Dundee United boss Csaba Laszlo is using the club’s supporters as a source of inspiration for his under-pressure players.
The Tannadice boss was left genuinely moved by the amount of fans who travelled to East End Park last Saturday to back his team just a week after the Tangerines suffered a humiliating 6-1 defeat at Falkirk.
So much so, that when his squad gathered to watch a video of the 0-0 draw against Dunfermline they were instead shown footage of the thousand-plus support yelling their encouragement from behind the goal.
It may be an unorthodox move but it is one that Laszlo hopes will make the players realise that the Arabs, as he prefers to call them, are sticking by the Tangerines as they try to claw back an eight-point gap on Championship leaders, not to mention negotiate this weekend’s William Hill Scottish Cup fourth round tie away to Alloa.
The United boss said: “I have to tell you, honestly, about the supporters.
“Dundee United have fantastic fans.
“After the game against Falkirk everybody left the stadium and you had a lot of angry fans.
“However, they showed up and backed the team against Dunfermline, and again they filled the full stand.
“This is really what the message is to us – the dressing room – that the supporters know you are not always Barcelona and that you have problems but they stay behind you.
“You know what, I didn’t show any videos from the game to the team.
“You know what I showed? I showed five, six, seven, eight minutes’ long footage of the fans roaring the team on.
“By doing this, I was trying to show that the players should understand their responsibility.
“I was happy that we didn’t lose that game, especially for the supporters.”
Laszlo, who has decided to offer contracts to young French duo Logan Martin and Idris Kadded, is still determined to recruit a midfielder and striker before the end of the transfer window.
And he knows the type of player he is after.
“We need warriors, we need fighters,” said Laszlo.
“I like nice people but in the football game you can’t be nice.
“You must be someone who does everything for a victory because victory does not come just from nice football.”
