It was far from a sprint finish from Dundee United.
More of an interminable limp.
Jim Goodwin’s weary band of Championship winners, free agents and loan captures; held together by string and down to six substitutes on the bench.
After four defeats on the bounce – 13 goals conceded in the process – the Terrors were 1-0 down against Aberdeen with 55 minutes on the clock on the last day of the season.
The “live” Premiership table showed the Tangerines in sixth spot, their lowest standing since matchday two in August.
Goodwin’s charges could have been forgiven for wilting. Out of steam. Game over.
Not a bit of it.
This side is the polar opposite to the powderpuff outfit that crashed to relegation in the summer of 2023. That was a group that Goodwin would later dub “too nice”, and one suspects that informed the construction of this team.
The class of ‘25 is a study in guts and gumption. And with their European dream fading, they somehow found the resolve for one last push.
Declan Gallagher and Sam Dalby – two heroes of the past 10 months (in Gallagher’s case, the last two seasons) – found the net and the Dons were downed. Fourth place assured and return to continental competition in the diary.
This is the inside story of the season.
Continuity and key core
United’s summer recruitment was vast and swift. The impending capture of Will Ferry was something of an open secret, largely because talks were at an advanced stage during the early part of 2024.
While no-one at United would have been so publicly brash, that is how confident the club were that the Championship title would ultimately come to Tannadice.
The Tangerines beat Blackpool to Ferry’s signature – not to be underestimated, given the Bloomfield Road outfit can outspend most Premiership teams – and he proved worth the fight. He would go on to be named fans’ player of the year.
Ryan Strain, Kristijan Trapanovski, Jack Walton, Emmanuel Adegboyega, Vicko Sevelj, Richard Odada, David Babunski, Dave Richards, Meshack Ubochioma, Jort van der Sande and Luca Stephenson would join the party.
Perhaps more crucial was the continuity provided by the likes of Gallagher, Kevin Holt, Ross Docherty and Louis Moult; dressing room generals who ensured myriad new arrivals were welcomed and integrated.
All four will be gone by next season. Goodwin’s biggest challenge in the coming transfer window may be retaining the peerless heart, soul and spirit of the United camp.
Sam Dalby: How a lengthy chase paid dividend
However, it would take until deadline day to snare a relatively unknown, rangy attacker named Sam Dalby.
An unknown to most fans.
Certainly not to Goodwin.
Goodwin’s admiration for the attacker dated back to his time in the National League with Southend, while he made a play for Dalby’s services ahead of United’s Championship campaign. That didn’t come to fruition – but he remained a target.
While Wrexham utilised Dalby as an impact substitute – his height and work rate making him a tempting battering ram – Goodwin believed, and still does, that there is ample room for development.
Fifteen goals and a place in PFA Scotland’s team of the year suggests that Goodwin’s eye for a No.9 – evidenced by Bojan Miovski’s success at Aberdeen – remains sharp as a tack.
He may get more money elsewhere, but Dalby will struggle to find a manager who values him more that Goodwin. He has a big call to make this summer.
Momentum builds and did Jim Goodwin get a fair deal?
United crept through the Premier Sports Group stage on goal difference courtesy of Buckie Thistle limiting Ayr United to a 3-2 win.
Along the way, debutant Sevelj endured a nightmare against Falkirk, making Ross McIver look like prime Zlatan Ibrahimovic during a 2-0 defeat. Few would have predicted the genial, tireless Croatian would go on to be United’s player of the year. What a journey.
Brandon Forbes lashed a firecracker free-kick into the top-corner from 35 yards to beat Ayr and, as has become all-too common in Scottish football, was promptly snapped up by an English suitor, joining Norwich.
One defeat in their opening seven Premiership games, against Rangers, represented an excellent start to the season, albeit they should have beaten Dundee in the curtain-raiser after leading twice at Tannadice.
On that topic, one win in four games against the Dee – including a defeat that saw them exit the Scottish Cup – was not good enough against a team that shipped 77 goals in the league and underperformed to such an extent that their manager was sacked.
United’s solid start saw Goodwin rewarded with a contract extension, tying him to Tannadice until the summer of 2026; a mutually beneficial agreement that offered a degree of certainty as the Tangerines turned their attention towards new signings.
Owner Mark Ogren noted at the time, “Jim has excelled since his arrival, meeting all targets set by the board of directors so far.”
