Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Rae tips Dee in battle of former clubs
IT’S a measure of the man’s character that, were he to head along to Dens Park tomorrow, Alex Rae would be made welcome by two clubs that were arguably hasty in sacking him.
And such is his understanding nature, he’d be more likely to thank Dundee and St Mirren f or the opportunities they gave him than complain about the harsh way his services were dispensed with.
As it turns out, involvement in a Scotland-England five-a-side tournament i n Lanzarote this weekend means he won’t be at the Scottish Cup fourth-round clash.
Had he been in the country, though, there’s a very good chance Dens is where he’d have gone.
“Lanzarote’s a tough gig at this time of year but someone’s got to do it,” he said with a huge grin, shortly before flying out today.
“But if I wasn’t ‘working’, I might well have been at Dens because it’s a good tie involving two clubs I’ve a lot of time for.
“I’m certainly not bitter about being sacked by either of them. I didn’t agree with either decision but I’ve been in football long enough to know calls are made because of certain dynamics.
“And I genuinely look back at my time at Dundee and St Mirren with fondness and with gratitude for the opportunity the clubs gave me.
“Dundee was my first j ob i n management and I’ll always be grateful for that. I did feel they made a mistake in sacking me (in October 2008) but I know it was nothing personal.
“Davie Farrell and I got them back up to challenging for promotion and we’d just finished runners-up the previous season.
“Nine games into the next one we’d been hit be injuries but we were only four points behind eventual winners St Johnstone when we went, so it was a bit hasty.
“But the people in charge did what they thought they had to and I’ve no bitterness.”
His departure from the Buddies