McNamara feels the heat as ‘terrible’ United surrender
IN a week which saw them suspend their head of youth development and recruitment, Stevie Campbell, the hierarchy at Dundee United might now wish to redirect their line of fire and take action against the club’s playing squad on the grounds of gross incompetence.
‘We were terrible,’ conceded Jackie McNamara after watching his side capitulate to a humiliating defeat at New Douglas Park. ‘Hamilton bullied us and our first-half display was as bad as anything I’ve seen during my time in charge.’
The major worry for United fans must be that their manager’s assessment was not in any way knee-jerk. It was depressingly accurate and added to the mood of deep malaise, which appears to be smothering the Tayside team.
The inescapable truth of the matter is that the scoreline did not in any way flatter Hamilton.
On another day, had Accies not been profligate in front of goal, it could easily have been five or six. Shambolic, abysmal, terrible, pathetic — none of t hese descriptions barely do justice to United’s dismal performance.
The alarm bells were ringing loud and clear — or at least should have been — less than 30 seconds into the match.
Immediately from the kick- off, Hamilton’s Ali Crawford waltzed his way towards the United goal and hit a shot just inches over Luis Zwick’s crossbar.
But the visitors didn’t learn from that early warning and neither did they respond.
The famous tangerine jersey was tarnished by 11 players, whose greatest physical exertion of the afternoon came in their concerted efforts to plumb sorry new depths for the club they represent.
Many column inches have been dedicated to the players who are no longer at Tannadice.
Gary Mackay- Steven, Stuart Armstrong and Nadir Ciftci (now all Celtic players) are fine footballers, but even they wouldn’t have provided United with the backbone they so desperately required when others were so poor.
The problems which f ace McNamara took on a whole new dimension after this shattering defeat.
This is no longer about the players who have left the club; it is about the players who are still there standing up and being counted.
It was actually a surprise that United managed to keep Accies at bay for as long as they did.
It took until the 19th minute for Martin Canning’s men to finally make the breakthrough their dominance deserved.
In what was almost a carbon copy of the chance in the opening seconds of the match, the talismanic Crawford was afforded too much time and space on the edge of the box to pick his spot and place the ball beyond Zwick.
The Accies playmaker was again i nstrumental i n doubling his side’s lead on 36 minutes. From a corner which was initially cleared, Crawford di nked t he ball back i nto the box for Lucas Tagliapietra to bulldoze his way to the back post and head home.
It was beginning to resemble the Hamilton of last season under Alex Neil, with their highintensity chasing and pressing — and how United suffered as a result, with the game ending as a contest three minutes later.
A hive of energy, the Accies midfield five swarmed their United counterparts and it was John Souttar who was punished.
His slack back pass released debutant Carlton Morris, on loan from Neil’s Norwich City, and he gratefully poked the ball past Zwick for 3-0.
The half-time whistle followed soon after and it came as a merciful blessing for McNamara and his men. Battered, bruised and embarrassed, they left the field to a deafening chorus of boos from their travelling support.
But their pain did not end there. Those who were unfortunate enough to have made the journey from Tayside were outraged not only by their team’s humiliation in the first half, but by the fact that nothing c hanged af t er t he interval. No substitutions were made at half-time. No obvious tactical change to their system was made. Chants of ‘Jackie, Jackie get tae f***’ made it abundantly clear what the United fans thought.
Yet if McNamara must shoulder some of the blame for this defeat, then so must his players for simply abandoning ship when their manager needed them most.
As if it was required, salt was rubbed into some already-gaping wounds in the 90th minute when former Dundee man Christian Nade made it four. His goal was symptomatic of all that was wrong with United’s performance.
Hamilton’s Gramoz Kurtaj sauntered down the left wing and squared the ball for Nade. He had time to control it and pick his spot while standing slap bang in the middle of the United penalty area with no challenge being made.
Despite Saturday’s calamity, McNamara’s men are still a fine team when they click, capable of producing some of the slickest football in the Premiership.
However, it is performances like this one which deeply frustrate and anger their fans.
Their game-plan, if they had one, did not work.
No resistance was offered by a group of players who left New Douglas Park with their tails tucked between their legs.
No answers were offered to the questions which now loom over an increasingly troubled manager.