retired_eneko5613

26th December 2010 Part One.

Dear Diary,

Dundee, the first six months.

Boxing Day. An ideal day to spend with the family. Yes and no. Spending time with the family is all well and good, but after a day and a half, everyone needs their space. So I thought I'd use the time to catch up here.

The first thing I had to do at Dens Park was to find out if the Chairman was willing to go along with my ideas. The first meeting between us sorted that out straight away. I sat down at the other side of the desk, staring at the small, engraved nameplate. "Mr Jimmy Marr, Chairman" it said. There was no footballing memorabilia on the desk, and it looked as though the office was only rarely used.

"Laddie," he said to me, "I want you to get us promotion this season."

It took a lot of effort not to let my bottom jaw drop to the floor. After all, it was the second week in May. Dundee had already won Division One by 7 points, and the Chairman didn't even seem to know? This was going to be easier than I thought...

Looking at the squad, though, this was going to be more difficult. I couldn't field an all Scottish side at the moment, and it would be a slow process bringing players in. There was no £15m transfer fund here. So I was going to have to approach things a different way. The first task was to keep the wage bill down, so that I could maximise the available money for transfers. There was probably going to be times in the forthcoming season when I would need to bring a player in to fulfill a specific role, and I might need to spend on both fee and wages at that point. With this in mind, I started looking to let players go. Some had already arranged moves, mostly before the club won promotion, and there was nothing I could do about that. However, with the future in mind, I tried to keep as many Scots at the club as possible:
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">OUT:Nick Evans (26) Welsh (Morton - £160k)Gary McDonald (28) Scottish (Ross County - £500k)Ross Dawson (21) English (Shrewsbury - £50k)Craig McEwan (33) Scottish (Brighton - Free)Michel Breuer (30) Dutch (Dunfermline - Free)Kevin McDonald (29) Scottish (Shrewsbury - Free)Craig Bingham (31) Scottish (Dunfermline - Free)Vincent Sullivan (28) Irish (Huddersfield - Free)Arkadiusz Onyszko (36) Polish (Hibs - Free)Stephen Craigan (34) Northern Irish (Dunfermline - Free)Hugo Saraiva (28) Portugese (Stalybridge - £140k)Neil Ferrie (28) Scottish (Queen's Park - Free)Chris Cahill (25) Australian (Scunthorpe - £110k)</pre>
A few lads headed out on loan for the season. Their future at the club will depend on their loan performances.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> Andy Jeffrey (19) English (Berwick - Season Loan)Andrew Rae (19) Scottish (Forfar - Season Loan)Ian Hutchison (19) Scottish (East Fife - Season Loan)</pre>

Coming in were a diverse bunch of players from around the Scottish league:
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">IN:Jamie Campbell (29) GK (Livingston - £12k)Jim McKenzie (22) D LC (Ayr - £65k)Sean McAuley (30) DM C (Stranraer - Free)Chris Griffiths D RLC (Free)Andrew Stevenson S C (Hibs - Free)Neil Alexander GK (Celtic - £325k)Stephen Whalen AM C (Livingston - £275k)</pre>
and a few on loan to provide, hopefully, that bit of quality and experience:
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Martin Bavidge (Portsmouth - 4 month loan)Scott Baillie (Manchester City - 4 month loan)Steve Caldwell (Oldham - 4 month loan)Darren Mackie (Bristol City - 4 month loan)</pre>

So this is how the squad looked before the season kicked off:
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Keepers:Scots1. Neil Alexander (32)13. Jamie Campbell (29)Nots33. Andy Jeffrey (19) loan to BerwickDefenders:Scots2. Mark Wilson (28)3. Jim McKenzie (22)4. Stephen McCann (25)16. Ian Hutchison (19) loan to East Fife18. Scott Webster (18)21. Colin Drew (31) loan to Dumbarton22. Scott Baillie (22) loan from Manchester City23. Steve Caldwell (29) loan from OldhamNots14. Chris Griffiths (23) EnglishJames Goodwin (28) IrishMidfielders:Scots8. John Dempster (27)12. Peter Hegarty (22)15. Sean McAuley (30)17. Andrew Rae (19) loan to Forfar19. Martin Bavidge (30) loan from Portsmouth24. Darren Mackie (28) loan from Bristol City25. Stephen Whalen (30)Nots6. Luke Guttridge (28) English7. Massimo Ciotti (29) Italian11. José Luis Villanueva (28) Chilean20. Juanjo (33) SpanishAttackers:Scots9. Andy Walker (24)10. Gordon Williamson (24)18. Andrew Stevenson (24)Scott Webster (18)Stuart Miller (23)Nots39. Fabián Caballero (32) Paraguayan</pre>

retired_eneko5613

26th December 2010 Part Two

Dear Diary,

Well, the season kicked off, whether we were ready for it or not.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">31/7 Dundee 0 Hearts 1 (Kirk (88)) 11th</pre>
Unfortunate, to say the least. Guttridge had looked good in midfield, a shame he wouldn't have a long term future at the club. Transfer dealings continued, as they often do at this stage of the season. 28 year old midfielder Daniel Alexander (Berwick Rangers - £14k) signed, with young striker Scott Webster heading out to East Fife for the season.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">7/8 Hibs 3 Dundee 1 (Stevenson 3, MacDonald (34), Baha (61), MejÃ*a (72)) 11th13/8 Dundee 1 Rangers 1 (Robinson (12), Stevenson 45) 9th17/8 Dundee 4 Cowdenbeath 0 (D.Alexander 3, Stevenson 8, Walker 41, Bavidge 76) League Cup 2nd Round21/8 Ayr 1 Dundee 1 (Ferguson (4), Stevenson 40) 10th28/8 Dundee 2 Aberdeen 3 (Young (14), Villanueva 17, Stewart (28), Shields (63), Dempster 90) 12th</pre>
The predictable difficult start, with only the surprise Dens Park draw against Rangers worthy of note. At least we were still in the League Cup, getting through the second round smoothly enough. The newly extended Dens Park (capacity 13135) was seeing more Dundee fans through the turnstiles than ever before, but everywhere I looked former players of mine were conspiring against us. Hibs, for example, had Onyszko, Suat Usta and Baha in their line up.

