Arnaud Djoum insists he “understands” the fury of anxious Arabs following another damaging defeat for Dundee United.
The Tangerines slipped to a 2-1 reverse against Tayside rivals St Johnstone on Saturday, with a catastrophic Mark Birighitti blunder allowing Stevie May to slide home his second goal of the game.
United remain one point adrift of Ross County at the bottom of the Premiership.
Kilmarnock also lost at the weekend, but Motherwell picked up a second successive victory to move six points ahead of the Terrors after making a few smart January signings and dismissing boss Steven Hammell.
“For me, it is too early to talk about really bad things.
Arnaud Djoum
There were audible chants calling for United sporting director Tony Asghar and head coach Liam Fox to go from a section of disgruntled supporters.
“The fans are not happy because we are bottom of the league and it is frustrating for them,” said the Cameroon internationalist.
“But it is still very close in the league table. One game can change everything — and we still have eight games to go, plus the split.
“That is a long way to go and we want to show the fans — to show everyone — that we can have good results and a positive run-in.
“For me, it is too early to talk about really bad things.
“That doesn’t mean people are crazy; I understand it. This is their club, for all their life. They support Dundee United and we want to show them that we’ll fight to the end of every game and fight for them.”
Costly errors
Djoum, who joined United on a two-year deal last October, previously worked with Fox at Hearts and firmly believes the boss HAS overseen an upturn in performances.
But he is acutely aware that must start to translate into results, with 39 points left to play for.
“I think with what he (Fox) has done as manager — it is much better than before,” continued Djoum. “The way we play is improved and it is just about getting the right results.
“Managers cannot do anything when players make mistakes on the pitch. He does his best to get the result but we, as players, need to step up and win the game.
“There were positives to take on Saturday. Then we need to avoid the mistakes. We 100% believe that we can stay up.”
The most startling of the “mistakes” was Birighitti’s decision to dally on his line, allowing May to tackle the the ball over the line.
“It was a strange one (goal) but I don’t want to always go back to that goal,” added Djoum. “In football, everybody makes mistakes. I have made a lot of mistakes in my career and I don’t want to blame one person. We are a team.”
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