People were far too quick to doubt Thomas, says Watt

TONY WATT believes we are all too quick in Scotland to accentuate the negatives — especially when it comes to managerial appointments. So for someone like himself who lives by the mantra of firmly focusing on the positives, the striker is delighted his head coach Thomas Courts has proved the doubters wrong.

When former Kelty Hearts boss Courts was named as Micky Mellon’s successor in July, there were many who predicted he would fall flat on his face in his first senior role.

Instead, the 40-year-old has secured a top-six finish, with United now setting their sights on bringing European football back to Tannadice for the first time in 10 years.

Watt insists that shows the decision to appoint Courts (below) by American owner Mark Ogren and sporting director Tony Asghar was the correct one.

The 28-year-old said: ‘A lot of people said things about Ange Postecoglou as well.

‘People were saying a lot about Giovanni van Bronckhorst a couple of weeks ago. I saw people on Twitter saying he needed to be out after the Old Firm game.

‘He has just got them to a cup final and they’re in the semi-final of the Europa League.

‘Ange has won the League Cup and could possibly win the league as well.

‘Our manager has come in here with pressure on his back and taken us to the top six and it’s only the second season back up. I think he’s done a great job — all credit to him.

‘I think everybody gets written off at some point when they get a job up here. I think it’s just how it works, Steven Gerrard was the same.

‘There are others going far back. It’s just the way Scotland is.

‘With any kind of open wound, people jump on — whether it’s in the media, in real life, on Twitter, at home.

‘People just jump on it and I say it all the time, I need to look at life in a positive way and then positive stuff will come. I say it if anyone is being negative during the day.

‘When the manager came in, everybody seemed to see it as negative because he was fresh.

‘The manager has done a good job and we’ve seen that. All credit to Tony and the owner for appointing him.’

Watt believes that many observers are far too hasty in condemning any manager who is ‘out of the box’ — like Hibs boss Shaun Maloney, who was sacked last week after just four months in charge.

Watt added: ‘Look at the Maloney one. We played against Hibs a couple of weeks ago and they were brilliant. In the first half, we were probably a wee bit better and we were probably a bit more direct.

‘In the second half, Hibs were brilliant.

‘I couldn’t understand that one but then Maloney is outside the box. He’s a different type of manager and wants to do it his way.

‘I don’t know if we’re ready for that, to be honest.

‘It was the same at United last summer. People probably weren’t ready for our manager to get the job here because they expect things that are set in stone.’

Since leaving Motherwell in January to join United, Watt has only netted once in 14 appearances, ironically against the Steelmen at Tannadice in February.

However, while the front man is determined to add to his tally against Hearts at Tannadice this afternoon, he insists he is still more than happy with what he has achieved in a tangerine jersey.

He said: ‘I think my time at Dundee United has been successful so far.

‘I’ve not scored a lot of goals but I have contributed with assists and helped the team. I have created a fair bit as well.

‘I love scoring, but, if I don’t score and we win, that’s better than me scoring and us losing.’