United lost to Arbroath at Tannadice on Saturday. It's the first time that's happened since the 50s. I know we're miles ahead in the league, but it's really not good enough.
I'm not disparaging Arbroath here. They're a good side, well organised and did a job. But we should be beating them.
It's odd, but I'm feeling concerned. The last couple of performances have been poor and we just seem to be lacking quite a bit at the moment, and I have to start wondering if we've ended up coming out poorer after the transfer window.
We've decided to move on a few players, notably Sam Stanton but also Cammy Smith and to a lesser extent Logan Chalmers and Banks, while Nicky Clark was ruled out for the season.
We've also now found out that the injury Sow sustained early on Saturday is going to rule him out for the season.
This leaves us short. We've brought in Powers and Glass has returned from Cove but our options are very limited. Relying on a guy new to the league and a kid with six months experience under his belt is a little dangerous in my opinion, and it doesn't seem like we're preparing well for the challenges ahead next season.
I'm not panicking - we'll still win the league, not least because all of the teams below us are incapable of taking advantage of our slip ups. But I wanted us to be building towards our team for the Premiership and I don't feel we are.
We were limited on Saturday by injuries too to be fair, with Appere and McMullan both missing, further reducing our options. And with Sow going off early, then his replacement Glass also going off later in the game with a nasty eye injury, we didn't have much options and we struggled to break down a dogged Arbroath defence. In fact in the whole game we only created one clear chance, Shankland fluffing his lines in front of goal.
The manager got things wrong on Saturday though, and again it rekindles the frustrations that I, and many others, feel with him. For me he's trying to shoehorn players into the team when he should be picking the best XI. The partnerships through the team aren't functioning. Sporle and Robson don't seem to click, Pawlett can't play as a winger so Smith is having to do all the work, particularly later in the game. The central defensive partnership should contain Watson while his midfield partnership of Butcher and Powers doesn't work. Both are good enough players but too similar, and ultimately he asked firstly Powers to play a role that requires him to be much more mobile, then latterly he had our defensive midfielder Butcher playing as a number 10. It was entirely disjointed and he needs to pick the best team, not what he feels is his best players.
There's a sense of concern creeping over me now and hopefully it will be relieved by the return of Appere and McMullan, and hopefully a return to form of Harkes. A free week this week will hopefully give us time to train hard and return to what we were doing right for much of the season.
Mon the Terrors
DUFC 0 AFC 1
posted on 4/2/20
comment by IvanGolacIsMagic (U5291)
posted 4 minutes ago
comment by Frederic Daquin (U1734)
posted 7 minutes ago
Imagine getting beat by Arbroath. Have you seen how far down the table they are?
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I was out in Dundee after the game and met up with a Dee friend. He was saying his group chat was alight with people celebrating the Wighton victory until he pointedly reminded them that this put Arbroath ahead of Dundee
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Yeah I'm a die hard draw fan at the moment. I don't want anyone to win apart from us and.......United
posted on 4/2/20
It's crazy that Dundee are 1 point away from the promotion play-offs and 5 points away from the relegation play-offs (seven points away from the bottom spot). It's so tight. You've got to imagine Dundee will put a run together at some point but it really needs to be soon to take the pressure off.
posted on 4/2/20
Read this last night on Twitter...
In all competitions this season:
Connolly and Reynolds starts: 6
Clean sheets: 0
Reynolds and Watson starts: 8
Clean sheets: 5
Connolly and Watson: 2
Clean sheets: 1
I’m not saying that’s all there is to it, but come on!
Reynolds and Connolly in central defence, shipped 6 (six) goals in our last 3 matches.
posted on 4/2/20
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Hadn't been aware of those stats - pretty telling though. No idea why Neilson is so determined to get them both in the team. Someone was saying to me that Watson is carrying an injury but I'm not sure how accurate that is, and even then if he is carrying an injury you have to ask why he's on the bench.
posted on 4/2/20
If he’s injured you would think that someone would come out and say officially. Like you say though, why have him on the bench then?
posted on 4/2/20
Of all the games to choose to go to...
We were so unbelievably slow. The same move every single time - pass along the backline to Robson who then preceded to do nothing.
We have an awful centre-back pairing. Both identical, slow hoofball merchants who have to sit deep to avoid any counter-attack. There was a colossal difference in the way we played when Reynolds went off and Butcher went to centre-back. He was pushing forward and driving the team up the park, but with only 10 minutes to go it was too late.
Shankland played as well as he could with the service he got. A lot of good lay-offs to people that are nowhere near his level. Thought Powers and Butcher did well enough in midfield, as well as Glass during his time on the park but the absolute dearth of width cost us. What is even the point of Peter Pawlett? You could have stuck me there and I'd have done more. And been less fat.
Oh and an interesting stat - at least as far as I'm aware, the Scottish Championship has the second-placed team with the worst points-per-game ratio in all of Europe. 36 points from 22 games.
How much this us dominating the league, and how much is it everyone else being equally pants?
posted on 4/2/20
The comment we should be beating Arbroath is very OF imo. We are awful and deserve every defeat going.
The tombola is very much in use again. Watson benched in favour of Connolly and Reynolds. Pawlett if fit, starts, ffs.
Two things that really pisses me off with Neilson.
1. Players coming back from injury are not given games in the reserves then on the bench. They start then breakdown and out again for a while. This situation forever on repeat.
2. Signing players he has managed before. They maybe did well for him previously but Nesbitt, Pawlett, Sow and King have been brutal, honking and whatever else you wish to describe them.
When did we ever scout a player doing the business here and now that could come in right away with match fitness? An answer would be much appreciated............
£24 to watch that keech says it all for me. Absolutely scandalous.
posted on 4/2/20
Arabs4ever - It's probably fairer to say that we should be putting in a performance capable of beating Arbroath. We didn't on Saturday, not by a million miles.
posted on 5/2/20
The comment we should be beating Arbroath is very OF imo. We are awful and deserve every defeat going.
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I do hear what you're saying but at the same time I don't think it's unreasonable to say that we should be beating a mid-table part-time team when we should be building for the Premiership (and ideally a top six finish in the Premiership).
But you're right that we deserved the defeat and our performances in recent weeks haven't been good enough.
posted on 5/2/20
our performances in recent weeks haven't been good enough.
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Yet they still have been