Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Don’t bottle tilt for title, says ex-Utd skipper
MARK Reynolds has warned Dundee United that failing to lift the Championship title would be a “huge psychological blow” as he urged the Tangerines to hold their nerve and earn the title party he never got.
Reynolds, 36, remains the last man to hold the second-tier trophy aloft for the Tangerines, leading Robbie Neilson’s side to promotion in the Covid-curtailed campaign of 2019-20.
That was a bittersweet achievement for the ex-Aberdeen and Scotland defender, with the global pandemic meaning he was unable to celebrate the triumph in front of friends and family.
Nevertheless, beaming pride endures.
Reynolds has similarly sharp memories of United’s failure to return to the Premiership in 201819, losing on penalties against St Mirren in yet another galling season finale for the Terrors.
That was their third successive play-off failure.
And, as United prepare to host Raith Rovers in a mouth-watering Championship showdown, it is a fate Jim Goodwin’s charges dare not consider.
“Although we went through something similar (in 2019), Ross County were always going up that season,” Reynolds told Tele Sport.
“We were the ones hunting them down and put together some decent form in the second half of the season.
“So, we went into the play-offs with a mentality of ‘more of the same, keep pushing’.
“Whereas for this United side, having been leading it – with a gap at one stage – and as heavy favourites to go up, it would be a definite shift in mindset. Rather than chasing and coming close, you’ve fallen and are in lastchance saloon.
“It would be a huge psychological blow if they were to miss out and face the play-offs – but it’s all still in United’s hands.”
He added: “Pressure’s the biggest thing. Who deals with the pressure? It’s not about who plays the nicest football now; it’s about the team that deals with the pressure and gets the results needed.
“Whichever team that is, deserves their title.”
Inspired by the 29 goals of Euro 2024-bound Scotland striker Lawrence Shankland, United did secure their return to the top flight in 2020, albeit on a pointsper-game basis. The rancour among those who felt wronged by the solution would linger.
The Tangerines had exploded from the blocks, but had only won one of their last nine games prior to football being stopped. Nevertheless, their lead did still stand at a mammoth 14 points.
Reynold smiles: “We were miles ahead of everyone for most of the season and I reckon we would have limped over the line.”
Although aware of far bigger issues in the world at that time, from a footballing perspective, the low-key title triumph was unsatisfying.
Since then, Reynolds has won League 1 with Cove Rangers – and the contrast was stark.
“That (2019-20) was my first taste of winning a league, so I guess I didn’t know any different,” he continued. “But I was living down in Dundee, my kids were at school and playing football here and I got to know loads of the United fans.
“They were devastated that they missed out.
“They didn’t get to see us with the trophy, there was no parade and they didn’t get to have that party.
“After all those years of hurt and frustration in the Championship, they didn’t really get to enjoy coming back up.
“Coming to Cove Rangers and winning League 1 and getting to enjoy it – out among the fans and seeing what it meant to them – does make me think about how different things could have been.
“It’s not so much about the trophy; it’s about celebrating with the people who have been on that journey with you – none more so than the fans.”
Echoing the challenge to current captain Ross Docherty & Co, he added: “But the most important thing – and what got us all through – was the knowledge that we got a club like United back to where they needed to be.
“They need to be with the big boys in the Premiership.”
Reynolds would go on to play 34 times for United in the top-flight, helping them consolidate under Micky Mellon, before leaving the club in January 2022 after falling out of favour under Tam Courts.
He had already handed the armband to Ryan Edwards.
Reynolds continued: “I said to Tam, ‘I’m here, I’ll still be one of your leaders – but you need a guy that’s in the heat of it every Saturday’, and he gave the captaincy to Ryan (Edwards). I was absolutely fine with that.
“When December came, they were happy enough to let me leave and continue my development, which I also appreciated. I got on great with Tam.”
That “development” – as well as continuing to star for Cove Rangers to this day – saw Reynolds complete a degree in mechanical and offshore engineering with Robert Gordon University.
He is now two years into a career in that sector and has no desire to countenance a full-time role in football when he hangs up his boots. While appreciative of the game, he is also happy to be away from “the darker sides” of the industry. And Reynolds will always be welcome back in Dundee – even if every Arab hopes he is soon usurped by Docherty as their most recent Championshipwinning captain.
“I moved the family down to Dundee when I joined United and we’ve often said that, although we are back in Aberdeen now, if Covid hadn’t hit then who knows what might have happened,” added Reynolds.
“We loved our time in Dundee and I had loads of good times and good memories with a team that was on the up.”