Hartley Staying At Dundee

Photo by Jeff Holmes Dundee have confirmed manager Paul Hartley will be staying at Dens Park after snubbing interest from Cardiff. The former Hibernian, Hearts and Celtic midfielder was tipped to replace Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after reports on Thursday morning claimed the former Manchester United striker was set to be sacked by Bluebirds owner Vincent Tan. But Dundee released a statement saying Hartley was going nowhere as they insisted their manager was focused purely on the upcoming double-header with city rivals Dundee United. The statement said: Regarding the recent speculation and reports out of England. The club would like to confirm that manager Paul Hartley has long term plans to stay at Dundee Football Club. "Paul is committed to the club and is looking forward and focused on the upcoming derby matches this week. "As a club, we are not surprised that speculation linking Paul to other clubs has come up due to the fantastic job he continues to do at Dens Park. "The club and Paul see the solid foundation which has already been put in place as the beginning of a long term plan which will see Paul at the helm of the club for years to come." Hartley left Alloa to replace John Brown as Dark Blues boss in early February and led the club to promotion to the Scottish Premiership three-and-a-half months later. Solskjaer took over at the Cardiff City Stadium just a month before Hartley moved to Dens, but his nine-month stint in charge looks to be over already. The former Molde boss could not save the club from relegation from the Barclays Premier League, while two wins from their opening seven fixtures has seen them drop to 17th in the Sky Bet Championship.