Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
McKinnon getting best out of youngster Telfer
was considered surplus to requirements by then-boss Mixu Paatelainen.
As much for the sake of his former gaffer, who always denied telling Telfer he could go, he’s happy to set the record on that straight.
“I had been in the team for two or three weeks when Mixu took over but then it just kind of fizzled out and I was sitting in the stand.
“That’s when I asked him if I could go on loan but it took a couple of weeks for him to decide.
“He wasn’t sure and, even when he agreed, he said he liked me as a player and wanted me back in the summer.
“Then I went to Livingston and I saw the headlines about me leaving for good. I spoke to Mixu and he said he didn’t know where it had come from and he wanted me back in the summer.
“I still thought United had a good chance of staying up and I’d be back to work with him but, obviously, things didn’t work out that way and he left.”
Disappointed as he was for Mixu, Telfer admits he’s enjoying the experience of working with new boss Ray McKinnon.
He credits him for his re-emergence in the first team.
“With the gaffer, you know exactly what he wants from every player and every position. There is no ambiguity and he is very clear about what our jobs are.
“That helps because, in the past, there was sometimes confusion over what was expected. Now in training and games we know what he wants.”