Normally, it wouldn't be much of a surprise. At the best of times, the job of football manager is about as safe and secure as paying a jakie two quid to look after your car. So, when a club are fifteen points adrift at the bottom of the table, two-thirds of the way into the season, haven't won in twelve league games, and (a curious stat, this) haven't managed to beat an SPL team that aren't from Edinburgh, it would generally be considered kosher to hand the boss his jotters.
And, sure enough, Dundee ended the tenure of Barry Smith on Wednesday, after nearly two and a half years in charge at Dens Park.
The timing itself seems ridiculous. Dundee are doomed to relegation - I said so on this blog as early in the season as October. They have only twelve matches left. Even if they were to put together an absurdly good run of form - which looks about as likely as Scarlett Johansson turning up on my doorstep looking to borrow a cup of sugar - the closeness of this season's SPL means that the team that finishes eleventh is likely to have a higher points total than normal. All they have to play for is the Scottish Cup, with a derby match looming in the quarter-finals.
If Smith has been sacked because of results, then why get rid of him now? Will a new-manager bounce really get the team to cup glory? Bringing in a new boss before the end of the transfer window would have allowed the squad to be added to, as well as more time to turn things around. The 'interim manager' has to make do with what he has, which isn't very much.
Replacing him for the time being with John 'bomber' Brown is just staggering. The statement on the club website - "Having been inundated by high calibre candidates over the last few days, one man stood out as perfect for the position of Interim Manager of Dundee FC" - has made thousands of Scottish football fans howl with laughter. Brown's managerial career so far has consisted of a couple of years at Clyde where he oversaw their relegation from the first division, and went out in a blaze of glory with an expletive-ridden interview to the club website just prior to his departure. More recently, you may recall he spent last summer trying to make himself the figurehead for Rangers fans against the takeover of Charles Green's consortium...only for his complete lack of eloquence and, to be blunt, intelligence to quickly turn him into a figure of fun.
The idea that Dundee dumped Smith for this complete clown beggars belief, especially given that we know a number of more seasoned and, well, decent candidates were interviewed. They couldn't have done any worse if they'd hired Billy Dodds, for crying out loud.
It's not just any manager Dundee have dismissed here. Barry Smith was club captain for nine years until 2006. He made 400 appearances for the club. When they went into administration for the second time in 2010, it was Smith who came in to take over as manager, and who performed a miracle by saving them from relegation to the second division despite a 25 point deduction. They were unbeaten in his first 23 league games, despite a skeleton squad. I saw them win at Ross County during that run - I've rarely seen a team with more spirit.
Last year they finished a distant second to County in that division - hardly a failure - and of course their promotion was confirmed only days before the start of the season thanks to the procrastination surrounding the Rangers debacle. That excuse only partly explains Dundee's hideous season - Smith made eight signings in August and September, as well as bringing back Gary Harkins to the club from Kilmarnock in January - but there's no doubt they were at a whopping disadvantage from the start. The lack of transfer window reinforcement, Harkins aside, actually suggested to me that the club had accepted their fate and were going to concentrate on preparing for a tilt at the first division next season.
If there was any manager who deserved the benefit of the doubt, and a bit more patience, it was Barry Smith.
Dundee FC, in truth, don't command much sympathy from Scottish football fans, not after ending up in administration twice thanks to reckless spending. It's hard to believe they've come up with a way to become further derided. But they've managed it. Smith, a dignified man who has shown himself to be a competent manager, will find another job soon enough. I can't help feeling his next club, on their way up, will end up passing a Dundee side on the way down.
L.
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