The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Tangerines ‘not good enough’ in League Cup exit
Paatelainen left disappointed after 3-0 defeat at Easter Road
Dundee United boss Mixu Paatelainen admitted his team were roundly beaten as they crashed out of the League Cup last night.
The Premiership strugglers were hammered 3-0 by Championship side Hibs in their quarter-final at Easter Road and it could have been even worse given the home team’s dominance.
The Edinburgh team bossed the game from start to finish and scored through David Gray, a Jason Cummings penalty and a late strike from Lewis Stevenson.
It was a poor, poor performance once again from the Tangerines and Paatelainen admitted this display was “nowhere near good enough”. The United manager said: “We were off it. “We didn’t get close enough to Hibs and our passing wasn’t good enough.
“It wasn’t acceptable and it’s disappointing. On the other hand, we did have a couple of sniffs but we didn’t take advantage of them.
“With a bit more care and decisiveness we would have made more of them. “We were nowhere near good enough. “Hibs were up for it, their movement was better than ours but we were not up for it tonight. That showed why we are exactly where we are in the league table.
“Similar things are happening already in my short spell here – it takes time to sort things out.
“It is everyone’s responsibility to sort it out – myself, the coaching staff and the players.
“I’m sure we will be better in the future but it’s going to be a long winter and we will be up and down before we get it right.”