Shed Talk 04 | Dundee United vs St Mirren

SHED TALK

ISSUE 04 DUNDEE UNITED vs St Mirren Sunday 18 August 2024 Premier Sports Cup CalForth Construction Arena

AT TANNADICE PARK

DUNDEEUNITEDFC.CO.UK

SHED TALK

CONTENTS

CLUB HONOURS Scottish Premier Division Champions 1983 Scottish Cup Winners 1994 and 2010 Scottish League Cup Winners 1979-80 and 1980-81 UEFA Cup Runners-up: 1986–87

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DIRECTORY Dundee United Football Club, The CalForth Construction Arena at Tannadice Park, Dundee, DD3 7JW 01382833166 Option 1 - Ticketing Option 2 - Commercial Option 3 - Retail ADDRESS BOOK Chairman MARK OGREN Vice-Chairman SCOTT OGREN Director JIMMY FYFFE Chief Executive LUIGI CAPUANO Chief Operations Officer JOE RICE Finance Director JAMES ROBERTSON Manager JIM GOODWIN Assistant Manager LEE SHARP First-Team Coach DAVID BOWMAN Head of Goalkeeping PAUL MATHERS

Head of Football Operations ROSS STARKE Head of Player Care NIALL NICHOLSON Head of Medical MARCIN SZOSTAK First Team Analyst AIDAN CROLL First Team Sports Scientist EWAN ANDERSON Strength and Conditioning Coach ALLAN GARTSHORE Club Doctors DR DAVID NICOLL DR STEPHEN GALBRAITH Kit Manager ANDREW BRYAN Head of Commercial MARK CUNNINGHAM Ticket Office Manager MOIRA HUGHES Head of Retail STUART BOOTLAND Commercial Sales Manager DECLAN PRIDDING Catering & Bar Operations Manager JOHN RICHARDSON Head of Stadium and Facility

Operations JONATHAN ROBERTS Head of Media MARK MCCREERY Head of Marketing LUKE BAIN Content Producer YANNIS MARR Club Photographer RICHARD WISEMAN SHED TALK Design and Editors: LUKE BAIN AND PETER RUNDO Contributors MIKE WATSON RYAN HALDANE LEE SMITH Printed copies of Shed Talk are available via Curtis Sport.

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DUNDEEUNITEDFC

THE GAFFER Good afternoon everyone and welcome back to

turns went our way to see

game on Thursday night.

us progress.

Tannadice!

It’s a game we have to I think the tie this

approach in a positive

We come into this one

afternoon has the

fashion. Being at home, we

off the back of two tough

potential to be a really

are looking for a repeat of

Premiership tests - sitting

exciting one.

the first-half performance

here with two points when we really could have six.

against Dundee. If we Stephen Robinson has

reach those standards

done fantastically over the

again, we give ourselves a

While we’ve not turned in

past couple of seasons

really good chance.

a complete performance,

with top-six finishes and

there is a lot to be pleased

getting them into Europe.

I hope you all enjoy the

about, especially being

I think they can be very

game!

the newly promoted side.

proud of their efforts

- Jim Goodwin

against a good Brann side Looking back at our group

but I don’t think fatigue will

stage fixtures, barring the

play a part this afternoon.

one slip-up at Falkirk we were pretty consistent

St Mirren have a strong

over the piece. With any

squad and good strength

type of cup football, you

in depth, and I wouldn’t

never know what may

be surprised to see four

happen and thankfully a

or five changes from the

couple of late twists and

team that started the

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DUNDEEUNITEDFC.CO.UK

LUCA STEPHENSON Luca Stephenson became the newest face on

Tannadice Street, as

the Liverpool prospect

penned a season-long

leadership role as he

his loan spell.

smoothly transitioned to the U21s, playing in all but

After flourishing on

one league match during

loan, he continued to

2022/23.

impress throughout the

loan!

summer upon his return After a strong start in

to Liverpool, and was

Hailing from the north-

Premier League 2, he

included in Arne Slot’s

east, the early years

stepped into senior

28-man squad to head

of Stephenson’s youth

football with a loan move

stateside for their pre-

career were spent in

to Barrow in EFL League

season tour Rubbing

Sunderland’s Academy

Two on Deadline Day.

shoulders with stars such

of Light, before he made

as Andrew Robertson,

the move to Merseyside

A regular in the starting

Mohamed Salah and

giants Liverpool aged 15.

XI, Stephenson helped the

Dominik Szoboszlai.

Despite being one of the

Bluebirds to one of their

younger players in Marc

best seasons, narrowly

Stephenson would feature

Bridge-Wilkinson’s squad,

missing the promotion

in victories over Arsenal,

he captained the team

play-offs by just one point.

Manchester United and

during his first full season

Real Betis. A clash with

at Melwood, guiding them

Praised for his determined

Sevilla at Anfield last

to third place in the U18s

defending, the 20-year-

Sunday rounded off

Premier League.

old accumulated nearly

our new number 17’s

2,000 minutes of first-

preparations for 2024/25.

