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GORDON CHISHOLM last night lifted the lid on the madness that engulfed his stormy seven-month spell as Dundee manager.
Chisholm has laid bare the inside story of the Dens descent into meltdown - and accused club chiefs of living in fear of sugar daddy Calum Melville.
The axed 50-year-old has catalogued cash pledges that were made but never kept - starting just two months after being lured back to Tayside from Queen of the South in March.
And he insists board members were too frightened to stand up to Melville and demand answers.
Chisholm said: "The whole thing was built around keeping Melville sweet.
"He was the man and the board all danced around him. Everything he said made them all jump to attention.
"They were frightened to upset him because there was always the threat he'd pull out.
"What he said went - it was his way or no way. He did what he wanted and was allowed to do what he wanted.
"The board were worried he was losing interest and all hoping after he got over the disappointment of missing out on promot ion last season it would come back.
"For example, chief exec Harry MacLean and I went to his house. I took a list of players and their CVs with me. This was my chance to sell it to him and keep him interested.
"It was a massive worr y beforehand that Calum was thinking of pulling out.
"I had to go up there and talk him into retaining his interest. "Ian Bodie, who was the financial director, wasn't happy with the way things were being run.
"He said he couldn't work with Calum.
"Ian is a lovely guy and that's why he was so upset at what was going on.
"The whole board were not happy with the way it was going and they all knew about it.
"But none of them could win against Calum."
Chisholm knew the writing was on the wall for himself and Dodds as soon as the word administration was uttered. He said: "Don't get me wrong, I knew that as soon as the administrator came in it wouldn't be good for myself and Billy.
"But George Knight was put on the board to make sure something like this didn't happen.
"He is the one man who should have been standing up and saying, 'Wait a minute, this is not right'. He's a nice guy and down to earth but they all got blinded by Melville's money."
Chisholm fought a losing battle in his pursuit of funds and insists a deafening silence from the top didn't help. He said: "During the summer I made numerous calls to chairman Bob Brannan and Melville to find out what money was available to bring players in.
"I phoned, left messages and sent texts but nobody got back to me.
"You soon realise you're wasting your time.
"So I eventually gave up and went on holiday, hoping things would soon change. But there was still no communication so I didn't have a clue where I was pitching in the transfer market.
"Then right at the end of the transfer window Melville told me I could sign two strikers and he would be personally responsible for them.
"I signed David Witteveen from Hearts and had a deal lined up for Michael Paton from Aberdeen.
"But then Melville pulled the funding for that one. It was a few days after he promised me the money to bring strikers in. That's how erratic it was.
"There was no structure, you didn't know what was going to happen from one day to the next. Everything was manic."
Chisholm last spoke to Brannan back in May and claims he left him to suffer. He said: "I got rid of 16 players because I had been told the funding would be there to rebuild the squad but Brannan then told me I was still over budget.
"He came to see me with Knight and apologised, saying that he wouldn't blame me if I started looking for something else because the job wasn't the one he'd offered me.
"That was in May, two months after arriving at the club. Brannan just washed his hands of us.
"I'll never forgive him for that. "Now Brannan has got the audacity to text me and ask to come to my house and meet with the sacked players.
"But it's too late for that - the damage has been done."