Jim McIntyre has been linked with more managerial vacancies over the last 12 months than Dundee have got points in the Premiership.
But the former Dunfermline and Ross County boss’s patience has paid off with his appointment as Neil McCann’s successor at Dens Park – a big job he feels has been worth the wait.
And McIntyre can stop fielding text messages telling him he’s the bookmakers’ favourite here, there and everywhere.
He joked: “Every time I saw myself as favourite I thought I’d no chance!
“My mate would text me ‘you’re favourite’ and I’d reply ‘don’t put any money on me then’.”
McIntyre was happy to bide his time for the right opportunity after being sacked in Dingwall just over a year ago. And he believes Dundee’s is it.
“It’s very important that you trust your CV and what you think is right in terms of the right job,” he said.
“There were a couple of opportunities that just didn’t feel right. One was just timing and the other I wasn’t liking what I was hearing.
“I took a break. I could have gone straight back in the following week but I decided not to.
“I spoke with a number of people within the game whose opinion I value.
“I don’t regret it. I went away on a couple of nice breaks and relaxed. Then, when I came back, I was just going to games, keeping my eye in, a bit of training, just making sure I was doing what any out of work manager does. I kept my eyes on squads and remained patient.
“That soon wears off. I was in the gym two hours every morning and in the better weather played quite a bit of golf. But weekends were spent going to games.
“You need to be strong-minded. It’s having the courage to do that.
“I’ve always gone on my gut instinct. That’s how I make my decisions as well as doing all my homework on the situation.
“It’s worked out fantastically well. I’m joining a brilliant football club – a big club that’s back in the Premiership. I’m really pleased.”
Even in the brutal world of football, McIntyre’s dismissal at County, where he won a League Cup, was one that came as a shock, not just to the man himself.
“We’re all big boys in the management game,” he said.
“We understand how it works. Sometimes you are dealt a sore one. I certainly was.
“Roy (McGregor, Ross County chairman) has since said what he’s had to say on it and privately I’ve had some great conversations with him.
“It’s not about poor me at Ross County. But it’s easier to accept when it’s widely recognised that it’s a mistake.
“It’s not often when you get the sack that you have managers of a certain ilk who are on the phone right away saying it should never have happened. Not just your friends.
“Generally, you guys (in the press) are the best gauges in terms of what’s fair and what’s not. And I never came across any journalist who thought it was going to happen. But that’s football.”
Asked what was most attractive about the Dundee job, McIntyre replied: “The club’s ambition.”
He added: “There are plans in place to move to a state-of-the-art training facility and much more.
“That’s maybe a couple of years down the line but John Nelms was very impressive.
“There’s a stability which I like. One of the things I learned from Roy McGregor was that your club needs to be right at the top.
“If that’s the case, then your manager has got every chance of having success.”
Undoubtedly, the way in which McIntyre guided County to safety a few years ago after they were rooted to the foot of the Premiership table will have been one of the decisive factors in the approach that came from Dundee this week.
If anything, the Staggies’ predicament was more perilous.
“I don’t think there’s any such thing as an easy job,” said McIntyre. “Especially when you’re operating at Premiership level.
“It’s such a strong league, probably the strongest it’s been in four of five seasons.
“There are parallels to when I took over at Ross County.
“We were sitting bottom of the league at County. I think when we went in there we had no points from six games.
“But the crux of it is trying to get yourself off the bottom of the table as quickly as possible.”
McIntyre took his first training session yesterday and he said: “Squad-wise, I’ve been very impressed with what I’ve seen so far. There are a lot of very good technical players.
“I’ve only watched Dundee a couple of times this season but you have to be honest and say they’ve been unlucky on certain occasions.
“They’ve had a lot of their share of games but it’s just not quite gone their way.
“It’s my job now to try and make sure we turn things round.
“At County, I think we won two out of the first 19 games. We had to re-strip a squad and then build a squad up again.
“It took off for us at County after January. Like at County, I want to give everyone here their chance to see if they can play the way I want to play.
“From what I’ve seen so far, there are lads here with fantastic talent, but talent alone is not enough.
“You need to be organised and hard-working and I’m not saying they haven’t been like that.
“There’s got to be a lot of facets fitted in towards winning football matches.
“You need luck as well which at times they haven’t had.”
McIntyre isn’t a manager who will get pigeon-holed for a certain style of play.
“There’s not a right or wrong way to play the game,” he explained. “It’s about winning football matches – that’s the be-all and end-all.
“My Ross County team worked on playing out from the back and also being direct.
“It just depended on who we were coming up against and what the situation was.
“What I will say is that you need to have a mix. I like to mix it up a bit.
“Short-term, we just want to get off the bottom.
“There’s a lot of football still to be played but equally we are sitting at the bottom of the pile.
“Things can change very quickly in football and, for me, we have to try and do the right things and listen to the way I want to play.
“Hopefully we can start to pick up the results but we’ll need the fans on side as well.
“I’ve played here before when the place can be intimidating.
“That’s a two-way street. As a manager, I fully understand how easily supporters can get frustrated.
“It’s up to us to give them something to smile about.”
McIntyre was of course a Dundee United player once upon a time.
“I loved coming here as a player,” he said. “I love the derbies and the atmosphere.
“There’s a great buzz from the derbies and hopefully we can get them back.”
