AUGUST saw a decent start for Dundee United in the top flight where they remained unbeaten going into the international break.
After the disappointment of losing late goals in their first two games, which both ended in draws, United got themselves into winning ways by first seeing off St Johnstone at Tannadice with a goal from Liverpool loanee Luca Stephenson kicking off proceedings, before a mistake from the visiting goalkeeper resulted in an own goal to seal the deal and a 2-0 victory for the Tangerines.
In the following fixture at Tynecastle, Hearts had the lion’s share of possession, but a resilient and well-organised United side kept a good shape with a 3-4-3 formation which worked to good effect. Centre-half Ross Graham proved to be the hero on the day with a right foot strike from just outside the box, giving Jim Goodwin’s side their first away win of the season at a location that has not been a happy hunting place for Arabs for many a season.
United, it seems, have recruited well in the close season and the side is hardly recognisable from the promoted team of last season with only midfielder Craig Sibbald, keeper Jack Walton and defender Ross Graham holding down regular berths in the starting pack.
The flair of Macedonian pair David Babunski and Kristijan Trapanovski is readily in evidence and exciting to watch, as too is the work rate of big front man Jort Van Der Sande, who was signed from ADO Den Haag in the Netherlands on a recommendation from his agent and ex-player Freddy Van Der Hoorn. While Van Der Sande awaits his first goal in Tangerine, he did however manage to score for his national side during the break as he represents the tiny Dutch Caribbean island of Bell Aire on the international front.
Young defender Emmanuel Adegboyega has been impressive at the back and this saw him earn a maiden call-up to the Ireland Under-21 squad for the upcoming games with Turkey and Latvia. Born in County Louth, Adegboyega began his youth career with Drogheda United moving across the water to Norwich where he initially captained the Under-21 side before being loaned out to Walsall last season where he greatly impressed. After coming on the radar of Goodwin, United were keen to move for the towering centre-half who seems to possess the much-needed pace in defence they have been lacking in that area.
Wing-back Will Ferry too deserves a mention after a series of fine displays earned him the Player of the Month award for August as well as bringing him to the attention of the senior Ireland set up where he narrowly missed out on a call up for the recent match with England in Dublin.
The good run of form though came to an end with United losing out 1-0 at home to Rangers who claimed all three points at Tannadice, with an early goal from Lawrence after just seven minutes the difference between the sides. Here, United certainly looked like a side that were newly-promoted and started out like rabbits in the headlights having to fend off a series of attacks and soak up pressure for most of the first period.
With club captain, Ross Docherty, introduced into the thick of midfield and adding a bit of guile and grit, United settled a bit better, but never really threatened the Rangers goal with the opposition keeper not having a save to make, in what was a pretty dire contest between the sides if we are to be brutally honest.
Critics were quick on jump on Goodwin after this defeat and the knives were once again out in force on social media platforms looking for his head after an unacceptable performance in their opinion. United know they will have to up their game beyond that standard for sure and have already demonstrated they are capable of doing so.
So we’ll move on swiftly to the next game with a place at Hampden at stake for the winners of the League Cup tie with Motherwell at Fir Park.
United will then travel to Kilmarnock to see out the month of September in an effort to get more points on the board and make a mark on their first season back in the top tier where they currently sit in fourth position.
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