Dundee United’s win over St Johnstone at the weekend reminded me of a lesson I learned from Craig Levein.
So it was ironic to see my former gaffer on the wrong end of the scoreline.
Levein was back at Tannadice, this time in the away dugout, in what was a frankly strange game.
I agree with Levein that the team who scored first was probably going to go on and win.
That proved correct with Luca Stephenson’s opener followed up by an own goal to seal the points.
It may have gone the other way had Andre Raymond not missed an open goal earlier.
But the game highlighted a couple of really promising traits developing at Tannadice.
Key players
There was a second clean sheet on the bounce against two Premiership sides.
That’s a very good sign.
Especially for a team new to the division, having just come up from the Championship.
Dundee United’s defending let them down late on at Ross County but they’ve reacted well since then.
Declan Gallagher has been a big part of that.
He’s very, very solid at this level and it’s a good combination with him and the two younger guys either side in Ross Graham and Emmanuel Adegboyega.
Kevin Holt stepping into midfield has also provided Jim Goodwin with a real steady influence, there is a consistency about Holt’s play that has helped a lot.
That’s been needed with Ross Docherty not fully fit.
Overall Dundee United are proving a tough team to play against and that bodes well for the season to come.
Levein lesson
The other promising trait, as backwards as it sounds, is they weren’t very good in the first half!
They weren’t very good but kept themselves in the game, kept the score goal-less.
Admittedly Andre Raymond’s finishing from six yards helped on that front.
But that’s something Levein would always drill into us – stay in the game no matter how it’s going and you give yourself a chance.
United dug deep in that first half and came away with a big three points.
Jim Goodwin
Three points that are helping prove Jim Goodwin’s credentials as Dundee United boss.
There have been times when not everyone in the fanbase was convinced by the Irishman.
Signings this summer have been good, which is a big help.
But the results are coming as well.
I think everyone appreciates not everything is quite there in terms of the team gelling and really getting into its stride.
However, the early signs are very promising.
Guys like Kristijan Trapanovski and David Babunski have been huge additions and the rest has followed from there.
It is a new squad, though, and there will be bumps along the road.
Goodwin is driving this team, though, and it looks very much like he knows exactly where he’s going.
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