The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
United boss prepares for play-off battle
Laszlo concedes title is out of reach as home draw leaves Tangerines 19 back
Realism reigned at Tan na dice as Dundee United finally accepted the title has gone, conceded to St Mirren by manager Csaba Laszlo.
Admitting the Championship will not be won by the Tangerines may seem a case of stating the bleeding obvious when you look at the league table.
After all, United – the one-time bookies’ favourites – are 19 points behind the Buddies, albeit having played three games fewer.
The gap increased by two points thanks to the Paisley side’s victory down at Queen of the South while this 1-1 draw was taking place.
Nevertheless, the failure to secure the flag should not slip by unremarked and should embarrass those who have worn the strip this season.
It has been given up without a fight. You would like to think that, having squandered the chance of automatic promotion, the United players will throw everything at finishing second in the hope of giving themselves the best possible chance of negotiating the playoffs.
They can start that process tomorrow when Queen of the South visit Tannadice.
Surely the Tangerines can’t afford any more no-shows like the one in the first half against Inverness Caley Thistle on Saturday.
Watching United be dominated by the side that sits third bottom of the table reminded you why they haven’t so much as bothered the Buddies this season.
Against a better team with more clinical finishers they would have been well beaten before the half-time whistle.
Also, too often in that first 45, they looked as if they were going through the motions, playing as if with nothing at stake.
They sorted themselves out after the interval and United fans can only hope it is this “other” United side that shows up for the remainder of the season.
It was in answering a question about the emergency loan signing of Anthony Ralston from Celtic that Laszlo admitted for the first time that the title was beyond them.
He said: “Honestly, now you have to concentrate more on the play-offs. “You need everybody.
“I don’t want to … tell us there is still first place.
“I think it is more a battle for the second, third and fourth places.
“So for this reason I am happy that Anthony has joined us and I am sure he can help us.”
The Tangerines struggled to cope with ICT and managed only one shot in the whole of the first period, and even that Thomas Mikkelsen effort was blocked before it got near Mark Ridgers’ goal.
By contrast, the visitors created a number of golden opportunities and must have been cursing the fact that they had only Iain Vigurs’ headed goal on the half-hour to show for their dominance.
Mikkelsen got the equaliser for United on 64 minutes as the hosts finally took the game to Inverness but they couldn’t get the win that might have prevented Laszlo from publicly conceding the title “race” was over.
Asked if it was a disappointing day for him and his team, the Hungarian replied: “Yes, because if you see the other results as well as ours then we lost two points.
“On the other hand, I think in the second half, again, we showed we could play good football.
“The first half was a really, really bad performance but in the second it was OK.
“For this reason, we must be honest and say that a draw was the correct result.
“Inverness could have scored more but in the second half their keeper Mark Ridgers did a fantastic job for them and saved maybe two or even three shots.
“Inverness played good football and they didn’t look like a team that is third bottom of the table.
“I do have to compliment the boys for the second half, though.
“We had the possibility to win the game.
“We have our next game as soon as Tuesday now so we have to think about that now.”
Laszlo was understandably unhappy with the flat first period, particularly as it came after an excellent 3-1 win at Dumfries on Tuesday.
Asked why they played so poorly before the break, he replied: “That is a big question for me.
“We did change tactically for the second half by putting on a second striker (Scott McDonald) and we looked better.
“I had a winning team against Queen of the South and they deserved to be on the pitch at the start of this one.
“It didn’t work out how we wanted it to.
“That was not about tiredness because if you are tired it will be in the second half, when we put on a really good performance.
“It was not enough for victory but we finished the game on a high.
“Now against Queen of the South this Tuesday we have to begin on a high and finish on a high.”
Arguably the highlight of the game for United was the appearance of Scott Fraser as a late sub.
The expectation was that he would not be back this season so it was real bonus to see the midfielder run on to the park after his foot problems.
Laszlo said: “I gave him some minutes and he had a good possibility of a shot but didn’t manage it.
“That was maybe because of a lack of game time but it was good that he came back.
“He will give us a little bit more creativity in the final third.”