It’s a measure of the man’s character that, were he to head along to Dens Park today, Alex Rae would be made welcome by two clubs that were arguably hasty in sacking him.
And such is his understanding nature, he’d be more likely to thank Dundee and St Mirren for the opportunities they gave him than complain about the harsh way his services were dispensed with.
As it turns out, involvement in a Scotland-England five-a-side tournament in Lanzarote this weekend means he won’t be at the Scottish Cup fourth-round clash.
Had he been in the country, though, there’s a very good chance Dens is where he’d have gone.
“Lanzarote’s a tough gig at this time of year but someone’s got to do it,” he said with a huge grin, shortly before flying out today.
“But if I wasn’t ‘working’, I might well have been at Dens because it’s a good tie involving two clubs I’ve a lot of time for.
“I’m certainly not bitter about being sacked by either of them. I didn’t agree with either decision but I’ve been in football long enough to know calls are made because of certain dynamics.
“And I genuinely look back at my time at Dundee and St Mirren with fondness and with gratitude for the opportunity the clubs gave me.
“Dundee was my first job in management and I’ll always be grateful for that. I did feel they made a mistake in sacking me (in October 2008) but I know it was nothing personal.
“Davie Farrell and I got them back up to challenging for promotion and we’d just finished runners-up the previous season.
“Nine games into the next one we’d been hit be injuries but we were only four points behind eventual winners St Johnstone when we went, so it was a bit hasty.
“But the people in charge did what they thought they had to and I’ve no bitterness.”
His departure from the Buddies was much more recent but again he refuses to show anger about being shown the door earlier this season.
“I look on my time at St Mirren and I’m proud we kept them up last season when it looked like we were heading for relegation.
“We had a slow start this year but we hadn’t lost many games and I felt we would have climbed the league.”
As he switches his attention to this tie, he feels it’s one Dundee will be happy with and tips them for success.
But that comes with a warning.
“I think as a Premiership club at this stage your big hope is for a home tie and Dundee have that.
“You don’t want to be going somewhere where the pitch might not be good and there’s only going to be two men and a dog watching.
“So Paul Hartley will be pleased to be at Dens against lower division opposition.”
Then comes a note of caution, one he believes the Dundee boss won’t need to hear.
“I know the St Mirren squad because I signed most of them and I know there is no way they should be where they are in the Championship.
“You are talking about players like Gary MacKenzie, Gary Irvine and David Clarkson, who are well known to Dundee from playing there and others who’ve performed successfully at a higher level.
“There might also be Stevie Mallan, who Dundee tried to sign from us last summer, but it looks like he may be at Barnsley.
“Paul Hartley was right to go for him because he’s a good player, it just was not the right time for us.”
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