Tough start to the season for United

IT'S BEEN a tough start to the season for Dundee United, where their first three fixtures saw them line up against the top three sides from last year.

To kick us off, a sold-out Tannadice witnessed a decent performance against Rangers where the teams shared a point apiece in the Scottish Premiership curtain raiser. United went ahead with a fortunate opener from one of the new Aussie contingent —Lachlan Rose—to put Jim Goodwin’s side ahead at the break before Thelo Aasgaard equalised for the visitors not long into the second period. United had a great chance to take the victory late on with winger Jesse Randall straight through on goal with only the keeper to beat. Call it first night nerves or whatever, but the New Zealand international fresh from his time at the World Cup, inexplicably dinked his shot straight into the arms of Ivor Pandur in the Rangers goal when it looked easier to tap it under him. It was a first look at a new United side with the new recruits into double figures and only time will tell how well they can gel together.

Runners-up Hearts were next and United got off to a bad start at Tynecastle with a long range strike after just four minutes and a penalty on 12 had them chasing their tails instantly. United to their credit kept pressing though, but Hearts added another two in the second-half in an afternoon to forget in the capital for the travelling Arabs.

A League Cup tie was next with Celtic the visitors and again, worryingly, this saw United conceding four goals for the second time in a week. United did have chances in the game where they hit the woodwork no fewer than five times, but as we know there are no prizes awarded for that statistic.

A derby was up next with United keen to kick-start their season and Dundee looking to continue their good run of form at Tannadice having lost only once in their last four visits. United started the better side, but as the game progressed it was Steven Pressley’s Dundee who would emerge as the victors, running out 2-0 winners. United looked lacklustre in places, especially up front, and the Dundee defence remained solid throughout. Dundee executed their game plan perfectly on the day—a sore one to take, but no complaints about the outcome.

A trip to Kilmarnock has not been something to look forward to as an Arab as United have been waiting for 10 years for a victory down there. Indeed Killie are only one of two sides manager Jim Goodwin has never beaten during his time at Tannadice—the other being Rangers. So as ever, a daunting afternoon for the Tangerines lay ahead. United rose to the challenge perfectly and overran their hosts with an emphatic 4-0 victory and four different scorers into the bargain, much to the delight of the away support, who breathed a sigh of relief after watching their side break this hoodoo on the new Rugby Park surface.

Another away day came midweek at Motherwell (above) where, unfortunately, it was another horror show in a 3-0 defeat. What was looking like a decent game from the off completely changed when United’s Emmanuel Agyei was dismissed after just 14 minutes, leaving an uphill struggle and a ripped up game plan. Motherwell took full advantage of the extra man and eased to a victory on the night. Given the circumstances of the red card, it was difficult to decipher how a full quota of players would have handled this encounter and the focus swiftly turned to the visit of Falkirk on the Saturday.

Again in this one United got off a terrible start finding themselves behind in just four minutes—a pattern they have simply got to break. United kicked on to dominate proceedings from around 30 minutes and just when it seemed like it was going to be another one of those days with Falkirk’s Scott Bain thwarting the Tangerines with some excellent saves throughout the game, United grabbed an equaliser in injury time with former Ardboe GAA man Michael Forbes scoring his first goal for his new club with a glancing header.

Finally, our best wishes go out to Jim Goodwin and his family as he recovers from a spell in hospital after a recent health scare and we hope to see the silver fox back in the dugout soon. Jim sat in the stands at the Falkirk game and is apparently recuperating well at home. United play Jim’s old club St Mirren in their next game before we swing into an international break.