Dundee manager Tony Docherty commits future to club with new contract

Tony Docherty has said that he is delighted to have signed a new contract with Dundee after his debut season as manager.

The manager, previously a long-time assistant to Derek McInnes at St Johnstone, Bristol City, Aberdeen and Kilmarnock, took over the side newly-promoted from the Championship and led them to their first top-six finish for nine years.

Docherty was subsequently nominated for PFA Manager of the Year and Scottish Football Writer’s Manager of the Year.

The 53-year-old has now been rewarded with a rolling contract.

Speaking after signing his new contract, he said: “I am excited to have signed a new deal with the club and I’m quite humbled that the club approached me for a contract extension.

“My ambitions are matched by the ambitions of the club, we want to take the success of last season and to improve us and make us even better. I’m delighted that I’ve got the opportunity to work at such a brilliant club and I want to progress the club further.

“I want to highlight the fantastic staff that I’ve got here at the club, every single one of them works so hard every day to make sure we are at our best, they played such a big part in the success we had last season. I said last season that one of my most important signings was Stuart Taylor, my assistant manager, who I brought in and he has had such an influence on the team.

“I’ve also had great support from upstairs from John and Gordon and I am really excited with the direction the club is going in. Everybody at the club is on the same page, we all want to improve and develop and be better than we were before.

“To the Dundee supporters, I would like to thank them all for all the support they have given me and the players since I’ve been manager. They were such an important part of what we achieved last season, but I believe it’s just the start of things.

“The fans are pivotal to any success that we are going to have at this club and we saw that last season. I would just like to urge them to get behind us once again as much as they can and help us prove that last season was not just a flash in the pan and we can build on what we achieved last campaign.”

The Dens Park boss recently reinforced his squad by bringing in defender Clark Robertson, goalkeeper Jon McCracken and striker Seb Palmer-Houlden.