Tangerines boss ready to commit to new deal

UNITED: Neilson has agreed terms to extend stay

Robbie Neilson will celebrate his first year in charge of Dundee United by signing a new deal this week.

The Tannadice manager has agreed the nuts and bolts of his terms with club sporting director Tony Asghar and fans can expect an announcement before Saturday’s away match against Queen of the South in the Championship.

He stressed that he wants to see out the “longterm project” at United.

Neilson was appointed as Csaba Laszlo’s replacement on October 8 last year on a contract stretching until the end of this current season and took the Tangerines within a penalty shoot-out of promotion back to the Premiership.

Having marked the first anniversary of his tenure at United, Neilson will put pen to paper on a brand new deal.

Neilson confirmed: “We have had a chat about that and hope to make an announcement towards the end of this week.”

Dundee’s on-loan winger Josh McPake celebrates the goal that beat Germany last night to book Scotland’s place in the Elite Round of qualifiers for the Under-19 European Championships. See page 52.

“I am really happy here and the staff are happy too,” added the manager. “Everything is agreed.

“It is just over a year since I took the job and I have had a nice time.

“Tony and I have a great relationship and we both have the same plans and ambitions for the club.

“It is a long-term project here and I want to be here to see it through.

“I think any manager wants to be part of a club that is going places and this club is continuing to drive forward.”

Neilson added that young frontman Louis Appere is also likely to agree an improved Tannadice deal in the coming days.

The United gaffer said: “It is just about done and we hope to announce that towards the end of this week as well.

“Louis is a player we are really pleased with and he has done well for the team.

“He started the season so well but I just felt we had to take him out of the team for a wee spell to give him a bit of a rest because he was starting to flag.

“He has shown in the past few days that he is ready to come back into the side again.”

United manager Robbie Neilson having fun with young fans.