The end of Jackie McNamara’s Tannadice reign came following a 2-1 reversal against 10-man St Johnstone.
It was the latest in a string of disappointing results for United and, as Ian Roache finds out, the men from Perth have been a constant thorn in the side for the tangerines over the last two years.
Here are some of the worst results of Jackie McNamara’s time in charge:
* 1 0-3 v St Johnstone. December 29, 2013. This defeat marked the first real time when McNamara’s team selection was questioned. He made eight changes to his line-up for this match at McDiarmid Park. The day turned out badly for the United boss but brilliantly for Saints striker Stevie May, who scored a hat-trick.
* 2 0-2 v St Johnstone. May 17, 2014. It is an achievement to reach a Scottish Cup final but this loss was hard to take for the 28,000-plus supporters who backed the Tangerines at Celtic Park. Despite all that expectation in the stands, the players fell well short on the big day and their opponents were worthy winners. Perth boss Tommy Wright won the tactical battle against McNamara, albeit United still had more than enough talent on the park and should have given a better account of themselves.
* 3 0-3 v Celtic. March 21, 2015. This defeat at Celtic Park has been chosen to represent the mad March four-game sequence against the Hoops that saw United lose the League Cup final, get knocked out of the Scottish Cup and then finish off with this loss in the league. To make matters worse, the player to open the scoring for Celtic that day was a certain Gary Mackay-Steven.
* 4 1-3 v Dundee. April 8, 2015. This loss to the Dark Blues at Dens marked the end of McNamara’s winning run in city derbies. The result never looked in doubt, even after Nadir Ciftci’s penalty cancelled out Greg Stewart’s opening strike for Dundee. Goals from James McPake and Paul Heffernan meant the scoreline reflected the home team’s domination and there were celebrations on the pitch and in the stands when the final whistle sounded to record the Dark Blues’ first derby win in over a decade.
* 5 0-4 v Hamilton Accies. August 15, 2015. This was simply an unacceptable display and result from United as they were thrashed by Hamilton at New Douglas Park. They were three down at half-time and you didn’t think it could get any worse. However, a second period that saw them produce no fightback whatsoever was almost as painful to watch as what had gone before. Accies then grabbed a fourth in the final minute.
* 6 1-2 v St Johnstone. September 26, 2015. With McNamara under pressure and needing his players to produce a result for him, they were given a golden opportunity to do that at McDiarmid Park. With Saints having had their goalkeeper Alan Mannus sent off in the process of conceding a penalty scored by striker Billy Mckay it looked a gimme for the Tangerines. However, they still couldn’t hang on as their nemesis club got the better of them once again.
If this is all a bit too trraumatic, you can read about some of McNamara’s finest results here.