The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Dons are Unite ed’s new benchma ark – Jim Spence
Expectation levels among football fans differ by nature. Some set them too high and end up disappointed, some aim too low and lose interest altogether.
Many Dundee United fans are currently caught between those two points.
Recent results show that the failure to add quality to a squad which was struggling towards the end of the Championship race has been costly.
The Covid situation and subsequent drop in income has arguably made it difficult to add improved talent , but it looks like Marc McNulty, on loan, may be the only recognisable addition of decent calibre.
Micky Mellon’s early positive messages about giving the youngsters a chance, and reminding folk about United’s stature, are now jaded in the view of some more impatient supporters.
Fans are concerned with an unsteady central defence and a lack of creativity in midfield.
McNulty as partner to Shank land and the acquisition of Jeando Fuchs in midfield will hopefully improve results, but the stirrings of unrest among some fans is now evident.
Results need to improve soon, or questions which are bubbling to the surface over both the manager and those in charge at Tannadice, may boil over.
Under Jim McLean, United were on a par with Alex Ferguson’ s great Aberdeen sides as they challenged the might of the Old Firm, to become the New Firm.
Sadly those days have gone and are unlikely to return. However, the Dons have fared better than
United since then and unlike the Tangerines have never been out of the top league.
Hailing from a one-club city and having greater wealth means they can outgun the Tannadice side
for quality, but it shouldn’t be an unbridgeable gap as it is with the Glasgow duo.
The meeting of the pair this weekend will indicate how far United have to travel to recover the ground they’ve lost over a long period, against a club they should be aspiring to emulate.
SAINTS ON GOAL TRAIL
St Johnstone’s seven-goal demolition of Brechin last weekend was a confidence builder.
A Stevie May hat-trick and four different scorers was reward for a team with everything in place except goals.
The great Hungarian sides of the fifties, the Mighty Mag yars, were big believers in playing matches against much weaker opponents in which they could rattle in barrowloads of goals.
Nothing breeds confidence like regularly rattling the rigging.
They might not be the new Magyars, but they’ve players who are capable of scoring goals, as last Saturday proved. The trick is to repeat it at Premiership level.
HARD GRAFT PAYS OFF
I said last week Scotland would need to settle for hard graft in place of scintillating football, but with the win over the Czech Republic in midweek meaning eight games now unbeaten , that ’s no hardship.
The Czechs are rated 45th in the world, but have traditionally produced some fine players and have been a strong football nation; indeed we enjoyed fortuitous luck against them in our victory.
Defensively we’ ve become difficult to penetrate, and are finding the secret to nicking a goal and hanging in for a win.
Hard graft and slog mightn’t be exciting, but it’s paying dividends.