A warm welcome would have been nice. Ideally followed by a couple of encouraging victories to excite supporters about the journey ahead, with new signings fuelling optimism that even if this isn’t going to be their season, it may be slightly more enjoyable than last season.
For Steven Pressley, the early days of his Dundee reign were a little different.
A former Dundee United player with a somewhat iffy managerial record, Pressley’s appointment at Dens Park was met with emotions ranging from fury to disbelief.
Still, the initial dissent was lifting after a promising couple of friendly wins. Until, that is, the real ball came out.
Turgid defeats at home to Airdrie and away to Alloa not only meant the Dark Blues were out of the League Cup before the engraver had started work on the Claret Jug, they also extinguished almost all faith and optimism that Pressley might be the man to steer the club towards brighter days.
With Dundee fans licking their wounds and praying for marquee signings to give their team a spark, the vultures of Scottish football circled.
Steven Pressley has endured a rough start to life in the Dundee hotseat
Defeat to Alloa followed hard on the heels of an opening League Cup loss to Airdrieonians
Pressley attempts to gets his message across to his players during the defeat to Airdrieonians
Even when they finally got their season up and running with a 3-1 win in a League Cup dead rubber against Bonnyrigg Rose, it was still open season on their embattled new head coach. The tie was played at Whitehill Welfare’s ground and Pressley noted that the Ferguson Park pitch ‘was a great leveller’.
The Welfare’s twitter fired back: ‘I think our pitch is the least of your worries Steven. Good luck for the rest of your time in charge.’
Has a new manager ever been written off before the league season has kicked off?
‘I’m not going to lie, this rebuild is a bigger challenge than I anticipated,’ admitted Pressley.
Buckle up, Steven, we are just getting started.
Fixing a defence that conceded an eye-watering 77 league goals last term will be number one priority for the former Scotland defender.
The Dark Blues have plenty of centre-halves on their books, with Bulgarian international Plamen Galabov now added to their ranks, but none of last season’s batch were able to form a steady partnership in a campaign pockmarked by several heavy defeats.
Dundee have signed young defenders from Nottingham Forest, Liverpool and Everton but the solution to their backline woes may be closer to home in the shape of Scone-born Luke Graham.
The 21-year-old helped Falkirk to win the Championship last season in an impressive loan spell and has the stature, skill and pace to be a success at Premiership level and perhaps beyond.
Pressley has dabbled with playing Graham at left-back but he looks ripe for a breakthrough season in the top-flight if he gets game time in the middle.
Getting a solid foundation, even if it comes at the expense of the team’s attacking potency, would be a step forward. Dundee were undoubtedly box office under Tony Docherty but too often that translated to concession of late goals or comic-cut defending.
The Dark Blues players are put through their paces at their Gardyne Campus training base
Being ‘difficult to beat’ shouldn’t be anathema to anyone at Dens Park. In fact it is the blueprint for clubs of their size, like St Mirren and Kilmarnock, punching above their weight in the top flight.
Defence aside, Pressley has problems further up the pitch too.
He has bolstered his squad with seven new signings (may need updated) but the team that took the field in the League Cup matches still looks painfully short of creativity in midfield.
The gaps left in the starting XI by Lyall Cameron, Josh Mulligan and Scott Tiffoney will have to be filled. Winger Tony Yogane, 19, has arrived on loan from Brentford with a big reputation at under-23 level and an appetite for taking his man on but, as Dundee found to their cost last season, young academy players often find the transition to senior football less than straightforward.
Dundee would have been in an even sorrier state last season but for the 22 goals of Simon Murray. They will be hoping English strikers Emile Acquah and Ashley Hay, signed from Barrow and Brentford B, can give the club captain more support this time around.
Emile Acquah has arrived from Barrow and will look to support Murray up front
If the beginning has been rocky for the new boss, there is little indications things are going to get easier for the Dark Blues any time soon.
Their season begins on Sunday with a tough home match against Hibs before they visit Russell Martin’s Rangers at Ibrox on Saturday on August 9. If points may be hard to come by in that double header, don’t expect things to be much easier away to Kilmarnock on August 23 and in the home Dundee derby on the last day of the month.
With bookmakers having them as joint favourites to finish bottom of the league, what would constitute success for Pressley?
Docherty was removed from his post in May after finishing tenth, with the club stating ‘the results of the team have not met the standards expected by the club’.
At Pressley’s unveiling, managing director John Nelms said that the club’s ambition is ‘always to finish in the top six’. Is that in any way realistic?
Pressley has called for patience and realism from supporters ahead of the start of the season
Dundee have lost most of the best players from a side that only secured their place in the league on the last day of the season and Drey Wright is their only new arrival with any experience of the Scottish top flight.
Of course they may unearth a gem but the new signings, collectively and individually, don’t look to be of the calibre required to catapult the Dark Blues up the table.
Word from the dressing room is that the players have been bowled over by the standard of Pressley’s training. That, at least, bodes well as he tries to implement his strategy and tactics. But it will count for little if fans get the pitchforks out after a couple of bad results.
Nelms’ plan, which is now Pressley’s plan, puts the ‘core value of development’ at the heart of everything the club does. Marrying that ethos with getting a winning team on the park will not be easy.
