Mixu’s the man at Tannadice — even as a non-United fan it’s a relief the saga is finally over.
More than two weeks after Jackie McNamara was shown the door, it still seemed no clearer who the United hierarchy were going to go for.
After having what seemed an eternity to make the choice with the handily placed international break, time rolled on for Stephen Thompson and Co.
And, after a firm ‘go away’ from St Johnstone chairman Steve Brown after an approach for Tommy Wright followed by a similar stance by John Hughes’ bosses at Inverness CT, the weekend’s match at Tynecastle was fast approaching.
The decision had to be made and in going for Mixu Paatelainen, they’ve made a good choice.
He has a proven, if unspectacular, track record in getting teams into the top six of the top flight and, after four-and-a-half years away from the Scottish game, he’ll be hungry to rebuild his reputation.
A quick scan over his record actually surprised me at how good it was.
In his first job he won Cowdenbeath their first-ever title with the Third Division, then a trip back to Finland to lead small club TPS to third place and European football before he landed at Easter Road.
Paatelainen eventually left Hibs by mutual consent despite leading them to fourth place in 2009-10 — his best of three top-half finishes in three years.
Just look at what’s happened to Hibs since. What they wouldn’t give for one season like that — never mind three.
He then led Kilmarnock to fifth place in 2011 as well as picking up the SFWA Manager of the Year gong.
Not bad going at one club now in the Championship and another in danger of heading there this season — especially if he can pull United out of the mess they’ve found themselves in.
He’ll need a plan and he’ll need to toughen them up for the fight ahead.
And it will be a fight, starting on Sunday at home to Hearts which might actually be a fixture the new man will fancy.
It’s the battle of the two out-of-form sides with Hearts winless in five games.
Can United make the most of the manager’s honeymoon period and Hearts’ poor form? He’s got three days to work his Mixu magic.
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