Dundee failures have been many this season.
Far too many for an increasingly disillusioned support base.
This summer will be a critical juncture in the stewardship of the club by Tim Keyes and John Nelms.
They have already moved to change the way things work as Gordon Strachan takes a much more influential role in first-team matters.
Who the head coach might be, we don’t yet know.
Dees have made abundantly clear, from the very moment the announcement was made in February, they don’t want Mark McGhee as manager.
The decision for who is in charge next season, though, will be made soon.
Torpedo
At a time like this, when relegation has been confirmed, the club must look back over the season and identify what went wrong.
You can point at recruitment and managers but there is one very obvious place to start.
On February 16 the Dundee hierarchy shocked Scottish football by sacking James McPake on the back of two victories.
The team was 11th and the January transfer window had not gone well.
When teams are at threat of relegation, they bring in a new manager. It happens, sadly for that profession it tends to work fairly often.
Dundee’s move, however, torpedoed their own season.
The decision by managing director John Nelms, advised by Strachan, could not have been made at a worse time.
It took 13 matches before victory came as the Dark Blues dropped to the foot of the table and were knocked out of the Scottish Cup with ease by Rangers.
The point of bringing in a new coach is to get that ‘new manager bounce’. Instead Dundee’s season burst like a cheap fly-away at the seaside.
Detrimental impact
The display in a 4-0 home loss to Livingston was a clear example of how mismanagement from board level can impact what happens on the pitch.
Just two league matches after toppling high-flying Hearts on their own patch, Dundee were ripped apart by Livingston at Dens Park in an insipid heartless display.
The season has never recovered from that point. There have been flashes of possibility under McGhee but the fight was taken out of the team when their manager was sacked on the back of two morale-boosting victories.
Despite all his experience – and trying every trick in the book – McGhee hasn’t been able to revive any sort of life in the team. The win over Hibs in midweek was an enjoyable night but too late to make a difference.
Let’s not forget, the timing of the change was far from ideal for him either. Outside a transfer window and with a team in shock, there’s not many could have turned the sinking ship around.
But, had they kept McPake in place, you now can’t help but think they would have had a better chance of survival.
Ifs, buts and maybes there will be no re-writing history here – Dundee had struggled all season and could easily have gone down anyway. There was plenty of dissatisfaction from the stands during his reign.
But it was his team and the brutal timing of his removal had a massive detrimental impact on the squad.
Pick up pieces
Nelms, though, made his decision and now has to find a way to pick up the broken pieces with the club heading for the Championship.
He and Keyes have moved to do that by giving Strachan more responsibility.
A man of vast experience in the game, there aren’t many who can top Strachan’s knowledge of how clubs should run.
He has his work cut out but, at a club like Dundee, there is real opportunity if you get things right.
Getting the next call for head coach correct, is a major first step.
For Nelms, mending a shattered relationship with the club’s fans – his customers – has to be his priority No 1 this summer.
They have to see some light at the end of the tunnel because this season has been nothing but darkness.
Gordon Strachan set for director of football-style role at relegated Dundee
