Dundee are enjoying their best start to a Premiership season in over two decades.
Only once since the turn of the century have the Dark Blues earned more than 21 points from their opening 16 matches.
Indeed, not since Claudio Caniggia, Juan Sara and Georgi Nemsadze were delighting Dees at Dens have Dundee started so well.
The Bonetti era was in full flow back in 2000/01 as the Dark Blues headed for a sixth-place finish.
They have managed that feat just twice since – under Jim Duffy in 2002/03 and Paul Hartley in 2014/15.
However, both those teams had notched 20 points in the first 16 – one fewer than the current vintage.
Courier Sport takes a look at the best starts this century and how this campaign stacks up.
2000/01 – 22 points
Patrizio Billio kicked off the campaign with the opening goal after just eight minutes before Javier Artero completed a 2-0 win at Motherwell.
A 3-0 home win over Dunfermline then promised much for the season to come with Sara and Fabian Caballero on target.
However, form nosedived after that. Until the big name arrived.
Caniggia scored on debut up at Aberdeen and struck again four games later, this time kicking off a 2-0 win at rivals Dundee United, Nemsadze adding a sumptuous chip for the second.
Two more for the Argentina World Cup star followed in a 5-0 thrashing of St Mirren and he would end the campaign with seven league goals in 21 appearances.
Dundee would finish sixth with 47 points from 38 games.
2002/03 – 20 points
Two years later Caniggia had left but the likes of Julian Speroni, Caballero, Sara and Nemsadze were still around.
Zurab Khizanishvili had joined while Gavin Rae and Lee Wilkie played key roles.
Top scorer was Steve Lovell with Nacho Novo also pitching in as Jim Duffy’s Dark Blues headed for another sixth-place finish.
After 16 games they had 20 points that season with the 16th match a memorable one.
Caballero and Lovell scored before Jonay Hernandez sealed a 3-2 derby win over Dundee United.
Come the end of the campaign the Dark Blues had earned a top-half finish, a Scottish Cup Final appearance and European football for the following season.
2014/15 – 20 points
Fast forward 11 years and Hartley’s Dundee side were gatecrashing the Premiership after sealing the Championship title the season before.
Sounds familiar.
Greg Stewart was the star man, netting 13 league goals, on his way to cementing modern-day hero status at Dens Park.
Stewart was aided by the likes of Gary Harkins, Paul McGowan, Kevin Thomson and Scott Bain that season.
It took seven games for the Dee to first taste defeat in the Premiership before three wins on the spin against Motherwell, Hamilton and Kilmarnock moved them up the table.
After 16 matches, they had 20 points on the board.
An incredible run followed the 6-2 derby defeat at Tannadice with 18 points picked up from a possible 24 to send Hartley’s men on their way to the top six.
2015/16 – 20 points
Kane Hemmings joined in the summer and brought goals, goals, goals.
He would end the campaign with 25 but it was Stewart and Rory Loy with doubles on the opening day at Kilmarnock that kicked off the season in style.
James McPake’s equaliser at Tannadice followed later that month but wins were at a premium for the talented side.
Hartley’s side became draw specialists in the first half of that campaign – between September and the start of December they drew six times in eight games, four 1-1s in a row.
That would ultimately cost them back-to-back top six finishes as they missed out on the top half by just two points.
2023/24 – 21 points
There was a huge amount of uncertainty around Dundee this summer.
Tony Docherty was stepping into his first-ever management job and there was a complete rebuild of the playing squad.
But performances were strong and results began to flow with a sturdy backline crucial.
A 1-0 home win over Hearts, thanks to a super Luke McCowan strike, earned a first three points while the 4-0 thrashing of St Mirren was a high point.
Saturday’s last-gasp winner at Ross County, though, was a major moment for this young team.
And brought the points tally to 21 – more than any other season since Claudio Caniggia was strutting his stuff in dark blue.
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