The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Real pressure at Tannadice, says Donnelly
Former assistant boss Donnelly taken aback by run of results
Simon Donnelly admits he is shocked that Dundee United are now battling to simply make the play-offs when they should have been challenging for the title.
The Tangerines had the chance to go top of the Championship just after Christmas but are now 21 points behind title-winners in waiting St Mirren sitting in fifth place.
Csaba Laszlo has achieved just one win in the last 10 matches and former Tannadice assistant boss Donnelly reckons a “real crisis” could be looming if they don’t get their act together.
United can get back into the top four by beating Dumbarton tonight and then they face the Sons again on Saturday – and Donnelly knows they need wins fast.
He said: “United are under real pressure. You look at the teams around them and they could finish out of the play-offs, which is incredible for a team like that.
“I think it’s one win in 10 games and it’s not play-off material, is it?
“To miss out on the play-offs would be a disaster. For a team who, at the turn of the year or maybe just before, you are thinking they are pushing St Mirren for the title.”
Donnelly, assistant to Jackie McNamara at Tannadice, knows that off-the-field issues affected the players when they were in charge and wonders if the same is happening now.
Donnelly added: “I don’t know if what is happening above them affects at player level.
“It can affect the atmosphere around the stadium if there is unrest about at board level.
“In our last six months there, I thought the environment was not particularly good in terms of atmosphere.
“Because we had young players in the side and were under pressure to get results, it affected them. Maybe they are experiencing something similar just now, I don’t know.”