I will start by mentioning what has been reported over the weekend in various news publications, which was this match was certainly a game of two halves for Dundee.
After such a great win the week before, it was highly disappointing to start the game in the manner we did. We let Rangers control the game from the first minute, sat back and let them dictate the play. Basically we gave them far too much respect and it came back to haunt us with them going two goals up early on.
We did however snatch back a goal on the edge of half time when the ever impressive Mark O’Hara rose up with a bullet header to give us a glimmer of hope of getting something from this match.
The second half was much better as we pushed and pressured the opposition instead of letting them run the show like the first forty-five minutes. This seemed to make them uncomfortable as we attempted to draw level. The arrival of Yordi Teijsse and Faissal El Bakhtaoui for Rory Loy and James Vincent added more fire power up front and offered something different from the lone striker role that Loy was given the hard task of playing.
Alas, we could not find the breakthrough for an equaliser. The second half performance was certainly an improvement and it was pleasing to see the team fighting back to try and get something from the game and they were deservedly applauded off by the home fans at the final whistle. Many supporters will feel the Dee had done enough to warrant something from the game and rightly so but the first half performance certainly gave us a mountain to climb.
With the way we came back into the game, one topic in the pub afterwards was ‘if only we had Hemmings or Stewart to produce something.’ While this may be true, both are gone and history to us now so there is not much point in dwelling on ‘what if’s.’
Next up we entertain Hamilton at Dens Park this Friday. The Accies will be desperate to get a win under their belt after an opening day draw and then defeat last weekend. They will want that first win of the season to get them off the mark but I feel that we will be too much for them.
I cannot see too many changes being made for this one though Hartley might play Rory Loy upfront with another striker as Saturday showed that the lone striker role does not suit him. Either that or he tries someone else up front on their own but I would personally like to see two strikers from kick off.
Other news which has got some fans excited and some not so, managing director John Nelms announced that himself and Director Tim Keyes had bought a plot of land in the city with the intent of building a new stadium. This was of course leaked in the local paper around a week ago but Nelms confirmed the intentions in an interview with a national paper on Saturday.
No one can deny that Dens Park is in need of a massive overhaul and it has been rumoured for years that the cost to redevelop the Main Stand and the South Enclosure would spiral into the millions. But, would it be better for the club to up stakes and move to some place that could offer much more than the old lady can just now?
I am split on this. Would I want to leave Dens? No way! This is the stadium that I have watched Dundee for twenty-four years of my life. Yes, the bad times more than outweigh the good times in all honesty but this is my club and this has been the ground for over one hundred years. You cannot replace that.
On the other hand, would moving to some place more modern be a bad thing? The massive gap between the Bobby Cox and South Enclosure hampers any decent atmosphere between the two stands and moving to some place that has the home fans much closer could create this.
A new stadium could also help attract better players. We all know that first impressions are everything but some footballers from other countries might come across, see the state of Dens (not recognising the character we all see with it) and decide it is not the place for them. If they were visiting the club and it was at a new purpose built one, they would immediately be impressed and see this as a team going places.
One of the main factors in all of this is of course money. Redevelopment will cost millions and even though it would take a good few pounds and dollars for a new stadium to be built, in the long run it could potentially generate money, something which the current stadium lacks.
The owners could build a stadium with a clean slate. They could think of potential revenue streams such as corporate events, better hospitality settings and venues for gatherings. Dens already has these but in all honesty, it is all very tightly packed and in my opinion, not ideal. A new setting with areas custom built for that type of thing might see more people attending.
They could also look at having their own bar for match days which would be a money spinner. I recently went to a Fleetwood game and their new stadium was a cracker and it also had a healthy sized supporters bar built into their stadium. The bar was massive and it was able to accommodate a good few hundred easily and was packed. I was also led to believe that another bar like this was situated in another stand and was again packed with fans. If we did that here and lined the walls with Dundee memorabilia, it could make for a cracking setting for the fans to visit before a match and make the club some healthy cash on match days.
Of course, these are just a few ideas but there is bound to be many more kicking about. It has been said that St Johnstone’s stadium makes them a lot of money from non-football events so this could be something we would look at as well.
One of the downsides to this is the pubs and shops around the area. There is no doubt that the bars would be the ones to suffer the most. My choice of venue before the match has been The Clep Bar for many a year but if the club decided to move to the land they had just bought, it would be a nightmare for myself, my Dad and everyone else that goes.
Realistically though, the new stadium is a good few years away, if it happens. I am in no doubt that we will move on to pastures new but I have had my hands burnt with too many false dawns and promises to ever believe news like this. If it happens, let us just hope we do not do it on the cheap and build some place that is void of any atmosphere like some places we have seen put up in the past.
MON THE DEE!
