Finally the big wait is nearly over for Dundee United fans.
What kind of team will they see emerge from the World Cup break?
Is it the same old, same old that’s left them bottom of the Premiership after 16 games?
Or will they have been rejuvenated by the time off and come out of the traps firing?
The spotlight is definitely on the Tangerines and manager Liam Fox.
They’ve been looking at this one game at Livingston for weeks now and know exactly what is at stake.
We’ll see if the work put in over the five weeks without a fixture has paid off.
Step up
We’re at the point where the players need to step up and show they are good enough to get United out of the situation they are in.
Time to show the first part of the season was just bad form, rather than that they are a bad team.
Because there’s no doubt they just have to be better than they’ve shown already this season.
Progression as a team is an absolute necessity. Otherwise, they are in a dire situation.
January pressure
With January round the corner, there is added pressure on the current pool of players.
It’s no secret United spent a chunk of money in the summer to bring in the players they did and there will be high earners in that team.
In the position the club finds itself in, they almost have to strengthen or try to anyway.
You never want to throw good money after bad but there’s little option when the price of failure is a return to the Championship with a bunch of players on good money.
It is early to be thinking that way but with United bottom of the league and the only opportunity to bring in new players is a few weeks away, it’ll be in their minds.
And if they have real belief in Fox as their manager, when he goes to them and says they need a player in a certain position who will make a big difference then they have to back him.
That may mean they need to offload players first but that’s easier said than done for players who have not performed this season.
Issues to sort
One big issue that certainly needs sorted is the goalkeeping position.
It’s up to whoever is chosen to face Livingston this weekend to step up and shoulder the responsibility of that position.
Nobody has done that yet this term.
And I still don’t think they’ve got the balance right in midfield – I feel like I’ve been saying that for years now!
Calum Butcher left and they never replaced him. They’ve got good players in the middle of the park but they need more than that in the position they are in.
Arnoud Djoum has come in and hopefully he can step up into that role.
Because it takes a certain mentality to get out of the position United are in – they need players with that mentality for the rest of the season.
