Jim Goodwin insists he “understands” angry Arabs making their feelings known following Dundee United’s bore draw with Dunfermline.
The Tangerines played out a 0-0 stalemate against the Fifers, with the one-paced hosts unable to breach the visitors’ stubborn rearguard action.
Dunfermline came closest to claiming all three points, with Craig Wighton hitting the post in the second period. United’s best opportunity saw Archie Meekison brilliantly denied by Deniz Mehmet.
The Terrors have failed to win six of their 11 Championship games at Tannadice this term and jeers rained down from the stands as referee Graham Grainger sounded the full-time whistle.
“That (reaction) is totally understandable, and we are feeling the same way as they are,” said Goodwin. “The players are in the dressing room and the body language would suggest we had lost the game.
“That’s the level of expectation we place on OURSELVES.
“We respect Dunfermline, but we expect to win the game and we tried to win the game with a good, attack-minded team and positive substitutions.
“We know we need to do more offensively. Our points tally on the road is really good, but unfortunately at home we’ve only picked up 19 points from 11 games.
“The Dunfermline fans are celebrating the 0-0 like it’s a win, and our punters are letting us know they are not happy – and neither are we.”
Up the tempo
Following another stodgy display by his side on home soil, Goodwin has acknowledged that his charges need to move the ball quicker in order to carve open packed defences.
“We have seen that type of game numerous times at Tannadice this season,” he conceded. “The opposition tend to come here, be quite defensive-minded and get a lot of bodies behind the ball.
“Sometimes, it can be difficult to break that low block down, although it is something we work hard on in training – and it’s something we need to continue to work on and get better at.”
He added: “The criticism I could have of the players, and I told them this in the dressing room, is sometimes the build-up was too slow. I thought we could have played forward earlier and broke the lines quicker; get our forward players on the ball sooner.
“With the slow build-up, it allowed Dunfermline to get bodies back into position, get set and then the spaces weren’t there.”
Chasing entertainment
Despite an overriding feeling of frustration, the draw takes United a point clear of Raith Rovers at the top of the Championship after the Stark’s Park men lost against Inverness.
Goodwin added: “It does put us a point ahead of the team below us, but we are never satisfied by drawing games at home. We want to entertain them and to entertain them, we need to score goals.”
Conversation