Dundee

One week on from the shock news of Tony Docherty's sacking, the search goes on for a new manager at Dens Park.

Dundee fans, we want your views on who the club should target to lead the team forward.

Former midfielders Charlie Adam and Temur Ketsbaia have featured in our gossip column in recent days, with ex-Hibernian and Wigan boss Shaun Maloney reported to be the frontrunner.

Do any of those names excite you? Or do you want someone else? Send us your thoughts.

Shaun Maloney would be interested in signing veteran striker Jordan Rhodes if he is appointed as the new Dundee manager. (Alan Nixon via Courier), external

Maloney remains the frontrunner to replace Tony Docherty, but Charlie Adam - who finished his playing career at Dens Park - would also be keen to take Dundee forward. (Courier), external

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Former Dundee midfielder Temur Ketsbaia, who was most recently in charge of Cyprus, has expressed his interest in the vacant manager job at Dens Park. (Courier - subscription required), external

Read Saturday's Scottish gossip

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Ross County should not have been awarded a stoppage-time penalty in their 14 May draw away to Dundee, the Scottish FA's key match incidents panel has ruled.

Ronan Hale equalised and the result meant the battle between the two sides to avoid second bottom spot and a play-off to remain in the Scottish Premiership went to the final day of the season.

Home defender Antonio Portales was penalised for a handball, but the KMI panel decided by a majority of four to one that VAR should have intervened to recommend to referee Walsh that he should cancel the award.

However, one member of the panel highlighted that they thought it was a punishable handball and the penalty award was correct.

Despite the reprieve at Dens Park, County finished second bottom and go into Monday's second leg at home to Championship runners-up Livingston with the tie level at 1-1.

Brian McLauchlin
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

What a week at Dens Park. Last Sunday Dundee ensured Premiership survival with a comfortable 2-0 win at St Johnstone as a number of players, including two-goal hero Lyall Cameron, played their final match for the club.

On Sunday night at the supporters' player of the year event, 22-goal striker Simon Murray deservedly scooped most of the awards after a sterling campaign.

Then on Monday just after 9.30am came the bombshell news that manager Tony Docherty and his backroom team had been sacked.

So, what next for the Dark Blues? The club will have a number of names they are interested in speaking to.

Interviews will begin next week with those chosen by John Nelms, with the likelihood the following week a preferred candidate will have been identified.

It may be the close season but there is little time to waste for whoever is given the role.

With a League Cup campaign beginning in just seven weeks, a squad will have to be assembled and ready for a new season.

We asked for your views on which players you would like to keep from Dundee's out-of-contract list.

Here's what some of you said:

Gary: We've got to at least try to keep Josh Mulligan, Scott Tiffoney, Joe Shaughnessy and Antonio Portales, in his new midfield role. Also got to try for a permanent return for Ziyad Larkeche, he's been immense. If only we had somebody on the right! As for the manager? Why is Shaun Maloney even being mentioned? Surely the first phonecalls are to Stuart Kettlewell and Neil Lennon? Both have the necessary top-flight experience.

Eddie: Shaughnessy is a must keep, a lot more stability at the back with him there, still not great but build around him and we'll be fine. Mohamed Sylla and Mulligan, I would also love to keep but I know in my head they will most likely depart, the rest I'm not fussed about.

Ben: I'd be doing everything I could to get Mulligan and Sylla signed on new deals, however I reckon both will probably leave. I'd offer Shaughnessy a new deal as he offers valuable experience, however we can't afford to be as reliant on him next season defensively. I'd offer Portales and Tiffoney new deals, but wouldn't be too gutted if either of them leave. Scott Fraser and Charlie Reilly are both good players but far too injury prone, get rid.

Ethan: We are yet to see the best of Reilly, there is an explosive player there waiting to be unleashed and Dundee need to take that gamble on him. Shaughnessy and Portales for me, also have to stay. They are our most trustworthy defenders at the moment.

Mark: I would offer them all new contracts but Fraser and Reilly, they still need to prove themselves. Can't imagine them all staying so we need a new manager in sooner than later so he can start planning for next season.

