Just think: Julian Speroni, Barry Smith, Marcello Marocco, Lee Wilkie, Zurab Khizanishvilli, Javier Artero, Beto Carranza, Gavin Rae, Juan Sara, Fabian Caballero, Steven Milne, Gavin Beith, Dave Mackay, Mark Robertson, Giorgi Nemsadze, etc., etc., with perhaps Nacho Novo and Temuri Ketsbaia to arrive later.
Now isn't that a mouth watering, though smaller, dream pool to think upon? Despite our lowly league position last season few Dundee fans think we can underperform so badly again and given a fair injury free run we could well be challenging for top 3 or 4.
Ivano Bonetti looks certain to be there also, denying the rumours that he would not return. At times I have been so dejected by his lack of enthusiasm, the games he missed, the extended holidays back in Italy last season that I wished he would never return and another Manager be found.
But now that the day has finally arrived, I find myself strangely praying that Ivano does return and with the determination and confident approach he showed in season 1. If he can come with the will to succeed, the pride in the colours and the tradition that is Dundee F.C. this can be a dream season for a team who has had more than its fair share of tears shed in seasons gone by.
The heart always rules the head where I'm concerned, and my heart still sings the hymn "Ivano, Dario". The head might be somewhere else, but don't worry about it, if the heart's where I want it to be, and football's a passionate game, played with pride and love of the jersey. The heart is the most important thing in football. So Ivano, ignore the head and go on and do the business, achieve in year 3 of the Bonetti Revolution what seemed to come unstuck last year.
Oh, to see the likes of Carranza play again in the great dark blue, I'd sacrifice all the wine in the world and all the fags I smoke in exasperated frustration just to see the likes of him achieve his true potential. To see Giorgi dance among players far inferior to his exotic talents, to see Temuri shoot from the hip and fire a bullet straight towards the opposition keeper. And all players brought here through, yes, Ivano, the Manager.
Football's an art and the players we Dundee fans have been lucky enough to see in action play it with flair and no lack of god given talents. Oh that they could also add consistency and self belief to the great equation.
Let all Dundee fans join with me in a pre-season prayer that we see our team achieve what their sometimes dream football deserves, a very high place in the Scottish Premier League. That can't be too much to ask, surely. That, and a decent run in the Cups.
"Now's the day and now's the hour!"
WELCOME HOME, LADS! WELCOME, HOME, IVANO! LET THE BATTLE BEGIN! TAKE US TO THE PROMISED LAND OF PEHS, PIZZAS AND BOVRIL. NO MILK AND HONEY FOR DUNDEE FANS. YOU'VE GAVE US A GLIMPSE, NOW TAKE US THERE. AND FULFILL OUR DREAMS!