5/10
LEAGUE: 5th, 56pts (2013-14 - 4th, 58pts)
SCOTTISH CUP: Quarter-finals
LEAGUE CUP: Runners-up
MOST USED FIRST XI: Radoslaw Ciernziak, Sean Dillon, Jaroslaw Fojut, Callum Morris, Conor Townsend, Paul Paton, John Rankin, Chris Erskine, Stuart Armstrong, Ryan Dow, Nadir Ciftci
OVERVIEW: The first few months of the season deserved a 9 or a 10 out of 10; they looked so impressive early in the season that, in September, I very nearly wrote a blog titled 'Can Dundee United win the league?'. When they beat - and outplayed - Celtic at Tannadice in December, and reached the League Cup final, it looked like it could be a tremendous season for United. Sadly, everything went wrong on the final day of the winter transfer window; Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay-Steven left for Celtic Park, and everything came tumbling down. They never really recovered from the psychological impact of four consecutive matches versus Celtic, including a cup final defeat and a Scottish Cup exit. They finished only two points worse off than last season, but finishing fifth in the league was a real disappointment.
HIGH POINTS: Three comprehensive derby wins, by scores of 4-1, 6-2 and 3-0, will have gone down well with the orange half of Dundee. And the home win over Celtic on 21 December was a perfect Christmas gift.
LOW POINTS: Pretty much everything after the middle of February. They picked up only 11 points from their last 15 matches, which is pretty much relegation form.
STAR MAN: The trouble, of course, is that the two star men left halfway through. So next up is Nadir Ciftci, who led the line well, worked far harder than his sulky demeanour suggested, and scored 16 goals. He also managed to thump ICT's Gary Warren, kick Scott Brown in the back of the head, and (allegedly) bite Dundee's Jim McAlister without - so far - getting a ban, so fair play to him.
ONE FOR THE FUTURE: Not surprisingly, the many youngsters who saw first team action were incredibly inconsistent. The most impressive of them all was John Souttar, when the teenager was moved forward into centre midfield during the spring and was a revelation.
WASTE OF SPACE: A tossup between strikers Mario Bilate and Henri Anier. The Dutchman struggled with fitness and managed only two goals; the Estonian was signed in January and looked a shadow of the player who shone for Motherwell last year.
THE BOSS: The revelation that he gets a share of player sales probably shouldn't have caused the level of outrage that it did, but it has severely damaged the support's confidence in Jackie McNamara. His willingness to play youngsters is laudable, as is his penchant for attacking football, but his detractors will point out that he doesn't seem able to set up a defence and that his January signings have been a disappointment. There's no question that his credit level has been dented in recent months.
PROSPECTS FOR NEXT SEASON: Uncertain times for United going into the offseason, and even more so if they lose Ciftci; if the Turk was to end up at Celtic, there would be full scale revolt amongst the Arabs (the United fans that is, not the real ones!). For them to finish in the top three, they need to keep him, add another striker or two, replace goalkeeper Radoslaw Cierzniak and probably centre back Jaroslaw Fojut, and maybe bring in a creative midfielder or two. That's asking a lot. One thing is certain; if they don't hit the ground running in August, then McNamara will be under pressure.
FIRST TEAMERS DEFINITELY LEAVING: Radoslaw Cierzniak, Michael Gardyne, Brian Graham, Kudus Oyenuga, Darren Petrie, Keith Watson
Lawrie Spence (LS) has ranted and spouted his ill-informed opinions on Narey's Toepoker since September 2007. He has a life outside this blog. Honestly.
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