Steven Pressley's odd Dundee manifesto amid fan backlash - and why contract was signed on way to airport

As Steven Pressley tells it, he was sitting in a service station car park en route to the airport when he signed the contract signalling what he hopes will be a new beginning back in Scotland.

There have been more auspicious starts in Dundee’s long history of appointing managers. There have certainly been more popular appointments, although the Dens Park club under the present ownership haven’t tended to factor in fan opinion when reaching such decisions. One need only remember Mark McGhee’s arrival out of the blue in 2022.

“Without Gordon (Strachan), it would be unlikely I would be sitting here,” he admitted when Dundee brought the former Aberdeen and Celtic strike out of cold storage – he hadn’t managed at a serious level for five years.

New Dundee head coach Steven Pressley is unveiled to the media during a press conference at Gardyne Training Centre on Friday. (Photo by Mark Scates / SNS Group) | SNS Group

It’s much the same story with Pressley, both in terms of the Strachan endorsement – he regards the Dundee technical director as a mentor – and managerial inactivity (he was last in the dugout in 2019, for Carlisle United). He has, though, been gainfully employed in recent times at Brentford as head of individual player development, which, he explained, meant he had day-to-day involvement with the first-team squad and similarly regular contact with new Spurs manager Thomas Frank.

Nevertheless, Pressley felt he had run his course in this role. He claims that it was this sense of wanting to see what else was out there rather than an approach from managerless Dundee that lay behind him stepping away from the go-ahead English Premier League club. “I didn’t leave to come here, I genuinely didn’t,” he said.

One Dundee fan re-posted the announcement Pressley was leaving Brentford on X, adding the comment: “Don’t even think about it, Dundee.”

Reader, they thought about it to the extent that they offered Pressley the job to the evident anguish of a huge volume of supporters. Threads on the main Dundee fans’ forum might extend to 30 or 40 pages if a particularly contentious game, for example, is being discussed. The one covering Pressley’s appointment currently sits at 149 pages – and counting.

Little wonder he was so keen to get the contract signed in case managing director John Nelms changed his mind. "I actually signed the contact for this job on the way to the airport," he recalled. Pressley and his wife, June, were setting off for a silver anniversary trip to Vietnam.

"As soon as I signed, I discussed it with my wife and said, ‘Look we’re going to have to cut this short’," he added. It was originally meant to be 18 days. They did 11.

"She’s been with me for 25 years so she’s lived the football life, she understands,” he said. He confirmed that they remain married.

New Dundee head coach Steven Pressley is unveiled to the media during a press conference at Gardyne Training Centre on Friday. (Photo by Mark Scates / SNS Group) | SNS Group

‘I like to remain in my own bubble’

Such commitment does not tend to apply to the post of Dundee manager, where it feels like an achievement to reach the equivalent of a cotton anniversary – two years. Tony Docherty, his predecessor, didn’t even get to that despite a top six finish in his first season and keeping the team up in his second, despite challenges. A proportion of fans were unhappy, that's true. But that isn't to say they welcomed who the club chose to replace him.

While it might have served to further antagonise those Dundee fans already reeling from his recruitment, leaving the country seemed like a wise move for Pressley at the time. He might not have enjoyed reading what was being said about him.

“Honking,” claimed one fan in the local evening newspaper, with the word duly included in the front page headline. The time between the announcement and unveiling while Pressley crammed in sight-seeing visits to the Mekong Delta might actually have proved helpful, since emotions have settled somewhat. He claimed not to have seen any of the initial reaction.

“I have no social media,” he maintained. “None at all. I never will have. Just because I like to remain in my own little bubble.”

He followed this by issuing what some felt was an odd manifesto when managers often go out of the way to ingratiate themselves, especially when they are already portrayed as losing the public relations fight from day one. Pressley explained that he has learned from his Falkirk days. Some might recall him making grand claims, including ensuring fans they would stay up when he was appointed in February 2010 (they didn’t).

“Like all management it very much depends on what lens you’re looking through,” he said, when the negative reaction of many Dundee fans was put to him. “If you are a Dundee supporter looking for a manager with a history of producing titles and winning honours then I’m not your man. I am not your guy, I don’t profess to be your guy.”

It was tempting to reply that no manager since Davie White won the League Cup with Dundee in 1973, two months after Pressley was born, had been "that guy" so it wasn’t necessarily a problem. Still, it was a comment that made ears prick up.

“I hope I can demonstrate that moving forward but my career to date doesn’t suggest that (I can win honours),” he continued. “But certainly, from a development perspective and certainly from creating a style of play and the way a team performs, I feel I have demonstrated that over the course.”

Steven Pressley is congratulated by Andy McLaren after netting a penalty for Dundee Utd against Rangers at Tannadice in October 1997. | SNS Group 0141 221 3602

‘I’m a lot calmer, a much smaller ego...’

No-one was picketing outside the Dundee training ground, where Pressley handled his first assignment in impressive manner. He looked smart in a Dundee tie and dark blue lightly checked jacket as well as chinos with a contemporary, ankle-showing cut.

Now 51, it could be argued that he’s a bit old for that now but then maybe it’s the result of being among students. He has just finished a degree in strategy and management from the University of Liverpool, which has given him another string to his bow.

Among the skills developed while studying was “self-reflection” and how to be a leader. He didn’t have to be the chest-thumping type character, who some might recall from his playing days. Hearts fans certainly do, given it was such theatrics that almost caused a riot when Pressley celebrated a Celtic win on his first return to Tynecastle since leaving to sign for the Parkhead side.

“When I was a player, I was generally a captain,” he said. “And then I went from that to being a manager almost immediately. Almost, through your title alone, you can make people do things. Then you go into a job (at Brentford) which I was involved in for four years where you don't. You have to build relationships. I do think as a person I've changed a lot. I'm a lot calmer, a lot more controlled, a much smaller ego…”

He remembers wanting to take on the world when he was younger. Now it might be enough to get the better of the lot across the street, where of course he played when he was a younger man and which might account for some of the opposition to his appointment.

He finished on the winning side in three out of four Dundee derbies in the second tier in 1995-96, under then Dundee United manager Billy Kirkwood – his head of recruitment at Dundee for the time being.

With so much history at so many clubs, the publication of next season’s fixture list is even more eagerly awaited. As Pressley noted himself with a knowing smile, such associations have made it more difficult for him to find employment back in Scotland. But he’s back now and some brickbats won’t hurt him.