Crisis looming at United if club fail to reach play-offs, insists Donnelly
Simon Donnelly admits he’s shocked that Dundee United are now battling to simply make the play-offs when they should have been challenging for the title.
The Tannadice club had the chance to go top of the Championship just after Christmas and now they are 21 points behind leaders St Mirren, sitting in fifth place.
Csaba Laszlo has achieved just one win in the last ten matches and former Tannadice assistant boss Donnelly reckons a real crisis could be looming if they don’t get their act together.
United can get back into the top four by beating Dumbarton tonight and then they face the Sons again on Saturday – and Donnelly knows they need wins fast.
He said: “United are under real pressure. You look at the teams around them and they could finish out of the playoffs, which is incredible for a team like that. I think it’s one win in ten games and it’s not play-off material, is it?
“We all know United are a Premiership club and should really deserve to be there. To miss out on the play-offs would be a disaster. For a team who, at the turn of the year or maybe just before, you are thinking they are pushing St Mirren for the title. Now they are 21 points behind them now. It’s amazing.”
The Tangerines are in turmoil at all levels as they sit £2.4million in debt, having been relegated in 2016 and new chairman Mike Martin purchased the Gussie Park training ground to raise cash, following Stephen Thompson’s resignation.
It seems like a lifetime ago that Jackie Mcnamara and Donnelly led them to two cup finals and fourth and fifth in the table.
They then had their best players sold and were subsequently sacked in 2015 when they couldn’t replace them.
Donnelly added: “I don’t know if what is happening above them affects at player level.
“It can affect the atmosphere around the stadium if there is unrest about at board level. That can filter through to the fans.”