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Dundee United 2015/16 Season


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A void left by GMS leaving, Erskine and Dow's injuries, giving us very little pace or craft in the middle or out wide, with the addition of the big summer signings (Rodney, Bodul) not turning up, Durnan being an utter nightmare at the back but not the only one, no dig in the middle with Paton being out, a load of lightweight starters, and not having a vaguely experienced keeper. Bilate's endless injuries, Muirhead out on loan, no other options bar McKay except Pongo, who pulled his hamstring 15 minutes in, and none of the breaks going our way even when being the better team or equally shite as the opponent.

Other than that, we're fine.

How would you know, you're never fucking there! :lol:

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As an outsider I'm puzzled by United this season. Yes you've lost some top notch players like Armstrong and Shifty but you have a core of very decent, but no world beating, players there - McKay, Dillon, Dixon, Soutar, Telfer and Gunning to name but 6. On paper your squad should be well capable of steering comfortably clear of the relegation zone. A lot of Premiership clubs would love to have these guys on their books. Your squad won't have come cheap as they'll all be on decent wages. What on earths gone wrong?

Take Dillon, Souttar, Telfer and Gunning out of that list 'decent' players; maybe a little harsh on Dillon but not on the other three.

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I can't see anything but a last place finish now.

From the 28th November to the 13th of February the fixtures could not have been much better, on paper.

We were/are playing teams around us, many at home, and if you're going to get out of trouble this was the time period to do it.

Hearts away and Celtic at home are write offs, Inverness away probably is too but other than that we had/have:

Hamilton home and away.

Partick home and away.

Killie home and away.

Dundee away.

Motherwell home.

These teams are all better than us but if we were going to pick up points with the new manager bounce and new players joining this was the time to do it.

We needed to win half of these games to have a chance, really needed 15 points for the available 33 and I can't see us getting a win from any of them.

So far we have 1 out of 9 available from Hamilton and Partick at home, and Killie away, against 10 men.

The run in to the split from the 20th of February is not a happy path, thankfully we win every round of the cup on penalties thanks to our new super keeper and go down with some silverware.

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Although there are still plenty of games to be played it is looking pretty bleak now. January will be massive, if we can get some quality into that side then maybe we might have enough to get a run of results but it is a massive task. It is all a bit of a mess and Tannadice is a grim place to watch football right now (unless you are an away fan of course).

It is also pretty frightening to think just how much dead weight we have in our squad. Mixu has clearly made his mind up with regards to has starting 11 and a couple of the guaranteed subs, but for players like Donaldson, Kuhl, Taggart, Murray and Bodul it is best if we get them out permanently or at least away on loan (for Murray and Donaldson that would be the best option). We need Paton fit and we also need to drop Souttar, who's swagger is now no longer related to his once huge potential but to the fact that he is lazy, a liability and someone who clearly does not care anymore.

For the system that we play (which actually I don't mind if it had the right personnel), we need, IMO, a right sided wing-back (McGowan is defensively very committed and gets forward but his passing and crossing isn't great. He should be played in the middle of the defence). We also need at least two creative players with real pace and another striking option (Muirhead would fit the bill of someone who is a bit more physical).

The most entertaining thing at Tannadice right now is seeing everyone lose their shit everytime our keeper takes a goal kick. You have either got the people who freak out when we try to play it short (a system I actually support) or the other group who lose it if we go long (and our goalkeepers can't kick for shit).

I don't mind some of what Mixu has done, I don't like his single mindedness when it comes to changing the system we play though. His insistence on keeping things as they are even when we are losing is a bit frustrating.

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I think we should scrap 3 at the back and go 4-4-2.

Kawashima

McGowan Morris Gunning Dixon

Erksine Demel Rankin Spittal

McKay Pongolle

Think think would suit us better as Spittal and Erksine are more suited as wingers than behind the striker. Also McGowan and Dixon are much better as right and left back. Would be happy with this team, but would like to see another winger, striker, cb and solid cm in January

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I'm quite happy to see us persevere the current formation as it has seen us create quite a few chances in recent games the problem being that we are failing to take them. We could do with another option for right wingback as when it's on the left you know Dixon can whip a good cross in but the same can't be said for McGowan. This would also allow us to play McGowan at the right side of the back 3 in place of Durnan. Hopefully Erskine can chip in with a few goals and give McKay some much needed support.

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Hopefully we can ditch the passing it out from the goal tactic, it drives me nuts. The thing is that United aren't playing badly and not getting hammered every week. It just about taking chances (which is impossible for every player on the park). Demel played well yesterday before coming off, hopefully with Rankin (or Paton) they could set-up a strong central partnership. Soapy can be sold/released in January for all I care. Pongolle looked good from the highlights I saw of the Killie game and looked good for the first 9 minutes of yesterday, hopefully his injury isn't anymore than a couple of weeks out. Erskine, probably our best finisher, looked good yesterday, hopefully he can start next Saturday. Muirhead will be a welcome addition to the squad on January 1st. As will Dow and Connolly when his fit.

On the subject of players that should go:

Anier, Bodul, Kuhl, Taggart are all writeoffs
Murray, Donaldson and Fraser needs six months at a Raith or a Morton-esk club to give him first team football.
Telfer (as well as Connolly) needs to hit the gym, has the upper body strength of a feather, which costed us 3 points in the Derby.
Accept any offer above compensation for Soapy in January

If Mixu keeps this formation, I hope the Starting XI will be:

Kawashima
Dillion Morris Gunning
McGowan Dixon
Rankin Demel
Erskine Pongolle
McKay


With Dow and Muirhead on the fringes of the starting XI.

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Spittal can f**k off as far as im concerned. The fact that Fraser is sitting on the bench whilst that imposter is playing, pisses me right off

Spittal and Souttar are a pair of p***ks. Telfer I still had hope for but his shitebaggery and laziness was just as bad as those two's yesterday. I think just about the only positive was Erskine's 10 or so minute appearance.
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