The team clearly needed a little something else to help it on it's way. So I placed a few calls, and managed to persuade a handful of Scotland's finest youth to come to this part of the homeland for the rest of the season. In no particular order:
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">John McKenzie (21), Striker, Capped at Under 21, from Blackburn RoversChris Taylor (21), Left sided Midfielder, from EvertonSteven Thomson (19), Left sided Defender, from MiddlesbroughSteven Craig (22), Central Defender, from EvertonSteven Ferguson (20), Right sided Defender, from Fulham</pre>
The changes didn't come in time for my return to the Caledonian Stadium, but things were about to get better...
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">11/9 Inverness CT 1 Dundee 0 (Rubio (1)) 12th19/9 Dundee 1 Motherwell 0 (Walker 90) 10th22/9 Hamilton 0 Dundee 4 (John McKenzie 5, Dempster 67, 72, John McKenzie 75) League Cup 3rd Round25/9 Kilmarnock 0 Dundee 3 (McCann 12, Walker 71, Hegarty 90) 7th2/10 Celtic 0 Dundee 2 (Stevenson 38, 68) 8th</pre>
The improvement started with a last minute winner against Motherwell, and their captain Darren Ward, and after further success in the League Cup, continued with a thrashing of Kilmarnock, which Craig Easton could do nothing about. But the undoubted highlight was the win at Celtic Park. A magnificent performance against a side who, it must be said, looked badly out of form. Andrew Stevenson's goals made the difference, the ex Hibs striker already making a big impact in the team.

Signing a permanent deal at Dens Park in early October, having been released by Everton after nine seasons at Goodison Park, was defensive midfielder Chris Watson. The 28 year old played as a trialist in the cup match against Hamilton, and impressed sufficiently to earn himself a contract. Looking to the future, this will allow Luke Guttridge to be replaced. With that in mind, he went straight into the squad for our next game...
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">16/10 Dunfermline 1 Dundee 1 (Rusk (12), Stevenson 39) 8th19/10 Dundee 4 Arbroath 0 (Stevenson 17, Dempster 45, Walker 60, Dempster 90) 7th</pre>
John Dempster led the attack well in what was our best League performance so far against Arbroath. Here was a player who was really grasping his opportunity in the first team, having gone a good 3 years without really making a name for himself. However his contract was set to become unprotected in December, and I wasn't sure whether I'd be able to keep him with our self enforced wage structure.

More money was made available in the short term by the departure of Luke Guttridge to Brighton for a cool £1m. Given that I had already found his Scottish replacement, the cash was a bonus. I'm not convinces it was what the fans wanted to hear ahead of our next trip to Glasgow.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">23/10 Rangers 1 Dundee 0 (Nicholas (12)) 7th</pre>
23 year old Stuart Miller headed off to Forfar on 4 month loan, with both of us hopeful that he would gain some first team experience. Meanwhile, the rest of us tried to get back to winning ways...
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">30/10 Dundee 3 Hibs 2 (Walker 16, Stevenson 31, MejÃ*a (39), Baha (63), Ciotti 79) 7th7/11 Hearts 0 Dundee 0 7th13/11 Dundee 2 Ayr 0 (Walker 1, Dempster 83) 7th</pre>
The victory over Ayr marked Martin Bavidge's final game for Dundee, for this season at least. He has been dependable, without doing anything outstanding, just as I remember him at Caley ten years ago. He's still on the transfer list at Portsmouth, as they look to avoid a First Division relegation battle, but I think £200k is asking a bit much. Besides, we'd never afford his wages.

Another foreigner leaves Dens Park, Juanjo signing for East Stirling in a deal which sees 27 year old right back Graeme Campbell come in the other direction. Also arriving, and also 27, is winger Ewing Crawford, for £70k from Albion Rovers.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">20/11 Motherwell 1 Dundee 1 (Villanueva 34, Foley (76)) 7th</pre>
The slightly disappointing draw at Motherwell brought down the curtain on the loan careers of Caldwell, Mackie and Baillie. Baillie had been the only regular performer, with Caldwell acting as backup for our already solid back two most of the time, and Mackie being a major disappointment in the seven games he played.

Yet another non-scot left as well, as I slashed £8k from the wage bill and brought £75k by allowing Caballero to go to Sheffield United. The club was now officially making a profit based on gate receipts vs wage bill! With Baillie out of the action, though, my main concern was how the defence would adjust. As it happens, I needn't have been so worried.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">27/11 Dundee 5 Kilmarnock 0 (Wilson 3, Alexander 10, Villanueva 23, Wilson 43, 50pen) 5th 1/12 Hibs 1 Dundee 0 (Baha (64)) League Cup QF4/12 Dundee 1 ICT 0 (Walker 7) 5th11/12 Arbroath 0 Dundee 0 5th18/12 Dundee 2 Rangers 1 (van der Vaart (11), Ciotti 17, McKenzie 60) 5th21/12 Dundee 2 Celtic 2 (Andrade (13), Thomson 40, Crouch (50), Thomson 88) 5th26/12 Dundee 1 Dunfermline 0 (Stevenson 72) 5th</pre>
The 5-0 against Kilmarnock, including a hattrick from Martin Wilson - his first goals of the season, really finished off November on a high. For the first time we moved into the top half of the table, albeit an artificial placement given the games in hand of sides below us. Elation was followed by depression, as we suffered cup defeat for the first time at the hands of Hibs and, particularly for me, Baha. The rest of December was set to go well, as we put one over on Caley, Rangers and Dunfermline, and ran Arbroath and Celtic close. The Arbroath match was one of particular note, with a player from either side seeing red in the 9th minute for completely unrelated incidents.

