United are no match for Levein ...it’s like fighting fire with petrol
THIS is nobody’s idea of a fair fight. Craig Levein versus the entire club apparatus of Dundee United? The poor misguided souls in charge at Tannadice really should have called in reinforcements.
Because, in this instance, they’ve been utterly embarrassed by one man’s ability to not only accurately hit his intended target — but smash it to smithereens.
Levein started the current row over John Souttar by openly declaring that United had ‘nearly ruined’ the young centre-half’s career by playing him out of position.
The fact that the Tayside club attempted to hit back yesterday, issuing a statement that failed to address the key criticism, was almost endearing.
Aw, bless. Look at them, thinking they can mix it with an archagitator of Levein’s experience… it’s like watching a middleweight trying to knock down Anthony Joshua.
All they’ve done is guarantee another 24 hours in the news cycle for a story that makes them look bad. Very bad. It’s as if they’ve tried to fight a fire with petrol.
Levein’s decision to level such harsh criticism at his former club certainly proves he’s back to full health, with neither his aim nor his hitting power diminished by a spell in hospital.
United can’t be expected to be entirely appreciative of his return to form of course — not if it means their ex-manager swinging leftand-right combinations at them.
After all, theirs is a club with a reputation as a finishing school for some of the best talents to have emerged from Scotland in recent years.
Indeed, any time someone questions their methods, they can always answer with two words: Andy Robertson.
But it’s noticeable that, for all the bluster they produced yesterday, there was no attempt to directly refute Levein’s main allegation. That by shifting young Souttar around a number of different positions, they hampered his development.
Quite honestly, they have no defence to offer. They can’t claim that when Hearts signed Souttar in January 2016 the youngster had been thriving in a development programme guaranteed to end in full international caps and a future big-money move. Far from it.
Deployed at right-back, left-back and in central midfield, even left out of the starting XI altogether by Tannadice boss Mixu Paatelainen, he was allowed to leave for a compensation fee in the region of £100,000.
And Hearts fans, lest they forget, weren’t at all happy about the deal. After all, Souttar was a spent force in the eyes of many.
If they’re being honest, a lot of supporters will now admit that they saw the defender — still just a teenager at the time — as a player destined never to fulfil his potential. Certainly not a footballer who would one day be hailed as the answer to Scotland’s central defensive prayers.
Levein knew better. So he’s entitled to crow a little, indulging in some ‘I told you so’ showboating.
Had he been merely taking a random potshot, his sneak attack on United could be filed alongside so many other scattergun salvos fired off since his return to the technical area.
It could have been dismissed along with his ‘natural order’ crack intended to wind up Hibs, his obsession with Scott Brown’s card count, or quips about the length of the grass at Tynecastle.
We would have enjoyed another war of words — occasionally one of the most entertaining aspects of Scottish football — and moved on.
But there’s a truth at the heart of this fight. It adds weight to the argument.
Levein was pilloried enough for his past mistakes, most of them while Scotland head coach. But sitting top of the league, a position that allows access to the highest bully pulpit in the land, he is making the most of his moment.
United? They should have taken their lumps and moved on. Because they’re wrong. And, deep down, they know it.