Tom Duthie: Dundee And United Fans Have Endured ‘Sair Fecht’

[JoeCovenant]

If you were searching for a local phrase to describe the experience of Dundee and United fans over the past couple of months or so, “sair fecht†would fit the bill perfectly.

Since the nights started drawing in around the beginning of October, the city’s football fans have been enduring rather than enjoying watching their favourites.

Dundee beat Motherwell on the first Saturday of that month and managerless United crashed to the bottom of the Premiership by losing at Partick Thistle. From then there has come just one victory in 18 games.

That one statistic explains why the Tangerines now find them eight points adrift at the foot of the top flight.

And it’s why the dark blue half of the city is now nervously glancing over a shoulder to the relegation play-off place. It lies just three points below.

Taking Dundee first, the optimistic fan might just argue that’s a glass-half-empty view of the situation.

To be fair to Paul Hartley and his men, the top six lies only two points above, meaning the target for the season remains achievable.

Also, the fact we’re almost halfway through the Dee’s second season back in the highest tier of Scottish football and this is the first time the “R†word has surfaced is testimony to the progress the manager has made.

Equally, though, there can be no denying a run of eight games without a victory is worrying.

Hartley is working hard to put things right and turn too many draws — five in those eight — into a winning habit.

Given the loss of three goals at lowly Motherwell last weekend, perhaps the most obvious need would seem to be a shoring up of the defence.

While it could be tighter, as a rule Dundee have not shipped too many goals in most games this term.

That unearths a more surprising conclusion as to where the problems lie — goals for.

With Greg Stewart, Rory Loy and Kane Hemmings regularly in the line-up, this is a side that’s regarded as one of the most potent attacking forces in the country.

The facts of the past two months suggest otherwise.

Loy and Hemmings have continued to chip in and while Stewart is going through a drought, his past exploits mean he can be forgiven for that.

But the last eight games have yielded just seven goals and the lack of strikes from elsewhere in the team is a clear problem.

If that goes for Dundee, across the road at Tannadice you can multiply the situation several times over.

In 10 games since the beginning of October the goals-for column has only been bothered on four occasions.

Each one has been scored by Billy Mckay and it’s now over 100 days since another United player hit the back of the net in a league match.

Over the past few games, creating chances has not been a problem but the number of clear cut opportunities missed in clashes with Hamilton, Kilmarnock and Partick Thistle that yielded just one point have been a concern.

And the mood has not been helped by the hamstring injury that ended new signing Florent Sinama Pongolle’s promising start at United early on against the Jags and could see him sidelined for a few weeks.

Neither was the loss of another soft goal on Saturday.

Kris Doolan’s winner was the 20th goal conceded in that 10-game period.

That has to improve because teams averaging two goals against per game are usually heading in only one direction — down to the depths of the Championship.

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