Stephenson kept a

team experience during 7

DUNDEEUNITEDFC

FOCUS ON

ST MIRREN This afternoon’s clash will be St Mirren’s fifth game in a fortnight!

The Buddies endured a tough European test on Thursday night, losing 3-1 to Brann despite a valiant effort in Norway.

Now Stephen Robinson’s side must recover from their travels as they look to avoid a third consecutive defeat in a week after Aberdeen ended their fourgame unbeaten start to the season.

The men from Paisely picked up where they left off in the league, demolishing Hibs 3-0 on the opening day.

Despite losing a number of key men, the Saints have added strength and expierence to their squad in the window so far.

The 49-year-old from Lisburn took over at the SMISA Stadium in 2020 and has transformed Saints from a side that hadn’t finished above seventh since 1984/85 into European qualifiers with back-to-back top-six finishes.

TONY DOCHERTY 8

THE GAFFER

IN CHARGE

STEPHEN ROBINSON

A midfielder in his playing days, he racked up 200 appearances for both Bournemouth and Luton also turning out for Tottenham, Preston NE and Bristol City.

Moving into coaching with Motherwell under compatriot Ian Baraclough in 2015, he also assisted Michael O’Neil at international level.

His first management stint ended after six months at Oldham Athletic, but he returned to Motherwell, eventually taking over as manager and leading them to two cup finals and a third-place finish in three and a half years. Although a nine-month spell at Morecambe was unsuccessful, his return to Scotland has been remarkable, with two and a half successful years at Saints.

DUNDEEUNITEDFC.CO.UK

Despite scoring on his senior debut for AFC Wimbledon in 2016, the Lambeth-born striker didn’t play for them again and spent years in non-league football before joining Middlesbrough in 2021. After playing for their U23s and making three first-team appearances, he moved to Saints that summer on a two-year deal.

After a slow start in Paisley, including an unspectacular loan to Arbroath, the 26-yearold ended last season with five goals in fifteen appearances and has started this campaign with European strikes against Valur and Brann as well as a goal at Pittodrie last weekend.

Blessed with real pace and comfortable as both a left winger and central striker, the 26-year-old signed a one-year extension last season and will attract plenty of interest given his blistering early season form.

IN THE DOOR

SHAUN ROONEY

was once a youth player at United but began his senior career at Queens Park before representing Dunfermline, York City, QoS and Inverness Caledonian Thistle before finally sampling topflight football with St Johnstone in 2020.

A double cup winner with the Perth outfit, the aggressive 28-yearold defender spent the last two seasons with Fleetwood.

ALEX IACOVITTI

returned north after suffering relegation from League One with Port Vale last term. Known best for his three seasons with Ross County, the physically imposing centre half is a set-piece threat having scored twelve times for The Staggies, including

ONE TO WATCH

TOYOSI OLUSANYA one against United here back in 2021. The former Scotland youth cap also scored on his Saints debut against Valur Reykjavik earlier this month.

ELLERY BALCOMBE

the 6’3” goalkeeper has joined on loan from Brentford after gaining first-team experience at several clubs. The 24-year-old recently signed a fouryear extension with Brentford and delivered a standout performance against Brann last week.

OISIN SMYTH

itroduced himself to Saints fans with an opening day double.

The versatile 24-year-old midfielder signed on a two-year deal from Oxford United where he featured 25 times last term.

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SUFFERING SAINTS Arabs will probably be aware that in meetings with St Mirren in the Scottish Cup,

the Paisley Buddies hold the upper hand having won through eight times compared to United’s five successes in 13 jousts.

Our record against them in the League Cup is perhaps less well-known, United have triumphed in all nine meetings!

Here we recall them all 11

17 AUGUST 1963 SECTION 2 ST MIRREN 2 UNITED 3

31 AUGUST 1963 SECTION 2 UNITED 3 ST MIRREN 2

Having drawn on the opening day with Aberdeen, Jerry Kerr’s side had lost narrowly to Hibs at Easter Road in midweek before heading to Love Street, so a win was essential to keep hopes of qualifying from the section alive.

By the return match two weeks later, this Tannadice clash was a dead rubber.

Attendance: 7,010

In a swashbuckling first half, Ian Mitchell put us ahead on 16 minutes with Dennis Gillespie the creator. Jimmy Robertson equalised with a fine angular finish nine minutes later. The visitors were dealt a blow when skipper Tommy Neilson was injured and reduced to being a hirpling passenger on the left-wing. Nevertheless, Jimmy Briggs regained the lead crashing home a free-kick from 30 yards after 53 minutes. Two minutes later, Wattie Carlyle, with one of his trademark low grounders from an impossible angle, added a third. Although Don Kerrigan pulled one back from a penalty after 73 minutes, United never looked like being denied.

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Attendance: 4,365

Indeed, United had lost both League Cup ties and a second visit to Love Street (1-2) on league business. Don Kerrigan put Saints ahead after 25 minutes, but less than ten minutes later, United were in front thanks to Benny Rooney scoring his first and second goals of his Tannadice career.

Dennis Gillespie added a third midway through the second half with Kerrigan counting again three minutes from the end.

