Graham Dorrans is a quality player with a quality CV.
But there is an argument to be made that Dundee could end up being better off as a team without him.
That’s not a criticism of Graham. It’s just that after watching Arbroath play at Dens on Saturday the biggest thing for me is that James McPake has got square pegs in square holes and Dundee are all the better for it.
It has been a recurring theme over the last couple of seasons that the midfield blend didn’t feel quite right.
Now they have Shaun Byrne in his best position – sitting in front of the back four, Charlie Adam and young Max Anderson a bit further forward and Paul McGowan linking midfield and attack.
Instead of trying to accommodate Graham and Paul, James McPake can now just let Saturday’s match-winner have the space to do what he does best.
He loves playing one-twos, committing players and getting shots away.
He’ll not score goals like the one he got on Saturday every week but it showed his confidence is high. And he was the key to their victory, not just with that strike.
We’ve played all the promotion contenders now and there isn’t a lot between them. By finding a formula that works, James’s team are back in with a chance.
Max Anderson has jumped ahead of young Finlay Robertson at the moment.
Since starting at Tynecastle on day one, Finlay’s only Championship game-time has been a couple of minutes off the bench at Alloa, I believe.
When I wrote in the column a few months ago that it might be best for him to go out on loan and get regular first team football, there were plenty of Dundee fans who disagreed with me.
But sitting on the bench isn’t helping his development and I wonder if James will have another think about a loan when the January transfer window opens.
Big Zander Clark had a very good game against Celtic on Sunday.
I’ve always rated him highly and he’s a very consistent and reliable keeper.
He has to be in Steve Clarke’s thoughts when he’s considering who to pick as his third keeper behind David Marshall and Craig Gordon for the Euros.
In fact, the more you think about it, the more he feels like a sensible choice.
Jon McLaughlin isn’t likely to nudge Allan McGregor out of the Rangers team any time soon so lack of game-time counts against him. I don’t care if it’s third choice goalie or an outfield player, you need to be playing to get selected.
Is Jordan Archer better than Zander? Certainly not at the moment.
It could come down to a choice between the St Johnstone man and Robby McCrorie and whether Steve feels he can take a risk in picking a really young goalie for experience or go with the best of the mid age-group.
Scotland got a good World Cup draw but the fact that the qualifiers start in the spring will make it harder for fringe players to force their way into Steve’s plans for the summer.
I think Billy Gilmour could be a special case, though.
He’s such a classy player and if he can be dropped straight into a Chelsea side for a Champions League game and get man of the match, he can earn himself a call-up for his national team.
If you get a once in a generation talent, like Billy seems to be, you don’t hold him back.
