Willo Flood has called on every Dundee United player to use the feeling of despair at the end of Saturday’s horror show at Falkirk to make sure such a performance never happens again.
Flood skippered United in what was their worst display of the season and admits he can’t recall feeling so low at the end of a game.
But there is no hint of the Irishman feeling sorry for himself. He knows he and his team-mates only had themselves to blame.
Experienced enough to realise every team gets beat from time to time, he also accepts there’s a way to lose — and that wasn’t it.
That why he takes the criticism that came the Tangerines’ way as they were booed off at the final whistle at the Falkirk Stadium.
“We let ourselves down,” was his frank assessment.
“I’m not pointing fingers at other people because I was poor and I let my team-mates down.
“It’s the most embarrassed I’ve ever felt in a game, or it’s certainly right up there. It was so unlike us but it happened and we have to make sure it doesn’t again.
“We’ve got to remember that feeling. This has got to drive us on. Fans will forgive you for losing but there was a severe lack of effort on Saturday and that can’t be.
“We never gave ourselves a chance. We gave away a silly goal very early and then we gave away another bad goal early in the second half.
“That second one was my fault to be fair. I shouldn’t have got ahead of the ball but I took a chance their boy was going to chest the ball but he turned and I blame myself for that.
“We let everyone down with the performance. Right through the whole team we did not play well enough and we know that. We got exactly what we deserved from that game, which was nothing.”
The result has given Hibs a chance to extend their lead at the top of the Championship to nine points when they face struggling Raith Rovers at Easter Road on Saturday and United are involved in Challenge Cup business at Queen of the South.
The feeling in the Tannadice dressing-room remains that the Hibees can be caught but Flood knows it won’t happen if there are other displays like the weekend.
“We can’t afford to be playing like that, especially at this time of the season.
“You don’t mind losing or drawing when at least you’ve had a go.
“We drew at Dunfermline the other week and it was disappointing but at least you could see we were progressing and we had a real go to win. Saturday was a very big disappointment in terms of where we want to be
“There was nothing. We did not lay a glove on them. We didn’t even make passes and we didn’t tackle or work hard enough to help each other out and that can be the case.
“There was no togetherness out on that pitch. That’s not acceptable.”
He’s at a loss to explain why a team that, whatever the result, has come to be known for giving their all, should have been so inept.
His main concern now, though, is to make sure there are no repeats.
“I don’t know what it was. The goals early in each half dented our confidence and we are a little bit fragile at the moment but we need to be men and we need to grow up.
“We need to get this club back where it belongs but we won’t with performances like that and every one of us will be lucky to be still in football if we play like that again.”
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