Road to Glory

The Dees Turn to English Unknown

Dundee has announced, to the surprise of their loyal fans, that the new man to take the hot seat at Dens Park Stadium will be unknown English manager Jake Goddard. The announcement comes after a week of turmoil at the club following the sacking of outspoken manager Graham Chisholm and his assistant Billy Dodds following an alleged orgy scandal which is still under investigation.

The club founded in 1893 have recently slipped into the Scottish First Division following last season’s relegation from the SPL. To add salt to the wound their arch rivals Dundee United qualified for the Europa League last season leaving the Dees fans with a huge dent in their local pride.

Taking his first press conference Goddard was clearly delighted to be given such an opportunity. “I’m extremely pleased to be given a chance at this club. I know how passionate the fans are up here north of the border and I can only hope to match it with my own enthusiasm. I like attractive football and I fully intend to put a real show on for the Dee’s fans this season. Obviously we want to bounce straight back up to the SPL and everything will be done to ensure we get there.”
Chairman Bob Brennan stated he has full faith in their new man and is looking forward to an exciting season’s football. Reports state he has given Goddard a budget of just £100,000 so the new manager will have to hunt for some bargains.

With an already strong side however Goddard should have no problem getting the Dees back on their feet so long as he can hold onto striker Leigh Griffiths. The young scot looks an exciting prospect and surely the clubs overall success will ultimately rely on him. Dundee are expected to finish 1st in the Scottish First Division but will the inexperience of Goddard hinder the clubs return to the top flight?

Goddard announced that fellow Englishman John Morling would be his new assistant and they were keen to get stuck in right away.

This week’s focus is on Dundee FC as new manager Jake Goddard had a busy first week in charge. After being announced as the new boss Goddard suffered an immediate blow to the campaign before it had even started. A welcome chat with Dundee Captain Gary Harkins did not go according to plan. The midfielder informed his new manager that he did not want to play in the Scottish First Division and said he thinks he should be at a bigger club. Despite Goddard’s attempts to persuade his skipper eventually he had to concede to his demands and promised to accept any decent offers that come in for him. SPL side Aberdeen soon declared interest in signing Harkins shortly after this chat. Surely Gary Harkins’ agent hadn’t been on the phone to all the big clubs already?


Despite a bad start Goddard has got on with the running of the club. Assistant John Morling helped the Dees boss to recruit a new backroom with a lot of English staff coming in at the club. Two new coaches a new scout and a new physio bolstered a depleted staff at the club which now looked a lot healthier. Goddard also began identifying new transfer targets and took immediate action. Goddard first ever signing:


Toufik Zerara AM/L http://img52.imageshack.us/i/algeriac.jpg/
The 24 year old Algerian is quite rightly labelled as a hard worker. Whilst boasting relatively good technical ability the winger is undoubtedly full of energy. With a high work rate and stamina the winger will run for his team all game long. The winger was released by Falkirk so has some experience of Scottish football. Hopefully for Dundee he will have a more successful time at their club.


However the transfer action didn’t stop there. Perhaps Goddard’s first ever transfer saga had come already. Goddard announced to journalists that he would do his utmost to sign Queen of the South Left Back Bob Harris.
Harris was immediately ambushed by press after a training session and he stated he wasn’t going to get involved in any speculation until a concrete offer had been made but he did not rule out a move to Dundee. Queen of the south fans will no doubt be worried by this as the 22 year old full back is their star man. However with only 100k at Goddard’s disposal he will have to do some serious talking with his board to capture this signing.


Goddard first game in charge saw him return to England to face non-league side Alfreton Town in a pre-season friendly.

Alfreton Town 0 Dundee 3
In what can only be described as a routine victory Dundee won comfortably without really getting out of 2nd gear. The highlight was a 30 yard screamer from central Midfielder Jamie Adams in the 7th minute to give the Dees the lead. Adams is a loanee from St Johnstone and he gave a man of the match performance, he looks like he could become a key player in Dundee’s upcoming season