That new season buzz. Walking up to Dens for the first Premiership game of the season.
Making your way to your seat and acknowledging the people around you that you have not seen all summer with a gentle nod of the head and the look of enthusiasm that this year will be better than last.
For the first few minutes, it looked like that may be the case as we had two great chances to take an early lead but after being unable to convert them, we descended into being bullied by County, eventually going 2-0 behind.
We did stage a late comeback near the end when we pulled a goal back but that damage was done and not many could have argued a case for us to be deserving of a point from this match.
It was just poor all over the field. The two goals that County scored were also cheaply given away.
The first one was a fine strike from their player but he was able to make the run from way outside the box to the loose ball unattended with Kamara’s effort to block it quite half-hearted.
County’s second was just a gift.
El Bakhtaoui was given the task of manning the back post but as soon as the corner was taken, he moved out of position and their player won the header to fire it into the exposed part of the goal.
It was extremely frustrating to watch because we all know that the players we have are capable of more but they failed to produce it that afternoon.
We had individuals moving out of position when we were going forward and when he lost the ball, there would be gaps all over the midfield. Even Roarie Deacon frustrated me at the best of times when we were attacking down the wing in the second half and he was in the middle because he drifted inside.
On top of this, Sofien Moussa and Kerr Waddell both came off injured and may sit out of the second Dundee Derby of the season in the League Cup.
I’ve had better Saturdays I can assure you that!
All is not lost though. It was only the first match of the new campaign and we can’t go writing off players or our league status which some people have already done so after a few ales in the pub afterwards.
We have stuttered somewhat against lower league opposition in the build up to the start of this campaign but now that it has started, we should be looking at what is not working and going for a different approach. There is still plenty of time to put this right but we cannot afford to think we have endless time to do so.
The rest of the Premiership results were to be expected.
Celtic demolished managerless Hearts 4-1 at home to start off what will become their seventh title in a row. It is quite depressing knowing that they will walk this league and they will stay in the top spot from now until next May but it’s become expected up here in Scotland.
Hearts on the other hand seem to be in a bit of a shambles and will need a new manager in quickly otherwise they could potentially find their selves in the bottom six. Their city rivals Hibernian marked their return to the top flight with a fine 3-1 win over Partick at Easter Road despite Thistle taking an early lead.
St Johnstone travelled to Ayr to take on Kilmarnock and thanks to a last minute goal from returning hero Michael O’Halloran, made their way back to Perth with all three points thanks to a 2-1 victory.
In Sunday’s matches, Rangers escaped with the points against Motherwell thanks to a double for debutant Graham Dorrans despite a few late scares as they put their Europa campaign shambles behind them. Aberdeen, also suffering Europa heartache, made sure there was no upset at Pittodrie as they easily swept aside Hamilton with two goals without reply.
We now face two games in the space of four days. First up is Dundee United at Dens in the last sixteen of the League Cup. My confidence isn’t that high going into this game. We have offered little creativity or threat up front the past two games and if our number nine Moussa misses this game through injury, I really cannot see where the goals will come from if Marcus Haber continues to be left to sit in the stand.
Then it is a visit to Hamilton on Saturday. I am making no qualms about it, I think we will be in the bottom six this season and wins against Hamilton and other teams that will be there with us will be crucial for the club.
So let us hope for two wins to kick start our season.
MON THE DEE!
