Are Dundee United a club on the verge of crisis?
Propping up the Premiership, the squad is one which even the most optimistic Arab can see is short of the quality needed.
United look in real danger of dropping back into the Championship.
Defensively leaky, struggling for midfield creativity, lacking penetration up front and short of the kind of pace that can torment defences, United are a huge disappointment to their fans this season.
Coach Liam Fox is getting plenty stick but sporting director Tony Asghar is the main focus of ire from critics, who blame him for poor recruitment and the absence of squad improvement in the January transfer window.
But Asghar is entrusted to run the show by American owner Mark Ogren and it’s from across the Atlantic that answers to what the future holds for United should come.
Ogren’s put a small fortune into backing United and has had very little return to show for it.
We don’t know his reasons for buying the club, but the disastrous, short-lived European adventure and the grim performances and results this season surely aren’t enough to inspire him to dig even deeper and spend yet more of his money.
The midweek banner urging Asghar to get out of the club might as well have been environmentally recycled, with a “Thompson out” slogan on the other side.
The former chairman also felt the wrath of a section of the support, who felt he was taking the club nowhere.
He wisely sold up to his vice chairman and fellow director Mike Martin who, in turn, sold to the current American owner when he realised that, like Thompson, he lacked the money needed to fund Tannadice ambitions.
I don’t know whether Mark Ogren is tiring of his football investment or whether he’s reassessing how the club reboots and operates in the future.
But the issue for those fans suggesting that maybe he should also sell up is who would have the money to buy him out?
Geoff Brown still has no takers for his shares in a debt free St Johnstone – and they’ve money in the bank.
Brown is also of the opinion that no-one local has the funding to buy Saints, with the wages and upkeep needed at a Premiership club.
A few good results for United will silence critics until the next time there’s a bad run.
‘Recipe for trouble’
But there’s a sense that this is more than just a hiccup at Tannadice.
An owner based in the States and a sense of disconnect between fans and those running the club is a recipe for trouble.
The philosophy of rearing their own youth players seems to have stalled, with few breaking into the first team.
The owner and sporting director should provide clear answers to United fans regarding their strategy and plans.
If they don’t then supporter unrest could grow and fester until it can’t be contained.
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