The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Defiant message from United chief
DUNDEE UNITED: Judge me on my actions, says new Tannadice chairman
New Dundee United chairman Mike Martin issued a defiant message on his first day in charge, declaring: “I’m my own man.”
Since the announcement that he was taking over from Stephen Thompson in the Tannadice hotseat, there has been disquiet among some supporters due to Martin’s past close working relationship with his predecessor, who is still the Tangerines’ majority shareholder.
Some see it as being a case of meet the new boss, same as the old boss. However, Martin dismissed the suggestion that this change actually meant no change and urged fans to give him a chance to prove himself.
Asked if he could understand why some people see his taking over as just carrying on the same old regime, he replied: “I would say they clearly don’t know me because I am definitely my own man.
“I have been involved with Dundee United for a few years in a non-executive capacity but the role, the responsibility, the authority of sitting in the chairman’s seat puts me in a very different place.
“I think they should judge me on my actions rather than anything else.”
In a wide-ranging interview, Martin admitted the club could end up with foreign ownership in the not-too-distant future; discussed what might happen to Thompson’s shareholding; explained his own decision to purchase the club’s Gussie Park facility; laid out his plan to improve relations with supporters and their various groups; and revealed that the Tangerines are on the verge of announcing their biggest-ever sponsorship deal.
Mike Martin looked relaxed and confident as he embarked on the daunting task of winning over Dundee United’s fans.
This was his first day as chairman and he held court in a boardroom whose walls and display cabinets sparkle with mementoes of the glory days, when trophies were won and United’s directors mixed with foreign dignitaries – even royalty – before watching the Tangerines beat some of the best teams Europe had to offer.
Martin, however, finds himself in the hotseat at one of the lowest points in their history – fourth in the Championship and with a battle on their hands to secure a promotion play-off spot.
He had the look of a man who, while aware of the enormous responsibility now on him, is still proud to be called Mr Chairman after sitting by his predecessor Stephen Thompson’s side all those years.
Martin was also revealing in his answers to some awkward questions.
For example, he admitted that talks with prospective investors from overseas, believed to include the United States, are very much alive.
Asked to confirm that could mean the club coming under foreign ownership, Martin replied: “Absolutely, yes.
“It is conceivable that Dundee United can have foreign owners.
“The future for us has the club continuing as it is at the moment but the ownership is likely to change over the coming months given Stephen’s statement (that he is looking to sell his shares).
“There are some options out there as to how that ownership structure might look. It may or may not involve overseas investors.
“I think a foreign investor would look at Dundee United as part of a bigger plan, while a domestic investor is more likely to see it as an isolated acquisition.”
Therefore, he may not be the one to buy Thompson’s shares.
Asked about the chances of his adding to the stake he bought from Stephen’s sister Justine Mitchell, Martin said: “What Stephen does with his share- holding is his responsibility but there are options on the table.
“The objective is to pick the best option for Dundee United.”
He also expressed what seemed a genuine desire to positively engage with fans’ groups.
Martin also revealed that, rather than the loss of main sponsor McEwan Fraser Legal being a blow, it was the club’s decision not to renew as they are on the brink of revealing their biggest-ever backer.
Wearing a big smile on his face, Martin said: “It’s a tremendous honour to be chairman.
“I’m a lifelong Dundee United fan. “Although I was born and brought up in Edinburgh, my grandfather came from Dundee so all I ever knew was United.
“So it is a tremendous privilege and I’m very honoured to be in this position.”
As someone with a successful career in banking, Martin was asked if anyone had told him he was crazy to be taking on such a role in football.
He replied: “Yes, especially my wife! “I am not the first and I am not going to be the last person to get heavily involved with a football club, despite having business credentials.
“It comes down to two things. One: an absolute passion for the club. Two: a belief that I can contribute to the good of Dundee United.”
That’s all fine but is he really any different to Thompson?
“I think they (the fans) should judge me on my actions rather than anything else,” he said.
“Stephen and I have no formal business link. He is a shareholder in United and I am a shareholder in United. Between us we own 85.5% of the club.
“There are a few things I will do differently, though.
“The first thing I can do is provide the support, assistance and structure on the footballing side that is needed to get the club back up.
