We do a deal; it still doesn't mean we are actually going to get the player. And if I just bring it up, because everyone is probably going to ask, the press have bothered us relentlessly
about it, STV were on the phone to me tonight, the Nigel Quashie situation is a classic
example although a slightly different one, A lot of negotiations, it's been going on for weeks,
the deal was agreed, everyone was happy, but there is a personal issue at the players end. We
can't do anything about that. We were so close to it, we still are close to it.
'Eventually Barry might say we will move on, and he has already identified other targets as it is, so for the original question, are we going to sign anybody? Maybe, every single day we
are either talking about it, or we will certainly be having a conversation the next day, but it is
a long process, so just to clear that up, no-one is sitting in the back office there doing
not hi ng. '
Barry, can you give us an update on the Nicky Riley situation?
'He has just come back up last night, I spoke to him last night when he came back up the road, and he was in a bit of pain with his back where he got an injection. I spoke to him
again today, and its easing off, he feels that his hamstrings, which was the concern, because
of his back it was going into his hamstrings, he feels they are easing off, but his back is still
sore, so it's a case of monitoring it, and looking to see how he, it will be up to him, how they
progress, we cannot force the issue with him, but hopefully it will be sooner rather than
later.'
Before he left, Barry made a brief statement. 'Can I just take a minute to thank all of you for your continued support, it is important to the club, it is important to myself and the players
that you stick behind the boys, because they do really appreciate everything you have done
for the club, especially the boys that were here last season, ultimately you saved the club with
your time and effort raising money, so from a personal point of view, I would like to thank
you, and I know the boys would all like to thank you as well.'
Scot then kicked off the session where questions were to be put to the board of directors by giving a brief rundown of the events which led to him joining the club.
'On the 2nd of January, the club, the Board of Directors approached me, I was actually at the Hearts and Hibs game through in Edinburgh when you were all at Kirkcaldy enjoying
yourselves, and that was the first contact that we had. Following some meetings thereafter at
Dens, I decided to take the challenge, and take it forward. And here we are, it's about four
weeks on from my appointment, and it's been a hell of a four weeks, extremely challenging,
extremely rewarding, knot in the stomach stuff at Palmerston, and against Hamilton, and
various other places, but we can see where we are looking to take this.'
'If I was to explain to you, the first and major part of my role is basically to regenerate and stabilise the club. This is first, foremost, last, everything, we must make the club safe and we
must make the club stable. At the beginning and end of every day, I think (to myself), have
we moved the ball forward a wee bit, and at the end of each of the weeks I have been here, I
have looked at it and thought, have we moved the club any further forward. And I am happy
to say that I feel that we have, and I am going to go on and explain some of the ways that we
have.
'Running parallel to that, it's obviously a part of it is to furnish Barry with the funds and the backing of myself and all of the board so that he can take us forward. I had never met Barry
before I came here, and I have to tell you that we have an absolute diamond, I am glad he is
away, because I don't want him thinking I am blowing smoke here. But we have an absolute
diamond of a manager, his integrity is just phenomenal. I have had the pleasure to work with
a number of different football managers, at Spurs and Rangers, and for example, in the week
of the Gavin Rae scenario, when we were busting a gut to keep Gavin, and we had five
different clubs buzzing around. Ultimately, Barry, unlike many football managers that you
can come across in the modern game, at every turn, he was saying 'I am delighted with the
efforts that the board and club are making, but please don't put us into trouble for it'. So I
don't know many managers that would have done that, normally a football manager would
say, just get the player, and you deal with the fall out, or you deal with it next year, you
know, when things are tight, and that was not the case with our manager, so these things are
not always as they seem, but at that stage, it warmed the heart, because I knew I was at a club
which was a little bit special.'
'So, effectively I came in, I have been analysing the club, looking at the entire running of the club, with the board, I speak to most of them at least once a day, certainly every couple of
days, they are all on emails to me probably more than is practical, but we have a very good
relationship, and as I say I have a coffee and a chat with Barry in the morning every day, and
normally the same at the end of every night, so we are pulling things together, I feel, very
well, and he (Barry) is kept in the picture with things that worry him, and if the things don't
worry him, then I don't bother him with it, I just want him to focus on the football side.'
'Taking things forward, we clearly have to look at the business, we are extremely thin on the ground with regards to staff, and I think it's really important that everyone knows that,
because we had some comments recently, suggesting we were over staffed here, and that
could not be further from the truth. The staff that we do have here, they have the hearts of
lions, its remarkable, they are working or, and it pains me to say it, not a lot, and we hope to
rectify that in the coming months and years, but they really are doing an amazing job, and
they should be appreciated. I know they are from the board and myself, and the fans really
need to know that they do a remarkable job.
'This is a unique situation that we have here. I am the CEO of a football club which has effectively a parent company is the Dundee FC Supporters Society, who is the majority
shareholder, and effectively the holding company, and we also have the Business Trust who
are represented on the board as well, and we also have an independent director in Mark
Gallagher, so it's quite a unique set up, and I think it is fair to say that the guys, and myself
will be working through this, and developing a relationship to see which is the best way to
take the club forward.
'As I say we don't have an oligarch who just makes a decision, some of you might wish we did, there has been a few days where I wished we had an oligarch as well, but we don't, and
we have got to take it forward as a club and as a community. And I think we are working well
towards that, I have had meetings with the Society board, I have a meeting coming up soon
with the Supporters Clubs, all twenty eight, which is remarkable, and when I mention this to
other clubs in the league, the fact that we have twenty eight organised supporters clubs, they
think it's absolutely incredible. And I have met with some of the chaps from, I think we will
call them independent websites, Dundee Mad, and we had full and frank discussions, so I
think what we have done is we have spread our net as widely as we could.'
'The situation that we have with regards the business is that we have many bridges to rebuild, particularly when the club has been in administration twice. There are many Dundee fans
who have been businessmen who have been burned in those administrations sadly, and we
have to work very, very hard to regain their trust, and not just do the right thing, but be seen
to be doing the right thing as well. That job takes place every day, the work that I am taking
off the board, where we are trying to place the club in a different part of the Dundee mind,
with the council, and with the public, so that people don't think that this is just some black
hole that they throw their money down, and every few years it disappears. It is not going to
be that anymore, it cannot be that anymore, and with your help, we won't allow it to be that
any more either. It takes a lot of hard work in order for us to do that, and a few things have
got to happen. We have got to be very innovative and very creative with regards to the
business, and we will explain some of those things very briefly before we open the floor.'
'But we also have to realise that youth is absolutely the way forward for this club, and I was embarrassed, and I am sure the board were as well, as we are all Dundee fans, when we found
out, as Barry knows better than any of us, how thin on the ground we are with regard to
scouts. In talking to junior clubs, in talking to Sunday boys clubs, and looking out there, we
want to give them the backing, that's what I am talking about when I say what we must do as
a business. I have to find the funds in order to get the scouts. We must double our youth side,
there are going to be ways that we will come to you, and say here are some schemes that will
enable us to really develop the youth side of the club, because they must, must, must be the
way forward.
Source: FOOTYMAD