17 AUGUST 1969 SECTION 4 ST MIRREN 0 UNITED 1

Attendance: 6,363 Defeats to Hearts and Morton left our hopes of qualifying on a knifeedge. And starting brightly, we had the better of the first half but didn’t take our chances.

In the initial stages of the second half, the Saints tested Donald Mackay

several times. However, with United regained control and capitalised as Stuart Markland slid the ball through to Andy Rolland and the winger held off Saints’ defenders before feeding Kenny Cameron. who scored easily. St Mirren came storming back and almost won a penalty in the closing minutes when Billy Bremner cleared a shot off the line.

27 AUGUST 1969 SECTION 4 UNITED 2 ST MIRREN 1

Attendance: 3,057 Two weeks later, only St Mirren could still qualify from the section and on 14 minutes they forged ahead, Bobby Adamson heading home a Hugh McLaughlin free-kick.

However, United equalised on 57 minutes - Andy Rolland rifling in. With tails now up, United chased the winner and were rewarded on 70 minutes as Davie Hogg crossed to Alex Reid who netted the winner from 12 yards, though United had to hang on grimly to complete an academic double.

4 SEPTEMBER 1985 QUARTER FINAL UNITED 2 ST MIRREN 1

Attendance: 7,682 In the first half, United powered their way to a two-goal lead. A John

Holt throw was flicked on by Richard Gough’s head and the ball fell to Ralph Milne who blasted home from close range before the Saints’ defence failed to clear Campbell Money ‘s punch out and Milne pounced to net.

Without Eamonn Bannon in the second half, we lost the initiative and Saints put themselves back in the match when Brian Gallacher, finding himself in the clear, hoisted the ball over the advancing Hamish McAlpine.

24 AUGUST 1988 3RD ROUND ST MIRREN 1 UNITED 3

Attendance: 5,970 Out with a sticky 20-minute spell, the tangerines were fairly comfortable on their quest to a sixth consecutive victory in this fixture.

The opener came as Mixu Paatelainen’s near post cross was met by Kevin Gallacher, whose glancing header left Les Fridge helpless. Enjoying their best spell, Saints levelled on 67 minutes when Ian Cameron cut in from the left and fired home from the edge of the penalty area.

Four minutes later, Paatelainen steered home a Gallacher pass from inside the six-yard box and just seconds after the restart, Raphael Meade made it a scoring debut with a third goal.

18 AUGUST 1992 3RD ROUND UNITED 3 ST MIRREN 0

Attendance: 5,586 This proved to be the biggest of the nine League Cup wins over the Paisley outfit.

A brace from Duncan Ferguson either side of John O’Neil’s rather fortunate strike was enough to see us past The Buddies in a one-sided contest.

24 AUGUST 1993 3RD ROUND ST MIRREN 0 UNITED 1

Attendance: 4,415 The first half set the trend for this hard-fought and at times tough encounter.

Saints’ enthusiastic youngsters were certainly giving us a run for our money, we survived a penalty claim after Lavety went down as John Clark tackled him and at that stage, United were finding it difficult to stamp any authority on proceedings.

16 AUGUST 1994 2ND ROUND ST MIRREN 0 UNITED 1 (AET) Attendance: 3,470

This was the closest Saints came to stopping us in this competition, pushing the match to extra time before United advanced.

After United dominated early on, Saints nearly took the lead when Paul McIntyre’s shot went inches wide in the 33rd minute.

With 18 minutes left, Craig Brewster hit the post, the closest either side came to a regulation-time winner. Seven minutes into extra time, Gary Bollan’s header found Jerren Nixon, whose cross allowed Dragutin Ristić to score his first United goal with a neat, angled finish from eight yards.

However, with 13 minutes left, Paddy Connolly left three defenders in his wake before laying the ball back to Billy McKinlay to finish with the aid of the post. There weren’t too many anxious moments for Arabs as United safely negotiated the remaining minutes to secure a place in the last eight.

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DUNDEE UNITED ST MIRREN MANAGER: JIM GOODWIN

JACK WALTON 1 RYAN STRAIN 2 KEVIN HOLT 4 VICKO ŠEVELJ 5 ROSS GRAHAM 6 KRISTIJAN TRAPANOVSKI 7 LIAM GRIMSHAW 8 LOUIS MOULT 9 DAVID BABUNSKI 10 WILL FERRY 11 RICHARD ODADA 12 CRAIG SIBBALD 14 GLENN MIDDLETON 15 EMMANUEL ADEGBOYEGA 16 LUCA STEPHENSON 17 KAI FOTHERINGHAM 18 JORT VAN DER SANDE 20 ROSS DOCHERTY 23 DAVID RICHARDS 25 RORY MACLEOD 27 MILLER THOMSON 29 LEWIS O’DONNELL 30 DECLAN GALLAGHER 31 BRYAN MWANGI 36 SAMUEL CLEALL-HARDING 37 BRANDON FORBES 38 SCOTT CONSTABLE 39 SEAN BORLAND 40 OWEN STIRTON 42 ADAM CARNWATH 43 ALAN DOMERACKI 44 MESHACK UBOCHIOMA 70

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