Relegation foes are all looking for a quick kill

WITH 10 SPFL Premiership teams concerned about the prospect of being relegated automatically or via a play-off, there is no greater sight for them than seeing a rival club becoming detached at the bottom of the table. Right now Dundee United sit in 12th position on five points from 11 games, four points behind Partick Thistle. The plight of the Tannadice side makes life a little bit sweeter for Thistle and others such as Motherwell, Kilmarnock and Inverness. There is concern that United will not be able to get out of their current predicament. Club legend Maurice Malpas is well aware it is not a straightforward task. He believes every other team will want to see United condemned to life in the Championship as quickly as possible — and will give that little bit extra on the park when they face Mixu Paatelainen’s men in order to keep them rooted at the bottom. ‘I played in successful Dundee United teams and it’s like everything else, the past can come back to haunt you,’ Malpas said. ‘Everyone expects them to be like our team in our era. With all due respect, they’re nothing like that. ‘They’re like a lot of teams in Scottish football, going through three or four years of doing well and then three or four years when they’re poor. If they get a really bad year, they can be dumped out of the league. ‘I’ve seen them a few times this year and they’re fine with the ball. When they don’t have it? There’s nothing. They’ve hardly made a tackle and that’s part of the game. They’ve lost a few unlucky goals but that’s how it is. When you’re a kid your confidence just goes. ‘They’re going to have to dig deep now. Everybody in the league wants United to lose every week because they’re at the bottom of the league. It’s not because it’s Dundee United. ‘If they lose they’re not getting any closer to you. People will think: “If we beat them today that’s them burst” and it’ll get like that quite soon. ‘I don’t think they’ll go down. Once they get on an even keel and get some confidence back, they’ll shoot up the league. ‘They’ve got too many young boys and not enough older, experienced players. I think, come January, Mixu will get some experienced players in.’ The success United had during the Jim McLean era was down to hard work, with and without the ball. There was a mental toughness and steeliness too. Malpas wants to see that injected into the current squad and said: ‘We earned the right to play. It was never about how pretty you were to start with. It was about how good you were at stopping the other team playing, then you could go and play. ‘If you stood back and let the other team play then they would have a good chance of beating you. That was drummed into us. When you’ve got the ball, make sure you do something with it. When they have the ball, make sure they can’t do anything with it! United haven’t had that second bit when I’ve seen them this year. ‘The players will have to dig deep and realise it’s not about how many pretty passes they’ll have or pretty goals they score. ‘When Mixu was Kilmarnock manager he tried to get the team to play attractive football. But I think Mixu’s mentality is that it’s fine playing, but you have to win. There’s no point in playing well if you lose. ‘Idealists say you should play well all the time but football isn’t like that. You get 11 guys trying their best. When they’re good they’re good. But you have to make sure when they’re bad they’re not horrendous.’