At time of writing, Goodwin has now superseded all those targets yet effectively finds himself with a one-year rolling contract. Rival bosses such as Stephen Robinson and David Gray were rewarded with two-year and three-year deals, respectively.
It would not be unreasonable to suggest that the Irishman has earned a similar show of faith. A conversation for the coming weeks and months, perhaps.
How splendid Christmas period sparked ugly Holt exit
Festive cheer abounded at Tannadice.
From the home draw against Celtic on December 22 to the 1-0 victory at St Mirren on January 11, United picked up four wins and a draw from seven league games – including stirring wins over Aberdeen and Dundee.
The triumph over the Dons during that run – on December 29 – was a blockbuster evening on numerous levels.
Holt’s late winner; the wild celebrations; the deplorable sight of bottles being lobbed in the direction of Goodwin – it was a fiery, ferocious night in Dundee.
However, it also represented the start of a saga that would affect the Tangerines deep into February and beyond.
It was after that game that Holt’s representatives first made it known that Derry City were strongly interested in their client’s services.
While one wouldn’t want to carelessly use the phrase “tapping up” it was already clear that the Irish club’s offer to the player would be handsome.
So United waited.
And waited.
Our winter transfer window came and went without a concrete bid from Tiernan Lynch’s side.
However, the League of Ireland transfer window remained open until February 22 and sources across the water were always of the belief that Derry would make a play for Holt.
Dundee’s Joe Shaughnessy is also thought to have been on a list of contingencies for the Candystripes (albeit any offer is likely to have been given short shrift by the Dee) along with Motherwell centre-back Dan Casey.
However, Holt was always their top target. They wanted experience. A leader. They were willing to offer a length of deal that would not have been forthcoming at United.
The deal was eventually done against a backdrop of rage and rancour. The Terrors banked five figures. Sweetie money for Derry’s billionaire backer Philip O’Doherty.
United chiefs stated that it was “made clear that he may be unavailable for selection between now and the end of the 2024/25 campaign” in order to force the move.
Courier Sport understands that statement is alleged to have taken the form of Holt’s representatives stating that the defender would undergo an operation to cure a persistent muscular issue if he was denied the move.
Holt has questioned United’s assertion.
It was a regrettable way for the relationship between the parties to end, given Holt’s momentous importance to United’s rise from the doldrums of the Championship to European qualification.
He was a giant during his 20 months at the club and nothing changes that fact.
January challenges
No defensive cover was forthcoming in January.
Nor was a back-up for Ferry, who – along with Strain – was already being asked to do a fearsome amount of running in every game. You could see they would wane.
United’s budget constraints continued to be apparent. Goodwin is understood to be an admirer of 22-year-old Irishman Owen Oseni, who plundered goals for fun at Gateshead during the first half of the season.
That interest didn’t evolve into a serious pursuit because St Mirren blew the Tangerines – who would end the season having not paid a penny in transfer fees – out of the water with their swoop.
United were able to scour the loan markets to sign Ruari Paton and Lewis Fiorini, while Allan Campbell signed a short-term deal on modest terms to pursue first-team football following a miserable couple of seasons at Millwall and Charlton.
Few complained about the captures at the time.
However, Campbell and Paton did not hit the heights of which they are capable – albeit their graft and commitment could not be questioned – and Fiorini played 46 minutes. The winter window is always hellish, and this wasn’t a vintage one.
Goodwin, meet Goodwin
On the topic of signings, news broke in March that head of recruitment Michael Cairney would be taking up a role with an English Championship outfit. That club was Blackburn Rovers, where he is now serving as lead first-team scout.
The development was surprising and unwelcome to Tannadice bosses but not considered a catastrophe. Cairney and Goodwin enjoyed a good rapport and, between them, unearthed a few gems.
Sevelj, who was scouted in-person on several occasions by Cairney and gained rave reviews, is a standout among the swathe of signings.
However, the highly recommended Richard Odada and Meshack Ubochioma have been major disappointments.
There was an internal appreciation that while the club’s business had been solid, there was scope for improvement.
Courier Sport understands former Hearts sporting director Joe Savage enquired about the position, while United interviewed a member of staff with experience within the Northern Irish national set-up.
