Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Freshness can help United scale heights
AS A St Mirren supporter, trust me, I know what it’s like to have your club go through the mire in Scotland’s second tier.
I also know what it’s like to witness your club rejuvenated and flying in the Championship.
And a lot of what I see now at Tannadice mirrors what I saw in the Paisley revolution, which kicked off some 20 months ago.
The Buddies were floundering at the foot of the table when the board took the decision to appoint Jack Ross and the rest, as they say, is history.
What a lot of people don’t realise is the club had undergone radical surgery from top to bottom.
The Saints had struggled under the stewardships of Ian Murray and Alex Rae, men brought to the club by a board eager to get out.
New chiefs, led by Gordon Scott and Tony Fitzpatrick, were guardians of a fan-ownership model which has seen the club soar on and off the pitch.
In excess of 10 players were signed up in January 2017, safety and a summer overhaul followed, before last season’s title-winning campaign.
Key to the success was the path from the club’s youth academy into the first-team – producing stars like Stevie Mallan, Lewis Morgan and Kyle Magennis of late.
Under the vision of new chairman Mike Martin, Dundee United have a similar opportunity to ‘do a St Mirren’.
There is a freshness to the playing squad and coaching team which can only be a good thing for what was, evidently, an ailing side last season.
With the appointment of youth coaches Craig Easton and Scott Robertson, the Terrors will, hopefully, see young talent like Matty Smith and Scott Allardice progress to the fore next term.
This, coupled with the competition for places United’s nine summer signings will bring, should hopefully lead to success in what will be a difficult division.
What will be key for the club, and crucially boss Csaba Laszlo, is gaining the backing of the fans.
If Arabs buy into his vision early doors, there should be no stopping a club of Dundee United’s size and stature from soaring back to the Premiership.
Just like at St Mirren, the atmosphere at United has to change for the better before it’s too late.