If the CIS cup final is anything to go by, there's just no justice in football. Surely, the romantics among you (or at least the ones who aren't huns) were longing for Dundee United to win it for Eddie Thompson. He's had his fair share of critics in the past, not least over the way he has gone through managers - mind you, the more I watch Caley, the more I can see why he had not confidence in the increasingly naive and clueless Brewster - but by all accounts the guy has pumped ridiculous amounts of money into the club. Imagine what Aberdeen might have achieved had Stewart Milne been similarly obsessed.
And to cap it all it sounds like Thompson is living on borrowed time, as his prostate cancer worsens. He's put his affairs in order with plenty of time to spare (take note, Brooks Mileson) and so it looks United will be on a stable footing when his association with the club comes to an end. He's even found a good manager, Craig Levein, and has attempted to tie him to the club long term by sticking him on the board.
So when, at 2-1 United in extra time, the TV camera cut to Thompson, and huge cheers came up from the orange end of the ground (which I assume was the United support, though you can never quite be certain when Rangers are playing), there will not have been a neutral on the planet who was not willing them to hold on.
Unfortunately, Kris Boyd is not a romantic. Why couldn't he have just sulked and pouted, like he usually does when he's a late substitute?
But what that final has done is to emphasise the long term benefits that Thompson's association with Dundee United will bring. He made plenty of mistakes along the way - and freely admits that - but they are now a well run club on and off the field, and there does not appear to be any reason why this should not remain the case for years to come.
The story might not make such good reading without a league cup trophy to go with it, but any guy who makes Morning, Noon and Night a success and chairs Dundee United to a cup final is, quite frankly some sort of freaking genius!
L.
1 comment:
Any other team and I'd have been right behind Utd. They were the better team and should have had a penalty, not that I cared much at the end.
Great to see Boyd make the difference though. Not bad for a player who never does it in the big games. And he was introduced in the 61st minute, not a late sub.
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