The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Frans urges players to lift fans
Defender admits team must accept responsibility for getting supporters back onside after cup setbacks
DUNDEE UNITED 1 ALLOA ATHLETIC 1 (ALLOA WIN 4-3 ON PENS)
Fred Frans last night insisted it’s solely down to Dundee United’s players to put the smile back on the face of their disenchanted supporters as a deepening sense of gloom threatens to engulf Tannadice before their Championship campaign gets under way.
Csaba Laszlo’s side suffered yet another dreadfully disappointing afternoon as they were held to a draw by newly-promoted Alloa in their third Betfred Cup tie, of which none have yielded victory for the new-look Tangerines.
With just this weekend’s final Group A tie remaining – away to minnows Elgin City – United are staring at an early exit from the competition which they had hoped to use as a potential springboard going into the new league season which kicks off in less than a fortnight.
Their latest uninspiring outing, coming hard on the heels of Tuesday’s narrow defeat away to Ross County, saw Frans give them a headed lead midway through the first-half before Alan Trouten’s late penalty gave Jim Goodwin’s Wasps a deserved share of the spoils, before Stewart Murdoch and Paul McMullan missed from the spot to give the visitors the bonus point.
It bred a sense of further frustration for the home supporters in the paltry crowd of 1,659, many of whom have now witnessed two failed attempts to secure promotion back to the Premiership via the play-offs in recent seasons.
Now, with their opening Championship encounter with Dunfermline, who secured a well-deserved win over Dundee at Dens yesterday, looming on August 4, there’s little to fill those fed-up followers with a genuine sense of optimism that this will be the year they finally end their exile in the Championship.
And Belgian defender Frans, who joined from Partick Thistle earlier in the summer, maintains they hold full responsibility to somehow strive to entice their long-suffering supporters to return for the journey which lies ahead.
Frans said: “It’s up to us to bring the fans back and get them enjoying themselves.
“Everyone wants to watch a winning team and we’re the ones who can really affect that.
“It’s two weeks until the league starts, and we’ve got two weeks to improve.
“If we make a good start to the league then I think people will get back on board with us.
“It doesn’t need to be a pretty win to get us going, anything will do as far as we’re concerned.”
United’s shortcomings mirrored much of last season’s fruitless attempt at promotion. They enjoyed plenty of the ball, but simply lacked the sort of penetration required to see off opponents at any level.
Their visitors defended stoutly and, in the end, United were made to pay when Frans fouled Jake Hastie inside the box and Trouten stepped up net the spot-kick.
One thing for sure is Laszlo’s side will need to find a way of killing off teams in the season ahead. Not only that, they can’t afford to be knocked out of their stride so easily when their passing game is disrupted.
Frans said: “It’s disappointing not to win. We had the majority of possession and created most of the chances.
“I think we lost control of the game in the last 15 minutes. We’ve got to find a way to grind out results, especially at home.
“We stopped passing the ball as the game went on. They changed the way they played and put more pressure on Adam (Barton) but we’ve got to find a way of dealing with that and we didn’t.
“We stopped winning our duels and lost the second balls.”
Frans’ experience, having also played for home town team Lierse in his native Belgium, is sure to be vital in the Tangerines’ quest to seal a route back to the top-flight.
The 29-year-old arrived on Tayside with a reputation for aerial prowess in the opposition penalty box, something which he readily displayed for his goal.
The level-headed Belgian doesn’t care who gets on the scoresheet provided the Tangerines succeed in fulfilling their ultimate aim, but is at least hopeful of chipping in with a few more when it matters most.
He said: “I’m pleased with my goal.
“Hopefully, I can weigh in with my fair share this season. It’s just a shame that it wasn’t the winning goal.
“The boy (Hastie) said straight away to me that it wasn’t a penalty. I pushed him wide and he fell down very easily.
“It’s frustrating for that to be given against you and for it to cost the team.”