Alan Pattullo: Dundee's dramatic week - no warning for James McPake, fans left in dark, Mark McGhee, Andrew Marr show and croissants

In a week when Dundee was reported to have the unwanted record of most crimes per 10,000 people in Scotland, some would contend a heist was perpetrated on top of a hill at a place of hope they call Dens Park.

One minute James McPake was being allowed to go on television to talk about his side's prospects in upcoming games such as next month’s Scottish Cup quarter final v Rangers, the next he had been ousted in favour of an out of work 64-year-old who just happens to be best friends with the club’s technical director.

McPake's successor had also coincidentally watched Dundee’s win over Hearts a week earlier. Mark McGhee’s appointment seemed to be the ultimate inside job.

Geographical details alone meant the game was up. McGhee lives in Brighton. He was at training the morning after McPake’s departure was announced in the late afternoon on Wednesday. “Cards on the table,” McGhee admirably admitted later. “We all know how this works…”

It is the latest unedifying episode to blight Dundee, although it shouldn’t be viewed as the first time the club have made a contentious managerial change. John McCormack was sacked in 1997 when the team were riding high in the old First Division. A few years earlier, Iain Munro was forced out, again with the team at the top of the same league.

Nor are they the only club to have made such calls. There are those who could deliver a strong argument that Stephen Glass was harshly treated and deserved more time. A hero as a player, he is already a memory as Aberdeen manager. Just seven days after Glass left the Fir Park pitch to sound and fury from the 2,000 strong Aberdeen travelling support his replacement was being hailed by many of these same fans at the same stadium yesterday. Football rolls