The young stars at Dundee United have rightly attracted a lot of plaudits this season but boss Jackie McNamara has pinpointed a player of a slightly older vintage as the “excellent” driving force of his team.
John Rankin has been in a rich vein of form recently and produced another man of the match performance against Celtic at the weekend.
Back in August, though, it was a bitterly-disappointed Rankin who was substituted against Inverness as United lost 1-0 to Terry Butcher’s side. It was clear for all to see that the midfielder was less than pleased to be replaced.
However, McNamara sat down after the game with the former Hibs player and, while the manager would not reveal exactly what was said behind closed doors, the talk certainly seems to have had the desired effect.
He said: “John has been outstanding for us. After the second game at home against Inverness we had a wee chat. He was disappointed when he came off in the game.
“Everyone noticed he was well put out by it at the time but he is an important member of the squad. I think him and Paul Paton have been fantastic together.
“People go on about the defensive aspects but when you look at our goal on Saturday, he actually runs beyond it before Nadir (Ciftci) puts the ball in for Stuart (Armstrong).
“So it’s not just about his defensive qualities, he drives the team on and I think he has been excellent.”
McNamara expressed his delight on Monday after first-team teenage regulars John Souttar and Ryan Gauld put pen to paper on extended deals with the club along with fellow youngsters Darren Petrie and Euan Spark.
And yesterday he stressed that he believes the players have made exactly the right choice to continue their footballing education in the correct environment.
McNamara added: “It is important that we look after them and I think this is the best place for them to learn. If some of them went away now, you maybe wouldn’t see them again for a couple of seasons.
“That’s happened with a few players who have left Scotland in recent years. mWe haven’t really seen a lot of them and they are maybe now just playing reserve football. But staying here they are getting the best education.
“Young John on Saturday went to Celtic Park and I thought he was fantastic. That is the best place to learn, against international players.
“I think he has come on in leaps and bounds since last season. He has always had that calmness about him and he wasn’t afraid to come out with the ball but defensively he is getting better and better.
“There are other players I want to tie down like Stuart Armstrong, Gavin Gunning, Gary Mackay-Steven and Nadir Ciftci. We would like to make sure we can keep them for as long as we can.”
Meanwhile, Chris Erskine is nursing a knee injury picked up in training last week and Kudus Oyenuga has a groin problem.