SOMETIMES it is easy to stick to what you know. But when all you know is crumbling down around you, then what do you do?
This is the conundrum facing a crop of players at Dundee United that not so long ago were being hailed across the land as the Tangerine Knights of Football Righteousness. Now all that is left is a seemingly-broken philosophy with fears of relegation being whispered through cracked fingers.
Under Jackie McNamara, the Tannadice club – before its key components were removed – was a vision of free-flowing football to behold. On their day the likes of Ryan Gauld, Stuart Armstrong, Gary Mackay-Steven, John Souttar and Nadir Ciftci were a sight that, in keeping with the upcoming Halloween season, gave most defences the heebie jeebies as their interplay, off-the-ball movement and sheer youthful exuberance caused havoc. To put their demise into perspective, the remains of this team notched up their latest defeat on Sunday in a 1-0 loss to Hearts. This was their 20th in their last 30 games. To put it another way, United have won only five games across all competitions since Armstrong and Mackay-Steven departed for Parkhead back in February.
While the Tayside club’s dedication to their mantra of playing, or attempting to play, pretty football should be acknowledged and praised, it was their inability to look beyond the aesthetic which ultimately cost McNamara his job earlier this month.
“I’ve seen them a few times this year and they’re fine with the ball. When they don’t have it? There’s nothing,” said Maurice Malpas, the United legend who played 830 games for the club over a 21-year period. “They’ve hardly made a tackle and that’s part of the game. They’ve lost a few unlucky goals but that’s how it is. When you’re a kid your confidence just goes.
“They’ll have to dig deep and realise it’s not about how many pretty passes they’ll have or pretty goals they score. It’s about digging deep, first and foremost, to make sure they have less chances to score.
“We earned the right to play. It was never about how pretty you were to start with. It was about how good you were at stopping the other team playing, then you could go and play. And we had the ability to go and play. If you stood back and let the other team play then they would have a good chance of beating you. That was drummed into us.
“When you’ve got the ball, make sure you do something with it. When they have the ball, make sure they can’t do anything with it! United haven’t had this second bit when I’ve seen them this year but they’re going to have to dig deep now.”
In Mixu Paatelainen, Malpas is confident United have found a man who will resharpen the club’s wavering focus on results. The pair played in the same team from 1987-1992 – Malpas fondly recalls the Finn, saying: “He was one of the ones who would have to chase my passes down the touchline” – and it is clear the former Scotland internationalist has built up faith in the man now charged with pulling the Tannadice side out of the mire.
Malpas spoke fondly of Paatenlainen the player, a striker who in his words could be ‘hopeless’ but was always loved by his team-mates and supporters on an account of the sweat he expelled for the cause. As a manager, the former Motherwell boss has also been impressed by what the 48-year-old from Helsinki has achieved, something he hopes will continue at United – and quickly.
“I think Mixu will bring a different approach,” said Malpas, who was one of five inductees into the Scottish Football Hall of Fame on Sunday night at Hampden. “When he was at Kilmarnock they tried to play, but I think Mixu’s mentality is that it’s fine playing, but you have to win. There’s no point in playing well if you lose.
“Idealists say you should play well all the time but football isn’t like that. A joiner doesn’t do his job well every day. He doesn’t chap every nail correctly every day. A couple get bent and he has to straighten them out. It’s the same in football. You get 11 guys trying their best. When they’re good they’re good. But you have to make sure when they’re bad they’re not horrendous and get beaten.”
He added: “When Mixu arrived [as a player] he was a lovely big lad and a worker. He was one of those annoying types who wouldn’t kick or elbow you in training, but he’d run into you and flatten you then claim ‘I didn’t see you’. A few of the guys were sent flying by big Mixu.
“On a Saturday he ran his heart out. Some days he would be hopeless but because he worked hard the fans and the players loved him. He scored goals for a couple of seasons.
“[But] don’t mistake niceness for weakness…there’s no place for niceness in football.”
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