After Dundee United beat Arbroath on the first night of the Championship season you’d have thought the tangerine and black ribbons were being put on the trophy at Gayfield.
As good as United were that night, it was probably a case of them being at their best and us at our worst.
The picture has changed a bit since then.
Dunfermline took a point at Tannadice – and it should have been all three.
And Queen’s Park are three wins out of three.
Two of those have been against us.
United are still the favourites but I expect Queen’s Park to be there or thereabouts at the end.
As he did last season, Dom Thomas still drives them on.
Owen Coyle had them going well.
But it’s total football now – passing it out from the back.
They look a bit better in all areas.
Don’t get me wrong, we should definitely have taken something from last Saturday’s game.
And you can only really start to make confident predictions after a round of fixtures are completed.
But United aren’t going to get things all their own way and Queen’s Park look built to stay the course.
Fair play to young Queen’s Park goalie, Callan McKenna.
It takes some amount of confidence to do a Cruyff turn in your own six-yard box when you’re getting closed down.
I must admit, it looked like Jermaine Hylton would get to him.
16 years old btw. pic.twitter.com/si2rWYuTr6
— Spiders Talk Podcast (@SpidersTalkPod) August 19, 2023
It was a much tighter situation for McKenna than the pass-back that Stevie May got a goal from when Mark Birighitti took too long last season.
He’s only 16 and already there’s talk of some big clubs being interested in him.
It’s clearly been coached into him to play out from the back and trust his ability with the ball at his feet.
There may well be a couple of times when it goes wrong for him but if you want to go to the very top of the game, that’s a key part of being a goalkeeper these days.
Sunday night’s fundraising event for Eddie Annand is going to be an emotional one.
It’s been a while since the 1998 band got back together.
I’ll be at Duck Slatterys, along with the likes of James Grady, Steve McCormick, Dave Rogers, Barry Smith, Lee Wilkie and Jocky Scott.
📅 This Sunday at Duck Slatterys | An Evening for Eddie Annand
Show your support for Eddie by joining him and a host of ex Dundee teammates with all proceeds going towards Eddie and his family!
Doors open at 7pm
🎟️ https://t.co/hkm7ZwTwio pic.twitter.com/4ahVFFAAnD
— The Dee Archive (@TheDeeArchive) August 22, 2023
I knew the football family and the Dundee family would get behind Eddie when news came out that he has an incurable brain tumour.
Hopefully the place is packed and it will be a great trip down memory lane for an even greater cause.
Tickets cost £25 with all proceeds going to Eddie and his family. Click here for more information.
It’s not been a seamless transition from Ange Postecoglou to Brendan Rodgers at Celtic Park.
That’s probably to be expected given the injuries, the change in style and the players going in and out.
Celtic fans will be disappointed they don’t have the chance of another treble but the big picture is the Premiership and the Champions League.
On those fronts, Brendan has had the luxury of not rushing with his signings.
I’m expecting a couple of big ones before the transfer window shuts.
The interesting bit will be if he’s looking down south or beyond.
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