| The Dark Blues’ skipper’s last minute winner against Partick Thistle saw them open a 12-point gap on the bottom club and, while his boss thought three points may have flattered his side, he was in no doubt Smith’s goal was reward for another excellent performance.
“Barry’s goal was tremendous and I thought he had an outstanding game. But that’s the kind of performance I’ve come to expect from him,” said Jim today.
“He’s the type of player that, traditionally, there are varying opinions on. Neil Lennon at Celtic, for example, is one people question, but Martin O’Neill has him in his team because he knows how important he is.
“It comes down to balance and, while fans want to see flair players, you need a mix. For us, Barry provides that and, very often, it is only really his team-mates who appreciate just what a good job he does.”
Managers are another group who acknowledge the importance of the Smiths of this world and Jim is delighted to have him leading the team out each week.
“When he first moved into midfield he was a spoiler, but now he has added to his game and is using the ball well. As we saw on Saturday, he is getting into shooting positions, too. Even more importantly, he is someone I know who will take responsibility on the pitch.”
Thoughts now are on Wednesday’s Scottish Cup replay against Aberdeen. Mark Fotheringham will sit that one out through suspension.
His place could be taken by Brent Sancho, though he has still to prove his fitness after missing the Partick game through a knee problem and didn’t train today. “Brent did a bid of training before the game on Saturday. We left him out of the reserve game at Firhill this afternoon as a precaution because we did not want his knee stiffening up again,” added Jim.
Defender Tom Hutchinson was pencilled in for the second string game. Steve Lovell has recovered from his knee trouble, but fell ill over the weekend, although he trained today.
The manager will be getting help from an old friend for the next few weeks when Graham Rix joins the coaching staff. Rix, who had a brief spell at Dens near the end of his playing career and worked with Jim at Chelsea and Portsmouth, won’t be getting paid for his services but will still benefit from his time in Scotland.
“He’s doing some coaching badges right now, so it suits him to be working with players on a daily basis. From my point of view, having him here will ease the burden on me because I have been working on my own with the first team most of the time since we went into administration,” said Jim. |
