The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Two out, one in as United consider options
DUNDEE UNITED have ditched their interest in two of the three trialists at the club – although they have taken on another ahead of tonight’s friendly at Dunfermline.
Central defender Neal Trotman (26) has linked up with the squad and will be out to impress boss Jackie McNamara, having had spells at the likes of Oldham, Rochdale, Southampton, Huddersf ield, Preston and Chesterfield since leaving the youth ranks at Burnley.
Trialist striker Nadir Ciftci remains at the club and McNamara is hopeful a deal can be done for the former Portsmouth and NAC Breda forward, although the United boss has decided not to offer contracts to Graham Carey and French defender JeanYves Koue Niate.
“We’re not pursuing the other ones but Nadir is still with us and we’re hoping that he can stay with us,” McNamara said.
“It’s just a case of sorting things out behind the scenes with that one.
“We’ll have Neal for the rest of the week I think. He’s been at a few clubs down south, Huddersfield, Preston and a few other teams, so we’ll have a look at him.
“He’ll play some part against Dunfermline and it will be kind of mix and match again.”
After suggesting he is likely to use tonight’s game against Dunfermline to continue tinkering with his lineup, McNamara has hinted that the starting squad he uses at Wigan on Saturday will give fans a much better idea of who might start the SPFL season properly on August 2.
“Saturday we’ll be looking more towards the game at Thistle,” he stressed.
“The Dunfermline game is getting the boys a bit of game time, but Saturday is a bit different because they will be really strong opposition.”
DUNDEE UNITED midfielder John Rankin hopes tonight’s friendly opponents Dunfermline can bounce back from their recent troubles to become a force in Scottish football again.
As a fellow professional and chairman of players’ union PFA Scotland, Rankin has followed events at the Fife club with interest and has pledged his support to everyone hit by the Pars’ fall into administration since March.
However, Rankin hopes the Pars can now finally concentrate on the football side of things after months of uncertainty and that some good can come out of the club’s financial crisis.
“Hopefully they come out of the other side,” he said.
“Obviously it was always going to be difficult for them and they can only sign young boys, but in a way I suppose it’s good for the young boys.
“They are all going to get a chance to go and play and, let’s be honest, Dunfermline are a massive club in Scottish football.
“They’ve had a great history and hopefully they can remain for a long time to come.”
United are back on Scottish soil after two weeks away in Germany and Spain, and Rankin hopes his team can get a result when they visit East End Park in tonight’s latest pre-season fixture.
“Obviously we’ve got two games to go before the season starts and it’s still about fitness but we’re also trying to get a wee bit of form now,” he added.
“Germany was good and we got some good quality games over there.
“Fitness-wise we were probably a good bit behind the teams that we played but other than that it was good.
“Being away for two weeks you get to know the boys a bit better and the new boys have come out of their shell a wee bit. And then Spain last week was more difficult with the heat, but again it was good with the team bonding as well.
“There have been a lot of changes in the summer and the manager is obviously getting his ideas over about how he wants to go about things.
“It’s been good for everybody to adapt to the way each other is.”
Rankin reckons the new players at Tannadice have settled in quickly — and he spoke of his delight at seeing a certain Mr David Goodwillie also back in the fold.
He said: “David’s getting up to speed and building match sharpness. Once the games start he’ll settle in and the fans are right behind him.
“He’s great about the place and he lifts everybody.
“I don’t think we need to build his confidence — he will do that himself once he starts hitting the net again.
“It’s just a matter of when the games start. The goals will flow in and when he’s on song he’s great to watch.”
Tonight’s game should be a good workout for both teams and Rankin is relieved to get back to a Scottish set-up following Friday’s farce in San Roque.
United lost 3-1 to the Spanish fourth tier outfit but the result was academic next to the bizarre performance of the Spanish officials.
And Rankin admitted: “I’ve never seen anything like it.
“When I was at Inverness we went to Italy and played against a Romanian team when one of their boys got sent off, and as soon as he got sent off there was a big coming together of all the players in the middle of the park.
“We restarted and then all of a sudden the goalkeeping coach shouted, ‘They’ve still got 11’, and that was obviously the tactic.
“You get a big stramash in the middle and the wee boy slips in at the side.
“But that’s the only experience of anything as wide as what Friday was like.
“You just get a feeling sometimes and even the linesman had white boots. How often do you get a linesman with white football boots?
“So it was a strange experience to say the least but it’s one we will learn from and one that will probably stand us in good stead for the season ahead.”