The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Boss deserves less bawling, more backing
P willerformances don’t always match results, as many Dundee United fans testify this season. Micky Mellon’s team haven’t hit the heights of entertainment that some Arabs want to see.
However, sixth place in the league vindicates the manager’s approach.
Last week Mellon fielded a Championship XI.
None of the starting side were his signings, so the United boss is doing admirably getting such a team to perform at a higher level than last season.
The display at Hamilton wasn’t pretty, but a point was secured, albeit without scoring against the bottom team who’ve conceded 47 goals this season.
Only St Mirren and Ross County have scored fewer goals than the Tangerines, but four sides have conceded more, so the United approach of tightening the defence as a priority is paying some dividends.
Three of their next four games are against bottom six sides, giving United the chance to consolidate their top-half status and widen the gap over those who could threaten their position.
Fans want exciting football, but it’s worth holding critical fire just now until the manager has further strengthened with more of his own players.
Until then the United boss deserves a wee bit more appreciation and a little less carping.
SAINTS’ OPPORTUNITY
St Johnstone’s tilt at Hibs at Hampden in the League Cup semi will see them attempt to reach only the
fourth major cup final in their 137-year history.
I was at their first League Cup final as a nipper, when a fine Perth side lost 1-0 to Celtic, European Cup winners two years earlier.
Saints also lost to Rangers in the 1998 final, but they’ll never have a better chance of lifting a second major trophy to add to the Scottish Cup they bagged seven years ago.
Hibs block their path to a meeting against either Livingston or St Mirren and are undoubtedly the most formidable of those three sides, with a rapid strike force and the third best goals-for column in the Premiership.
They’ve beaten Saints narrowly with a stoppage time penalty and drawn with them in the league this season already, but the tightness of those games indicates a top performance from Callum Davidson’s side gives them a great chance of making the final.
Outside of the Old Firm, few players ever win top
silverware in their careers in Scotland.
The St Johnstone squad have a great chance to take a giant step towards making the history books.
Their destiny is in their own hands.
BREAKAWAY THREAT
Fifa and Uefa, fearing a challenge to their power, have threatened that any player playing for a club in a breakaway European Super League would be banned from the World Cup and European Championships.
The giants of the European game are rapacious when it comes to protecting their own interests and have been looking at the possibility of an exclusive league to further their ambitions at the expense of the rest of the game.
A Bosman-type challenge to the governing bodies is possible.
The rich clubs scent serious money in this venture – they might not retreat without a fight.