Football: Embarrassment of hitches

JIM McINALLY believed he had encountered the king of controversy when he served at the court of Brian Clough. Yet even McInally's old Nottingham Forest manager seems strictly second division material, comp- ared with his current rulers at Dundee Football Club.

Rarely have they been out of the headlines in what must rank as the most turbulent season in the club's 106-year history. Planned mergers with Dundee United, threats of enforced relegation from the Scottish Premier League and getting into bed with a businessman who counts one of Serbia's most notorious war crimes suspects as a good friend are just some of the stories that McInally and Dundee team-mates have woken up to before coming into work.

Then, just when the experienced 34-year-old midfielder thinks the drama has all blown over, allowing the team to concentrate on their vital League match against Rangers tonight, it happens again. Stories of a pounds 2m takeover by United were digested before Friday's training session, followed by a flood of denials from Dundee that the move would go ahead.

"Hardly a dull moment," McInally smiles. Ironically, Dundee are moving this evening - 150 yards down Tannadice Street, which contains the two grounds belonging to Britain's closest football neighbours. But not lock, stock and barrel.

Dens Park has been taken over by the workmen who have started to put up the two new stands demanded by the Scottish Premier League, which insists it will demote Dundee if construction is not completed by 31 July. Tannadice will embrace Dundee, but only for one night.

For McInally, at least, it would be a home from home. He spent eight years with United, helping the club to the 1987 Uefa Cup final and winning his 10 Scottish caps there. This is his second spell with Dundee and few people are as well placed to give an analysis on the football city that does not want to be united.

"People in Dundee are just as passionate about their teams as anywhere else," says the native Glaswegian. "They love them every bit as much as Celtic and Rangers fans love their clubs. Football may be about money now, but I see things from the punters' point of view. I know the United fans would not have wanted Dun-dee merging with them.

"As far as Dundee were concerned, the plan was not a merger. It was a takeover. Dundee FC would not survive. I know we have money problems, but I would rather find another alternative to staying in business."

Money has been the root of Dundee's problems ever since they won promotion last season. Getting into the Premier League had pushed the club back into the red, and rebuilding crumbling Dens Park to meet the League's deadlines has driven its owners, brothers Peter and Jimmy Marr, into the arms of first United and then controversial Anglo-Italian businessman, Giovanni di Stefano, to raise the cash.

A deal had been concluded with Belgrade-based Di Stefano to buy a 38 per cent stake and provide pounds 1.2m, but Nato's bombing pulled the plug on the man who is also vice-chairman of the Yugoslav champions, FC Obilic, the team owned by the Serb, Arkan, who is wanted for ethnic-cleansing atrocities.

"The club have raised the money on their own," said McInally, "but I bet they have gone into debt to do so. Yet, it is not as bad as things seem. I was at Dundee on loan from Celtic in 1982 and the boss then, Archie Knox, could not raise the pounds 30,000 to buy me, so Celtic sold me to Forest instead.

"The players, however, have ignored all of the bad publicity. We have got stronger, particularly with the threat from the League to demote us: our attitude is, let's embarrass them by earning the right to stay up."

Should McInally and his colleagues embarrass Rangers tonight, he will be the one to feel flush - he owns shares in Celtic.