I noticed the comments of St Johnstone defender Brian Easton when he referred to the proposed move of his manager Tommy Wright to Dundee United as a side step. He is right apart from Celtic and Aberdeen all the rest of the clubs are based on survival to remain in the Premier League.

Dundee United  in the past perhaps classed themselves as a big club however today the reality is they are not. There is nothing Dundee United can offer Tommy Wright in football ambition  that he can’t achieve with with current side St Johnstone (apart from increase in salary).

This would also apply to our own ICT boss John Hughes added to which should Steven Thompson and the Dundee Utd Board turn their attention to Yogi I think it would now appear to be very unflattering to be considered fourth of fifth choice as various preferred candidates turn them down.

The final and probably most important hurdle to any future manager of Dundee United especially  Wright or Hughes how could they work with the interference of  Steven Thomson after they were left  by current Chairmen Brown and Cameron to make their own decisions.  

I disagree. United may not be the club they once were but still have a player budget at least 50% greater than ours or St Johnstone's hence the reason they are in a position to recruit the likes of Billy McKay and we are not which is all the more to the credit of ourselves and the Perth Saints for outperforming them in recent seasons.

But they couldn't afford to recruit Mckay. That's why they took him on loan.

Edited October 6, 201510 yr by HawkeyeTheGnu

Which we enquired about but couldn't afford to....

I'm not saying they don't have a bigger budget than us, but as has been seen, they are also very much a selling club at the present. The sting is that the Chairman does not seem to have altered his expectations in line with selling 3/11ths of his team to a rival, and allowing a number of others to go. Indeed, the Chairman has been quite happy to see his manager act as a lightning rod for the fan's frustrations.

Someone on Sportsound made the point that they may have a large footballing budget, but they also have a large number of players signed, so that budget may not go as far as you'd think. The trouble with numbers and no context is that they are able to be bent to fit agendas.

They should take a look at that fellow MacIntyre - he seems to be doing no bad.

Dunno if United could match his wages though!

In terms of clubs that have potential which we like to use in Scotland the reality is that Celtic & Rangers are top of the tree, below that we have Aberdeen, Hearts, Hibs & Dundee Utd for size of club and capability to get large fan numbers in and build a sustained period of success if managers are given time. Below that there are clubs like ours, St J, Motherwell, Partick Thistle, Dundee etc who can build teams and exceed expectations short term then fall away. DUtd is a step up in tersm of club ststure but right now in terms of football its a step back or across and only a manager who has huge self belief or likes a gamble would go there from a stable club as the chances of being given time (4 or 5 years) and some money to build a team and create something lasting is slim - clubs want immediate results and with that comes short term success which is what helps stall real progress.

 

I also think as far as Billy McKay is concerned his wife and son have remained in Wigan and he is travelling home to them from Dundee

So in logistical terms he is 120 miles less travelling by signing for Dundee Utd  rather than ICT my feeling is he will not sign a permanent deal at Tannadice

it will be enough to get him into Northern Ireland Euro Squad by playing regular football on loan for the moment.

Ladbroke 's have suspended betting on Yogi being new United manager after odds tumbled from 25-1 to 4-6.  Not sure whether that indicates that it's just some lunatic sticking £500 on a small market or whether it's something more worrying.....

Oh dear, it now looks like Bye Bye Yogi

He`ll need to be looking his trenchcoat out then !

But they couldn't afford to recruit Mckay. That's why they took him on loan.

My understanding is that they could afford to sign him but Wigan decided on a loan move.

United may have the third highest budget in the league but they also have one of the worst squads in the league, so a new manager will have to wait a couple of years to get the duds off the wagebill before the rebuilding can start in earnest. By then Sevco and Hibs will be back into the SPL, other clubs will have progressed, and the landscape will have changed. This is an inauspicious time to move there.

But they couldn't afford to recruit Mckay. That's why they took him on loan.

My understanding is that they could afford to sign him but Wigan decided on a loan move.

My understanding was that Utd were not prepared to match his wages at Wigan (i.e. could not afford him). At that point the choices were Mckay take a wage cut, Wigan agree a severance package (i.e. compensation for loss of earnings) or a loan deal.

If Utd could have really afforded Mckay (rather tahn just the transfer fee) they would have at least matched his Wigan wages.