So here we are, 5th on merit, arguably two players short of my Scots only squad, and paying out a measly £31,500 per week in wages! Who would have believed it?

retired_eneko5613

29th May 2011 Part One.

Dear Diary,

Well, that's the season of rebuilding over, now we can start with making things work how I want them to. But lets consider things in the right order...

Christmas saw the departure of two more Dundee players. Andy Jeffrey went permanently to Bournemouth for £30k, whilst Colin Drew went on a short term loan to Raith Rovers. The rest of us travelled to Aberdeen to blow the festive cobwebs away.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">29/12 Aberdeen 2 Dundee 3 (Stevenson 16,20, Harrison (49), Shields (76), Crawford 81) 5th</pre>
Ewing Crawford's first goal for the club clinched another amazing victory, and sealed me the Manager of the Month award for December. Chris Watson was also awarded the Player of the Month award, as the month ended well for Dundee.

The third round draw of the Scottish Cup paired us with Division Two Queen's Park. A straightforward enough tie on paper, but first we had to deal with high flying Hibs.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">4/1 Hibs 1 Dundee 0 (Óscar (60)) 5th</pre>
Steven Craig's initial loan failed, but negotiations led to his return for a second 4 month period. Daniel Ogunmade also joined us from Middlesbrough for 4 months. The 26 year old left sided forward would give us a little extra depth on that side. Plus, his contract is up in the summer, so if he turns out OK he'll go onto the shortlist.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">22/1 Dundee 1 Motherwell 1 (Elliott (60), Dempster 61) 6th29/1 Dundee 1 Queens Park 0 (Williamson 18) FA Cup 3rd Round2/2 Ayr 1 Dundee 0 (Fisken (47)) 6th5/2 Dundee 1 Hearts 3 (Pennant (19), Villanueva 39, Pennant (60), MacDonald (69)) 6th12/2 ICT 1 Dundee 2 (Stevenson 45, Fletcher (67), Stevenson 90pen) 6th19/2 Dundee 2 Rangers 0 (McCann 11, Stevenson 65 - 15th of season) FA Cup 4th Round26/2 Dundee 4 Arbroath 1 (Crawford 4, Walker 42, Rollo (61), Walker 80pen, Villanueva 83) 5th</pre>
A handful of shaky results, but we recovered to get back to 5th place by the end of February. Beating Caley Thistle on their own patch with a last minute penalty was really a moment to remember, whilst the demolition of Arbroath was another to rank amongst our best performances of the season. A mainly reserve side did it's job against Queen's Park, including a first goal of the season for Gordon Williamson. It was a full strength side that saw off Rangers in the 4th round though. This result went a long way towards showing just how much the force of Scottish football was changing.

February's performances were enough to get me another Manager of the Month award. Our numbers were increased when Stuart Miller returned from his loan spell at Forfar, but he immediately started kicking up a fuss about not getting in the first team. He'll not last long around here if he does that sort of thing.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">5/3 Kilmarnock 0 Dundee 1 (Stevenson 17) 5th</pre>
With the transfer deadline looming, it was time to secure a few signings to see us through to the end of the seaseon. Steven Craig was agreeable to a permanent move, although we shouldn't really have spoken to him without talking to Everton first. Fortunately, they were willing to do business, and £450k changed hands.

He joined us (without really ever going away) just in time for the start of an epic encounter with Aberdeen...
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">12/3 Aberdeen 0 Dundee 0 FA Cup 5th Round</pre>
We managed another signing before the replay. Another promising youngster, who didn't fit into Rangers' long term plans. Stuart Henderson is 20 and can play on the right side of defence or midfield. He'll get to see things first hand from the bench.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">16/3 Dundee 2 Aberdeen 2 (Villanueva 19, Walker 33, Adalsteinsson (36),(39)) Dundee win 4-2 on penalties. FA Cup 5th Round replay19/3 Dundee 2 Aberdeen 1 (Craig 18, Evans (30), Ciotti 61) 4th</pre>
An exciting week! First we hang on in the through the second half and extra time in the cup replay, when we really should have finished the game off. Neil Alexander came to the rescue, saving Craig Harrison's penalty, whilst Stevenson, Walker, Watson and Craig all kept their nerve to score theirs. The only way we could top that was to beat them again the following Saturday, which we did! Better than that, Steven Craig score the opener and then got sent off two minutes later, and we still won. We move up to 4th, albeit temporarily.