Ross: Big Joe, Josh and Mo are a must to stay, especially Josh. He's the guy we need to build the team around. If the directors want to show ambition then they need to push the boat out with an offer to keep him at Dens for at least the next three years.

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Lyall Cameron revealed his delight at leaving Dundee as a Premiership club before making his move to Rangers.

The 22-year-old midfielder, who signed a pre-contract with the Ibrox club earlier in the season, scored twice in the final-day 2-0 win at St Johnstone which ensured the Dark Blues avoided a relegation play-off with Livingston.

"It seems a long time ago since I made my competitive debut for the club against Raith in the League Cup at 16," Cameron told the Dundee website.

"I've learnt a lot since then and I am proud to have played as many games as I have for Dundee.

"I have decided that now is the time to move on and I want to thank everyone at the club who I've worked with over the years.

"I want to thank the fans who supported me until the very end and the ovation at the last home game was special to me and my family.

"I was delighted to end my time at Dundee on a high and help the team secure Premiership football next year."

Ethan Hampton
Fan writer

With survival secured, Tony Docherty's Dundee tenure has been brought to an abrupt end.

The highs were great. Tony can hold his head high for guiding the club to a top-six finish, ending our 21-year wait for a derby win at Tannadice and leaving behind a solid foundation to build on made up of youthful prospects.

However, at the start of the season we were entertaining thoughts of Europe and in January we were 10 points ahead of St Johnstone who sat firmly at the bottom. Yet going into the final three games of the season there was still the mathematical possibility of Dundee finishing bottom.

The team have regressed and problems from Docherty's debut campaign continued to plague us this season.

In two consecutive seasons Dundee have lost the highest number of points from winning positions and often conceded the decisive goal very late on with no time to react.

Dundee were too prone to 'freak results' this season too – the Boxing Day calamity against Ross County (who had the worst away record in Europe at the time), ending Aberdeen's 14-league game winless streak, shipping six goals to Hearts and surrendering favourable leads to St Johnstone, Dundee United and Kilmarnock. All those games were played at Dens Park.

Another problem was after the sale of Luke McCowan, the midfield dynamic was never repaired.

Perhaps one of the reasons why we conceded so many goals was down to the fact the defence were overexposed with little protection. The best Dundee's midfield ever looked post-McCowan to me was when Cesar Garza was introduced into the team alongside Mo Sylla, a partnership never seen again while Lyall Cameron was available.

Cameron finished the season strong, but questions were raised on Docherty shoehorning him into the team – prioritising the midfielder's development ahead of deploying a system that best suits the squad.

While I can sympathise with Docherty over injuries and departures, there is still a feeling more could have been done. We went into the season knowing Joe Shaughnessy would miss the majority of the campaign, we knew Scott Fraser was going to face a lengthy spell on the sidelines, and yet the recruitment policy overwhelmingly favoured prospects over maturity.

While I think these are good players with strong potential in time, that's time Docherty no longer has to reap the benefits. Neil McCann made a similar error during his Dundee reign too.

When Gary Bowyer was sacked on the back of winning the Championship title, no one among the fanbase was calling for Docherty to get the job and by the end of the following season we were all pleasantly surprised with the outcome.

This feels like a similar situation, emotions are high and the frontrunner name - Shaun Maloney - isn't particularly popular. But Gordon Strachan proved the fans wrong once, he should be trusted to do the same again.

The decision maybe is harsh on Docherty, but there is something refreshing about Dundee showing ambition and refusing to reward mediocrity.

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Dundee loan trio Seb Palmer-Houlden, Oluwaseun Adewumi and Ziyad Larkeche have returned to their parent clubs.

Striker Palmer-Houlden scored nine goals in 39 appearances during his season-long stint from Bristol City.

Burnley forward Adewumi played 37 games, netting six goals, while QPR left-back Larkeche made 31 appearances and scored three times during his injury-disrupted stint.

