Five key questions at heart of United financial challenge

Dundee United fans have been rocked by the news that the club’s players and coaching staff are facing wage cuts – with owner Mark Ogren laying bare the financial realities at Tannadice.

The Tangerines chief – in his first interview of 2020 – admitted to The Courier on Wednesday night that the cost-cutting programme “could get messy”.

The US -based businessman revealed that “everything is on the table” apart from redundancies and also expressed his frustration at the Scottish Government’s reluctance to allow supporters to return to football grounds.

Ogren said: “We expected some fans back. As a result we’re doing a total review of the c l u b’s finances and we’re going to be implementing some costcutting measures for the short term and the medium term to counteract what is happening.

“We have to plan now for the worst-case scenario of no fans this s e a s o n .”

When were the players and coaching staff informed of the costcutting programme at Dundee United?

At a meeting on Wednesday, Micky Mellon and his first-team squad were asked to accept salary reductions of 20% until the end of the season.

It marks the second phase of the coronavirushit United after Ogren’s support and furlough grants ensured the March to October period was negotiated with minimum impact on staff.

He said: “The first phase we had budgeted for so we anticipated it but we didn’t budget for this second phase.”

He added: “I’d like to think that redundancies are off the table.

“We want to do everything we can to protect people and their jobs. But we just don’t know how bad this is going to be.

Has an agreement been reached?

No, not yet, although Ta n g e r i n e s chiefs are confident Mellon and his stars will accept the proposals.

However, PFA Scotland are monitoring the situation and tabloid reports claim the players

are dismayed after being told the cuts won’t affect loan signings Luke Bolton ( Manchester City) and Marc McNulty (Reading), and new boys Jeando Fuchs and Ryan Edwards.

Could United be forced to consider selling star players in January in a bid to balance the books?

Ogren says: “We’re not going to have a fire sale, that’s for sure. But yeah, buying and selling players is part of football.

“We would expect there to be some activity in January – depending on how bad things are, maybe more activity than normal. We’ll see. We’ve got a good chance of winning on the pitch, so there is a balance.”

Ogren and his coowners recently put their American baseball team, the Sioux Falls Canaries, up for sale recently – should Tangerines fans read anything into this?

The United owner insists – in the strongest terms – that he is committed to the Scottish Premiership side.

He said: “We are absolutely not up for sale. We’re looking for local ownership (of the Canaries).

“It’s four hours from my home but I get there so occasionally. I’m not as plugged into that club as I should be. I’m focused more on Dundee United.

“I go to Scotland more often than I go to there. I’m as committed as ever, no question about it. It ’s killing me that I’m not over there.

“I feel horrible for our fans. We haven’t been able to properly celebrate our promotion or get into any of our Premiership games that we fought so hard to be a part of.

“I feel their pain. I’m the same way. I haven’t been over there since February when we played Arbroath.”

He added: “I’ve got limited funds. We need to figure this out.”

The c l u b ’s annual accounts are due out soon – how will they look?

Bad, according Tannadice chief.

This time last year United posted a financial loss of more than £3 million, with the club’s wage-to-turnover ratio hitting 133%.

Ogren said: “We ’ r e definitely going to have another loss. It’s just a question of how big.

“We haven’t finalised the books. We got hurt badly at the end of last year and it will be bad again.”

But the 58-year-old hasn’ t given up on eventually turning a profit in the City of Discovery and believes youth development is a crucial part of the business.

He said: “It’s hard to make money and that’s why the academy is such a big part of our plan. It’s vital. It will potentially be affected like every other area of the club – everything is on the table right now.

“But we’re committed to our academy.

“Investing in Scottish football isn’t a get- richquick scheme. There’s a risk involved and I was told many times that I should get my head examined.

“I was told that if I wanted to make money this was not the way to do it.

“It was a risk I was willing to accept because I had faith in our plan and I had faith in our fans. They have been awesome.

“What I can’t accept is the government saying we can’t have any of those fans in our stadium without financial support to assist us. It’s hurting us badly – not just us but the rest of Scottish football.

“Is Dundee United going to survive? Yes it’s going to survive, but it could get messy.” to the

Mark Ogren: United cuts “could get messy”.