And yes, this meant another Manager of the Month award for me. It also meant a Young Player of the Month award for Steven Thomson. If only Middlesbrough would entertain the notion of selling him.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">2/4 Dunfermline 1 Dundee 0 (Duff (22)) 4th9/4 Hearts 0 Dundee 2 (Dempster 32, Stevenson 37) FA Cup Semi Final at Easter Road.11/4 Celtic 1 Dundee 2 (Walker 11, Heed (27), Hegarty 67) 4th</pre>
Things just got better and better! A fairly straightforward Semi Final victory over league leaders Hearts meant that Dundee were through to the Scottish Cup final for the first time since they won it in 2001/02. Our opponents would be Hibs. Tricky. However, even more elation was to follow as we beat Celtic on their own patch to guarantee 4th place as the league split for the final round of matches.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Scottish Premier Division after 33 matches1. Hearts 69 +242. Hibs 68 +253. ICT 59 +134. Celtic 58 +135. Dundee 56 +186. Rangers 54 +12</pre>
Our fixture list for the final five games made it clear what we had to do. With things so tight, our target had to be third place. Of course that would have been beyond the club's wildest dreams at the start of the season, but having got this far there was no way were going to sit back and think "job done". Therefore, the first match against Celtic, and the fourth up at the Caledonian Stadium would be the important ones. In between those we faced the Edinburgh pair, whilst the last match at Rangers would, fingers crossed, be unimportant.

retired_eneko5613

29th May 2011 Part Two.

Dear Diary,

Now where was I? Oh yes. Celtic up first, looking for revenge for the previous game, and looking to deny us 4th place and keep up their own Champions League qualification chances, should the fail to progress past their current Quarter Final slot this year. 21 year old Portugese international Pedro Andrade effectively cost them that chance by headbutting Chris Watson 13 minutes in. We went on to walk all over the ten men, including a rare goal for Peter Hegarty and a first for the club for Kevin Gaughan
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">16/4 Dundee 5 Celtic 0 (Stevenson 27, Walker 32, 55, Hegarty 78, Gaughan 85)Scottish Premier Division after 34 matches1. Hearts 72 +252. Hibs 69 +253. Dundee 59 +234. ICT 59 +125. Celtic 58 +86. Rangers 55 +12</pre>
Up to third, and the game against Caley Thistle looks even more massive now. But first, we had to go to Easter Road and defend like mad against a Hibs side looking for the title.

The scouting report I got expected Baha to come back and haunt me yet again, but it was his South Korean strike partner Seol who cast our defensive game plan asunder with an early goal. To get an equaliser so quickly was unbelievable, and as for going on to win it, well, it was more than I could possibly have hoped for.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">23/4 Hibs 1 Dundee 2 (Seol (9), Walker 13, Stevenson 51)Scottish Premier Division after 35 matches1. Hearts 72 +242. Hibs 69 +243. Dundee 62 +244. Celtic 61 +95. ICT 60 +126. Rangers 56 +12</pre>
A win for Celtic over league leaders Hearts boosted the Hibs fans' hopes, but dented ours, as it meant that the unexpected win hadn't really helped us that much. And we had to face Hearts next...

We weren't to be so lucky this time. A flurry of goals in the middle of the first half completed the scoring, and although we came from a goal down once, we couldn't do it twice. Mark Wilson's sending off in the 85th minute was to lead to a £16k fine from the FA as well - we have the worst disciplinary record in the league!
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">30/4 Dundee 1 Hearts 2 (Duff (18), Stevenson 23, Kirk (29)) Scottish Premier Division after 36 matches1. Hearts 75 +252. Hibs 69 +223. ICT 63 +144. Dundee 62 +235. Celtic 61 +86. Rangers 59 +13</pre>
Caley Thistle's 2-0 win over Hibs really put the cat amongst the pigeons, but the biggest problem was waiting just around the corner. I'm not sure whether it's league rules, or just a cóck up on somebody's part in the backroom, but all our season long loans expired on the 4th of May. Sure, this meant Scott Webster returned, but it also meant we would be without the services of Chris Taylor, Daniel Ogunmade, John McKenzie, Steven Ferguson and most importantly of all Steven Thomson for the last two games.

So with the odds stacked against us, and a rearranged squad, we headed up to the Caledonian. The first half of the game painted a very uninspiring picture. The only real threat was coming from Caley full back Jim Paterson, who was certainly playing at a far higher standard than I remembered. During half time we rearranged duties to sort out that particular problem, brought of Andy Walker and threw on Gordon Williamson for a rare league appearance. Was that the inspiration, or was it the arrival of young Hegarty alongside him on 65 minutes? Either way the two combined and Williamson claimed his first league goal of the season!
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">7/5 ICT 0 Dundee 1 (Williamson 66)Scottish Premier Division after 37 matches1. Hearts 78 +26 (champions)2. Hibs 72 +253. Dundee 65 +244. ICT 63 +135. Celtic 61 +56. Rangers 59 +12</pre>
Once again the Caley board showed their impatience, giving manager Sam Allardyce the dreaded vote of confidence. And all we needed now was a draw against Rangers.

We needed a draw. In fact at the end of the day, Caley only got a draw so we really didn't even need that. It was a good job really, as we went through the entire 90 minutes without even getting a shot at goal, and only winning one corner. I've rarely seen such a one sided game end 0-0, and Neil Alexander really deserved his man of the match award.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">14/5 Rangers 0 Dundee 0Scottish Premier Division, final standings1. Hearts 78 +252. Hibs 75 +263. Dundee 66 +244. ICT 64 +135. Celtic 62 +56. Rangers 60 +12</pre>
And that was that! Champions League qualification! Now there was just the Cup Final to worry about. Andrew Rae and Ian Hutchison returned to the fold after their loan excursions, and the announcement of the Premier Division team of the year includes Neil Alexander's name. Our super keeper was set to play a big part in the cup final as well...

