Paul Paton has carried out a brutally honest post-mortem on relegated Dundee United’s grim season.
The Tangerines travel to face Inverness Caley Thistle at the end of one of – if not the – most traumatic weeks in the club’s history.
Relegation at the hands of city rivals Dundee on Monday was followed by the sacking of manager Mixu Paatelainen and a cull of the playing squad.
Only five players – Sean Dillon, Blair Spittal, Scott Fraser, Simon Murray and Luis Zwick – have been told they will be kept, while captain Paton and everyone else under contract have been told they can leave along with those who are out of contract.
It has all left the club shell-shocked and the trip to the Highlands seems irrelevant under the circumstances.
Paton, talking to the inhouse media site Arabzone, didn’t hold back after what has been the campaign from hell.
He asked: “Where do you start? To lose two managers their job is the lowest of the low.
“Jackie (McNamara) and his staff went and I was bitterly disappointed because he brought me here. Then Mixu made me captain and he has now lost his job.
“Two different managements and staffs lost their jobs so obviously something isn’t right.
“It’s a whole host of things. People are quick to blame the chairman (Stephen Thompson) but people forget he has reinvested a lot of money in this team.
“There are boys in there on big wages. There are boys we have paid hundreds of thousands of pounds for that have come in.
“It hasn’t been good business for the club. You look at a team like Aberdeen bringing in Kenny McLean or Hibs with John McGinn – we have paid more for our players.
“If you are being honest, they have just not delivered. We have just not delivered as a group of players and I think the blame lies with us.”
Asked what the future could hold for United, Paton added: “It could prove difficult. Obviously budgets need to be cut.
“I also think recruitment needs to be massive. In the first division there can be no margin for error. You have to bring boys in who you know can do the job – good pros and good young boys.
“You look at Hibs and the dilemma they find themselves in. They have a really, really strong squad of experience and youth yet they got beat (by Raith) last night.
“It is a tough league to get out of. The likes of Raith, Falkirk and Morton have had strong squads for a few years. They probably have a team spirit and togetherness that this club hasn’t got, especially with so many boys leaving.”
Looking back on the 2-1 defeat to Dundee, Paton was keen to explain his part in Craig Wighton’s winning goal for the Dark Blues.
He blamed goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima for calling for him to move position before Greg Stewart squared the freekick to Wighton.
Paton said: “It is right up there as the most disappointing night of my career. The way it all happened was devastating.
“For that to be the final nail in the coffin was obviously disappointing and embarrassing.”
The Northern Ireland international then explained: “Eiji shouted at me to make a two-man wall. I obviously went into the two-man wall and somebody else had to fill my position (but) it had been left vacant for the boy to score.
“That’s why there was a bit of arguing after the game and on the pitch because I felt at 1-1 there was probably no need for a two-man wall at that kind of angle.
“So we were disappointed and had it out in the dressing room. It’s done and ultimately a 1-1 draw wouldn’t have been good enough for us anyway.
“It sums us up – just bad decisions. Looking back and being an experienced pro I should have just said to the keeper: ‘Absolutely no chance – I am staying where I am.’
“But if the boy Stewart goes and puts the ball in the top corner from the freekick, then whose fault is it? Possibly mine. So Eiji has made the call and ultimately it was the wrong call.
“We have been making wrong decisions all year. At the end of the day that one decision never got us relegated. It has been a full season of mistakes and bad performances that led us there.”
Paton claimed that were he a fan he would have stayed away from Dens. And if he had decided to go to then he would have been shouting abuse at the United players.
“It is an embarrassment for the club, for the players and for the fans,” added the midfielder. “That is why I was so surprised there were so many fans there.
“If I am a fan and know the way my team has been playing and what the outcome could be I probably wouldn’t have attended that day.
“But they did and we appreciate it. What can you say? To go to your rivals and get embarrassed like that…
“But the fans who stayed behind after the game, to cheer us off the park , to clap and applaud us – 90% of the fans were great. If I were a fan I would have been hurling abuse.”
He also doesn’t expect many supporters to watch the side face Caley tonight.
“I am not going to patronise anyone,” he said. “I would find it very difficult to motivate myself to go and watch that game after what we have produced for the fans this season, especially with the game live on TV. That’s my honest opinion.”
Paton is, understandably, expecting assistant boss Gordon Young to make a lot of changes.
He said: “I think it wouldn’t be a shock. It’s fair to give young boys a chance and see if they can handle the pressure. It might be worthwhile to throw those boys in.
“How do you know they are going to be good enough if you don’t give them a shot? But I don’t think the youth team has been outstanding in their own league this year – I don’t know how many of them merit a chance.
“That’s not for me to say. If one or two do then they might get thrown in. Harry Souttar, Ali Coote and Jamie Robson are good prospects and good young players who have a lot to learn but if they do learn then they can have good careers.”
