Dundee United boss Csaba Laszlo believes he may just have the toughest job in Scottish football.
The Hungarian went into Saturday’s match against Championship basement boys Falkirk knowing that defeat would put his job in serious jeopardy.
As it turned out, he passed the latest examination of his ability as a manager with an A plus.
Headed second-half goals from first Pavol Safranko then Craig Curran got the result Laszlo not only wanted but needed and suddenly things are looking a bit brighter at Tannadice.
They now find themselves only two points off the top of the table and, perhaps most importantly of all, they are on the brink of having key men like Fraser Fyvie, Billy King, Sam Stanton and Nicky Clark all available at the same time.
Only King was involved in this success against the Bairns and that was as a sub, with Fyvie having been excused duty because of the plastic pitch.
For the first time in a while, it actually feels safe to be a bit positive about United.
Maybe the heat will even come off Laszlo for a bit, although he wonders if he might just be in the most challenging post there is in the game north of the border.
He said: “I think the most difficult job in the Scottish Championship – even Scottish football – at the moment is to be manager of Dundee United, or maybe even a player for Dundee United.
“This is the third season in the Championship and we have had just disappointment.
“We are talking about a massive, strong and passionate club that wants to move one level higher.
“So if something doesn’t go right immediately there is critical noise. That is OK and we don’t want to hide behind anything.
“We can’t say that we are happy to spend another year in the Championship and then, all going well, maybe we qualify to go back up.
“I don’t think the fans want to hear that from the manager, board or anybody else.
“They need to hear that the title is our target and that does create pressure.”
There was a nice five-minute spell after the final whistle when the players went across to the near 1,000-strong away support and there was an exchange of applause and appreciation.
It was not only welcomed by Laszlo but he gave that as his personal highlight of the day.
He said: “It is my opinion that the most important thing about the game – the key moment – was when the team met up to go over to the supporters.
“It was good that the Dundee United fans went away with smiles on their faces from this game.
“There were almost 1,000 away supporters (918 to be precise) and after losing points at home last week these people deserved to leave the stadium happy before going back to Dundee.
“That was the most important thing for me because it showed team spirit between the players and fans.”
The Tangerines had made two changes to the line-up that started the draw with Morton.
Into the team came Jamie Robson and Paul McMullan, with Adam Barton and Callum Booth on the bench.
There was no sign of influential midfielder Fyvie, with the decision taken to not risk him on the artificial pitch at such an early stage of his recovery from a serious knee injury.
The visitors made a bright start and pinned Falkirk back in their own half in the opening stages.
Christoph Rabitsch volleyed just past on 10 minutes as the Tannadice men continued to dictate the play.
They came close again to the opener on 34 minutes when McMullan’s low drive was just inches away from being turned into his own net by Falkirk’s Tom Dallison.
Much of their play was without punch but that changed on 59 minutes when they took the lead.
Fraser Aird, playing at right-back, was up the park and delivered a hanging cross from the right that was met by the head of Safranko.
You could argue that it should have been Bairns keeper Leonardo Fasan’s ball but the Slovak was more determined and hungrier than him and made it count.
Safranko said: “I am happy that I scored – that was the most important thing.
“It was a good ball over from Fraser Aird.
“The goalkeeper went out to get the ball and I tried to jump.
“I saw that he had missed it so I didn’t need to get too much power on the ball.
“I flicked my header and that was why we scored.”
They came within a whisker of a second goal on 65 minutes when a twisting and turning Yannick Loemba had his strike headed off the line by Scott Harrison.
With just four minutes to go, the visitors were two up.
It started with a freekick out left that Loemba battered against the wall then, after the ball came back to him, he floated in a lovely cross that was head back into the net by Curran.
One of the most pleasing things about the performance was the way they close the match out.
There was no panic and they looked secure even before Curran’s goal.
Laszlo added: “Overall, I was happy that we finished the game high (up the park) and were not under pressure.
“We were clever and I think the team deserved the three points.”
Next up for United is a home clash with Ross County but finally they can go into a match with some confidence.
