POINT OF ORDER
Donnelly is only focused on getting the right results
FOUR straight league defeats invites pressure on any management t e am. At Dundee United, Jackie McNamara and his assistant Simon Donnelly are pragmatic enough to know they cannot talk themselves out of their current malaise.
The Tannadice club slumped to secondbottom of the Premiership table after an agonising defeat at home to Kilmarnock last weekend. That last-gasp loss came on the back of defeats to Hamilton, Celtic and Ross County — and allowed Killie to leapfrog them, prompting a small section of fans to turn on manager McNamara at the end.
Now they must li f t themselves f or Saturday’s clash with Inverness Caley Thistle and Donnelly, who was brought to Tannadice al ongside McNamara by chairman Stephen Thompson back in January 2013, admits that the rot must stop — and soon.
‘We’re not daft,’ said the former Celtic forward. ‘We know the situation we’re in.
‘We know we need results. I can sit and tell you how good the players are and how well they’ve competed and played at the weekend, but if we don’t get the result, then it doesn’t matter.’
Thompson has yet to show any signs of having a twitchy finger, but disgruntled supporters can certainly bring pressure to bear. A fact not lost on Donnelly.
‘Unless we’re told differently, we’ve to go on and do our job,’ he continued. ‘It’s our job to go and try to get results.
‘That has never changed, so we’re fully focused on that.
‘It’s him (Thompson) who’s brought Jackie and ourselves in and I think he has the faith in us.
‘I think he’s shown faith in us by allowing Jackie to get on with the job up until now.
‘We need the fans to stick with us. I can understand their frustration.
‘We’re not under any illusions and we need to turn things round as quick as possible.
‘ When we get a United vocal support behind us at Tannadice, there’s no better place to go and perform for the boys.
‘We’re going through a sticky spell but we think we can turn the corner.
‘I think any time you are in a position like this, mental toughness is key for everyone involved.
‘I don’t think anybody was hiding last weekend and I didn’t see anyone not wanting the ball.
‘It’s that fine line — the ruthlessness and the clinical edge to the game — which will come.’
United’s fortunes have not been helped by the loss of key players Stuart Armstrong and Gary MackaySteven to Celtic back in January, before star striker Nadir Ci ft c i also joined them at Parkhead in the summer.
The club are working within a five-year plan, although Donnelly is experienced enough to know results will dictate in the end.
‘Within that five-year project — and I don’t want to hark on about the players we’ve l ost — you don’t anticipate things like that happening so quickly,’ he said.
‘So you can call it whatever you want — a transitional period or whatever — but we know we have to get the results.
‘I think the performances are there, or thereabouts, and the results will come.
‘This Saturday is just as big as last week or the week before.
‘We feel we can win on Saturday just like we did last week.
‘Then we feel that we can win against Dunfermline in the League Cup on Tuesday.
‘Tim Sherwood said at the weekend that Aston Villa were making strides, but they weren’t getting results. So some people will think he’s talking rubbish. But that’s exactly the same with us.
‘We feel we’re close to turning the corner by being just one result away from it.’