DUNDEE may not have been relegated from the Ladbrokes Premiership yet and Jim McIntyre might not have been sacked as their manager either.
But speculation about who should take over from McIntyre when the inevitable happens is, after the Dens Park club’s owners failed to mention him in the 1,300 word statement they released this week, rife on Tayside.
Jim Duffy, Peter Houston, David Hopkin, Ian McCall and Alan Stubbs have all been mentioned as possible contenders to replace the current incumbent ahead of the league game against Hamilton at home this afternoon.
If the Dark Blues fail to halt their wretched nine game losing run and are consigned to Championship football next season, the chances are high that one of them will be approached to take over from the man who was brought in to replace Neil McCann in October.
However, Billy Brown will have another name for the Dundee hierarchy to consider if the former Dunfermline, Queen of the South and Ross County head coach does find that his services no longer required - David Blaine.
“When a board appoint a manager the one thing he always needs is time,” said Brown, the chairman of the Managers and Coaches Association and a former assistant to Jim Jefferies at Falkirk, Hearts, Bradford City and Kilmarnock.
“It’s ridiculous to think somebody could come in to Dundee, take over a team that is not doing well, wave a magic wand and results will suddenly appear. That doesn’t happen. You need time to get your own players in, get your ideas across, get the players used to the way you work.
“I can’t understand the thinking being getting rid of managers. It is obviously people who don’t understand the game who are making these decisions. Managers just can’t go in and work miracles. It you are looking for miracles, don’t employ a football manager, employ a magician.
“Managers don’t get time and they need time. Jim McIntyre showed at Ross County what he can do. He also did well at Dunfermline and Queen of the South. He goes up to Dundee, takes over a team that isn’t doing well and now he could lose his job. It isn’t right and it isn’t fair.
“No disrespect to the boys who have taken over at Ross County and done so well, but they should have stuck by Jim McIntyre. That was one of the worst sackings ever. I just hope the same thing doesn’t happen to him at Dundee. He needs time.
“When Jim and I first went to Falkirk it didn’t start well. Jim ended up being voted the best Falkirk manager of all time. When we went to Hearts we didn’t start well, but we had taken over a team that just about got relegated. They stuck by us and ended up having a brilliant time and being very, very successful.”
Brown continued: “Look at Dundee’s track record with sacking managers. It can’t keep going on. It is costing the club money. Paul Hartley had his first bad run as a manager at Dundee and they sacked him. It’s just crazy. Managers get the blame for everything.
“You don’t become a bad manager overnight. It’s just nonsense. It takes a degree of luck and a degree of patience by the board. If you don’t get that you won’t succeed.
“The other thing that was difficult for Jim at Dundee was not getting to bring in his assistant Billy Dodds. They were a partnership at Ross County and did exceptionally well. Some of the supporters didn’t want Billy Dodds and he wasn’t allowed to bring him in. He was starting on the back foot.”
McIntyre, who won the League Cup during his time with County, has few backers left among the Dundee support after seven months of frustration, despair and disappointments. His departure, if it comes, will not be mourned by many.
But Brown feels the man who led Dunfermline to the First Division title and promotion to the top flight would be well placed to lead the Tayside club back into the Premiership if they stand by him.
“I don’t think Dundee will get a better manager than Jim in if they go down,” he said. “He has worked in that league before and knows how to be successful in it. What has happened this season hasn’t been his fault. They should be sticking by him.”
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