Billy Dodds: Mixu Paatelainen's blast at Dundee United players is a gamble with no guarantee of paying off

He will not accept for a minute that the finger of blame should be pointed at his predecessor, Jackie McNamara. Those who step onto the field are the ones who must be called to account.

These are strong words. They might get the reaction required, but it will be interesting to see how things transpire in his first match in charge against Hearts this afternoon.

I thought he would have moved to buy himself some time with the players there. They have some good, young footballers at United, but there is not a lot of experience within the ranks and most of them are at an age where you really need to try to get them behind you at first.

Experienced professionals will know that they have not been performing and you can maybe be a little harder with them.

Youngsters need their confidence restored, so his remarks were a little surprising, but my gut feeling is that Mixu may well be adopting a different approach behind the scenes.

He has stated publicly that things cannot go on as they are. He has told United fans what they need to hear, but you may well find there is a more softly-softly approach being used. He adopted a passing game during his time at Kilmarnock and an attitude on building from the back and I would reckon coaching will be the major focus of what he is doing behind the scenes.

Players also have to be treated with a degree of TLC these days.

Naturally, there are times when you have to be critical of the players. You have to find a way to show how angry you are.

There have been a couple of occasions that I can think of since Jim McIntyre and I came into Ross County that we felt things had to be said in no uncertain terms.

A couple of weeks ago, we had a wee go at them over the defeat to Inverness. We lost two silly goals immediately before half-time when we were looking good, but, when I say we had a pop, this was not a case of calling people for everything.

We also had a wee volley at them shortly after we arrived and we weren’t getting results. We lost a match we should have taken something out of and we could not accept it any longer because it was happening on a regular basis.

There is a different balance within the Ross County dressing-room and the one at Dundee United, though. We have a good mixture of experience and youth. I know our boys can handle it, but we still have to do it the right way.

There are a lot of babies, if I can use that word, at Tannadice.

The idea of going old-school and being heavy-handed with players every other week simply cannot work. The modern day player will just switch off. They won’t like or respect you as a person.

The modern day player, in many ways, is comparatively soft and you often find yourself walking on eggshells with them in an attempt to really get the best out of them. It is part of the way society, not just football, has developed.

Even as a dad, you cannot have a go at your children the way fathers might have in the past. They crumble nowadays.

When my generation was younger, we got the belt at school. Consider that. It is unthinkable now. It would have such a deeply negative effect.

That was seen as making you a man, in some way, though. The attitudes you sometimes experienced in dressing-rooms were seen as doing the same thing.

I remember arriving at Partick Thistle on loan from Chelsea and finding the manager, Billy Lamont, smashing cups off the wall.

He was a real old-school boss. He put a real sense of fear in you.

Of course, you can argue that it made me more mature as a player and a person, but you have to be of a certain age and possessing a certain amount of experience before you stand up for yourself.

I was only a kid and did not stand up to him. In truth, it took me aback and that is where these boys at United are.

There is a sense of vulnerability about United at the moment. That needs a particular method of treatment.