Dundee United: Guide to 2015-16 season
- By Adam Higgins
- Jul 19, 2015
- 5 min read
A profile of Dundee United as part of a comprehensive guide to the 12 top-flight teams ahead of the 2015-16 Scottish Premiership season.
If there is one phrase that could be handpicked to describe the latest eventful campaign at Tannadice, "nearly but not quite" springs to mind.
After threatening to challenge Aberdeen and Celtic at the top of the Scottish Premiership by beating them as well as reaching the League Cup final, United buckled under pressure when it mattered most to finish fifth in the league and runners-up in the Hampden Park showpiece.
Their impressive start underlined their capability but the January sales of Gary Mackay-Steven and Stuart Armstrong dessimated their form thereafter, with just three wins from their final 15 league matches, although they showed spirit and endeavour amid bouts of ill-discipline in their quadruple against Celtic in March.
Nevertheless, with top scorer Nadir Ciftci also heading for Glasgow this summer, United's strong spine and depth has been dismantled and it remains to be seen if Jackie McNamara can keep his side competing near the top or whether they will take a dramatic slide in a similar manner to Motherwell.
Boasting a defensive record which almost matches their scoring rate and losing as many games as they won, their problems and areas of improvements are palpable.
LADBROKES SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP TEAMS FOR THIS SEASON:
Aberdeen Celtic Dundee DUNDEE UNITED Hamilton Academical Heart of Midlothian Inverness Caledonian Thistle Kilmarnock Motherwell Partick Thistle Ross County St Johnstone
DUNDEE UNITED:
Impact: The ex-Celtic captain has reached two cup finals and finished fifth twice in the Premiership with United as he prepares for his second full season in charge (Picture from Sky Sports)
Manager: Jackie McNamara Assistant Manager: Simon Donnelly Captain: Sean Dillon (Defender) Chairman: Stephen Thompson Star Player: Aidan Connolly (Forward) 2014-15 player of the season: Nadir Ciftci (Striker)
Loss: The Turkish striker has joined Celtic for £1.5 million after rejecting a new contract offer with the Tangerines (Picture from Sky Sports)
Stadium: Tannadice Capacity: 14,209 2014-15 Average Attendance: 7,878 This is the fifth largest stadium currently in the Scottish Premiership
Last season's league finish: 5th (Won 17, Drawn 5, Lost 16 - 56 points) Last season's goals for/against: 58/56
Home record: United fans saw their team win 12 times, draw twice and lose five league games at Tannadice last season (Picture from BT Sport)
Discipline record in league (2014-15): 59 yellow cards, 2 red cards Last season's disciplinarian (2014-15): Nadir Ciftci (7 yellows, 1 red)
First three fixtures (2015-16): Sunday 2 August v Aberdeen (H), Saturday 8 August v Motherwell (A), Tuesday 11 August v Dundee (H)
Renewing acquiantances: Rivals Dundee, who lost to United on the final day of last season, make the short trip down Tannadice Street again in week three (Picture from Sky Sports)
Other key fixtures (2015-16): 22 August v Celtic (H), 26 September v St Johnstone (A), 24 October v Celtic (A), 7 November v Aberdeen (A), 21 November v St Johnstone (H), 26 December v Motherwell (H), 30 December v Hearts (A), 2 January v Dundee (A), 16 January v Celtic (H), 2 March v Aberdeen (H), 19 March v Dundee (H), 2 April v St Johnstone (A)
Live TV games (confirmed): 2 August v Aberdeen (H) 3:30pm, Sky Sports 1, 11 August v Dundee (H) 7:45pm, Sky Sports 2, 22 August v Celtic (H) 12pm, BT Sport 2, 18 October v Hearts (H) 12:45pm, Sky Sports 3
All smiles: The ex-Rangers midfielder, 20, struck late on as United fired six past their close neighbours for the first time (Picture from BT Sport)
Biggest league win of last season: 1 January 2015 - 6-2 win v Dundee (H) Biggest league defeat of last season: 16 August 2014 - 6-1 defeat v Celtic (A) Best moment (2014-15): One loss in eight to start season & beating Celtic and Dundee over Christmas Worst moment (2014-15): One point from 21 between Feb-April & League Cup Final defeat to Celtic
Greater influence: Erksine, 28, and 19-year-olds Connolly and Muirhead will have bigger roles in 2015-16 to fill the boots of the departed Gary Mackay-Steven and Stuart Armstrong
