CHARLIE Adam has conceded he will likely retire if he’s not offered a new deal by Dundee or outside of Scotland.
The Dee captain, a native of the city, insists he only wants to play at Dens Park next year, admitting any decision to release him from the club would leave him with his own to make in the summer.
A lifelong fan, Adam, 36, led the team to promotion last season, but is likely to suffer the heartbreak of relegation this time around, with Dundee facing the almost impossible task of overhauling a six-point, eight-goal gap to St Johnstone in the final two games.
“Would I consider playing on anywhere else?,” Adam, when asked about his future, said. “No I don’t think so, not in Scotland.
“If there was nothing else, then I would look to retire and go into coaching or management.
“I only want to play here and if that is not to be then I have a decision to make.”
Dundee’s almost certain relegation will hurt Adam more than most. When he returned to his hometown after a successful spell down south - which saw him make more than 200 Premier League appearances for Blackpool, Liverpool and Stoke City - he made no secret of his desperation to restore the Dee to the top flight. He wasn’t shy in admitting there were “tears” when he did just that, playing a pivotal role in the play-off win over Kilmarnock.
But his Dundee dream has quickly turned into a nightmare. They’ve gone down with a whimper, winning more games against League One opponents than Premiership ones since the start of December (two to one) and never looked like catching St Johnstone, despite the Perth side’s struggles.
“We have a big summer ahead for our club, there will be big decisions to make,” Adam, who played 26 times for Scotland, said. “What way the club will go I don’t know and we will have to see what happens in the next few weeks.
“Will I stay on? It’s not my decision. This is my boyhood club and I would love to be here next season but it’s not about me, it’s about what is best for the club moving forward.
“If that is for me to leave and give other boys opportunities, then no problem.”
He added: “It’s been a great two years and I have loved it but it is up to the owners and whoever the manager will be what happens next.
“We will make that decision in a few weeks, it’s been a tough season for everyone on and off the pitch.
“It’s so tough to take.
“It’s not about me, I have had a wonderful career, I was lucky enough to get the opportunity from James McPake to come in and help the team.
“I was able to do that and we won promotion.
“It’s not the way I would like to leave if that’s what happens, but we will need to wait and see.”
As is so often the case, when you’re down, you’re really down. Adam found that out for himself in Saturday’s tame 2-0 loss to St Mirren, which was, realistically, Dundee’s last chance to make a fist of survival. With less than five minutes played, he inexplicably played the ball across the face of his own goal to tee up Alex Greive perfectly for the opener.
There was no way back for the Dee after that, with Curtis Main putting the icing on Stephen Robinson’s cake in the second-half.
“I take responsibility for the first goal,” Adam said. “You come away from home and in the first ten or 15 minutes you try to keep it tight.
“I have tried to be clever and play it back to the goalie but it was never on and I should have just cleared my lines. I accept what I have done.”
While it was despair for Adam and Dundee, there was joy for Main. And more than a tinge of relief. His strike was his first in the league after a frustrating season, one which he hopes paves the way for better days ahead.
“With a full pre-season under our belts and some help with recruitment as well I think you will see a different St Mirren,” Main said. "It'll be a challenging pre-season for sure but it will be worth it.
"If I'm unleashed, I'll be a better player. This season has been challenging for me on a number of levels.
"Personally I've not been able to show my true self. The last couple of games I feel I've been able to go out and do just that.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel