STEPHEN THOMPSON has insisted Jackie McNamara was given considerable backing from the board during his time as manager of Dundee United and has defended the club’s handling of his dismissal.

The Tannadice chairman relieved McNamara of his duties by letter in the wake of Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to St Johnstone with his contract officially being terminated during conversations on Monday evening.

McNamara’s father, Jackie Snr, has described United’s handling of the issue as “abysmal”, but Thompson insists he dealt with the issue face-to-face and believes he has done as much as could be expected to make a success of things at the club, currently sitting second bottom of the Ladbrokes Premiership following a run of seven fixtures without a win.

"The board have been discussing it for a while, where we were as a club, where we think we should be and the support we've given to the manager,” said Thompson.

"Different clubs do things in different ways. We followed the advice we had from a legal point of view.

"I've seen managers sacked via their agent, a phone call from the chairman to an agent. At least I handed Jackie a letter to his face, spoke to him to his face and looked him in the eye.

“I've heard a lot worse ways of managers being handled over the years.”

United have sold the likes of Gary Mackay-Steven, Stuart Armstrong, Ryan Gauld, Nadir Ciftci and Andy Robertson over the past couple of seasons, but Thompson insists he has to balance the books and insists that significant finance has been reinvested both in the playing staff and the club’s training base at St Andrews.

“Four or five years ago, we were under ridiculous pressure from the bank to the point where the club could have gone under,” he said.

“I was determined the club would not get into that position again. Yes, we sold players, but the same five players we had played in the cup final in 2014 and we didn’t win that.

“We have brought in 12 players since January. Our playing budget is the third biggest in the league and we are sitting second bottom. To me, that is a fair bit of support back.

“If you go over to St Andrews, there are great facilities there. There is more staff there than there is here at Tannadice. We feel we have backed him as much as we could.”

McNamara, appointed in January 2013, saw his popularity nosedive among United fans when it was revealed that he had a contractual clause entitling him to a cut of transfer fees brought in for players, but Thompson insists the decision over his future was based on recent results alone.

“It didn’t come from me,” he said when quizzed on that controversial leak of information. “It is unfortunate it happened that way. That was difficult, but you have to move on and ask where we are after the past few months.”

Dave Bowman will take the team for Saturday’s league visit to Partick Thistle, but is not expected to be in the running for the manager’s position.

Thompson believes it is essential that he recruits someone with a respectable CV in management and is sure there will continue to be strong interest.

“I believe this is too big a club for a first managerial appointment,” he said. “Someone should have managed before they come here.

“We believe this is a great opportunity for somebody. The world is a small place and the new manager could come from anywhere in the world.”