At the beginning of the season we were talking about our expectations for the campaign and, in light of everything that was happening around the club, I was resigned to a long, hard season of scrapping it out at the bottom and hoping that either Ross County, Dundee or both were going to be worse than us. Much of that was because I had little faith in the internal appointment of Tam Courts, an appointment that seemed borne out of our financial situation rather than what we needed from a football perspective. It had disaster written all over it and I feared we'd be searching for a new manager in the new year to help get us out of a relegation dogfight.
I feel I owe Tam Courts a full public apology.
What a start to his managerial career in the top flight he is having, and he deserves so much credit for what he's doing.
Let's ignore the fact that we're currently sitting 3rd in the league and we're only 3 points off the top of the table (which in itself is incredible). What's impressed me most about the manager is his ability to reflect, learn, and adjust his team accordingly. He isn't wedded to a system or an idea.
Last year Micky Mellon tried to make us hard to beat at the cost of our attacking play. You can see that Courts has tried to maintain our solidity (we've only conceded 5 goals this season, the best in the league) but he's also tried to make us at least a little more expansive, despite our lack of options for centre forward. It came together on Saturday with a fantastic - and deserved - victory at Easter Road.
I'm not going to get carried away - it is the first time that we haven't won 1-0 this season - but the way in which we're playing and developing is hugely heartening.
For me one of the pivotal moments of our season may well end up being the change he made at half time against Dundee. Taking off Butcher and bringing on Levitt has made us a different type of team and the fact that he stuck with that type of player - Glass replacing Levitt on Saturday - rather than reverting to Butcher or that type of player, is such a positive step. I thought Glass had a very good game after such a long injury lay off and it's yet another positive sign for the club.
I'm so pleased with the way this campaign is going and I hope we can keep it going. Much of that will depend on what happens in January and if we can hold on to the best midfielder in the league - Jeando Fuchs.
Mon the Terrors
HFC 0 DUFC 3
posted on 18/10/21
comment by Irishred (U2539)
posted 24 seconds ago
It's a formality this season Ivan. Both the OF look like imploding. You should have it sewn up by early April
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Starting to look that way mate.
I see your side are playing some marvellous football at the moment.
posted on 18/10/21
comment by IvanGolacIsMagic (U5291)
posted 3 minutes ago
comment by Irishred (U2539)
posted 24 seconds ago
It's a formality this season Ivan. Both the OF look like imploding. You should have it sewn up by early April
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Starting to look that way mate.
I see your side are playing some marvellous football at the moment.
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urggh ! whats that sweet ammonia smell?
posted on 18/10/21
comment by IvanGolacIsMagic (U5291)
posted 11 minutes ago
comment by Irishred (U2539)
posted 24 seconds ago
It's a formality this season Ivan. Both the OF look like imploding. You should have it sewn up by early April
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Starting to look that way mate.
I see your side are playing some marvellous football at the moment.
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Perfectly set up for a battle of Britain game to be the curtain raiser for next season
posted on 18/10/21
yous are doing brilliant Ivan but I can't Courts seriously, his interviews are just cliche after cliche
posted on 18/10/21
comment by Ghod#18 (U9390)
posted 14 minutes ago
yous are doing brilliant Ivan but I can't Courts seriously, his interviews are just cliche after cliche
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i love listening to him, you can just see him in the managers office before an interview..... "perpetual" nice got to get that in on the interview somehow...."collectively restructure between phases".. thats gold!!
He does love himself a fair bit but his interviews give me a laugh
posted on 18/10/21
I don't even listen to his interviews anymore
He can say whatever he wants as long as he keeps getting results
He did win everyone over with his waving of the 'show racism the red card' tshirt after the County game. He's got a lot of brownie points from United fans with that.
posted on 18/10/21
the 3rd goal was a cracker
posted on 18/10/21
Looks like it's only the Dundee teams that can win matches. The Glasgow and Edinburgh teams are struggling at the moment. It looks like a new era of dominance for the city of Dundee.
posted on 18/10/21
Messing up everyone's Predictor scores, I hope you're pleased with yourself!
posted on 18/10/21
I feel this is the result that may start to bring pressure on Tam and the team. Up till now despite taking points off both sides of the old firm United seemed to be flying under the radar of most of the media. To the point that even though they where only 1 point behind Hibs BBC made this result seem like a massive shock.
I think other than the usual stories about Celtic and Rangers , Hearts and Hibs where getting all the kudos and being talked about as title challengers. Dundee and Aberdeen getting all the chat about lack of points and relegation. I think media and fan expectations are going to rise after Saturday. Hopefully they can cope with the pressure and keep up this good run of form.