Chairman Thompson attempts to dispel fears about Tannadice club’s future

Dundee United chairman Stephen Thompson has promised the club won’t go to the wall if they fail to win promotion to the Premiership this season.

Thompson has appointed Csaba Laszlo as United’s new manager in the hope he can steer them back to the top flight following the pain of missing out on promotion through the play-offs last season, which had a severe financial impact.

Thompson, who is pledging to support Laszlo in the January transfer window, is tired of suggestions the club could fold should they be forced to spend another season in the Championship.

“This club will always be around,” Thompson said. “There are other things happening right now – Dundee United will be around as a club. Absolutely. I’ve been hearing that [doubts about United’s future] for over two years and I’m sick of answering questions about finance. One of the problems at United was that we were too open for too long. I don’t see any other clubs in Scotland answering these questions. We are the only ones people point the finger at.

“There is a lot less money in the Championship than the Premiership. We’ve had £66,000 from the league and the Premiership have had £660,000 plus £350,000 Uefa money.

“We are in our second year in the Championship and the penalty for not going up last season was £2.5 million in income. It’s a challenge. Every season is a challenge but it’s a bigger challenge in the Championship because all of the money is in the top league.

“If we don’t go up then there will be a lot more pain. But we are not talking about that. We have a new manager and the target is winning the league.

“The one discussion we didn’t have was about signings. They [managers] almost always want to know that so it was refreshing. He wants to work and has been across the road to see the under-20s and wants to see what he has first before deciding anything.

“We have a good squad and if we have to bring in one or two we will look at it.”