Stars and stripes to be flown at United

STICK a tenner on Dundee United having new American owners by the end of the season. The troubled Tayside club are at an advanced stage of due diligence with an unnamed Stateside consortium interested in buying the 51-per-cent shareholding of former chairman Stephen Thompson. And the stars and stripes could flutter over Tannadice within six to eight weeks. Alistair Borthwick, the Bank of America executive who once loaned the club £500k, denies any involvement. Whoever the mystery buyers are, it’s hard to believe they could run the club as badly as Thompson. A succession of poor managerial appointments and business decisions leaves the Tangerines facing the real threat of a third season in Scotland’s second tier. Fans of Dundee and Rangers won’t agree. But for those of us who grew up in United’s halcyon era of the 1980s, it’s a sad state of affairs. The likely consequence will be both of Dundee’s major football clubs falling into the hands of American owners. If that comes to pass, it’s time for an adult conversation. For tribalism to be put to one side and a joined-up plan formed for United to groundshare with their neighbours and rivals in a new Camperdown Park arena. Two old rivals coexisting within 300 yards of each other used to feel idiosyncratic and quaint. Now? With both clubs losing money hand over fist, maintaining two crumbling stadia in the same street feels like something else. Inexplicable folly.