The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Siegrist ‘settled’ with life as Tangerines No 1
In-demand Benjamin Siegrist insists he remains happy at Dundee United after racking up a century of appearances. Last month’s 1-1 draw at Kilmarnock marked the milestone for Siegrist, who joined the club in the summer of 2018 – and he hopes there are many more to come.
The former Aston Villa stopper believes he has come on in leaps and bounds since arriving at Tannadice.
The likes of Celtic and teams in Germany’s Bundesliga have been linked with a swoop in recent times – but Siegrist insists he’s settled at United and will always take interest from other clubs in his stride.
He said: “It’s better having speculation about your future than the other way, people saying: ‘He’s the last guy we want!’
“I think that’s just the nature of football, if you play well then other teams are going to be interested but I’m happy here.
“You can tell by the way I’m playing. I think that’s a reflection of how settled I feel here.
“I’ve been away from Switzerland for over a decade so I feel quite settled and happy abroad here at Dundee United.
“What will be, will be. I’m not too worried about that.”
Benjamin Siegrist is 100 not out at Dundee United – and the Swiss goalkeeper remains happy at Tannadice after racking up a century of appearances.
Last month’s 1-1 draw at Kilmarnock marked the milestone for Siegrist, who joined the club in the summer of 2018, and he hopes there are many more games to come.
The former Aston Villa stopper believes he has come on by leaps and bounds since joining the Tangerines, with his performances this season proof of that.
Siegrist leads the league for saves made, with a staggering 123, has kept 10 clean sheets and has garnered widespread praise for his displays.
He expressed his pleasure at joining United’s 100 club after being presented with a framed jersey to mark the achievement.
“I’m delighted with it,” he said.
“I remember my first day coming over and so much has changed at the club.
“I feel I’ve developed and tried to improve every year.
“What we’ve been through between losing the play-offs, finally winning it convincingly last year and now stepping up to the big level, it’s been some journey.
“We’re facing the champions and playing the Old Firm in the top division, it’s been really good.
“You come in and you can only put your best foot forward.”
The 29-year-old was signed by then-boss Csaba Laszlo as an understudy to Matej Rakovan before usurping the Slovak shortly before the arrival of Robbie Neilson.
His quality shone through in the following season as the Tangerines won the Championship title and returned to the Premiership.
Siegrist remained diplomatic as he praised goalkeeping coach Neil Alexander for his help in getting him to the highest level.
“At the time of joining, Matej was ahead of me but cream always rises to the top,” he winked.
“I’m lucky to work with Neily who has been a tremendous coach for me.
“He started his coaching career when I came in so it kind of felt like you progress side by side as a duo.
“You’re just trying to be consistent, learn the game and see what’s expected of you.
“We’ve got a great goalkeeping team, we have fun in training. Deniz is a great guy who is very competitive and a good goalkeeper, so I always feel like I have to prove myself every week.
“The level of competition is what pushes you on.”
The likes of Celtic and teams in Germany’s Bundesliga have been linked with a move for the Swiss in recent times but Siegrist insists he’s happy at United and seems to be taking the interest in his stride.
He said: “It’s better having speculation about your future than the other way, people saying: ‘He’s the last guy we want!’
“I think that’s just the nature of football – if you play well then other teams are going to be interested, but I’m happy here.
“You can tell by the way I’m playing. I think that’s a reflection of how settled I feel here.
“I’ve been away from Switzerland for over a decade so I feel quite settled and happy abroad here at Dundee United.
“What will be, will be. I’m not too worried about that.”
Siegrist hit double figures in clean sheets for the campaign on Sunday, as United played out a 0-0 draw with the Hoops, making a string of superb stops to keep the Terrors in the contest.
Reflecting on their performance, the big goalie was pleased with how they acquitted themselves, despite a point not being enough to realistically keep them in the hunt for a topsix finish.
“They had the upper hand at times and we knew they were going to have loads of possession so it was a case of being disciplined and soaking it up,” he commented.
“Bend-don’t-break’ defence, if you will.
“In the second half, both teams went for it for different reasons, us trying to keep our top-six dreams alive.
“We didn’t need any more motivation to take on Celtic.
“It was a little bit more end-to-end stuff, which was enjoyable, although, with the way the pitch was carved up it was a little bit difficult at times.
“People can look at the stats and say: ‘Celtic had more of the ball’.
“But I think most of the teams in this league aren’t going to have much of the ball.
“I’m just delighted with the way we defended, played and fought.
“We maybe could’ve pinched it if we had a little more composure in front of goal but, then again, the boys worked really hard so once they got the ball there was some tiredness as well.
“We wanted to put a performance together for the whole 90 minutes, which I thought we did.”
Siegrist was pleased to keep the Celts at bay after they snatched a late winner through Albain Ajeti the last time the teams met at Tannadice back in August.
He now hopes they can kick on and finish the term well.
Siegrist continued: “It was a similar game to earlier in the season but, unfortunately they got the breakthrough then so we’re delighted with the clean sheet.
“It’s something, not just for me, but the whole team.
“Taking a point at home and being a bit disappointed is definitely an upwards trajectory.
“We’ve still got some games to play and we have to go out there and represent ourselves well.
“We have to have personal pride in our performances.
“This season was just a case of staying in the league and I think, with us being in the top six most of the season, we deserved to be there but maybe it was a false reflection.
“Being in that good position, you were trying to make it work and aim for that top six but the season isn’t finished.
“There’s six games to go and we’ll go out there to try to win them because that’s what it’s all about.”