CSABA’S SHAME AS BAIRNS HIT UNITED FOR SIX
Dundee United manager embarrassed by team’s collapse at lowly Falkirk
CSABA LASZLO last night admitted to feeling ashamed in the wake of Dundee United’s 6-1 drubbing at Falkirk.
The Championship promotion hopefuls took a sixth-minute lead against the Bairns but then collapsed in the face of a surprisingly incisive performance from the side sitting second bottom of the table.
United have been on a decent run since the board replaced Ray McKinnon with Romanian-born boss Laszlo but, with league leaders St Mirren beating Inverness, this was a serious setback.
‘It’s an unacceptable performance,’ said a weary Laszlo. ‘This is a shame. Yes, you can lose games — but not like that.
‘Everybody has to look in the mirror and
NOBODY on either side could have seen this coming. Slick and vibrant, Falkirk laid waste to Dundee United with a ruthless performance that yielded six goals and could have delivered half a dozen more.
As good as Falkirk were — and they were truly terrific — this was a hammering that casts serious doubt over the promotion credentials of Csaba Laszlo’s United.
If there was no disgrace in losing to a Lewis Morgan-inspired St Mirren in the Championship’s top-of-the-table clash nine days ago, this second defeat under the management of the former Hearts chief led to boos from the travelling support and a mass exodus midway through the second half.
Falkirk, lest we forget, have been toiling at the wrong end of the table all season.
There has been a stagnant, regressive feel about this group of players since a second successive promotion disappointment under Peter Houston last summer and new manager Paul Hartley vowed to usher in 2018 with an industrialsized broom. A week in and the January transfer window already appears to be working wonders.
There is freshness up front in the shape of on-loan Sunderland striker Andrew Nelson, while wing-backs Tommy Robson and Reghan Tumilty helped themselves to their first goals in dark blue. Pick of the bunch was former Hamilton attacker Louis Longridge, who celebrated signing a deal until the end of the season with a two-goal haul.
United took an early lead through Billy King but at no stage did they look in control. In the first period alone, the home team rattled Harry Lewis’s goal frame three times as they attacked from all angles.
Amid all the change, the soft feet of Craig Sibbald remain a valued asset to Hartley. The attacking midfielder looks to have been given a lift by his new team-mates and had hit the post even before United scored their goal.
The opener was well crafted by James Keatings, who dropped deep to angle a diagonal pass over the top of the Bairns back three. King collected the pass just ahead of Robbie Thomson, sidestepping the goalie before finishing simply.
Falkirk responded with verve and invention. A Longridge shot clipped the bar on its way over and Lewis drew another turn out of his goal frame by turning a Tom Taiwo shot onto the post.
Though the keeper further proved his shot-stopping chops with a low save from Sibbald, he looked lost under cross balls. Falkirk’s set-piece routines were causing chaos in the box and it was no surprise to see Peter Grant rise at the back post to nod home Longridge’s corner.
Longridge was again involved at the second, brushing off Paul Quinn before slipping a ball through for Lewis Kidd on the inside left channel. Kidd’s low cut-back was met by Tumilty and smashed home by the on-loan Ross County man.
Falkirk’s dominance continued post-break as Longridge cut in off the right flank and sent a curling shot beyond Lewis from 20 yards.
Nelson showed strength to hold off Tam Scobbie before flashing a shot wide. Then Robson showed his striking colleague how it’s done.
Nelson drove a low ball to the back post where Robson had time to size up the opportunity, unleashing a rising finish beyond the keeper.
Signed on a permanent deal, the wing-back looks an astute pick-up by Hartley but Longridge cemented his man-of-the-match credentials by completing his double.
Scobbie perhaps made it a touch too easy for the Falkirk forward but he still had plenty to do after dropping the shoulder to move onto his favoured left foot.
The result was another curled finish that compounded a harrowing afternoon for Lewis, Laszlo and the stream of Tannadice supporters who had begun to exit minutes earlier.
Yet Falkirk still were not finished. Following some neat interplay between Sibbald and Longridge, the former performed an audacious turn on the goalline and squared for Kidd to complete the scoring.