The final itself was, like many, a tight and uninspiring affair. It was 0-0 at half time, and looked as though it was going to carry on that way. That is until Neil Alexander picked the worst possible moment to make a very bad decision. Korean defender Seol came crashing down to earth as Alexander caught his heels, and the referee pointed at the spot. Worse, he received the red card. Paul MacDonald scored the spot kick and that was that.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">28/5 Dundee 0 Hibs 1 (MacDonald (73pen)) FA Cup Final</pre>
Perhaps that was one game too far with our weakened squad. It shows how much we'll need to improve next year, for a start! The final event of the season was the Awards Dinner, where Andy Walker picked up the player of the year award and the Chairman's representative announced that the stadium would be expanded by 3500 seats over the summer...

retired_eneko5613

29th July 2011

Dear Diary,

The season starts tomorrow, and it's been another busy summer at Dens Park, which looks absolutely resplendant with it's new extended capacity of 16635. The Chairman is proud that we now have the biggest stadium in Dundee, whilst I'm pleased that there will be a few extra quid coming in. Speaking of money, the draw for the all important 3rd Qualifying Round of the Champions League has paired us with either a long trip Reykjavik to face KR (Knattspytnufélag ReykjavÃ*k to give them their full title), or an equally long trip to Apolonia in Albania to play Apolonia Fier. A win over the two legs will net us another £1.8m, but in the mean time we still have to be careful with the pennies.

Once again, there's been a fair turn over of playing staff. Seven in and three out, at a slight profit, but a slightly higher wage bill. It's still, amazingly, below £40k though! The following have departed for other opportunities:
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">James Goodwin (Ipswich - £300k rising to £400k)Chris Griffiths (FC Haka - £80k)José Luis Villanueva (Hearts - £1.3m)</pre>
Whilst arriving at Dens Park:
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Joe Webster (24) DM C (Aston Villa - £550k) 5 year deal, £3,500 per week.Martin Lauchlan (30) AM/F RL (Oldham - Bosman) 2 year deal, £3,500 per week.Chris Kerr (32) D/DM L (Hearts - Bosman) 2 year deal, £1,000 per week.Daniel Ogunmade (26) F LC (Free Transfer - released by Middlesbrough) 5 year deal, £975 per week.Richard Waddell (30) AM L (Notts County - £850k) 3 year deal, £3,100 per week.Colin Sinclair (21) S C (Free Transfer - released by Watford) 1 year deal, £170 per weekMark Young (21) M C (Stockport - Season Loan) </pre>
Although, rather irritatingly, having signed a new two year contract, Chris Kerr decides enough is enough and announces that he will retire at the end of the season

Preseason went well. Ten goals from seven different scorers across the three games, and everyone looks fresh and ready to go.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Friendliesundee 2 Falkirk 0 - Walker, HendersonDundee 5 Partick Thistle 0 - Lauchlan, Stevenson (2), Watson, Whalen (Pen)Dundee 3 Albion Rovers 1 - Hegarty, Walker, Whalen. Kevin Stewart for Rovers.</pre>

And so, for posterity, to the squad:
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">The Dundee "Lions" Squad 2011/2012</pre><pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Goalkeepers:1. Neil Alexander (33) 2nd season, 38 appearances13. Jamie Campbell (30) 2nd season, 10 appearancesDefenders:2. Mark Wilson (29) Capped at Under 21 level. 5th season, 140 appearances, 7 goals3. Jim McKenzie (23) 2nd season, 6 appearances4. Stephen McCann (26) 4th season, 103 appearacnes, 8 goals5. Kevin Gaughan (33) 3rd season, 40 appearances, 1 goal6. Steven Craig (23) 2nd season, 10 appearances15. Chris Kerr (32) 1st season20. Graeme Campbell (28) 2nd season, 1 appearance23. Stuart Henderson (20) 2nd season, 10 appearancesxx. Scott Webster (19) 3rd season, 2 appearancesxx. Colin Drew (32) 5th season, 22 appearancesxx. Ian Hutchison (20) 3rd seasonxx. Kevin Johnston (16) 1st seasonMidfielders:7. Ewing Crawford (27) 2nd season, 21 appearances, 2 goals8. John Dempster (28) 6th season, 53 appearances, 8 goals11. Martin Lauchlan (30) Capped at B Team level. 1st season12. Peter Hegarty (23) Capped at Under 21 level. 6th season, 144 appearances, 17 goals14. Richard Waddell (30) 1st season16. Chris Watson (29) 2nd season, 36 appearances17. Daniel Alexander (28) 2nd season, 11 appearances, 2 goals19. Stephen Whalen (31) 2nd season, 14 appearances22. Joe Webster (24) Capped at Under 21 level. 1st season25. Mark Young (21) On loan from Stockportxx. Alex Rae (20) 3rd season, 4 appearancesxx. Sean McAuley (31) 2nd seasonForwards:9. Andy Walker (25) 9th season, 156 appearances, 37 goals10. Gordon Williamson (25) 4th season, 62 appearances, 26 goals18. Andrew Stevenson (25) 2nd season, 44 apperances, 20 goals21. Daniel Ogunmade (26) Capped at Under 21 level. 2nd season, 8 appearances24. Stuart Miller (24) 6th season, 27 appearances, 3 goalsxx. Colin Sinclair (21) Capped at Under 21 level. 1st season</pre>

Fingers crossed, prayers said, here we go...

retired_eneko5613

26th August 2012

Dear Diary,

The Scottish league is pretty much the same as it's always been. The first five seasons of the decade saw Celtic beat Rangers to the top spot season after season. 2005/06 saw Celtic slip up, finishing 5th, and Rangers took advantage with Aberdeen filling the runners up spot. The following season returned to the normal pattern, as did two of the next three. The only change being Celtic's 2nd slipup in 2008, when Rangers won the title and I led Caley Thistle to 2nd. Then out of the blue last season, the two Edinburgh clubs took the top two spots, the first time since 1985 that an Old Firm club hasn't won the league, and the first time since 1965 that one of them hasn't been in the top two. I'm hoping Dundee can go one better than last season, and break into the top two. Plus, there's the Champions League adventure to get involved with. It's not been a bad start so far...

