Tangerines Poor performance from Utd sees them lucky to scrape draw

PLAYERRATINGS

IF Dundee United are going to live up to their billing as favourites to win this season’s Championship, they are going to have to do much better. Much, much better.

And one thing is for certain — the form they’ve showed in recent league outings will be nothing like good enough to get them to the top of the table, never mind stay there.

Last month they huffed and puffed to the narrowest of home wins when Brechin came to Tannadice and then were well beaten by rejuvenated St Mirren in Paisley.

And back on their own patch, Saturday saw them escape by the skin of their teeth with a point from previously-struggling Dumbarton and thanks only to a late equaliser from supersub James Keatings.

His precise free-kick three minutes from the end of the 90 was almost the only positive to be taken from a quite abysmal performance.

It was an escape but not a great one from a game in which they could have had no complaints had they seen the Sons take all three points.

Because, make no mistake about it, if anyone deserved to win this one it was Steve Aitken’s plucky part-timers.

Despite going into the clash still looking for their first league win, from the start the visitors looked the more confident outfit.

Aided by dreadful home defending, they were ahead in only five minutes via a goal from full-back David Smith and from then until the interval were comfortably the better side.

Indeed, but for the lack of a better final ball, they could well have added to their lead in a first 45 minutes that had to be endured by i ncreasinglydisaffected home fans.

Normally a support that, at least during games, is forgiving and prefer to back their team than boo them, at halftime Arabs jeered United off.

They couldn’t be blamed for that because, even after a troubled couple of years or so, they have a right to expect better from their favourites.

With the introduction of Patrick N’Koyi after the break and the use of two strikers, things at least improved in the second half and Sons goalie Scott Gallacher was called on to make a few decent saves.

Even so, until Keatings’ moment of magic with his free-kick from the edge of the area after a tired tackle from David Wilson had felled Billy King, United didn’t really look like scoring.

Given the undoubted attacking talent manager Ray McKinnon’s added to the squad over the summer, that’s baffling, but it has to be said that’s been the way of things in recent outings.

It can be argued there are reasons for that. This is a new team that’s still gelling and that process has been annoyingly interrupted by a series of niggling injuries to key players.

We are, though, now into September. Players should be getting used to each other and to the way the manager wants them to play.

Sure we should not forget there is a long way to go in what will be another marathon season and hard slog to get back to the Premiership.

Even so, there is no escaping what was served up on Saturday was not good enough, nothing like it. The time has come for this team to start delivering, both in terms of performances and results.