Onerous afternoon at Dens Park: Rangers support's songbook, swathes of empty Dundee seats, John Nelms absent ... what must Ivano Bonetti think

Among the old ditties, many of them featuring content that ought to keep the match observer present busy, there was one song from Rangers fans’ repertoire that was conspicuous by its absence.

“You’re only here to see the Rangers!” was certainly not apt on this occasion. On a day when their Serie A loan star Aaron Ramsey was handed a rare start, the Rangers supporters had to accept their allure was still not strong enough to overcome the depth of dismay felt by Dundee fans at the current stewardship of the club.

Some might call it apathy. Perhaps anger is more fitting. This surely has to prove a tipping point.

The attendance of 5536 – including only around 1500 home fans – must be interpreted as a protest against managing director John Nelms, just as the return of the old, sadly familiar songs were a message to the Rangers top brass: if there’s to be no consultation with supporters about a ‘friendly’ with Celtic in Australia, then all bets are off. They will sing what they want. And they did. Often and loudly. Several songs were sectarian and offensive.

Large empty spaces were apparent in the home stands during a Scottish Cup match between Dundee and Rangers.

Most Dundee fans were not present to take any offence. This proved one to miss, as they had suspected would be the case.

Nelms' absence seemed less understandable. His empty seat in the directors’ box seemed particularly worthy of note amid the acres of empty pews. The club’s managing director is on club business in Italy and was spotted at the Italy v Scotland rugby match on Saturday.

Even Ivano Bonetti managed to make it to Dens Park from Italy in time to perform the half-time draw despite his flight having landed around half an hour before kick-off. One wonders what the former manager thought as he surveyed Dens Park, a ground that has not changed since he helped bring some excitement to the club a couple of decades ago. Bonetti was central to making Dundee the talk of Scottish, perhaps even British, football when he brought Claudio Caniggia to the club in 2000.

Bonetti was back in town for a questions-and-answers evening at a city centre hotel which was surely busier than the home stands had been earlier. How the Dundee fans wish Nelms could make himself available for such an occasion where some dialogue can take place. This was an embarrassing day in the club’s history broadcast for all to see on television.

Former Dundee player-manager Ivano Bonetti at half time during the match.

The ignominy is not the fans who did not attend for understandable reasons. It is the fact that so little thought was given to them. Nelms’ own absence from this and last midweek’s vital clash with St Mirren was nothing less than a dereliction of duty. So, too, is the continual failure to address fans’ concerns.

A home Scottish Cup tie against an attractive team should have been the tonic Dundee required after their league struggles. When will they next have an opportunity to reach Hampden?

It was instead an onerous afternoon in front of a historic low home crowd for a game against either side of the Old Firm. The fans had voted with their feet after Nelms’ refusal to negotiate with Rangers to lower the entry cost. The £30 price of a ticket was a shameful sum to ask fans of both sides to pay in these straitened times when it was already clear the attendance would be compromised by live television coverage.

As it turned out, broadcast loudly and clearly, the rows of empty seats in the home stands were not the only embarrassment.

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