Dundee Utd 2
Partick Th 0
League (Premier Division)

Manager's Programme Notes

Good afternoon again and welcome back to Tannadice for to-day's visit of a Partick Thistle currently enjoying a successful time of it in the Premier League. Nevertheless, we too have been accumulating the points since that disappointing home defeat by Morton way back on September 9 and pessimist though some folks claim me to be, I can take nothing away from the performance of the side in grabbing ten points out of the last possible twelve. As any of the playing staff here at Tannadice would immediately confirm, it simply would not do if I did not find something to moan about — In fact I can almost hear even the wife backing up that opinion! However, complete satisfaction regarding the side's performances is something which I sadly admit will seldom be enjoyed by me, and that is a fault which I would level against myself as being the cause for our apparent lack of conviction at the present time.
In the past few years I have tended to pass on my doubts as to the players' abilities rather than convince them of their strengths. And it is now when the side has 'come of age' that I am finding it harder to explain how good they really can be.

But in so saying, even the best of sides can be improved upon in my eyes and I honestly believe that the striking area still leaves something to be desired, with the men there still not threatening suddenly where it matters. That being the case I don't think that, despite our recent run, we have yet played anywhere near as well as we can — and that's the ultimate aim. That result against Celtic a fortnight ago obviously gave us the boost we required and last week's point at Easter Road was no more than we deserved for our performance. But despite that certain newspaper articles took the gloss of the display by suggesting to the contrary. I state right now that every player, with the exception of Raymond Stewart, was designated the exact roles as contrived to beat our Celtic bogy the previous week. There was absolutely no way I could have changed things after that display and considering our current position in the table. We went to Edinburgh seeking both points — and that's fact! The only criticism I would level at the players in that game is that they tended to too much about the opposition in the first half, and that's where their self-belief comes in. To-day's game will be anything but easy against a Thistle side which will travel with confidence. They are past masters at containing early on in a game, so once again patience will be required both on and of the field.