Having coasted through the group stage of the Premier Sports Cup, Dundee United were dealt a reality check by Aberdeen on the opening weekend of the league season. The Tayside club lost 2-0, were second best all over the pitch and a lack of action in the transfer window has left supporters worried.
Manager Tam Courts, and the club’s hierarchy who appointed him, are the targets of their ire. Many feel it was an unambitious decision to promote their head of tactical analysis and Sunday’s result only compounded their angst.
Things had started well for Courts in the League Cup, with United winning all four of their fixtures, but Rangers come to Tannadice on Saturday as their tough start to the league campaign continues. The Dundee derby in their sixth Premiership match will be huge.
Defender Charlie Mulgrew is one of only two summer signings so far, with the other being back-up goalkeeper Trevor Carson. The veteran centre back returned to the club 15 years after spending a period there on loan early in his career and the 35-year-old admitted the defeat to Aberdeen hurt.
“We are gutted,” Mulgrew, said. “You build up for the season, we had a good pre-season, we felt fit and we’ve had a few wins albeit against lower-league opposition. The confidence was there. We knew it was going to be a difficult game but we know we can do better and that is what is disappointing. It will take a bit of bouncing back but that is what football is all about. We have been here plenty of times before and it is about how you react to the downs.
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“We were 2-0 down and we had to force it. We had to push on in the second half and I felt we pushed a bit better. That is a positive we can take but there are other areas where we can do better and we need to do that quickly because we are playing against the league champions.
“We did have chances [against Aberdeen]. There were small margins in the game. They took their chances and we didn’t. We need to prevent the chances, that is a team effort, and we also need to take the chances and that is also a team effort. We stick together and we’ll try and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Mulgrew apologised to Aberdeen midfielder Funso Ojo after the match, having clattered the Belgian with a crunching tackle. “I had already committed myself,” Mulgrew said. “I went in and apologised to the lad. It was a 50/50 and I had made my mind up. I won the ball but I have caught him a wee bit. He realised we were both going for the ball and I didn’t mean any harm.”