Top league goalscorer (2014-15): Nadir Ciftci - 14 goals Top overall goalscorer (2014-15): Nadir Ciftci - 16 goals
Most league assists (2014-15): Chris Erksine - 5 assists Most league appearances last season: Radoslaw Cierzniak (37 starts) Best signing (summer 2015): Coll Donaldson (from QPR, free transfer) Key player for 2015-16: Ryan Dow Record signing: Steven Pressley (£750,000 buy from Coventry City in July 1995)
Distraught: Ryan McGowan sits on the pitch to console himself after 10-man United were beaten by champions Celtic at Hampden in March (Picture from BBC Scotland)
Last season's Scottish Communities League Cup finish: Runners-up (lost 2-0 to Celtic in the final) Last season's William Hill Scottish Cup finish: Last eight (lost 4-0 to Celtic in replay after 1-1 draw)
Squad list: 2 Sean Dillon (CB/LB), 3 Paul Dixon (LB), 4 John Souttar (CB), 5 Callum Morris (CB), 6 Paul Paton (CDM), 7 Rodney Sneidjer (CAM), 8 John Rankin (CM), 9 Jordan Moore (ST), 10 Robbie Muirhead (CF/ST), 11 Chris Erskine (RW/LW), 12 Ryan McGowan (RB/CDM), 13 Mark McCallum (GK), 14 Ryan Dow (CAM/LW), 15 Simon Murray (ST), 16 Charlie Telfer (CM), 17 Mark Durnan (CB), 18 Aidan Connolly (CF), 19 Mario Bilate (ST), 20 Blair Spittal (CM), 21 Michal Szromnik (GK), 22 Scott Fraser (RM/CM), 23 Scott Smith (CAM), 24 Euan Spark (RB/CB), 26 Henri Anier (ST), 27 Ali Coote (CAM), 28 Coll Donaldson (CB), 51 Luis Zwick (GK).
Strongest line-up:
Players out:
Darren Petrie (to Raith Rovers, free transfer) Nadir Ciftci (to Celtic, £1.5 million) Michael Gardyne (to Ross County, free transfer) Brian Graham (to Ross County, free transfer) Jaroslaw Fojut (to Pogon Szczecin, free transfer) Radoslaw Cierzniak (to Wisla Krakow, free transfer) Keith Watson (released) Calum Butcher (to Burton Albion, free transfer) Jamie Montgomery (to Brechin City, free transfer) Kudus Oyenuga (to Hartlepool United, free transfer)
Departing: The 32-year-old keeper, who kept eight league clean sheets last term, has returned to his native Poland after three seasons in Scotland (Picture from Sky Sports)
Transfers in:
Justin Johnson (from FC United of Manchester, free transfer) Mark Durnan (from Queen of the South, compensation fee) Coll Donaldson (from Queens Park Rangers, free transfer) Luis Zwick (from Dundee United academy, free transfer) Darko Bodul (from SC Rheindorf Altach, free transfer)
Pre-season results:
7 July 2015 Forfarshire Cup Arbroath 2-0 Dundee United Gayfield Park
10 July 2015 Friendly Vitesse 4-0 Dundee United GelreDome (Netherlands)
14 July 2015 Friendly AZ Alkmaar 3-1 Dundee United AFAS Stadion Spittal 28
16 July 2015 Friendly FC Utrecht 4-0 Dundee United Stadion Galgenwaard
22 July 2015 Friendly QPR 2-1 Dundee United The Hive Stadium Bilate 23
25 July 2015 Friendly Dundee United 0-1 Watford Tannadice (Dundee)
Prediction:
After successive fifth-place finishes in the Scottish top-flight, the next step for Dundee United is to break into the top three but, having lost their three best players Gary Mackay-Steven, Stuart Armstrong and now Nadir Ciftci to Celtic in 2015, they could find themselves facing a battle to finish in the top six. One thing that the Tangerines could be accused of is failing to fulfil their full potential in recent seasons by letting promising situations pass them by and selling their key men at the wrong times to the wrong clubs. Their policy of bringing young players into the first-team ranks has continued although their inability to recruit anyone with Premiership experience could be costly. Boss Jackie McNamara has taken the Tannadice club a step further in terms of progression during his tenure but, after a disastrous end to last season and six defeats from six in pre-season, this will undoubtedly be the most challenging period of his managerial career. With the sides around them also struggling to attract significant new signings and a lack of European football, United might just have the will-power and inner belief to clinch a higher position in the table, if more players come in before the end of August and other clubs fall short, however tough times await and the response to them will be interesting.
Verdict: 3rd (Europa League qualification)
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