Pre-season injuries hampered my selections for the league opener at Arbroath, mainly in defence where Mark Wilson and Chris Kerr were missing. The starting eleven was therefore Campbell, Henderson, McCann, Gaughan, Craig, Webster, Waddell, Dempster, Lauchlan, Stevenson and Walker. Going a goal down was a shock, but when the home side's keeper was sent off and a penalty awarded late in the first half things looked brighter. The job was completed late in the second.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">30/7 Arbroath 1 Dundee 2 (Pearson (23), Stevenson 41pen, Hegarty 85) 3rd</pre>
The annual merry go round of loan players was soon underway, with Stuart Miller heading off to Clydebank for 4 months and being replaced by 20 year old forward Kenny Kelly from Fulham. It's only a year since the London side signed the player from Morton, and he hasn't really settled yet. The first home match against Dunfermline was a success as well.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">6/8 Dundee 2 Dunfermline 1 (Dempster 27, Duff (29), Lauchlan 55) 2nd</pre>
Martin Lauchlan really ran the game. Good to see some of our hard earned money going to a good use!

We were made to feel very welcome in the compact Frostaskjól stadium in Reykjavik. The hosts were used to getting to this stage of the Champions League, but hadn't yet progressed beyond it this century, whilst many of my players hadn't even tasted European football. Plus, with loan players not eligible to participate (another strange rule I hadn't noticed), the squad was a bit thinner than usual. In the end, a draw was probably a fair result, keeping things interesting for the second leg, whilst the away goals were a bonus, making things a bit more in our favour.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">10/8 KR 2 Dundee 2 (Helgi Hreidarsson (19), Dempster 24, 40, Haraldsson (66)) Champions League, 3rd qualifying round, 1st leg</pre>
Three days later, the lads went to Celtic Park and got a draw, a result which despite the opposition's lack of form recently is still damned good.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">13/8 Celtic 1 Dundee 1 (Crouch (6), Stevenson 63) 3rd</pre>
More ins and outs. Out went Scott Webster again, this time to Alloa for the season, whilst in came Martyn Corrigan. Joining us on his 34th birthday, Martyn is probably approaching the end of his career, but he has bags of experience and has real quality, not only in defence but possibly in midfield as well. He signed a rather optimistic 3 year deal, on a bargain basement £950 per week.

Corrigan made a solid debut as we went to Motherwell and put them to the sword with goals again from our star striking pair. Steven Craig picked up the man of the match award, in a game which saw all four of our defenders pick up yellow cards. Not exactly improving on our discipliary record. More importantly, we went to the top of the table!
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">20/8 Motherwell 0 Dundee 2 (Walker 36, Stevenson 51) 1st</pre>
Stuart Henderson was celebrating our good fortune extra hard over the weekend, as he had his own bit of luck to celebrate - his first call up to the Under 21 side. I was too busy to celebrate too much, though. I had another freebie to snatch up. 25 year old midfielder Martin Gallacher agreed to join the Dundee revolution, having been released by Wolves. Another bargain at £975 per week! He wouldn't be allowed to feature in our European adventure, providing we could do the business against KR...

An early goal from Lauchlan, though, eased our path to the Group Stage, although an equaliser midway through the half threatened to sticky the wicket. Up stepped Stevenson to put the matter beyond doubt, though.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">24/8 Dundee 2 KR 1 (Lauchlan 14, Helgi Hreidarsson (26), Stevenson 45) Agg: 4-3</pre>
We're through to the Group Stage! So it was suits and ties on, and off to Geneva for the draw. Realistically, whoever comes out of the hat, we don't stand a chance. As it is, we at least get to cut down on the travelling. Liverpool, Lyon and Schalke 04 join us in Group G, and it all kicks off next month! I can't wait!

retired_eneko5613

10th September 2011

Dear Diary,

With the UEFA Champions League cheque for £1.8m safely banked, we went back to concentrating on the league. Livingston were the visitors, but they couldn't really ause us many problems, and Andrew Stevenson picked himself another two goals up to take him to 6 for the season, whilst Gallacher opened his account with the third.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">27/8 Dundee 3 Livingston 1 (Stevenson 7 - 5 for the season, Still (27pen), Stevenson 32, Gallacher 88) 1st</pre>
After a couple of weeks break - we had to make the most of it, with the Champions League looming it would be the last we would get for a while - it was a different story against Hearts. It was the first time we had come up against Villanueva, who was joined in the Champions' squad by Kenny Miller. Two players who knew my tactics inside out then. Great. It was probably not a surprise to lose the game given those circumstances.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">10/9 Dundee 0 Hearts 2 (Kenny Miller (40), Morgan (84)) 3rd</pre>
But, at least we were comfortably placed in the league.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">SPL (After 6 games)1. Hearts 15 +132. ICT 14 +63. Dundee 13 +44. Rangers 11 +45. Hibs 10 +36. Celtic 10 0</pre>

retired_embartl

Excellent so far, and hopefully you'll not be moving to any more clubs (:o) with the CL. Good luck :thup:

retired_eneko5613

Cheers Brian

22nd October 2011

Dear Diary,

Would you believe we've played 9 games since I last updated? Our Champions League future hangs in the balance, but importantly we've managed to keep our league form together. We've also had a pretty remarkable result in the League Cup, and spent some money! It all started when the Germans came to town...
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">14/9 Dundee 1 Schalke 04 1 (Jörg Wichmann (36), Wilson 84)</pre>
A draw against Schalke looked a reasonable result on paper. We had Neil Alexander to thank for keeping us in the game when we could have conceded two or three, and Martin Wilson's first of the season got us the point. Liverpool beat Lyon 3-1 in France.

