Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Dundee United verdict as Jack Ross endures ‘sacked in the morning’ taunts from triumphant St Mirren supporters

Ross looks on helplessly
Ross looks on helplessly

Dundee United remain winless in the Premiership after a dire 3-0 defeat against St Mirren.

Curtis Main notched a clinical brace for the Buddies, striking either side of the half-time interval, before Alex Grieve added gloss to the scoreline in injury time.

Although Glenn Middleton and Ilmari Niskanen both threatened, the Tangerines never looked like mounting a comeback as they slipped to a fourth successive defeat in all competitions — and an aggregate scoreline of 15-1.

Indeed, Jonah Ayunga, the best player on the pitch, should have ensured the Paisley outfit claimed a more handsome triumph.

The dying embers even brought a chant of ‘sacked in the morning’ from the St Mirren fans who formerly idolised ex-boss Jack Ross.

Key moments

United can’t say they weren’t warned.

St Mirren almost claimed the lead within a minute, with Ayunga heading wide from eight yards. A ferocious Keanu Baccus volley was bravely blocked by Ryan Edwards and debutant Carljohan Eriksson parried a low Mark O’Hara drive to safety.

By the time Main clinically slotted beyond Eriksson, benefitting from a kind ricochet off Dylan Levitt, the Buddies merited their lead.

Curtis Main makes it two

St Mirren doubled their advantage after the break as United’s familiar failings emerged once more. Levitt and Glenn Middleton surrendered possession in the visitors’ half and, within seconds, Ayunga was teeing up Main to slam home his second.

The ease with which the Tangerines can be carved open on the break — through the heart of the side — remains a huge concern.

With the game over, it is hard to consider Grieve’s late strike a ‘key moment’, but it was most certainly salt in the wound — with the young forward beating the on-rushing, errant Eriksson to the ball and sliding into an empty net from 40 yards.

United’s star man: Charlie Mulgrew

It is incredibly slim pickings for anyone in a Tangerine jersey following another miserable day at the office. 

Mulgrew was left brutally exposed by the lack of tenacity and cover in front of him, but attempted to defend stoically where possible.

A scunnered Mulgrew

No United player made more entries into the final third (23), made more tackles (four), had more clearances (eight) or won more duels (nine).

If anyone merits pass marks, it’d be the 36-year-old attempting, albeit ultimately failing, to stem the tide.

Player ratings

Eriksson 5; Smith 4, Edwards 6, Mulgrew 6, Behich 4 (Niskanen 60, 4); Levitt 5, McGrath 4 (Cudjoe 45, 4), Harkes 5; Middleton 4, Fletcher 5, Watt 4 (Clark 60, 3).

Manager under the microscope

Ross made a huge call.

Following two ropey outings between the sticks against AZ Alkmaar and Hearts — shipping 11 goals along the way — Mark Birighitti was dropped in favour of Finland international Eriksson.

Signed from Swedish side Mjallby during the last winter transfer window, Eriksson was making his competitive United debut after an EIGHT-month wait.

Ross cuts a dejected figure once more

Ross then replaced Jamie McGrath with Matthew Cudjoe during the half-time interval; wasting no time in seeking to change the course of another game drifting away from United.

He also switched to a 3-5-2, allowing Tony Watt to partner Fletcher.

But despite tinkering and tweaking, Ross still cannot get a tune out of this side and, with Celtic up next, the task gets tougher and the scrutiny ratchets up.

Man in the middle: Matthew MacDermid

MacDermid, 29, was overseeing just his second ever Premiership fixture following a swift rise through the Scottish FA ranks.

He dished out deserved bookings to Aziz Behich, Keanu Baccus, Mathew Cudjoe and Levitt but enjoyed an otherwise serene afternoon, shorn of flash-points.

Conversation