We could have been Leicester City but we are more like Aston Villa.
The decision to sell Ryan Gauld, Andy Robertson, Stuart Armstrong, Gary Mackay-Steven and Nadir Ciftci all within 12 months – followed by a substandard recruitment policy which reeked of being made up as it went along to replace them – is the main reason United are about to be relegated.
We gave away all our speed, width, penetration, skill, creativity and, crucially, goals that had made us feared by every team in Scotland.
The recruitment policy following their departures has been appalling over the last 18 months – the majority of the signings made by the previous “manager” and the disastrous recruitment of Mixu and the players he has recruited.
I don’t think any United supporter believes we would be in this situation if we had appointed someone like John Hughes in October. Although maybe not the most glamorous appointment, I have no doubt he would have kept us in the division.
What makes me most angry as a United fan especially over the last two seasons (and over the last decade in general) is our staggering lack of ambition and the mantra of “we are a selling club” eagerly wheeled out in press conferences and interviews at the first available opportunity.
- For more on our in-depth look at the challenges facing Dundee United, click here
Every club is a selling club – we get it. We just wanted to hear someone come out and say first and foremost our priority was to ensure Dundee United were up there challenging for the league and cups and getting into Europe every season.
We are tired of the money we spend supporting the club outweighing the ambition of those in charge. If the present owners’ ambition does not match the supporters’ then they should move aside for someone else who wants to bring us the success we desire.
United are a great football club who have achieved incredible things against the odds. Every player, manager and director who walks through the doors at Tannadice should have that rammed down their throat every day.
We don’t want to hear that United should be used as a stepping-stone to something better by all those we recruit.
We want a change in the club’s philosophy that will restore some pride, ambition and passion to an amazing club who went from nothing to becoming one of the best teams in Europe – it can be done again, make no mistake.
That’s been far too easily forgotten in my opinion.
If you need proof, there is a “wee” team in the East Midlands right now who are proving what is possible with the right recruitment on and off the pitch without having the most money.
It could have been us.