Martin Gallacher continued the excellent start to his Dundee career with a goal and the man of the match award against Aberdeen, but it was Richard Waddell's first Dundee goal that sealed the three points, and took us temporarily back to the top of the table.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">17/9 Dundee 2 Aberdeen 1 (Gallacher 47, Adalsteinsson (63), Waddell 71) 1st</pre>
The weekend's other games dropped us back to 2nd, though.

The trip to Anfield was definitely an experience, but it was one which we were completely incapable of dealing with. They played us off the park if I'm honest, and we'll have to try and do better when we meet them again in front of our own fans.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">20/9 Liverpool 3 Dundee 0 (Heskey (7), Gerrard (16), Marshall (62))</pre>
Schalke beat Lyon 1-0 in Germany, leaving us 3rd. If we're to have the slighest chance of progressing, we need heavy wins home and away against the French side.

From Liverpool on Wednesday to Inverness on Sunday, and the tiredness showed as we hung on for a 0-0 draw at my former club. Surprisingly, despite being a 21 goal hero during my reign, Steve McLean only gets a place on the bench. He comes on with half an hour to go and causes us some problems. Seems he still has what it takes. Definitely something worth looking into.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">24/9 ICT 0 Dundee 0 3rd</pre>
Our third place is once again only temporary, as other results later in the weekend drop us another place to fourth.

A rare start, and similarly rare goal for Gordon Williamson made him the man of the match as we completed the first half of our essential double against Lyon.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">27/9 Dundee 1 Lyon 0 (Williamson 40)</pre>
Schalke 04 and Liverpool draw 1-1 in Germany, and we're still in with a chance! I get the feeling that the away game will be more difficult, though.

Stevenson and Walker form their effective partnership again, and get a goal each, as we beat Hibs at Dens Park to go back to the top of the table.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">1/10 Dundee 2 Hibs 0 (Stevenson 45, Walker 89) 1st</pre>
Yet again, other weekend results drop us to 2nd.
.
So to the League Cup. where we had been drawn against Rangers. Our squad wasn't in the best shape and I expected a bit of a mauling. Quite a surprise, then, when Jim McKenzie scored a 20 yard freekick midway through the first half - his first for the club. Surely Rangers would come back? Andy Walker meant sure they didn't with a magnificent captain's performance, adding two further goals to make the result comvincing.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">5/10 Dundee 3 Rangers 0 (McKenzie 21 - 1st for club, Walker 45, 70) League Cup 3rd Round.</pre>
How the 7000 or so Dundee fans cheered at that particular result!

The club reached, to me at least, a significant milestone during the 10 day rest period following the Cup victory. Massimo Ciotti was finally offloaded to Arbroath for a massively cut price £210k, meaning the squad was now entirely made up of Scottish players. More to the point, we continue to make money on a week in, week out basis as our wage bill is now down as low as £30,000 per week. Well, that's the case temporarily at least. It's not long before I raise that mark a little with the introduction of Steve McLean to the side, for a fee of £850k. Hopefully he can show some of the same form he rewarded me with when I took him to the Caledonian Stadium. Compared to the majority of our squad, he doesn't come cheap. He takes a pay cut from his Caley Thistle days, though, signing a three year deal worth £2400 per week. He goes straight into the side for the trip to Ibrox, where Rangers will be looking for revenge.

We don't get an iota of change out of the Old Firm side on their own patch, illustrating that the league continues to be far more important to the top teams than the League cup. The game is dominated by young, and sadly English, striker Richard Preston, although it's his strike partner, and one time potential Caley star Joren Nuyts who bags the man of the match award. The pair are unstoppable!
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">15/10 Rangers 2 Dundee 0 (Preston (5), (76)) 4th</pre>

We travelled to France for the crunch Champions League match a little disheartened by our drop in league form, and this probably affected us a little. Twice we went behind, but twice we equalised, but it took a single second half goal to búgger up our chances of qualification
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">19/10 Lyon 3 Dundee 2 (Patrice Gomis (2), Walker 12, Christophe Diawara (25), Stevenson 28, Frédéric Gomes (63))</pre>
Liverpool beat Schalke 04 1-0 at home, leaving us third. Mathematically, we can still qualify, but for that to happen we must beat Schalke and then get a better result against Liverpool than the German side get against Lyon.

We returned home determined to do better against Arbroath. Trouble is, Arbroath (and Massimo Ciotti) were determined to do well against us, and when they went 1-0 up inside 10 minutes it looked like trouble. We came back well, though, including first goals and the man of the match for McLean. It was enough to send us shooting back to first in the table, and with a game in hand as well!
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">22/10 Dundee 5 Arbroath 2 (Pearson (9), McLean 15 - 1st for club, Watson 16, Quinn (33), McLean 35, Gallacher 49, Hegarty 65) 1st</pre>
Easily our best performance of the season, and the table sure makes nice reading...
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">SPL. After 12 games (except where shown)1. Dundee 23 +8 (from 11 games)2. ICT 23 +83. Celtic 23 +64. Hearts 22 +14 (from 11 games)5. Rangers 21 +56. Hibs 19 +3 (from 11 games)</pre>

Now, if only we can get that miracle in the Champions League in Germany.

retired_eneko5613

3rd December 2011

Dear Diary,

Another month has passed, starting in Germany and ending in Italy. We've had games in four different competitions, and experienced more ups and downs than a Scotsman's kilt in a gale. As I said last time, it all started with that miracle we needed in Gelsenkirchen, but that wasn't to be when Schalke got two first half goals. They were never going to be unprofessional enough to let us back in, so the battle for qualification turned to the battle for third place.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">25/10 Schalke 04 2 Dundee 0 (Sebastian Kehl (6), Andreas Hinkel (22))</pre>
Fortunately, Liverpool beat Lyon 1-0 at home. We remain third in the table, and it's all about the last match. We need to get an equal result against Liverpool as that which Lyon get against Schalke.

