Dundee

Daniel Smith, Up Wi The Bonnets podcast, external

With the Scottish Premiership on pause for the winter break, it's time a take a step back and assess Dundee's season to date.

Season so far:

I can’t complain. We are a newly promoted club with a new manager and a host of new players in the squad. We have held our own in most league matches so far and have notched up some impressive victories.

This squad has shown that they aren’t the pushovers that many expected us to be.

If our strikers were that bit more lethal up front, it might have been even more positive. Overall, it’s been an impressive start and the fans should have the confidence that we will continue to keep doing what we are doing into the second half of the campaign.

Best player: Joe Shaughnessy

I’d have to flip a coin for this because it’s between two players – Owen Beck and Joe Shaughnessy. Beck has obviously been recalled by Liverpool due to injuries at Anfield, but it would be disrespectful to say his performances wouldn’t have been a major factor either in him being brought back.

But I must give this one to Shaughnessy. He’s been a pillar at the back with some stellar displays and has popped up with a few important goals.

Most disappointing player: Mo Sylla

This is a hard one because there isn’t one player that I would class as being a disappointment. There are players that we haven't seen much of, like Diego Pineda, Mo Sylla, Ryan Howley or Marcel Lewis.

If I really had to pick one - going for a loan signing who hardly figured is too easy - it would be Sylla. Since signing in August, he’s managed just four starting appearances along with an equal amount from the bench.

Manager rating: 8/10.

Solid signings, solid displays and a solid league standing coming into the winter break with a few games in hand over most of the teams around us.

There will always be some questions raised around formations, subbies and signings, but Tony Docherty has got it all spot on.

Predicted finish in table: 7th

There is no way we should be thinking that a 9th or 10th place finish is what we should be looking at come the end of the season as the newly promoted team. So far, we have shown that we should and could be aiming higher.

A top-six finish might prove to be more difficult to achieve but it’s most certainly achievable. I do however think we could very well be looking at a seventh-place finish this term.

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Dundee have announced that Marcel Lewis has returned to his parent club Burnley after his loan deal came to an end.

Lewis made zero first-team appearances during his spell at Dens Park.

Sean McGill, BBC Sport Scotland

Now, this is by no means a disaster.

It's all about points on the board at the end of the day, and Dundee are having a brilliant first season back in the top-flight, just three points outside the top six with two games in hand over Hibs above them.

However, any side is going to fare better if they're pressuring teams in their penalty area, something Tony Docherty's side aren't doing enough of at the moment.

Only the league's bottom three sides - Livingston, Ross County and St Johnstone - have registered fewer touches in the opposition box than Dundee this campaign.

Should the manager come across the right formula to find his attacking arsenal in dangerous positions more frequently in the second half of the season, a special first season back in the big time could well be on the cards.

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Dundee aim to progress plans to have a women's team. (Courier - subscription required), external

Read Saturday's Scottish Gossip

It's about to be a busy second half of the season for Tony Docherty's team.

After multiple postponements in the winter months, the rescheduled dates for Dundee's games in hand have been announced.

The first sees the Dee travel to Pittodrie on Tuesday 30 January, before welcoming St Johnstone to Dens Park on Wednesday 14 February.

Aberdeen are once again the opposition on 13 March, with all three games to kick off at 19:45 GMT.

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Jurgen Klopp has said it "made sense" to recall Owen Beck from his loan spell at Dundee due to injuries to his Liverpool squad.

21-year-old defender Beck made 20 appearances during his time at Dens Park, gaining widespread praise for his energy and quality for the newly-promoted side.

With Dundee fans dismayed by the youngster's recall on New Year's Day, reports emerged of a potential move to either Celtic or Rangers.

However, given Scotland captain Andy Robertson and Greek international Kostas Tsimikas are both currently sidelined for the Premier League leaders, Klopp seems keen to keep Beck around for the moment.

“It was good,” the Liverpool boss said of the Wales U21 international’s time with Dundee.

“So, we always saw and were pretty positive about Owen but then he had two really difficult loan spells, which was a surprise that it didn’t work out because of what we thought about Owen, but that’s how it is, especially with young boys when you send them away from home and stuff like this.

“Plenty of things can happen there and it always needs to fit really well – it must be the right manager, must be the right team, if you have another left-back there and he has experience… there are so many things [that] can make a loan spell not really happening.

“That was probably for him the case and now in Dundee it was fine and he made big steps, and now the situation here is clear: we lose two of our left-backs so we think it makes sense if a boy we like is available for us, we bring him back. That’s all.”

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We asked which areas you would like your team to strengthen in the January transfer window, here’s what some of you said:

Alan: There are rumours Simon Murray is unsettled at Ross County and he would be a great signing. Christian Doidge of Hibernian would also be a good addition. We definitely need a striker who can actually strike.

Carl: The priority is definitely a competent striker followed by a strong midfield enforcer. This is blatantly obvious. This transfer window is crucial but we all know a host of others with more cash are after similar targets. Good luck Tony Docherty.

Jay: We need height and strength in midfield, sorry Lyall Cameron fans. Charlie Adam was the last guy who had what we need, Malachi Boateng is not the new Glen Kamara. We need a change of tactics/formation, maybe one up front away.

