Before Dundee even kick a ball this weekend, they could easily be six points behind Hearts already.
If there wasn’t enough pressure on the Dark Blues after the dismal showing at Tynecastle on Friday then the Jambos getting the better of Arbroath will do just that.
They face each other on Friday night on the Beeb before Greenock Morton check in at Dens Park on Saturday.
After being swept aside so easily by Robbie Neilson’s side at the weekend, the Dundee players will be hurting badly.
I can’t imagine what was said in the dressing-room after the game last week but there wasn’t a single player in the starting XI who could honestly say they played well.
Even Charlie Adam, scorer of a wonderful goal and veteran of the English Premier League, had his moments – particularly a backwards header that played Jamie Walker through on goal in the first half.
Right from the first moment, it didn’t look good for Dundee. Skipper and last year’s Player’s Player of the Year Jordan McGhee failed to control the ball and almost gifted a chance.
That set the tone.
Things got slightly better in the second half with the introductions of Jonathan Afolabi and Danny Mullen before the Dark Blues seemed to run out of steam late on.
Mullen got his second goal in two games and has to be in line for a start this weekend, if not both him and Afolabi up top.
As much as I do hope Osman Sow can revive his past glories, his performance at Tynecastle reminded me of pretty much every one he put in for Dundee United.
The occasional nice touch but generally slow and not affecting the game nearly enough.
In fact, despite Mullen being half his size, the former St Mirren man won more headers against the Hearts defence than the big man.
I’ve seen plenty of negative comments online about the manager’s tactics and the 3-5-2 line-up, too.
When you’re on the wrong end of a 6-2 hiding, there’s not much to defend them with.
I would say, though, that when players are that sluggish and off-the-pace they’ll lose, no matter what formation.
I’m no fan of three at the back, I must say, however.
When it works well it is very effective, thinking of Antonio Conte’s Chelsea and the Scotland set-up that’s working well right now.
But I always feel when it’s not quite perfect, it can turn into a disaster pretty quickly.
There are more moving parts compared with a four which, to my mind, means more can go wrong.
It also means you have one less player in midfield or up top when trying to take the game to your opponents.
I’m sure there is plenty going through the manager’s mind right now on who to pick and how to set up.
I have no doubt it won’t be the same as Friday.
Whichever plan they go for, it’s clear everyone at the club needs to up their game –
manager, coaches and most definitely the players.
It’s up to them to sort this.
I didn’t get either of my predictions for our teams right on the podcast Twa Teams, One Street this week.
I expected Aberdeen to be a bit too strong for Micky Mellon’s Dundee United but the Tangerines showed me.
And what a good point it was, too.
It might not have been pretty but get the job of survival done first and then worry about playing attractive football.
There needs to be a sense of pragmatism right now.
After far too many defensive lapses giving away goals, I think the manager and his staff have switched their focus almost solely to tightening things up at the back.
Shut the back door and you only need one opportunity at the other end, with Lawrence Shankland and Marc McNulty up top, they’ll take their chances.
I covered their 1-0 win over Kelty Hearts last week and while there wasn’t much attacking football going on, I think the Tangerines were more than happy to play tight and control the contest.
It’s not exciting to watch but that’s two clean sheets on the bounce for United.
They’d only kept one all season before last week.
That’s not to be sniffed at, even if it’s not so good on the eye.
It reminds me of what Scotland boss Steve Clarke is doing – it’s certainly not pretty but who cares if we’re picking up results?
Hopefully, that keeps up at Tannadice.
It took me by surprise when I tried to stick on Man U v Newcastle on Saturday night only to find it broadcast on Sky Box Office.
Already shelling out for Sky Sports, there was no way I was paying an extra £15 to watch my team when Match of the Day was on just a couple of hours later.
Once more greed has taken over English Premier League clubs.
I get that they are missing out on ticket sales but their model should work just fine with millions coming in from TV rights.
Absolutely no need to try to squeeze more money out of fans.
Shameless.
This article originally appeared on the Evening Telegraph website. For more information, read about our new combined website.