Mark McGhee has spoken of his frustration at his touchline ban and revealed a communication “disaster” in the last home game against Livingston.
The Dark Blues’ gaffer is four matches into a six-game ban from his previous management spell with Motherwell in 2017.
The veteran boss will be able to take his position in the dugout for the first time against Rangers on March 20.
But he will have to remain in the stands for two more Dens Park clashes, starting with St Mirren on Wednesday.
Communication breakdown
McGhee said communication problems have now been overcome but admits he is finding the ban tougher than he initially thought.
“When we were talking about me coming and that was a serious part of the discussion,” he explained.
“I was absolutely determined that it wouldn’t make any difference whatsoever.
“But the reality is, particularly in the Livingston game, I felt it was dreadful.
“Making a bad start, a goal right away, I wanted to do something there and then.
“But I was unable to. The headphones we were using never worked.
“One of us was over there [in the South Enclosure], I’m in the Main Stand, there’s one in the dugout. It never worked so it was a bit of disaster.
“We’ve just resorted to using phones – on Saturday at Motherwell it was absolutely fine.
“We got every message through that we wanted and they got through to me every time they wanted. It worked fine and is working fine.
“You’ve got to improvise and you’ve got to make the best of it. That’s what we’re trying to do.
“I have found it worse than I imagined it would be, more frustrating than I imagined it would be.
“But how much of a hindrance it’s been in terms of result, I don’t know and we’ll never know.”
‘Two points from 12 – that’s the reality’
While he may not be able to get his message across to his players during games instantly, McGhee has drilled into his side the need to perform well.
He believes good performances, like the one against Motherwell, will lead to results.
But McGhee is still wise to the reality of the task facing the Dark Blues.
“We’ve taken two points from 12 and that’s the reality,” he said.
“It would be more than a wee psychological lift [to move off the bottom of the table]. It would be massive for us to be honest because then it is in their own hands.
“We have to stay above St Johnstone so I see it as an opportunity.
“But equally, we can’t get carried away with it.
“We’re not going to jump from a certain level of performance to stardom. It’s going to take time.
“What I’m looking for is the same kind of performances that we’ve had against Hibs and Motherwell.
“Eventually that will lead to victories. Whether that’s Wednesday night, we’ll need to wait and see.”
