The League Cup has proved an early embarrassment to United and St Johnstone.
Saints boss Steven MacLean is late to the table in hiring new signings, due to his belated appointment.
Fixing up new starts in football is no overnight process.
It can be long and laborious with agents always exploring alternative avenues for their clients, and managers and directors of football have to be highly persuasive when other options are available to targets.
Delicate balancing act
Compounding that fact is the impatience of supporters who have already identified their areas of concerns and what they want to see improved.
It’s a delicate balancing act for gaffers and one in which a wrong move can mean a quick fall from grace.
The McDiarmid Park boss will be well aware of the pitfalls as he seeks the three or more new signings he needs to strengthen his side sufficiently for the season ahead.
United winning their last two fixtures has been a nod in the right direction for Arabs, and Jim Goodwin is managing an upbeat but realistic assessment of his rebuilding plans.
For United a cup run, although financially beneficial, pales into insignificance besides the bigger picture of a rapid return to the top league.
That’s the absolute top priority as the manager moulds his squad to reinstate the club to the Premiership in one season.
Dundee are bedding in a big number of new players and finding the recipe to blend the new mix at Dens will also take a few weeks but Tony Docherty’s winning home debut was a big boost.
It’s always a gamble when so many new signings arrive at a club; it takes time to settle into a new environment and city, and for players from outside the Scottish scene into a different type of football which can be hectic and frenetic compared to what they’re used to.
United’s task is returning to the top, Dundee’s is to stay there.
Tatran Presov memories
Having paid homage to their Dundee Hibernian roots with a nifty green and white away kit, United fans might sympathise with their former namesakes from Edinburgh after their European humiliation this week.
Lee Johnson’s men were beaten by part timers Inter Club d’Escaldes in Andorra.
I was the radio match commentator for BBC Scotland in 1994 when United took a 3-2 lead to Tatran Presov.
They extended that lead by scoring in the second minute and still blew it, losing 3-1 on the night.
Manager Ivan Golac called it his biggest disappointment in his 32 years as a player and manager.
The mood on the return flight from Slovakia was sombre and chairman Jim McLean’s disposition was very dark at the embarrassment.
Hibs boss Lee Johnson has made much of how as a big club the Easter Road outfit should be competing in Europe but they now face falling at the first hurdle.
The result isn’t just a blow for Hibees it’s a kick in the teeth for everyone involved in our club game which too often fails to impress on the European stage against mediocre opposition.
It also sits in sharp contrast to how well our international side are progressing under the shrewd management of Steve Clarke.
