Time to toughen up at Tannadice
Rankin insists United don’t demand enough from each other... but that will change under hard taskmaster Paatelainen
AS a man still revered in Leith for celebrating a hat-trick against Hearts with a trio of somersaults back in October 2000, Mixu Paatelainen’s first walk up the Tannadice touchline on Sunday was never going to be met with universal approval.
What a beleaguered Dundee United support would currently give to see one of their own players indulge in such a feat of gymnastic excellence in this most wretched of seasons.
By the time their side had slumped to a single-goal defeat to Hearts, those clad in tangerine struggled to recount a single decent chance carved from open play.
Nonetheless, despite seeing the gap at the foot of the table widen to four points over the course of the weekend, there was a degree of consolation in the way United went about their business.
Stung by being branded ‘soft touches’ by caretaker manager Dave Bowman after a meek surrender at Firhill two weeks ago, Paatelainen’s charges certainly let Hearts know they were in a game on Sunday.
Six yellow cards — two of which were directed at Blair Spittal — underlined that a degree of passion had belatedly returned to the side. They may have gone down — but at least they did so fighting.
And, provided a more robust defensive approach can be maintained in the coming weeks, the hope is that the killer pass so badly lacking against Robbie Neilson’s side will soon return.
Given their precarious league gue position, crawling before you can walk certainly seems the most prudent mantra f or a manager once famed for going head over heels in celebration.
‘I have played under the manager before and I know how he goes about things,’ said John Rankin, who previously crossed paths with the Finn at Hibernian.
‘First and foremost, you are hard to beat and then you play an attractive style of football.
‘To a man, I think we did our job defensively and we didn’t give Hearts a lot of opportunities.
‘The disappointing thing is that we didn’t have a big enough threat in front of goal to enable us to go and get a point or three out of it.
‘ We need to l ook at the positives and I felt there were a lot of them. The desire was back, while at Partick Thistle it went missing.
‘The final ball will come but, going i nto the game, we were more concerned about the defensive side of things.
‘It is about where we should be on the park at certain times and the manager has made it very clear about what he wants us to do. Each player should know his job inside out and we are obviously learning what his demands are at this moment in time.
‘He (Paatelainen) only had two days with us before the Hearts game, so this week is a big week for us in training.’
Anyone who set eyes on United during the final days of Jackie McNamara’s reign would have needed no telling as to the scale of the task awaiting his successor.
OverO th the course off th the summer, the bulk of a squad still good enough to finish fifth last season completely lost its way.
If it was completely unreasonable to expect Paatelainen to restore equilibrium merely on the strength of a few pep-talks, then Rankin sincerely believes that his methods will quickly bear fruit.
‘When a new manager arrives, the squad always gets a lift because the players who hadn’t been in the plans before see an opportunity for themselves, while those who were playing have to prove themselves to the new manager all over again,’ Rankin explained.
‘So the tempo has been upped but that always happens when a new gafferff comes i in. Th That’st’ j justt part and parcel of football.
‘ There i s an aura about him (Paatelainen). He is very much hands-on on the training field and we saw that on the couple of days he had with us.
‘He gets his point across and we have boys here still learning the game, so hopefully that can rub off on them.
‘The boys are probably on their toes at the moment because they don’t know what his thoughts are or how he is.
‘So a lot of people have to prove themselves to get in the starting XI. The most important thing of all is that we start picking up points.’
It would take a brave man not to sees matters Paatelainen’s way. For all he speaks in measured tones, there’s a presence to him befitting o of his hulking frame.
‘He is a big man,’ Rankin said. ‘He has that fear factor just by looking at him.
‘He has that great presence. He is a also very knowledgeable about the g game and I know that from my time with him before.
‘He is also very passionate and he doesn’t suffer fools gladly.
‘ To be fair, I don’t think we demand enough from each other on the pitch as a group of players.
‘To have the manager demanding that from us on the sidelines will certainly ruffle a few feathers — but you need that when you are bottom of the league.
‘I think you saw a big improvement in the way we played against Hearts on Sunday compared to how we played against Partick Thistle.’
A sense of disappointment at the way the season has gone to date at Tannadice has not yet resulted in any kind of full-scale panic.
However justified criticism of the club’s handling of McNamara’s dismissal may have been, his successor has at least been given time to turn matters around.
That said, the immediate fixture list is hardly a comfort blanket; they face Celtic away on Sunday, t hen Ross County at home, followed by Aberdeen away.
With 11th-placed Partick Thistle now seemingly on a roll after two successive wins, United cannot view any match as a bonus.
‘We can’t block out the fact that we are bottom of the l eague,’ Rankin admitted. ‘We are bottom because we haven’t been good enough this season.
‘When you are bottom, you are looking to see where your next win will be — but there is positivity in the dressing room and we feel we can win any game.
‘We don’t fear anyone. It’s not as if we will be going to Parkhead and thinking: “Oh, here we go...”. We don’t think like that and we will go there believing we can win.’