JIM SPENCE: ‘Smart’ Gary Bowyer has taken pressure off Dundee stars’ shoulders and onto his own – it’s time they repaid him

Dundee FC is a club which keeps its cards off the field very close to its chest, as Courier Sport’s George Cran outlined this week.

A deafening silence on player contracts and on the new stadium development have left  supporters in the dark.

On the pitch the battle for promotion is tougher than many thought it would be in the weakest Championship for years.

But Gary Bowyer refuses to get sucked into the stresses which accompany the managerial position.

He said: “Pressure for me is people who don’t have a roof over their head.”

In the greater scheme of things he’s correct, but it’s maybe not the perspective that fans want to hear with the possibility of another season in the Championship a potential prospect.

Bowyer is, I suspect, lifting the pressure off his players and taking it on his own shoulders in dismissing it as something which doesn’t faze him.

Dundee are two points behind league leaders Queen’s Park and play them in the last game of the season.

The Dark Blues’ hopes are still in their own hands and in playing down the pressure angle Bowyer is I think adopting a smart approach.

The onus is now on his players to make the most of the breathing room he has bought them.

Fans will forgive their team almost anything as long as they see fight and hunger.

A defeat and a draw marks Jim Goodwin’s start as United boss, but there have been heartening signs that the players have bucked up their ideas.

Ryan Edwards paid the price for his slack defensive show in the Aberdeen loss by sitting out the Livingston game.

But in both matches the attitude of the team was a big improvement on recent weeks.

United dipped badly in the first half in midweek, but then kicked into life with a determined second half display.

Confidence in football is a fragile flower and, for a team four points adrift at the bottom of the league, it’s very brittle and restoring it is tough.

This United squad is like the curate’s egg; good in parts.

If Goodwin can improve the areas that aren’t up to scratch then there’s still a fighting chance to stay in the top flight.

It’s not all about the manager though.

Discipline and pride in performance ultimately reside with the players.

They need to assert those characteristics in every remaining game to have any hope of avoiding the drop.

Both United and Dundee will welcome this weekend’s break to gird themselves for their final, respective heaves towards hopefully safety and promotion.

Their last outings were on the all-weather surfaces at Livingston and Cove, and such pitches take their toll on the body.

There’s little doubt that artificial pitches have improved and most players have spent a fair amount of time on them in youth football and even first team level.

However it’s time to look at them again

At top level there are few players or coaches I know who wouldn’t prefer a good grass surface.

I think there’s a strong case to be made that if you want to play in either of Scotland’s two top divisions, you have to play on the ‘real McCoy’ and not a plastic imitation.