With Dundee United’s season coming to an end on Saturday with the 2-0 defeat to St.Johnstone in the Scottish Cup Final, our resident United blogger Stuart Milne dusts off the cup final disappointment to cash his eye over the Tannadice club’s season.
With the season now at an end, did your club achieve or underachieve? And why?
On the whole it was a decent season, but one that could have been better. The two week spell after Christmas killed off our hopes of a second place finish, while our exit in the League Cup was disappointing and to lose to St. Johnstone in the Scottish Cup Final must be seen as a missed opportunity.
How do you rate your manager after this season’s campaign? What did he do or fail to do?
McNamara is a fantastic manager for United. He shows faith in the kids, he has an eye for young talented players and he allows the team to play in the right way.
But having said that, he struggled to get the team organised on set pieces and at times he struggled to adapt his tactics to suit the opposition.
Who were the standout players for the club this term and why?
There are plenty to choose from, but it has to be Andy Robertson first and foremost. To go from being a Queen’s Park player to a Scotland international in less than a year shows how well he did.
At times, almost everyone else in the team did a good job too.
Who failed to impressive, why?
Harsh as it may be, this has to go to Brian Graham. Though he scored a decent amount of goals for us, most of them came once games were already won. Instead, it was his misses that affected scorelines.
Games like Celtic Away, Aberdeen at home and the Scottish Cup Final saw him miss chances that looked far easier to score. I just don’t think he has the ability required at United’s level.
What would you change at the club over the summer?
Without question we need to improve our defence. Gavin Gunning has left, and he will hopefully be joined by Sean Dillon. United need two new centre backs, and potentially a new goalkeeper as well.
Also, there needs to be a new striker brought in to challenge Nadir Ciftci. Graham and El Alagui weren’t even close to the young Turk in terms of ability.
Expectations for next season?
If we can make those changes, then I would expect United to finish at least in the Top 4 again.