Lyall Cameron will depart to join Rangers this summer and Jordan McGhee has agreed a pre-contract move to Motherwell, while uncertainty surrounds the future of seven other players at the managerless Dark Blues.

Captain Joe Shaughnessy and fellow defender Antonio Portales, midfielders Josh Mulligan, Mo Sylla and Scott Fraser, and forwards Scott Tiffoney and Charlie Reilly are all out of contract and currently in limbo as the club seek a new manager to replace the sacked Tony Docherty.

Dundee fans, who would you be keen to keep from that out-of-contract list?

Tell us here

Tyrone Smith
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Who next for Dundee following the shock sacking of Tony Docherty?

Will they go for a safe pair of hands? Will they go for an up-and-coming young manager? Or will they go leftfield?

The club have plumped for the latter option a few times over the years.

The two appointments prior to Tony Docherty's arrival – Mark McGhee and Gary Bowyer – ticked the leftfield box.

And if you go a bit further back you can add the likes of John Brown and Ivano Bonetti to that list.

It will be intriguing to see what kind of road John Nelms and co opt to go down.

What is for sure is that whoever is recruited will have to hit the ground running.

The decision to move Docherty on will be viewed as harsh by some. Having built a squad from scratch he overachieved in his first season at the helm.

And while things didn't go as planned this time round there are some mitigating circumstances, with crippling injuries near the top of that list.

When an appointment is made, the new manager will become the fifth person to occupy the Dundee hotseat in just three years - after James McPake, McGhee, Bowyer and Docherty.

A high turnover of managers is rarely conducive to steady progress on the park.

Stability in the dugout will surely be key to the club's owners being able to preside over the period of on-field success they so clearly desire.

Dundee have submitted fresh plans for a new junction allowing access to the club's proposed new stadium at Camperdown as they continue to seek council approval. (The Courier), external

Read Wednesday's Scottish Gossip in full.

Lauren McCann
BBC Sport NI Journalist

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Linfield manager David Healy has distanced himself from rumours suggesting he may be interested in taking the vacant Dundee job.

The Scottish Premiership side are looking for a new manager after sacking Tony Docherty at the end of the season.

But Healy expressed his desire to build on the success he had this season with the Blues after guiding them to the Irish Premiership title before the split.

"I am going to Scotland this weekend but no [not for a job interview] and I'm not going to the Scottish Cup final," he told BBC Sport NI.

Healy was speaking after becoming the first recipient of the Manager of the Year award at the Ulster Footballer of the Year award.

He signed a one-year contract extension at Linfield last August after rejecting the chance to take over at Scottish Championship side Raith Rovers.

And Healy hopes to have clarity about his future at the Blues resolved before pre-season.

"I'm sure I'll sit down and talk about the contract, I've been successful, and I think the club know what they're going to get out of me," he added.

"I shouldn't see why it can't come to a conclusion; I think it has been timing and circumstances [as reasons why it hasn't yet been resolved].

"I contemplated a change last summer [moving to Raith] because I didn't know where I stood, but hopefully with the success this year, going forward we can build on that."

Nick McPheat
BBC Sport Scotland

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In the wake of the shock news of Tony Docherty's Dundee dismissal, it is important to remember that some ruthless decisions can turn out to be harsh but correct.

Only time will be the real measure of that for the Dens Park board, but there is evidence to suggest they could be proven right in their brutal call to sack Docherty and his staff on the morning after they secured the club's top-flight status.

And there is a sense of familiarity about it all.

Two years ago, Gary Bowyer left Dundee just five days after guiding the club to promotion back to the Scottish Premiership.

Docherty was ultimately the beneficiary, and nobody was thinking about Bowyer when the former Kilmarnock assistant led the team team to a top-six finish in his first year in management.

Despite gaining just one point fewer than they did last term, this season has been a struggle, requiring a final-day win at St Johnstone to avoid the relegation play-off.

In the statement announcing Docherty's departure, the club said results "have not met the standards expected" by the board.

But what do the numbers say?

They show Dundee conceded a whopping 77 league goals, by far the most in this season's Premiership.

