Wato Kuate – gone but unlikely to be forgotten

with Kuate running the full length of the pitch to take a bow in front of home fans behind the opposite goal. Rough around the edges, a bit bonkers but capable of the magnificent – Kuate ticked all the cult-hero boxes. Arabs were in love.

The ego:

Kuate is said to be a nice enough, polite young man but he didn’t want for self-belief. “I heard he told our club TV that when he is match fit he is the best player in that position in the world,” Sean Dillon revealed. “It certainly makes a difference from someone just saying ‘we’ll see how things go’ and all the usual stuff.” That, it does.

The end:

Maverick? Undoubtedly. Team player? It would appear not. There were already signs that United and Kuate would be a fast-burning relationship. Even after his wonder goal, McKinnon revealed that it had been preceded by a “chat with him at half-time about bucking his ideas up”. In the second leg of the semi-final at Falkirk he let his man run off him for the Bairns’ goal and then at Tannadice on Thursday against Hamilton Accies you could have made a case for subbing him after 15 minutes. Time and time again he coughed up possession in the middle of the park. It was a shock that Kuate reappeared for the second half but he only lasted another 10 minutes before he was eventually brought off. Kuate didn’t go quietly or conventionally, that’s for sure. Dillon, Mark Durnan and the United fans were all engaged in confrontations of sorts and up the tunnel he went without diverting via the dugout. In the huff would be the charitable description. It wasn’t quite Gavin Gunning’s sit-down protest but McKinnon had seen enough and, asked after the game whether that was Kuate’s last appearance in United colours, the answer wasn’t left open to interpretation – “Absolutely” was the response.

The weekend:

So United will be Kuate-less for their play-off D-Day at Hamilton. It perhaps best sums up the gulf between the opinion the player has of his own ability and reality, that the team will likely stand a better chance of securing a return to the Premiership they crave without him.