Dundee United fans have had a tough time of it lately, but for two eager young fans, it’s been doubly frustrating.
Keen tacticians, 10-year-old Inchture Primary pupils Lewis Anderson and James Milton, drew up tactics and a starting XI for former Tannadice boss Mixu Paatelainen ahead of last week’s dramatic Dundee derby.
The determined duo then handed their advice to United skipper Sean Dillon, whose children attend their school’s nursery.
Tannadice favourite Dillon in turn promised to hand over the advice to then-manager Paatelainen.
The young duo selected a bold 4-2-3-1 system with John Rankin operating in front of sitting midfielders Paul Paton and Guy Demel.
Ryan Dow and Blair Spittal were picked to supply lone forward Simon Murray.
Paul Dixon, Callum Morris, Sean Dillon and Kyle Noyle were the lad’s back four choices and Japanese goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima was chosen to start in goals.
But despite the pair’s best efforts, the Fin picked his own selection and the rest is now history.
Despite the rebuff, Lewis’s dad, Kevin, expects his son to loyally stick with the Tangerines.
The 41-year-old, a lifelong Dundee fan, revealed that though his son has been left devastated by United’s demise, he doesn’t expect him to be attending Dens Park any time soon.
Kevin, a friend of club skipper Sean Dillon, said: “Lewis and James are best friends and decided that Mixu needed a bit of help.
“I think playing games like FIFA and Championship Manager has given them a bit of an insight into team selections.
“When I heard about it I thought it was hilarious, Sean thought it was too.
“The first thing I said to Lewis was: “Please tell me Sean was in the team”.
“Thankfully he was.
“When I spoke to Sean after the game he said that maybe if they’d listened to the boys then they would have won.”
Kevin continued: “Lewis is gutted, but I think the whole experience has made him a more passionate United fan.
“I don’t think there’s any chance of him turning to the dark blue.”
United fanatic Lewis remains convinced his selection would have come up trumps.
He said: “I’m sure if Mixu picked our team that we would have beaten Dundee.”
Best friend James added: “We picked our ideal team and because we know Sean, we thought he could pass it on to Mixu for us.”