In fact, across both Docherty's campaigns in charge, the team shipped an eye-watering 145 goals.

Injuries to his backline impacted the ex-Aberdeen coach at times, but he was simply unable to address glaring defensive issues across a two-year spell.

There was always a sense that if Docherty could plug those holes, he would have a serious team on his hands, particularly this season.

His dynamic attack were frequently a pleasure to watch, with the team scoring the fourth most goals - 57 - in the league this term and standout striker Simon Murray netting 16.

In back-to-back games at city rivals Dundee United and at home to Rangers in March, the Dark Blues scored seven. But they also conceded six.

In a chaotic draw with Celtic in January, they had the champions completely rattled for large spells and put three goals past them. But they also shipped three.

Docherty's side were box office. But that was their undoing. Too often they were entertaining the neutral fan and not their own.

Across the 54-year-old's tenure, Dundee dropped a staggering 53 points from winning positions. There were also just four clean sheets this season and a total of 19 defeats, lower than only relegated St Johnstone.

The manager would lament inexperience and naivety, but at some stage those trends have to end.

The risk in dispensing with Docherty is that coaching a team to create and score is regarded as the hard part, and there is no guarantee the next guy will be as good at it.

Therefore, sticking with Docherty and trusting him to eventually troubleshoot the defence might turn out to be a 'what if?' for the Dundee board.

But they have clearly seen enough to feel someone else can fulfil the squad's potential.

Former Hibernian and Wigan Athletic boss Shaun Maloney is the frontrunner to become the new Dundee manager following the sacking of Tony Docherty and the former Celtic midfielder is interested in the position. (The Herald), external

Former Scotland midfielder Shaun Maloney is strong favourite to take over as Dundee manager, but Neil Lennon, Stuart Kettlewell and former Dundee players Temuri Ketsbaia, Mark Fotheringham, Darren O'Dea and Charlie Adam could also be considered. (The Courier), external

Ayr United head coach Scott Brown has been installed as the bookmakers' favourite for the Dundee manager's job. (Daily Record), external

St Johnstone are set to hit Dundee with a £10,000 bill for damage caused to McDiarmid Park during Sunday's pitch invasion, the Perth club having found broken seats, graffiti and damage to the toilets in the areas housing the 3,000 visiting fans. (Scottish Sun), external

Read Tuesday's Scottish Gossip in full.

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Former Dundee right-back Cammy Kerr admits he was "shocked" at the timing of Tony Docherty's dismissal but appreciates its been a "disappointing" season for those at Dens Park.

Docherty was sacked the morning after the Dark Blues secured their Scottish Premiership status finishing tenth, having ended the season before in the top-six.

"It's definitely not the season that he would have wanted, the club would have wanted in terms of where they were last year," Kerr told BBC Scotland, "so, it's been a disappointing season".

"I know that there's been a bit of frustration from the fans and at times probably, rightly so, but they got over the line when they needed to so it'll be a massive shock to him as well.

"I was shocked in terms of the timing of which it came out. I obviously know it was the Player of the Year event last night and all the staff were at as well so in terms of the timing to come out that quickly this morning after the season's just finished, it's a shock."

Kerr hinted at the notion Docherty was perhaps a victim of his own success, raising the bar to a top-six height in his first season.

"I've been at Dundee a long time and I know what the club's all about," the Queen's Park defender added.

"I know what the fans expect and the Dundee fans can't expect too much at times. They probably won't want to admit that, but they do.

"After last season, it was always going to be a hard feat to beat that this season and I think on the back of last season you need to remember that Hibs, Aberdeen, they had really poor seasons - not taking anything away from Dundee - so to go and do that again this year was going to be incredibly tough.

"I just think in the manner in which the results have come about this season, I think a lot of the performances haven't been what the fans have really thought a Dundee team should be.

"I'd like to think that you know the football club, there's a certain expectation of what it means to play for Dundee and I think that's maybe been missing in a few performances this season."

