Tony Docherty insists he is “proud” of his two seasons as Dundee manager and admits there was “an element of shock” when he lost his job in May.
The Dens Park club beat St Johnstone 2-0 on the final day of the 2024-25 campaign to finish 10th in the Scottish Premiership, with the 54-year-old sacked the following day.
He has since been replaced by Steven Pressley.
In his debut campaign, Docherty steered the promoted Dark Blues to sixth place and was among the PFA Scotland manager of the year nominees.
“Of course there is disappointment and an element of shock but I think I’m now in a place where I can accept it and move on,” he told BBC Sport Scotland.
“The previous season we probably exceeded expectations. Loads of managers more experienced than me will tell you the second season is the most difficult.
“On reflection, I’m proud of my time at Dundee.
“I wanted to make sure the team had an identity and a playing style. I think we had that. We were a really front foot attacking team.”
Docherty went on to express satisfaction from midfield trio Luke McCowan, Lyall Cameron and Josh Mulligan moving on to Celtic, Rangers and Hibernian respectively.
“My passion is to work with players like that and improve them, build those relationships,” he said. “And I still have that passion.”
Only the top three in the league scored more goals, but Dundee shipped 77 goals in their 38 Premiership games last term – more than any other side.
Docherty had to deal with a spate of injuries in central defence, including losing skipper Joe Shaughnessy for most of last season.
“We were the youngest team in the league by quite a margin – 25% of our minutes went to under-21 players – and when you work with younger players there is inconsistency,” he said.
“We had a bad February after a good January and a big reason for that was injuries to experienced players. It’s so important to have those cultural architects – and the team suffered.
“Losing key players in key positions did prove very challenging.”
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