Having failed pretty much to get into the side at all this season, we decide to let Stephn Whalen go. Surprisingly, we get good money for the 31 year old, with Second Division Bury willing to pay £375k for him. The crossover between October and November sees us battling our way to two draws against other sides in the top six. they were both the sort of games you need to be winning if you're going to dominate the league, but realistically we're never going to do that. I'm just glad we could show enough spirit to come back from behind, even if the two points means we've slipped to 4th.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">29/10 Hearts 1 Dundee 1 (Morgan (9), McLean 65) 2nd6/11 Dundee 2 Celtic 2 (Andrade (7), Gallacher 14, Johansson (57), Stevenson 67) 4th</pre>
Colin Drew for his first loan spell of the season, adding Kilmarnock to the list of clubs he has helped out, as those of us eligible prepare for perhaps the biggest fixture at Dens Park this century. Not only are the visitors one of the biggest clubs in the United Kingdom, but the game will also decide whether we have any future in Europe this season. Sure, Liverpool have already qualified, so they probably weren't as up for it as they might otherwise have been, but it was still a massive occasion for us.

So you can imagine the noise when, after 40 minutes of open play, Peter Hegarty headed a corner past the diving Liverpool keeper to put us 1-0 up. There was plenty of buzz around the ground at half time, and a noticeable sense of deflation quarter of an hour after the restart when Steven Gerrard got the visitors back level. The roof was raised two minutes later, though, when a up stepped the Dempster to fire home after a goalmouth scramble. The last 25 minutes was a cocophony of noise, as we bravely hung on for the result.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">9/11 Dundee 2 Liverpool 1 (Hegarty 40, Gerrard (64), Dempster 66)</pre>
Having got the victory, the other match was unimportant. So it was incidental that Schalke had come back from one down to beat Lyon 2-1 in France. We finished 3rd, and subsequently drew Roma in the UEFA Cup 3rd Round.

That clearly took a lot out of us though, as from the following Saturday on we went on a potentially disasterous run, losing three games in a row to the sides in 10th, 11th and 12th in the league. The details are so painful, I really don't want to think about it!
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">12/11 Dunfermline 2 Dundee 0 (Dunn (10), Simmons (69)) 4th16/11 Dundee 1 Ayr 2 (Ferguson (61), McLean 81, McDonald (90)) 4th19/11 Livingston 2 Dundee 1 (Danielsson (17), Cosgrove (58), Waddell 68) 5th</pre>
The chairman, or his representatives at least, start to show signs of their concern after that particular set of results. It leaves us within a couple of points of dropping out of that all important top half of the table.

The battle to get first team football for our second string players in a league which has no real reserve set up continues. Gordon Williamson departs to Clydebank for the maximum allowed four month spell, whilst on the same day young Andrew Rae goes to East Fife until the end of the season. We have to try to get our season back on track, but Roma are not the opposition most likely to facilitate that.

Although, I thought we played well against the Italians. We battled with them all the way, and looked set to make it effectively a single knockout game back in Rome as the time ticked away and the score remained nil-nil. You can't account for the skill of players such as Ronaldinho, though, and it was he who snuck in in the last minute to grab the away goal and the advantage that brings.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">24/11 Dundee 0 Roma 1 (Ronaldinho (90)) UEFA Cup 3rd Rnd 1st Leg</pre>
Another match without a win then. This was starting to become habit forming. We appeared to have kicked the habit after going two up in just over half an hour against Rangers, and then playing on cruise control for the next fourty minutes. Then Brian Flynn brought on Kiegan Parker, and that all went tÃ*ts up as well.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">27/11 Dundee 2 Rangers 4 (Stevenson 27, Waddell 32, Green (70), Parker (72), Vaschuk (82), Parker (84)) 6th</pre>
Stuart Miller returned from his latest loan spell to a club verging on depression. Our bad run had extended so far that the bookies weren't giving us a chance in the League Cup Quarter Final tie with Hibs, even though we had home advantage. It's a good job the bookies know jack ****
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">30/11 Dundee 3 Hibs 0 (Hegarty 45, Walker 61, Waddell 80) League Cup Qtr Final</pre>
To celebrate we went on an attacking rampage against Motherwell. Interestingly, Motherwell also opted to go on an attacking rampage against us. The result? One of the most entertaining, and at the same time nerve wracking games in the SPL this season.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">3/12 Dundee 6 Motherwell 4 (Stevenson 15, Kelly 25, McGarry (31), Gaughan 38, McFadden (45),Kelly (52), Bresciano (65), Wood (67), McLean 75 - 5th of season, Kelly 78) 5th</pre>
Fabulous, and with Stuart Miller departing back to Dumbarton, we've moved (at least temporarily) back up to 5th!
Out: Stuart Miller (Dumbarton - 1 month loan)
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">SPL. After 18 games (except where shown)1. Hearts 35 +18 (from 17 games)2. Rangers 34 +113. ICT 31 +10 (from 17 games)4. Celtic 30 +9 (from 17 games)5. Dundee 28 +46. M'well 27 +77. Hibs 27 +4 (from 16 games)</pre>
Now, I've got a table booked at one of the most exclusive restaurants in Rome, so I must go.