Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Asghar opens up on ‘horrible summer’ and taking flak from fans
TONY Asghar confesses he endured a “horrible summer” after naming Tam Courts as Dundee United boss.
The Tannadice sporting director was the driving force behind the appointment after being blown over by his personality and body of work within the club’s academy structure.
However, that cut no ice with many supporters, who were furious with the decision, given Courts’ complete lack of experience as an SPFL manager.
Courts had a fine spell in charge of Kelty Hearts in the South of Scotland League, taking over a struggling side and putting many of the building blocks in place from which they are now benefiting.
But Asghar was still the lightning rod for a ferocious backlash.
In an interview with DUFC, he said: “I took a lot of flak and it was a horrible summer. But, when you look at where we are sitting now I’m glad we had that.
“I’m not turning round and saying ‘I told you so’, but I want people to know we’ll never take any liberties at this club. We are trying to build, make it better and sustainable. People think, when they look at me, that
I’m a dictator. The word ‘bully’ is used a lot but, interestingly, the three managers I’ve had (Robbie Neilson, Micky Mellon and Courts) always said their piece and had support from me.
“With Tam, we had people calling him a PE teacher and that’s something we laugh about. This guy comes from Lochgelly. He’s from a mining village and has had over 600 games in the Juniors. He’s no wallflower. Tam is his own man, he knows what he is doing and he’s only going to grow and grow.”
Now the dust has settled, United can bask in their highest top-flight finish since 2013-14 and prepare for a return to Europe for the first time in a decade.
Asghar continued: “There was a lot of scepticism when we made the appointment, with people saying it was a gamble. It was a calculated risk. For me, it was never a gamble. I know what he (Courts) was bringing and what the club was getting.”
Asghar dismissed the notion that United are spending big in pursuit of top-six qualification.
He added: “We aren’t the big payers that people make out. A lot of stories go out that we pay massive wages – we don’t.”