To ensure that doesn't happen again, Kerr has tipped the next appointment to be someone "connected" with Dundee and who "knows the football club inside out".

"For me, it's got to be somebody that's connected to the football club, that knows the football club, but that'll be a decision for John Nelms and all the other people that make those decisions to make."

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New Hearts head coach Derek McInnes expressed sympathy for former colleague Tony Docherty following the latter's departure from Dundee.

Docherty has left Dens Park after two years as manager, having previously served as McInnes' assistant at St Johnstone, Bristol City, Aberdeen and Kilmarnock.

"It's becoming more and more difficult as we go along," McInnes said after being formally announced as Hearts' new boss.

"I spoke with Doc at length this morning. It is sad, particularly when it's people you know and have worked closely with.

"Tony, for his first job, did a good job there. Sometimes it doesn't work out. You don't know all the ins and outs of why.

"He's shown in his time at Dundee over the last couple of years, and certainly his time as my assistant and as a colleague, he's got a real capability and I'm sure he'll go on to work for somebody else and do a good job elsewhere."

Tyrone Smith
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Tony Docherty is no stranger to Scottish football and the brutalities of it.

But, as the curtain is brought down on what was just his second season as a manager, he now he has his own first-hand experience of how savage the industry can be.

The now former Dundee manager has perhaps been a victim of his own success.

After arriving from his position as assistant manager at Kilmarnock, he enjoyed a standout debut campaign at Dens Park last term.

He took on a club that had just been promoted from the Scottish Championship, built up a threadbare squad from scratch and went on to finish sixth in the top flight.

Such was the upward trajectory, Docherty was rewarded with a new deal at the end of that season.

But memories are short in football.

That success perhaps raised expectations about what was achievable this term.

Results were inconsistent. Injuries were a constant problem. Yes, his team were scoring goals aplenty, but they were also conceding them at an alarming rate.

Those of a Dark Blue persuasion would say, too, their team were not getting the rub of the green when it came to some officiating over the course of the past few months.

That all led to the club becoming embroiled in a battle at the wrong end of the table, but their fears of being involved in a nerve-shredding relegation play-off were allayed by Sunday's 2-0 win at St Johnstone.

I was working at that game and after it, Docherty spoke of the chemistry between the team and its fans. He certainly didn't sound like a man who knew his time was up.

But football is a ruthless business.

Is it a surprise? I will let others be the judge of that, but you can understand the view that the decision is harsh.

Is it the right call? Only time will tell.

Watch highlights of Tony Docherty's final game in charge of Dundee as Lyall Cameron's double downs St Johnstone and secures the Dens Park side's safety.

Available in UK only

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Bombshell news from Dens Park as manager Tony Docherty has been sacked on the morning after securing Dundee's Scottish Premiership status.

Coaches Stuart Taylor, Alan Combe and Graeme Henderson will also be leaving with immediate effect.

Sunday's win at St Johnstone confirmed Dundee's place in the top flight for next season, but in a statement the club say results and the 10th-placed finish "have not met the standards expected" this term.

"The club intends at this juncture to restructure the football department and the process to appoint a new management team begins immediately," they add.

Dee fans, what are your thoughts on the shock news? Have your say.

Did you take in Dundee's win over St Johnstone or were you following from home?

Have your say on the match

Dundee manager Tony Docherty: "We were never losing that game. We needed to get that result. Enormous pride in the players but also I think we showed our strengths as a football club.

"You saw a real strength, a real mentality, a real resilience about the squad. Wee Lyall Cameron to score the two goals, it's very fitting for Lyall. No surprise, but delighted for him. Our last three games, Lyall's scored four goals. Lyall's character's never been in question. His quality is outstanding. Lyall's going to have a fantastic career. Him amongst others really answered up.

"I don't want to be a manager of a team that's sitting in the bottom six. When the time's right, we'll reflect fully on it. There has been inconsistency there. We need to recruit well but the players that have been in there and will be moving on, I need to thank them for what they've done for the football club. The ones that are here, we need to kick on for next year's campaign."

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