There was a bit of to and fro when Arbroath’s trip to Tannadice was brought forward from a Saturday to a Friday night a few weeks ago.
The gaffer made his feelings clear and so did Dundee United.
It’s old news now, though.
And it certainly won’t be at the front of our minds this week in the build-up to the game.
If anything, we’ll be taking our motivation from wanting to show we’re a much better side than the one that was beaten 4-0 on the opening day of the season.
I know that it still irks the players.
The boys were so disappointed in themselves.
United were good and did a very professional job.
But that wasn’t the real us.
There are goals in the team this year.
And I’d like to think that the team that has won six out of our last seven is a better reflection of where we are as a group.
We know we’re big underdogs for this one, however.
Beating Partick Thistle 5-0 on their own patch was a magnificent result for United.
A 𝐭𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐨𝐥𝐭 from the blue 🧏🏻♂️#PARUTD | #cinchChamp | #DUFC pic.twitter.com/1BhwDmhq1p
— Dundee United FC (@dundeeunitedfc) October 22, 2023
There’s certainly been nothing that has happened over the first quarter of the season to make me change my mind about United being strong favourites for the title.
The way in which Jim Goodwin strengthened his squad in the summer reminded me of John McCormack at Dundee.
He’s prioritised the spine of the team – a good goalkeeper, Declan Gallagher and Kevin Holt at centre-back, Ross Docherty in midfield and Louis Moult up front.
Playing them in front of a big crowd at Tannadice is the ultimate test in this division.
You can throw into the mix the fact that well over half our team will be doing a half-day’s work on Friday and one of them will be in a classroom until 3.30 in the afternoon!
We’ve shown resilience already this season and we’ll need more of that.
Like I say, we want to put that opening day of the season to bed and we also want to test ourselves to see how far we’ve come since then.
It’s great to welcome Stuart Malcolm on to the coaching staff at Gayfield.
I played with Malcy when we were both at Forfar.
And obviously he’s got connections with the gaffer from those days.
He was a very good professional over a long career and has built up his coaching and management experience since then.
📄 | A message to Berwick Rangers Fans from Stuart Malcolm
Read more… ⬇️https://t.co/LCdJzKK48z
— Berwick Rangers (@OfficialBRFC) October 24, 2023
But, no disrespect to Berwick, he’s now going to be involved at a higher standard with ourselves.
It’s not a case of him replacing anybody.
All good managers keep things fresh on and off the pitch.
The gaffer, Pink and Youngy are the elder statesmen – you can’t beat experience.
Now it’ll be Malcy and myself a bit younger.
I sure that will be a good blend.
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