Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
The Terrors legend says Utd have to learn to fight
and friendships that’ve lasted a lifetime were forged.
He stresses when the white line was crossed and someone wasn’t performing, the gloves came off.
He said: “Paul Hegarty and I are mates to this day but, when I was playing in front of him and he felt I wasn’t having a good game, he used to give me stick. There would be fall outs if we weren’t doing well.
“When we came off at the end we made up and it was forgotten, but for 90 minutes what needed saying was. It goes back to being winners.”
Holt remains hopeful United will come good and the pre-Christmas form that produced a strong unbeaten run gives him encouragement.
“They were playing well and it shows what they are capable of.
“Chances were being created and that’s what the team needs to get back to. Now they’re keeping the ball but a lot of the time it isn’t going anywhere. We were a passing team in my day but Jim McLean made it clear we had to get the ball forward.
“If you were at the back you knew you could play the ball into midfield then get it back but, from there, you basically had two passes to get it forward.
“It might mean playing it in behind, but we had Paul Sturrock and with his pace if you got the ball in behind defenders you knew he’d kill them.
“Not just at United but in general these days I see a lot of passing that goes nowhere. I’m not in favour of lumping the ball up but you have to be positive.”