Rab Douglas may turn 40 this week, but had it not been for him Dundee would have suffered a total humiliation from Partick Thistle on Saturday.
”I don’t know what’s going to happen for next season. I’m playing for a contract here like everyone else and I’ll have to see what the manager says.”
After an early flourish from Dundee, Partick gradually took a grip on the contest and opened the scoring through Cairney on 35 minutes.
Neil McGregor, who would later be sent off for his role in two penalty kicks, was unfortunate to see a good saving tackle result in the ball falling for Chris Erskine inside the box and his killer pass allowed Cairney a tap-in.
The Partick man attempted to double his team’s lead in the second half when McGregor tugged back striker Mark McGuigan inside the penalty area but Douglas pulled off a stunning save low to his left.
The veteran had already repelled several Partick efforts on goal but unfortunately could not mount a lone rearguard action and was beaten by Cairney on 81 minutes with a deft dink over him which would have made Lionel Messi proud.
And to compound Dundee’s woes, McGregor was ordered off in the dying seconds for a foul on Sean Welsh inside the penalty area.
This time Douglas was given no chance by Cairney, who blasted the ball down the middle to secure a deserved victory and his hat-trick.
Dundee were fortunate to get away with losing just three goals and Smith did not mince his words, saying: ”We need to show more to the fans. They have been very loyal and we need to give them more. There was an acceptance today which I have never seen before and I won’t tolerate it again. The players know this. They are all out of contract and they have to show the right mentality.
“What we saw against Partick is not the correct mentality. Rab Douglas saved us several times. If it wasn’t for him it would have been embarrassing.
”Rab is performing to the standards he sets himself at the age of 40 and he deserves great credit for that. Unfortunately he was let down by others. Everyone needs to take a leaf out of his book and how professional he is.
”He has standards and doesn’t like dropping below them. He didn’t today but a lot of others did.”
The veteran goalkeeper made a series of impressive saves, including a penalty block from Paul Cairney which limited the Jags midfielder to just the three goals against the insipid Dark Blues.
And it is to Douglas’ great credit that he is still performing to a high standard despite his career entering its twilight period.
Unfortunately the same could not have been said about several of his team-mates, for whom the summer holidays appeared to have come early.
Partick Thistle were by far the dominant force throughout the 90 minutes, with the impressive Cairney tormenting Dundee at times in addition to scoring a hat-trick.
For manager Barry Smith the lack of application and, in his own words, the ‘acceptance’ of losing the game were alarming and will give him much food for thought as he approaches making decisions about which players are to remain at Dens Park beyond the conclusion of their current contracts.
Nicky Riley, one of the players Smith surely must hang on to if Dundee’s aspirations are to be realised, concedes Saturday’s performance fell well short of what is expected and insists the manager was right to criticise his team.
”The manager wasn’t happy and rightly so because it was a poor performance,” said Riley. ”We didn’t play anywhere like we can and although there’s only three games left we’ve got to keep at it.
”We let the fans down. There were over 3000 fans here and we didn’t give them a performance. It is not acceptable and we know it.
”People are playing for their futures. The boys are gutted because we wanted to do better. The dressing-room was very quiet afterwards.”
He added: “It is hard to pinpoint why we didn’t play well, the performance was flat. The season might be over in terms of winning the league but it’s not over for us as individuals. If we want to win a contract for next season then we have got to produce much better.”
Riley is on his way back to fitness after spending months on the sidelines with back and hamstring problems.
The former Celtic youth player was a standout in the early part of the campaign and admits he’s found his time out of the team difficult.
He said: ”I am feeling better. I have been out for a while so it’s about trying to build up my fitness. It has been a horrible few months because I was playing well and doing my bit for the team. But I have been sitting on the sidelines and it is really frustrating.”
Continued…