Former Dundee star Temuri Ketsbaia has expressed his interest in the vacant Dundee manager job.
The former Newcastle, Wolves and Georgia midfielder has built up an impressive CV across 20 years as a manager.
In his first role he led Cypriot club Anorthosis Famagusta to two league titles, a cup and the group stage of the Champions League.
He replaced future Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde at Olympiakos but would leave after just five months and would go on to manage Greek side AEK Athens.
Ketsbaia also managed the Georgia national team between 2009 and 2014 and was most recently in charge of Cyprus.
Now, though, he’s on the lookout for a new challenge and a return to Scotland is very much of interest.
Ketsbaia joined Dundee in 2001, signing for Ivano Bonetti following the departure of Claudio Caniggia.
He would make 25 appearances for the Dark Blues, scoring six times, and has fond memories of his time at Dens Park. He would return to play for the club again in Julian Speroni’s testimonial at Crystal Palace in 2015.
‘Loved my time there’
So would a return as manager interest Ketsbaia?
“Yes, I am interested,” he exclusively told Courier Sport.
“I have watched how Dundee have done in the past seasons, where they finished in the league.
“I loved my time there, I played with many great players and they played me all the time which I enjoyed! There were lots of Italians and Argentines and Paraguayans, I liked it.
“I have worked in Cyprus and Greece but would like to try something new.
“I know Dundee have ambition and I am very interested in the job there.”
Candidates
Dens Park chiefs plan to take time to consider their options in appointing a new manager.
Tony Docherty was sacked on Monday morning a day after securing Premiership safety.
Shaun Maloney remains the frontrunner for the role and has also expressed interest in speaking with Dundee.
Former Dens captain Charlie Adam would also be interested in speaking to his former club while Linfield boss David Healy has distanced himself from links to the vacancy.
Among the bookies favourites are Ayr manager Scott Brown and Celtic assistant John Kennedy.
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