Mark Ogren concedes that he likely “has more years behind me than ahead of me” as Dundee United owner.
However, the American businessman insists he is committed to guiding the Tangerines back to the Premiership — despite the myriad challenges created by the club’s relegation.
Ogren will toast five years at the helm of the Tannadice outfit this December, and it has been an undeniable rollercoaster; from the highs of promotion and European qualification to the miserable lows of last season.
It has been a costly endeavour for Ogren, who is understood to have invested north of £10 million during his tenure, only to find United back where they were when he first arrived: the second tier of Scottish football.
Nevertheless, he reckons the overall state of the club is “night and day” compared to its previous stay in the Championship and reaffirmed his desire to restore United’s top-flight status.
“There will come a time in the not too distant future that we will move on,” Ogren told Courier Sport. “I probably have more years behind me than I do in front of me (as owner), but I’m not actively looking to sell.
“Frankly, I’ve never had any discussions with anyone about selling the club.
“It probably sounds weird to hear this coming from me right now, but I feel really good about the club. Season ticket sales are great — we had 9,000 people at a Championship game last weekend!
“Retail is up, sponsorship is up and we just made some nice improvements to our facilities. I feel good about Jim Goodwin leading the football operations.”
20:20 hindsight
While seeking to accentuate the positives of a fresh start and clean slate, Ogren — in his first external media engagement since May 2022 — conceded that he should have done things differently during United’s dismal descent to relegation last term.
The Terrors’ inaction in the January transfer window, when faced with seemingly obvious deficiencies in midfield and attack, was particularly ineffable.
“Would I have done things differently if I had the chance to do it over again? Of course,” said Ogren.
“It’s always easy to look back and say shoulda, woulda, coulda. The fact is: we didn’t. At the time, we thought the players would be good enough and believed we were doing the right things.
“We have learned from how we acted in the past and we are doing things differently as a result.”
Previous sporting director Tony Asghar, effectively Ogren’s man on the ground at Tannadice for much of his tenure, was the focus of supporter anger given his role in recruitment and the appointment of Liam Fox as head coach.
“I do understand that, with the way things ended and Tony basically running the club, that he was the lightning rod for that (criticism),” said Ogren, while confirming Asghar no longer has “any affiliation” with United.
“However, I don’t understand some of the intensity. Sure, Tony made mistakes. We all made mistakes and, ultimately, I’m the one who runs the club. I should be taking a lot of that blame. It just didn’t work out. But it wasn’t because we didn’t try.
“I don’t understand some of the animosity and, frankly, I don’t think it’s justified.”
Costly endeavour
The net result is at least one season in the Championship and the financial realities thereof.
Ogren has been forced to green-light “significant cost-cutting” of the playing department, with the likes of Ian Harkes, Ryan Edwards, Charlie Mulgrew and Dylan Levitt among an array of senior players to exit this summer.
“I’ve been very clear in the past that I am putting too much money into this club,” said Ogren bluntly. “It needs to be financially sustainable and stand on its own two feet. We need to find a way to match revenues with expenses.
“This was supposed to be the year when — had we stayed in the Premiership — we would have put even more focus on that.
“Now, it’s too big a task to achieve that in the Championship because our revenue will drop off significantly. I will be putting money in — and we will lose money. But we remain focused on maintaining the core of the club.”
Confidence
Ogren added: “This is a Premiership club that happens to be stuck — hopefully for a very short stay — in the Championship. So, we can’t tear everything apart. We fully expect to go back up to the Premiership and don’t want to have to rebuild again.”
But, with memories of a four-season stint in the Championship fresh in the mind of Arabs, what if United do not secure an immediate return to the Premiership?
“We will cross that bridge if we get there — and hopefully we never need to, because we are very confident,” added Ogren.
“There will be some fans saying, “don’t you remember the last time? We were down there for four years?” Well, if we are down there for four years then, yes, it becomes a real issue.”
DUSF gratitude
Ogren was speaking at the newly christened “Foundation Park”, formerly Gussie Park, as the club unveiled its new main stand, funded by contributions from the 2,200-plus members of the Dundee United Supporters’ Foundation.
The ground will play home to academy training, youth fixtures, Dundee United women’s SWPL fixtures and will be available for Dundee United Community Trust events.
Ogren lauded: “To have a facility like this is amazing and we are very grateful to the Foundation members for making these improvements.”
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