Chairman dismisses rumours of rift

DUNDEE UNITED chairman Stephen Thompson has dismissed rumours of a rift between him and manager Jackie McNamara as a “complete and utter load of nonsense”.

Thompson has reacted to cyber-speculation that all was not well between the pair in the wake of the transfer deadline day sale of Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay-Steven to Celtic for a combined fee of £2 million.

Despite McNamara publicly backing the board’s decision at the time and the Tangerines’chief reiterating that was the case in an exclusive interview in Courier Sport just 10 days ago, Thompson has moved to reassure supporters that the two men who matter most at Tannadice are singing from the same hymn sheet.

He also put a figure of £1.3 million on the debt — soft loans owed to friendly creditors — that United will be left with after the cash comes in.

Commenting on the alleged fall-out, Thompson said: “It is complete rubbish.

“Jackie and I have a great working relationship and we discuss everything that happens at the club.

“We speak two or three times a day.

“So it is just a complete and utter load of nonsense.”

Thompson maintained his stance that the doubledeal was the right thing to do for the club overall but did concede that maybe it wasn’t right for United from a playing perspective.

Since selling to the Hoops, the Tangerines have beaten Stranraer in the Scottish Cup but lost in the league to Kilmarnock and St Johnstone, drawn with Inverness and — the worst of the lot — gone down 2-0 at home to Partick Thistle on Saturday.