier Elton Ngwatala.
The club are battling to hang on to last season’s star man Glen Kamara. If they can keep a player who’d be at home in any top flight squad, it would be a major boost.
Even if the kind of offer comes in that couldn’t be refused, there would at least be a bit of cash to spend on a replacement.
If Dundee have gaps to plug, after their massive clear-out earlier this month, at Dundee United it’s more about filling a gaping chasm.
Word is the Tangerines are looking for as many as 17 new faces and, despite the list of names being linked with them growing on an almost daily basis, so far the only fresh face confirmed as coming in is Dunfermline’s Nicky Clark.
To be fair, that’s a big capture. Clark has hit the net 38 times in the last two Championship seasons and, if he continues to score at that rate, it will go a long way to solving the problem of a lack of goals that dogged United last term.
With big front men Thomas Mikkelsen and Emil Lyng gone, it’s safe to say manager Csaba Laszlo will want to add a physical presence to his attack.
Although Billy King and Paul McMullan remain in the squad, adding options out wide also seems to be a priority. That could see another raid on the Pars, in the shape of Fraser Aird, completed soon.
In the middle, Fraser Fyvie should be back from his long-term injury to anchor the midfield and further forward another man who missed most of last term, James Keatings, will provide an option.
At the back it could be almost all change. Jamie Robson has signed a new contract and that helps with left-back but the plan is to have two new central defenders brought in to compete with Stewart Murdoch.
Murdoch provides an option for right-back, but additional cover there is another must.
Likewise, with Deniz Mehmet injured, experienced goalkeepers – two of them – is the final, but by no means least significant, item on the United to-do list.
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