“We have lost our direction a little bit on the footballing side.
“In fact, there is an argument that says successive managers have had the opportunity to tweak and adjust and amend the structure to suit individual circumstances.
“What we need to do is get back to having a Dundee United structure, one that a manager can work within when he comes in rather than there being wholesale change.
“Also, our record on recruitment in the last two to three years has fallen well short of what we expect at a club like this and what we want to have in place.
“So an overhaul of our approach to recruitment and scouting is very high up on the agenda. We want to see the right calibre of individuals coming to the club.
“That leads neatly on to the next area, which is youth development.
“This club has really built its reputation on the back of a very, very strong youth development programme over an extended period of time. We have lots of great examples of individuals coming through the ranks, playing for the first team here and then going on to bigger and better things elsewhere.
“That process hasn’t stopped but it has slowed significantly. We need to understand why that has happened and how we get back to growing our own talent.”
Martin, who stressed he sees Csaba Laszlo remaining as manager, then tackled the club’s financial woes.
He said: “There is no worry about administration – definitely not.
It is conceivable that Dundee United can have foreign owners. MIKE MARTIN
“We have two plans moving forward. “One is we are back in the Premiership and are managing the business based on the revenue streams that are available to us there.
“The second plan is based on us being in the Championship for another year.
“We clearly hope it’s the former rather than the latter, because the latter one is very penal from a financial perspective.
“We have trimmed the wage bill, and can trim it again, but there is a balance to be struck between trimming it to cut costs and still giving the manager a sufficient budget to have a fighting chance of going back up.
“In the past, we raised a lot of money over a period of time from lucrative transfer deals and that money was spent in two ways.
“Firstly, it reduced our debt from a peak of £7.3 million down to around £1.2 million at its lowest.
“That was very important to us because the debt at that time had hamstrung the club.
“Secondly, United were no different to any club in Scotland in having normal trading operating losses – ie a gap between the sources of income and costs.
“That gap was always filled with maybe exceptional cup runs or with transfer fees. So that’s where that money went.
“Now we are taking a different approach going forward,” added Martin. “We are putting out our results for the last financial year later this month and what they will show is that we took more than £2 million out of our cost base.
“So in the event that we are promoted we will spend a little bit more money but will operate at a break-even level without cup runs or transfer fees. They will be the icing on the cake.
“So the whole financial model is going to be different.”
Martin recently purchased the Gussie Park site through his pension fund Yorsipp and he explained how the money has been used.
“The debt is currently £2.4 million and we have friendly loans which have been provided by friends of the club,” he said.
“That gives them the option to waive interest, which many have chosen to do.
“So they are proper commercial loans but are with individuals who are sympathetic to the plight of the club.
“On the back of the deal we have done with the GA Arena (Gussie), there is only one loan note remaining.
“It has maturity terms but those can move and the friendly nature of them means we can roll them forward if need be.
“I have no intention of being a longterm owner of the GA Arena.
“In fact, the sooner it’s back under club ownership the better.
“The arrangement is I acquired it and I put money into the club.
“That money was used for two purposes – to pay down some of the loans and to provide working capital until the end of the season.
“The objective is that as soon as the club is in a position to reacquire it they will get it for the same price I paid for it. So I make no financial benefit and the club makes no financial loss.”
As for the relationship with the fans, Martin admitted that there was an “unhealthy atmosphere at the moment.”
He added: “We have put our fans through hell for the last two or three years. It has been very difficult to be a Dundee United fan, especially for those who remember the cup finals, cup wins and European runs.
“So I can understand their deep disappointment and anger at the position we are in just now. What we have to do is systematically work our way out of that and ask the fans to come with us on that journey.
“I place an awful lot of importance on fan engagement and have spent a fair bit of time over the last few weeks talking to these groups about their frustrations.
“We have another meeting with the fan groups planned for this Thursday evening when I’m going to talk to them in broad terms about the sorts of things that I propose to do. Where I have to be careful is that I can’t spend my entire time talking to fan groups and it’s complicated because there are differing opinions within those groups.”
As for new income, Martin added: “You will hear very soon that we have just signed our biggest ever sponsorship deal. Our new club sponsor will be a multinational company and it is the best deal we have ever done.”