The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Scathing attack on club and Laszlo by former defender
Quinn criticises Tannadice training methods
Paul Quinn has launched a blistering verbal attack on his former club Dundee United.
The defender let rip in the wake of Csaba Laszlo’s sacking on Sunday after their humiliating 5-1 mauling from Ross County the day before.
Quinn spent one season with the Tangerines, having signed in August 2017, and left Tannadice in May after just 19 appearances.
The 33-year-old is saddened to see his old team struggling but insists Laszlo’s departure won’t solve much deeperrooted malaise.
Quinn said: “There are bigger problems there than just replacing the manager.
“There needs to be an element of realism around the whole club.
“There is expectation everywhere you go but some places just don’t have the realism to merge with it.
“It seems that, over the past few seasons, the aims at Dundee United are coming without having the right foundation.
“The current squad is huge and the place is draining at times,” added Quinn, who also played for County, Motherwell and Aberdeen.
“Let me tell you from personal experience, it can be a negative thing.
“For the players who see the pictures of past greats from the 1980s within the stadium, they are expected to measure up to that as soon as they walk through the door.
“It can be a negative environment which needs to change.
“Nobody wants to go and play amid a negativity bubble. That’s what it’s been like for a while now.
“We’re all thinking it but I’m happy enough to say it.
“I might get shot down for saying it but it doesn’t bother me.”
Quinn insists he was not shocked to see United lose 5-1 at home to County and blamed Laszlo’s laborious training methods.
He added: “To be honest, I wasn’t surprised.
“Overall, the results haven’t been good.
“In my opinion, a lot of that must have been coming from the training ground and the energy-sapping nature of training.
“They have the best of facilities possible at St Andrews but I refer (you) to Scott McDonald, who said the manager sapped the energy out of him.
“You could be Cristiano Ronaldo walking on to that pitch on any given Saturday but if the whole week’s training is leaving you feeling like that then you are not going to deliver.
“Scott has played everywhere in his career yet he didn’t feel good at United.
“There was always an argument about it and things were on a knife-edge – that’s how it was.
“If you are not getting the right training – and you’re not getting people smiling – then you’re not doing your job and that doesn’t matter in any walk of life.
“Csaba wanted to train Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. He said that a day off on a Sunday and on a Wednesday would be amateur. One thing I felt was Csaba’s training was tactical. It was long and it was every day.
“I don’t think you can swamp players tactically for four days and then… expect them to be sharp.
“We had guys like McDonald, Billy King, Sam Stanton, James Keatings and Paul McMullan, who need to thrive on tempo to get their quick feet into action.
“I was looking at them and thinking: ‘He is not looking sharp today – he would normally score that’.
“All of a sudden, you’ve got guys looking ordinary who should be seeing off lesser teams.”