Dundee United legend Maurice Malpas has warned former team-mate Mixu Paatelainen that he must sign several hardened pros if he is to keep the club in the Premiership.
Malpas won the league title and Scottish Cup during 19 years as a first-team player at Tannadice but he fears that United, four points adrift of a play-off place, lack the nous for a relegation dogfight.
He was inducted into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame on Sunday evening and, while he doesn’t believe that the situation is hopeless, he insists that Paatelainen’s players have got to show more fight.
“The team I was in earned the right to play,” said the 53-year-old.
“It was never about how pretty you were to start with. it was about how good you were at stopping the other team playing and then you could go and play.
“And we had the ability to do that. If you stood back and let the other team play then they would have a good chance of beating you. That was drummed into us [by manager Jim McLean].
“Everybody else in the league wants United to lose every week, because they’re at the bottom. It’s not because of any dislike for United but, if they lose, they’re not getting any closer to them.
“People will think: ‘If we beat them today then that’s them burst’ and it’ll get like that quite soon.
“I don’t think they’ll go down. I think, once they get on an even keel and get some confidence back, that they’ll go shooting up the league.
“I’ve seen them a few times this year and they’re fine with the ball. When they don’t have it? There’s nothing. They’ve hardly made a tackle and that’s part of the game. “They’ve lost a few unlucky goals but that’s how it is. When you’re a kid your confidence just goes.
“Right now they have too many young boys and not enough older, experienced players. I think come January or earlier if there are still any decent free agents kicking about that Mixu will go and get some seasoned pros in.”