NOBODY WILL LEAVE TAN NA DICE ON THE CHEAP– OGREN

There will be no January fire sale at Tannadice, Mark Ogren has insisted.

But the Dundee United owner admitted that the club’s cost-cutting process could mean “more activity than normal” in the next transfer window.

With the likes of Lawrence Shankland, Benjamin Siegrist and several young stars on the books, there are certainly assets who will be coveted by other clubs.

Nobody will be leaving on the cheap, however.

“We’re not going to have a fire sale, that’s for sure,” Ogren told Courier Sport.

“But yeah, buying and selling players is part of football.

“We would expect there to be some activity in January – depending on how bad things are, maybe more activity than normal. We’ll see. We’ve got a good chance of winning on the pitch, so there is a balance.”

One of the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic has been Ogren’s absence from Tannadice since February.

The American doesn’t need to be in Dundee to appreciate the job his new manager, Micky Mellon, is doing, however.

“If you had told me we’d be in sixth place after 12 matches, we’d definitely have taken that,” said Ogren.

“Are we playing as well as we can? No we’re not. But we’re a work in progress. We just got promoted and we’ve got a new manager. I haven’t even met Micky yet!

“We’ve had a lot of calls obviously but it hurts that I haven’t been able to meet him face to face. I’m really pleased with him and the team. It takes a while to get adjusted to moving up. There have been players injured, new players coming in and players involved with their countries.

“I’ve got full faith.”

As is the case for United supporters, watching Premiership matches in his home doesn’t get close to the match day experience Ogren and his son have been gripped by.

He said: “I get more nervous watching the games on a computer or tied into my TV than I do in the stadium live. I still enjoy it though, and I don’t miss a game.

“I love coming over and interacting with everybody. Scott and I have been missing it badly.”