Performance, luck, dominance, shots on goal – none of these really matter in any Cup match…
(Written by Shingles)
…because the most important thing is whether you made it through to the next round of the competition.
When Dundee United were drawn to face Inverness Caley Thistle in the 4th round of this season’s Scottish Cup, we still had to see off Saint Mirren in the postponed 3rd round tie.
A last minute strike from David Robertson gave us a 3-2 win over the Paisley side, despite us leading 2-0 for most of the game – until Richard Brittain and John Sutton pulled the Buddies back into the match with 76th and 81st minute strikes respectively.
Even after a miserable start to 2007 with just 1 point out of a possible 12 in the SPL, United still should have been able to overcome Caley Thistle in Inverness this weekend.
At the Caledonian Stadium, Dundee United looked like a team without confidence, a side which couldn’t or didn’t want to progress to the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup.
A few seasons ago, under Gordon Chisholm, a good run in the Scottish Cup helped save the club from relegation – even if we lost 1-0 to Celtic in the final.
Without the Scottish Cup to take their minds off the league disappointments, does this mean that Dundee United will be dragged back into the relegation dogfight at the bottom of the table?
What worried me is that Craig Levein believes the performance against Caley Thistle was acceptable, when many of those at the game could quite clearly see that United didn’t even get out of 1st gear.
“I can’t fault our effort, but we lacked quality,” said Levein after the match.
“I can assure you there was no player in our team who didn’t try to give their best, although the fact that some didn’t play very well is why we never got anything from the match.”
“Our biggest problem was that our most creative players didn’t perform. As a team we never played cohesively.”
This comes from a man who has punted Alan Archibald and is getting rid of David McCracken because he reckons they don’t have a winning mentality – yet he continues to play McCracken against Caley Thistle anyway!
Creative players – who exactly are they in the current United side?
Barry Robson and Craig Conway at a push, but we don’t have anyone in the heart of the midfield who can change the way a match is going.
Why aren’t Dundee United trying to get Charlie Miller back?
He has been released by Brann, and we could sign him on a free, even after the January transfer window has closed!
A successful football team needs several things, but you either need a side with quality, or if you don’t have any of that you need a team which tries – Dundee United had neither against Caley.
We also need someone who can put the ball in the back of the net, since Jon Daly, Noel Hunt and Collin Samuel seem incapable of scoring even the simplest of chances.
Why isn’t David Goodwillie being given more chances – at least you know he would give 110% and would make the effort to get into the opposition penalty box!
A bit of a rant by Shingles, but some truth in there somewhere!