STUMP UP STEP UP STAY UP
New United chief Ogren reveals his route to glory
MARK OGREN last night revealed his bold blueprint for success at Dundee United – and insisted he expects to be coining it in back in the Premiership before long.
The US-based businessman was unveiled yesterday following his takeover on Tayside just before Christmas that saw him replace former chairman Mike Martin at the helm.
American Ogren lifted the lid on his vision to bring the glory days back to the Championship club as Robbie Neilson’s hopefuls battle it out for promotion.
United’s new supremo, joined by his son Scott on the board, has quickly put his stamp on things, carrying out rapid restructuring with the appointment of new managing director Malachy Brannigan and sporting director Tony Ashgar.
And the Minnesota millionaire insists he’ll splash out to cash in further down the line as he strives to make the club great again.
Ogren said: “We expect to make money. But we are not going to make money with this size of club in the Championship.
“So we need to spend money to get promoted. Equally important, or more important, we need to stay up in the Premiership. We need sustained success here in the long term in order to be profitable and maintain that success.
“We have modelled it. We have a plan. It starts with putting the right people in the right places that have had success in their positions. We absolutely feel we have the right people.
“Then we need to make an investment. But in order to make money we need to get into the Premiership – and if we can get there and stay there we feel we can be successful.
“It’s part of the model to sell players on. In our academy we are going to have a big focus on that.”
Ogren has been getting up to speed with the Tangerines’ proud history and met with supporters on Monday night.
Years of fans’ unrest and boardroom divisions have destabilised the club but the new supremo reckons he can bring the various factions together to finally give the long-suffering punters something worth shouting about.
He said: “I know enough to realise there is an issue. We appreciate the fan clubs and the fanbase we have here.
“I would rather have negativity than no response at all. That means people care and I like that. We are not going to please all the people all the time but we had our meeting with the fans’ groups and I thought it went really well.
“We told them from a high level what our plan is and they seemed pleased with that but we also realise they have been told a lot of things in the past.
“We are going to do what we can to put things in place here to give them success again.”
Ogren had initially been scouring mainland Europe for a club to buy before being bowled over by United’s potential.
The 56-year-old still owns a baseball team in his homeland but is fully focused on making his Scottish project memorable.
Ogren said: “It didn’t start off to be Scottish football specifically. It was European football.
“We have been involved with American sports teams before and we just like the model of European football.
“So we looked at different opportunities throughout Europe and kept coming back to Dundee United. It just felt right. It has a rich history but had fallen back from where they had been and where the expectation is.
“So we just felt we could make a difference to get the team promoted and be successful.
“Everybody we have talked to says Dundee United belong in the Premiership. Personally, I am only going to get over here every couple of months maybe so we need the right people in the right places on a daily basis.
“Back home we have some private companies we’ve run.
“So we have a more business background although we have been involved in a couple of baseball teams and an ice hockey team. We currently only own one baseball team – we have divested of the others to focus on what we have here.”
Meanwhile, sporting director Ashgar has pledged to back boss Neilson to the hilt in his quest to seal a return to the top flight.
Ashgar said: “My role is an executive leadership role, working alongside the managing director, looking at the performance side of the club, recruitment, looking at the academy and supporting Robbie and the first team.
“Ultimately the manager will be the decision maker for players and first-team selection.
“European football use this role all the time. Being a head coach is a lonely place and having somebody to provide support enables him to focus Saturday to Saturday and I can look long term.
“Myself and Robbie have a good relationship. He’s probably one of the best coaches in Scotland.
“Mark has asked me to create a performance and business plan and to try to deliver it.”