Davide Grassi believes Dundee have got it wrong on two fronts the sacking of manager Barry Smith, and the timing of that decision.
The five-man Dundee board are understood to have considered Smith’s position as far back as the turn of the year, but they subsequently gave him the vote of confidence and backed him in the January transfer window.
A U-turn on that assurance was made on Wednesday, however, when the 39-year-old was dismissed, bringing an end to his two-and-a-half-year reign at Dens Park.
On his departure, Dundee sit 15 points from safety and next up is a trip to Celtic on Sunday, and then there’s a Scottish Cup quarter-final with Dundee United seven days later.
“The timing is wrong to sack the manager now,” the defender insisted. “I’m sorry for him because he’s a nice person. If they wanted to do this maybe they could have done this before.
“But I still think he should have got until the end of the season. It shouldn’t have happened now because we are 15 points behind in the league.
“There is no point changing the gaffer. But they have done it for a reason and I don’t know why.”
A clash with runaway SPL leaders Celtic would be daunting enough at the best of times, but the Italian believes their task hasn’t been made any easier as a result of the managerial uncertainty.
Grassi said: “You never know who is going to come in as the new gaffer. You don’t know if the feeling within the team is going to be good or not.
“We have a big game with Celtic on Sunday and then Dundee United also the following week in the Scottish Cup. We don’t know if the new gaffer will be in before Sunday or not so there is uncertainty.
“We are professional players who will play for the new manager but we all really liked Barry. It was never going to be an easy job for him after finding out the club were in the SPL so soon before the season started and then having to build a squad.”
Grassi could soon be back in action himself, after returning to training earlier this week. Sunday, though, may come just too soon.
The 27-year-old former Aberdeen man hasn’t featured since October because of a knee injury which required surgery, and is frustrated at not being able to repay Smith for the faith he showed by bringing him back to Scotland in the summer.
Grassi said: “All the players are sad for what has happened, including myself. He’s a good manager. And I’m just sorry that as a player I was out injured for so long and unable to help him.
“It just so happens that I’m feeling good again only for him to go away. I know the gaffer put a lot of faith in me. It’s not my fault because I was injured but it’s still frustrating.
“But this is football. We have to keep working hard on the field and do our best and see where we finish.”
* Courier Sport understands that one of the front-runners to replace Smith, ex-St Mirren manager Gus McPherson, has officially applied for the job.
One of the other names to emerge as a candidate from leftfield is former Dundee fans’ favourite, John Brown.
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