Celtic had an approach to sign Owen Beck on a permanent transfer rejected by Liverpool, while Rangers failed in a bid to take the 21-year-old on loan, and the left-back is in now in line for first-team game time at Anfield after being recalled from his successful spell with Dundee. (The Times), external

Read Thursday's Scottish Gossip in full here.

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Tyrone Smith, BBC Sport Scotland

After returning to Scottish football’s top flight, Dundee’s half yearly Scottish Premiership report card would probably read "very good".

A fair assessment of how Tony Docherty’s side have adapted to life back in the top division.

But in the additional comments section, it might also read "we would like to have played a few more games".

Their scheduled midweek encounter with St Johnstone was the latest game involving the Dark Blues to fall foul of the weather.

It means they – and Aberdeen – have played the least amount of fixtures in the league, fixtures which will have to be fitted in to their schedule over the coming months.

So, Docherty’s side have gone into 2024 playing catch-up.

Win those games, and they will find themselves in a very, very healthy position in the table.

But that is hypothetical. I am sure Docherty would much rather those games had been played, and the points were already on the board.

However, his squad have ably dealt with most things that have come their way so far this term, and he will be confident they will be able to deal with the congested schedule they know they will have to contend with after the January break.

Dundee have announced the loan signing of Burnley winger Dara Costelloe until the end of the season.

Costelloe spent the first six months of this season on loan at fellow Scottish Premiership side St Johnstone, scoring one goal in 12 appearances.

The 21-year-old was recalled by Burnley when the January transfer window opened, before immediately heading to Dens Park.

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St Johnstone hope to sign Aston Villa defender Kerr Smith on loan before Tuesday's visit to face Dundee. (Herald - subscription required), external

Read Tuesday's Scottish Gossip

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It might not mean much in the grand scheme of things, but how did your club fare in the 2023 Premiership table?

The disparity in the number of matches played in the calendar year makes a difference, obviously - we're looking at you Rangers, Aberdeen and especially Dundee.

But it still gives a decent barometer of who had a decent year and who didn't fare quite so well.

Joe Shaughnessy says his side's disappointment at only snatching a draw at Rugby Park shows how far his side have come.

The skipper pulled off another late equaliser as Tony Docherty's side grabbed a point after Kilmarnock came from behind to lead in added time.

"I did it again," he said. "It was a brilliant ball in and it just landed right on my head perfectly.

"The referee said to me 'you’re not getting another corner after this'. Owen Beck has got a great delivery on him and I just got myself in the middle of the goal and it just landed perfectly.

"It just shows how far we've come. It's a hard place to come, it always is over the years, and we're going away with a draw away from home, which isn't really a bad result.

"We'll probably look back on it during the week and say it's a good point away from home, but the initial feeling afterwards was disappointment.

"You make sure you don't get beaten by the teams around you. You never know where it'll take you.

"I think we built up a good squad of players and everyone keeps fighting for each other. You keep fighting to the end - that's the mentality we have."

Former Dundee midfielder Charlie Adam is being lined up to follow Celtic legend Scott Brown and ex-Hibernian boss Lee Johnson as manager of Fleetwood Town. (Scottish Sun)

Read the rest of Sunday's gossip.

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Well, that was eventful.

Did you soak in the late scenes at Rugby Park? Wherever you were, we want to hear your thoughts as Dundee snatched a late leveller.

Get in touch.

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Dundee manager Tony Docherty told BBC Scotland: "What a fantastic game of football. I thought it was the proverbial game of two halves.

"You need to credit Kilmarnock, they've got a fantastic home record. Celtic and Rangers come here and can't win.

"I would have been devastated to lose that game. I think we put so much into it that it would have been an injustice.

"To lose the goal so late on and then to have the mentality we've shown all season - away to Kilmarnock, away to Ross County - you can't buy that. You can't coach that. That mentality comes from within.

"I'm glad they got their reward. Believe it or not, they're gutted in there with a point. That's what I want.

"There was a fantastic level of performance in the first half. I'm glad we stood our own. It could be a huge point at the end of the season."

Sean McGill, BBC Sport Scotland

Nobody could have seen that conclusion coming with six minutes of regular time to go.

In the previous 84 minutes, Dundee looked to have stormed fortress Rugby Park and given their high-flying hosts a taste of their own medicine.

Kilmarnock haven't necessarily outplayed every opponent on their charge up the table, but they certainly have outfought them. Here though, it was the visitors displaying all the grit to seemingly grind out a win.

Their late antics through Wright and McKenzie seemed to display the character that those inside the dressing room have been talking up in recent weeks. Had they hung on, they would have cut the gap to Hearts in third and made a serious statement of intent.

However, McInnes was scuppered by his former assistant as Tony Docherty's team failed to accept defeat and bounced back to land a sucker punch right at the end.

The division's surprise package continue to show their quality and resolve. On another day, they could have headed home celebrating an away win at a tough venue.

The Dundee captain had batted away many Kilmarnock's advances before chaos broke out, then had his say with a late leveller to spare his side's blushes.

His leadership seems to be a key part of Dundee's success so far this season.

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