Liam Fox racked up 10 Premiership games at the helm of Dundee United — as both interim and permanent gaffer — on Wednesday evening.
And the Tangerines marked it in style.
United turned in one of their most complete performances of the campaign, sweeping aside Kilmarnock 4-0 courtesy of goals from Kieran Freeman, Jamie McGrath, Glenn Middleton and Dylan Levitt.
The performance was all the more impressive given the excruciating pressure on the hosts, going into the fixture knowing defeat would have seen them cut SIX points adrift at the bottom of the Premiership.
After reaching double-digits in league matches as a top-flight boss (Fox has also overseen two Premier Sports Cup ties, beating Livingston and exiting to Killie), now would seem an apt time to analyse the progress so far.
Baby steps — but the improvement is visible.
The form table
United have won three league matches under Fox — and, indeed, this season as a whole.
All have been under the lights at Tannadice.
The Tangerines registered their maiden victory in scintillating fashion by defeating Aberdeen 4-0 last month.
Three days later, they beat Hibs 1-0.
Following this week’s demolition of Killie, United became only the third team to win more than one league match by a four-goal margin in the current campaign; Celtic and Rangers being the others.
Of United’s two draws under Fox, their 0-0 stalemate against Motherwell was fortunate — down more to a fine penalty save by Carljohan Eriksson allied with the profligacy of the hosts.
United were by far the better team in their recent share of the spoils against Ross County.
The Terrors have lost half of their last 10 league games — however it should be noted that two of those were away at Rangers and Celtic and, on both occasions, the visitors played very well.
Reverses against St Mirren, St Johnstone and Motherwell were far more disappointing.
United are also one of just five teams to have a positive goal difference over the period; underlining the fact that when Fox’s side lose, they tend to lose narrowly. When they win, they win well.
Compared with Jack Ross’ tenure
So, while not perfect — it was never likely to be; Fox was turning around a tanker — United’s league form under Fox is solid, picking up only five fewer points over the same period than the likes of Livingston and Aberdeen.
But how does it compare to Jack Ross’ 10-week tenure?
Ross was at the helm of the Tangerines for five Premiership games.
In that time they picked up an average of 0.2 points per match, conceded an average of 3.6 goals per match and scored 0.4 per match.
Under Fox, United boast an average of 1.1 points per league match, concede an average of 1.2 goals per match and have scored at a rate of 1.5 per match.
Away from the raw data, the Terrors have also become a far more resolute proposition in the heart of midfield and are playing with a pace and energy that was missing earlier this term.
A vulnerability from set pieces and wide deliveries has been a maddening theme — but there were positive signs in that regard against Killie.
The winter shut down
As Fox emphasised on Wednesday night, United remain a work in progress.
Pick that one out! 🎯🎯🎯@Glenn_M22 with a cracker 💥#cinchPrem | @dundeeunitedfc pic.twitter.com/fKBe6knzvf
— SPFL (@spfl) November 10, 2022
And that win will mean nothing if the Tangerines lose at Aberdeen on Saturday and Kilmarnock beat Hibs at Rugby Park.
However, with just one game until the World Cup shut-down, there have been enough signs of development to give weary Arabs a tentative feeling of hope regarding what the second half of the campaign could bring.
With several weeks to effectively undertake another pre-season and get his ideas across, Fox will certainly back himself to put his stamp on this United team even further.
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