By Matty Blakeman
September 4 2002

Matty Blakemans latest article talking about the derby and labled "As good as we could have hoped". Matty also mentions this weekends international match against the Faroe Islands.

As good as we could have hoped

 This weekend we take our first break of the season from S.P.L. action and we all get to reflect on the start made by Duffy in his second spell in charge. 5 games have brought as many points including 2 draws, 2 defeats and 1 solitary victory. As for the opposition, our winless run against Hearts stretched to 12 games despite earning a decent point and putting in our best performance so far this season. No one really expected us to cause an upset at Ibrox so our 3-0 defeat let no one down while a poor defensive set up cost us dearly against a slick Dunfermline side who punished us 4 times in an entertaining game. Our only win of the season came against the then pointless Hibs as we showed true battling qualities to grab to late goals while our winless run in the Derby will run to at least 2 years as Saturdays clash ended in stalemate.

 So on the whole, I think that we can be happy with Duffy’s start to the season. We’ve still to play sides like Partick, Motherwell and Livi who we would expect to take full points from so 5 points from the opening 5 isn’t bad. Twice so far this season, we could leave a game saying things along the lines of “Ivano would have lost that game” (Hearts and United, 3 times if you count Hibs) so signs of improvement are there for all to see. Battling qualities have been introduced through youngsters such as Lee Mair and Neil Jablonski and also through new signings such as Jonay Hernandez - a man who seems fully committed to the cause. Lee Wilkie, surely one of the best central defenders in the country, started this season as he finished last, in devastating form. This was only too evident against United at the weekend. His commitment to the club was called into question following his own goal winner at the last derby and the fact that United were his boyhood side. All fears were dispatched on Saturday as the 22 year old turned in a masterful performance that prevented Speroni from making many saves. Credit to that must also go to Tom Hutchinson, drafted into the first team just a day after signing from Fulham. His nerves that he said he had prior to the game weren’t evident as he walked through the game before being taken off with around 20 minutes to go. In truth, a draw was a fair result as few chances were made in a full-blooded game. Dundee showed that they could match the Arab’s spirit that they failed to live with last season.

 Sadly, most of us have to face up to reality this weekend – our beloved failures that make up the Scottish national side are playing. Surely the Faroes won’t beat us? They only managed a draw against us last time so if put our heads together, we can crack open their strike force and get a memorable point. The set up is a joke at the moment, lets be honest. It wouldn’t be fair to say that Berti has turned us into a laughing stock, “inherited us as a laughing stock” sounds more appropriate. I’ll still give him time, basically for his track record for the Germans although I’m still down over the fact that my Barry Smith for Scotland campaign goes, unsuccessfully, into its 5^th year. Vogts is still picking the wrong players. Steven Thompson speaks for itself. It won’t be pretty but Scotland should scrape a 2-0 victory.

 As for us Dees, we face Livi next Wednesday. A less confident Livi than last year still managed to create enough chances to provide an upset at Parkhead last Sunday. But, being remarkably biased, I’ll go for a 1-0 Dees win.