FEAR OF FALLING
United’s defiance has up to eight rival clubs fretting, says McCall
ANY smart young sales re pin the sleeping draught business must surely be already embarking upon a grand tour of at l east nine of Scotland’s 12 Premiership clubs. And politely pitching his wares to increasingly bleary-eyed managers.
For Dundee United’s restless raging against the dying of the light has suddenly enervated the nether regions of a division already bubbling with fear and loathing from fourth place down to second bottom.
If the Tannadice club continue their recent run of form, they may yet achieve a miraculous escape from automatic relegation. That means someone — Kilmarnock, Hamilton, Partick, Motherwell? — taking their place.
Above and beyond that, only Celtic, Aberdeen and Hearts are sufficiently clear of the play-off spot to consider themselves absolutely safe. St Johnstone, Ross County, Dundee and Inverness Caley Thistle are scrapping for a top-six place not merely for reasons of status — but because it is the only guaranteed way of avoiding a home-and-away tie against some Championship challenger.
‘I’ve never known anything like it in my time — and that’s a bloody long time!’ said a grinning Ian McCall, former manager of United and Partick Thistle and current Ayr United boss, summing up the air of mild- to- severe panic gripping three quarters of the clubs in our nation’s elite division.
‘Right up to Johnstone, you never know who is going to get dragged down. It is great for the neutral but horrible for the guys involved.
‘Alan Archibald at Partick is a big friend of mine
St and he’ll be looking and thinking: “If we can win, we can finish in the top six, then look at fourth or fifth. But, if we lose …”
‘Not so long ago, Dundee United were 14 points adrift. Now it’s eight with a game in hand, potentially five, so they’re right back in it.
‘And, because of the split that we have in this country, if you are within four or five points at the split, you have a chance because you play clubs around you.
‘So a lot of clubs will be getting twitchy. Right up to fourth place.
‘It’s an incredible league this year, in terms of the teams that could go down. All these clubs will be gutted that United have started to pick up because suddenly they all come into the equation.
‘I don’t think anybody wants to finish in 11th because of who they may face in the play-offs, although even that’s looking quite tight with Falkirk catching up on Hibs. It’s a crazy Premiership this year.’
As much as the veteran coach sympathises with those caught up in the downdraft of United’s explosive run of form, the former Tannadice gaffer cannot help but be impressed by his old club’s return to winning ways.
Singling out the return of Paul Paton as key, and standing by his assertion that the board were ‘mad’ to sack Jackie McNamara earlier in the season, McCall (left) said: ‘They did look dead and buried not so long ago, United. ‘ I think getting Paton back, scoring a couple of goals after being out for a good spell, has made the difference. ‘I know him very well, having taken him from Queen’s Park to Thistle. He certainly has the right mentality for that type of battle.
‘The worry was that they had so many young ball players. In that position, that’s maybe not what you need.
‘And, ultimately, you look back at the decision to get rid of Jackie, which I just think was mad.
‘They were a point behind, there was all this stuff about the contract (McNamara getting a cut of player sales), which i s actually not unusual, that kind of clause.
‘Nobody can tell me that Jackie McNamara thought: “I’ll sell all these players so I can make a few bob”. Anyone who knows him would tell you that’s nonsense. It’s not as if he needs the bloody money.
‘And that clause was put in there so the club could pay him less in salary. He was given a remit to sell players on and he did it. Look at the money the club got for their players, which was terrific.
‘That, obviously, had a great impact on where they were, losing all these great players. They were top quality. A couple maybe haven’t done as well at Celtic — but their leaving decimated the United team.
‘Suddenly United were left with a lot of inexperience, which they’re still suffering f rom now. But eight points behind with a game in hand? Absolutely they’re still in it.
‘Certainly a club as established as United, with the history they have had, want to stay up. That history is within our generation. The people who still go to games remember all of these fantastic players and the nights they had there and what they achieved.
‘Maybe it comes into it with the chairman and the board, but I don’t think it will come into it when it comes to how the players approach things. Players are just human. If you win football matches, you start getting confidence, individually and as a team.
‘When you lose confidence and things are against you, it’s tough to get out of it. You get in a rut. There can be reasons, but a lot of managers don’t like to say the reasons as you are then perceived to be making excuses. I think the confidence they have garnered from this mini-run gives them a boost.’
IAN McCALL was speaking at a William Hill media event. William Hill is the proud sponsor of the Scottish Cup.