John Nelms needs to have the last laugh after baffling Dundee fans with Mark McGhee appointment: Graeme McGarry

On the face it, the evidence for such a theory seems flimsy. The last team that McGhee managed in his own right was the mighty Eastbourne Borough fully three years ago, while his last game as a manager in Scotland ended with protests outside the ground and a 5-1 thumping for his Motherwell side, which incredibly was the half-time score. Ironically enough, at the hands of Dundee.

The Dens Park hierarchy obviously liked what they saw that day at Fir Park. Or, more likely, the presence of McGhee's best mate Gordon Strachan as Dundee's Technical Director mayyyy just have something to do with an appointment that came so far out of left field that many assumed it to be a hoax when news first broke of it on Wednesday.

When you factor in the second-to-last game of McGhee's second spell as Motherwell manager, a 7-2 thumping at Pittodrie which ended with one of Aberdeen's heroes of Gothenburg being filmed arguing with the home support having been sent to the stand, then it is little wonder that Dundee fans have welcomed his appointment like the prospect of a tangerine away kit.

And that's without even considering the outstanding six-match touchline ban he was hit with after that night at Pittodrie, meaning he may not be able to be in the dugout for half of Dundee's remaining Premiership fixtures.

In fact, many of the Dee faithful were perhaps quoting McGhee from the infamous camera phone footage taken of him on that night, when he politely suggested the Aberdeen fan filming him should "get that to fu..." before the video mercifully cut off in the nick of time.

The antipathy towards McGhee created that evening was sparked by the ill feeling that was the residue of his disastrous spell as Aberdeen manager in 2009/10, when he admitted on the first day he had rather hoped to get the Celtic job instead. Remarkably, it went downhill from there.

The nadir of his Pittodrie reign was of course the 9-0 humbling at the hands of Celtic, a debacle he tried to shrug off by stating "It's only three points". The Aberdeen fans, strangely enough, didn't see it that way.

There were other lowlights - a record European defeat at the hands of Sigma Olomouc, a defeat to Raith Rovers that led him to claim fans had spat on him - and when it all came to a sorry and inevitable end, McGhee had been reduced from a club icon to a reviled figure among a large section of the Aberdeen support. And perhaps worse, a figure of fun to fans of other clubs.

So it is that his appointment as Dundee manager has been met with horror by the club's supporters and hilarity by just about everyone else. McGhee will feel that both reactions do him a disservice, and smack of a lack of respect for his achievements as both a player, and at times, as a manager.

When considering his credentials to take over from James McPake, his playing achievements can be set to the side. Even if the perception is that Strachan considers McGhee a suitable fit because he is a ‘good football man’.

Just looking at his managerial record though, can we find any wisdom in the move to appoint the 64-year-old?

Well, if you look back far enough, maybe.

His career as a manager in England saw two promotions from the third tier with Reading and Millwall, but his spells at these clubs and with Leicester City and Brighton bore what has become something of a hallmark in his coaching career – a strong start giving way to poor results and his ultimate departure.

That is hardly a unique story arc for a football manager, but this continued into his managerial career in Scotland.

In fairness to McGhee, when he took over at Motherwell in June 2007 his impact could hardly have been more stark, or more impressive. He took a plodding team that had avoided relegation by the skin of its teeth under Maurice Malpas the previous season and transformed them into a swashbuckling, thrilling outfit that finished third in his first campaign in charge.

There are many Motherwell supporters who would contend that the football produced by McGhee’s side that season is among the best they have seen in a generation or more at Fir Park. The collective reward was a trip to face Nancy on UEFA Cup duty, and his personal reward was that he was now one of the hottest properties in the Scottish game.

So much so that he made a shortlist of candidates for the vacant Scotland job, having received the endorsement of a certain, ahem, Gordon Strachan. He missed out eventually to George Burley.

His dignified leadership at Fir Park following the death of club captain Phil O’Donnell was worthy of huge praise. He then rejected a move to Hearts after being targeted by Vladimir Romanov.

Then came the Aberdeen debacle, where even his usual strong start deserted him. But his next job at Bristol Rovers started well, taking them from relegation contenders to mid-table. The following season, well, you know the pattern by now.

He resurfaced as Scotland assistant manager under, ahem, Gordon Strachan, before being lured back to Fir Park with Motherwell in a strikingly similar position to the one Dundee find themselves in now.

Having come in with the Steelmen second bottom, he steered them to a remarkable fifth-place finish.

And here is where we may be able to find the reasoning behind the Hail Mary that Dundee’s American owner John Nelms has thrown up. He is banking on McGhee working that short-term magic which has been the hallmark of his coaching career, and discounting what usually happens next by offering him a deal only until the end of the season.

Whatever long-term plan was being put in place by McPake has been sacrificed at the altar of project ‘Stay in the Premiership’.

It has been five years since McGhee last managed in Scotland. And six since that salvation act in his second spell at Motherwell. His appointment has been almost universally panned by his own supporters.` Nelms had better hope his gamble pays off. Along with Dundee’s place in the top-flight, his credibility with the Dundee support depends upon it.

Whether he will have the last laugh very much remains to be seen.