Derek Adams was my first choice for the Dundee manager’s job but I’ll be more than happy if, as expected, Jim Goodwin gets it.
I can remember Jim as a young boy with Celtic when I was there.
More recently and more significantly, we’ve come up against his Alloa team in the cups with Arbroath in the last couple of years.
I liked the way Jim set his side up and had them playing. They were attack-minded.
The Betfred Cup is never the best time to judge a side because it’s so early in the season but the season Alloa went on to have in the Championship was brilliant.
To stay up as a part-time team among all those full-time sides, and finish above the likes of Falkirk and Queen of the South, was some achievement.
By all accounts, Jim has a good way of dealing with people and motivating them.
The biggest thing for me was getting someone at Dens who knows the Championship – and he certainly ticks that box.
A lot will depend on the budget he gets to compete with Dundee United.
One thing’s for sure, having the two clubs in the league is great for Arbroath. The board members will be doing cartwheels.
It promises to be an exciting season in this part of the country.
* I’d already said that I thought Neil Lennon should get the Celtic job permanently and I’m delighted for him that has happened.
Don’t think for a minute that Peter Lawwell has gone for the option that will give him a quiet life.
Lenny will know there needs to be an overhaul of that squad and he won’t be shy in making that known.
By signing the likes of Van Dijk, Wanyama and Forster, he has earned the right to be trusted in the transfer market.
* There weren’t any great shocks in Steve Clarke’s Scotland squad.
It was sensible not to try and be too radical after only being in the door a few days and the end-of-season internationals always cause a problem as far as players’ availability.
I think you’ll see more of a Clarke-type squad in September when he’s had more time to assess his options and speak properly to anybody he wants to persuade to return to the fold.
I expect us to win against Cyprus at Hampden and then Belgium away is a free hit.
* The Scotland women’s team deserve all the publicity they are getting.
A crowd of nearly 20,000 for a friendly the other night was brilliant.
I’ve said before in the column that Shelley Kerr really impressed me when we came up against her Stirling Uni team and she has Scotland playing a good style of football.
A successful World Cup will take her and her players to a whole new level.