However, Ross Goodwin, erstwhile head of data at Plymouth Argyle, had been on the Tangerines’ radar for some time and was ultimately deemed the right man to succeed Cairney. He is now in post and working for the Terrors.
While the new man’s number-crunching and eye for a player is valued, his experience profile should leave no-one in any doubt that Jim Goodwin will still be the man making the final decision on signings. As has always been the case.
Dipping form and VAR reform
United’s 1-0 Scottish Cup defeat against Dundee in January was a galling one for the Tangerines.
A cavalcade of opportunities were passed up by Ross Graham, Trapanovski, Glenn Middleton and Paton, while Sevelj saw a shot from the edge of the box nestle in the net – but only after referee Mathew MacDermid blew early for a soft foul.
With officials now told to allow phases of attack to conclude before awarding a free-kick, Goodwin was incensed. Courier Sport has been told that MacDermid apologised to the United boss for that misstep in the aftermath. A little late.
That result sparked a run of one win in the next seven matches, including the incendiary 3-1 home defeat against Hibs on February 26, during which Dalby saw a perfectly legal header disallowed for a phantom handball.
That would have made the score 2-1 to the Terrors.
The outrageous decision came mere weeks after United withdrew their cooperation from the Key Match Incident panel and called for VAR reform.
Limping to the finish line
In a common theme this season, the Tangerines pulled out a few big wins exactly when they were needed. Three 1-0s in a row against Ross County, Hearts and St Johnstone saw United breeze into the top six.
Contrary to some eager snipers (the readiness of some to add Goodwin’s four post-split defeats to the five sustained during United’s relegation of 2023, despite the entirely different context was startling), the Terrors weren’t simply content with a place in the top-half.
It wasn’t “job done”.
It was around January – with the Terrors growing accustomed to life in third spot – that talk of Europe began to spread in the dressing room. New targets were set internally, albeit they rarely left the confines of the Tannadice dressing room.
If they had missed out on Europe, the players would have been gutted; far from nonplussed and celebratory.
Nevertheless, there is no arguing against the fact United’s tank was nearing empty during the run-in.
Amid a swathe of injuries and absences, the Tangerines were well beaten by Celtic, Hibs, St Mirren and Rangers before somehow pulling themselves together in the second half against Aberdeen to pinch fourth place.
Few epitomise the guts and gumption of the walking wounded like Gallagher, who travelled to England to receive an epidural injection to the back prior to the defeat at Easter Road.
To see some on social media question his commitment following that defeat in Auld Reekie must have been galling.
He was a colossus against Aberdeen.
Emmanuel Adegboyega, Craig Sibbald, Sam Cleall-Harding and Jack Walton toiled for fitness during the run-in.
Luca Stephenson played with a double hernia for four months.
Ross Graham was required in the 4-2 derby defeat against Dundee despite a hamstring issue limiting his movement and range of passing.
We could go on. This was a campaign of guys putting their bodies on the line.
And thanks to Dalby’s penalty against the Dons, it was all worthwhile.
However, it is a damn shame that the fixture – to the wider public – will be remembered for the sight of a bloodied Jack Mackenzie being wheeled down the tunnel after being struck by a seat thrown by an Aberdeen fan amid a celebratory pitch invasion.
Goodwin, who managed Mackenzie at Pittodrie, noted after the game that, “maybe it’ll take for a serious incident like this to happen in order for the authorities to really step in, take notice and punish those guys”.
That tacitly reflects Courier Sport’s understanding that the person who lobbed a vodka bottle at him during the December meeting between the sides has not been brought to any form of justice.
Jim Goodwin’s Dundee United: What come next?
Being hard to beat; possessing peerless team spirit; maximising set pieces – that was a recipe for success this season.
However, it is not the end product.
Expect United to evolve next season.
Courier Sport understands that pace, power and physicality will be a major priority in recruitment, with Goodwin keen to implement a more proactive, aggressive style.
They are likely to utilise a back-four with more regularity, and – to simplify the message – get themselves 20 yards further up the pitch; go man-for-man more often and squeeze the game.
That will be music to the ears of many Arabs. However, it is an almighty departure from the tried-and-trusted methods of the past couple of seasons, even if Goodwin will still demand the basics done to a faultless level.
United’s recruitment and pre-season preparation will need to be outstanding.
Another fascinating ride on the United rollercoaster awaits.
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