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2024 CORPORATE GOLF DAY
16th May 2024
Alex Smith, for the second week running, felt Saturday's 1-1 draw with Aberdeen at Tannadice was a case of two points dropped rather than one point gained as United completely controlled the first half and made a number of chances.
"At 1-0 up you are always vulnerable to a situation that can turn against you and there was a situation that happened against us today which was very very dubious and it turned the game in Aberdeen's favour. I thought in the early part of the game we dominated, made a lot of chances and were in control of the game at that stage. We could have got to 2-0 just after half-time, didn't and then they got a penalty kick which changed the game."
As usual in such circumstances the United boss was reluctant to be drawn too much on the penalty incident. "I don't want to comment on that but you can tell by my tone of voice. I just felt that a Dundee United player was pulled first."
Alex Smith reflected on some of the chances which United had to make safe the three points and dismissed any suggestions that a lack of confidence on the part of Stef McConalogue had been a contributory factor. "It's nothing to do with confidence. The wee fellow was magnificent in the first half. In his first chance he took a bad touch just before he got to the goalkeeper, which anyone can do. In his second one, he had a long distance to run with the ball, took it by the goalkeeper and the Aberdeen defender did well to get back on the line. So you have to give them a bit of credit. It wasn't a chance missed by the young lad, in that situation they saved the day."
"Overall it was similar situation to last week, although I think we were better than last week, and I thought we played well then. I thought today we made a lot of chances, we had a lot of good play, we defended well, we build the game up well and I thought the first half was a tremendous advert for the game of football in Scotland. It is satisfying to know there are so many talented young players on the field who are able to play for Scotland in the future."
The Manager reiterated that he believes the results will come for United if the current application by everyone at Tannadice continues. "We will keep working as hard as we can and keep trying to win games. Sometimes you go on to a run where you just pick up draws and that's what has happened to us. We've just to keep working. We know we are doing the right things. We know we are building the Club the right way. We know we are putting the Club in the right direction. If we keep playing we know we'll get the results coming our way. It's got to be because if you keep doing the right things the results have to come."
"At 1-0 up you are always vulnerable to a situation that can turn against you and there was a situation that happened against us today which was very very dubious and it turned the game in Aberdeen's favour. I thought in the early part of the game we dominated, made a lot of chances and were in control of the game at that stage. We could have got to 2-0 just after half-time, didn't and then they got a penalty kick which changed the game."
As usual in such circumstances the United boss was reluctant to be drawn too much on the penalty incident. "I don't want to comment on that but you can tell by my tone of voice. I just felt that a Dundee United player was pulled first."
Alex Smith reflected on some of the chances which United had to make safe the three points and dismissed any suggestions that a lack of confidence on the part of Stef McConalogue had been a contributory factor. "It's nothing to do with confidence. The wee fellow was magnificent in the first half. In his first chance he took a bad touch just before he got to the goalkeeper, which anyone can do. In his second one, he had a long distance to run with the ball, took it by the goalkeeper and the Aberdeen defender did well to get back on the line. So you have to give them a bit of credit. It wasn't a chance missed by the young lad, in that situation they saved the day."
"Overall it was similar situation to last week, although I think we were better than last week, and I thought we played well then. I thought today we made a lot of chances, we had a lot of good play, we defended well, we build the game up well and I thought the first half was a tremendous advert for the game of football in Scotland. It is satisfying to know there are so many talented young players on the field who are able to play for Scotland in the future."
The Manager reiterated that he believes the results will come for United if the current application by everyone at Tannadice continues. "We will keep working as hard as we can and keep trying to win games. Sometimes you go on to a run where you just pick up draws and that's what has happened to us. We've just to keep working. We know we are doing the right things. We know we are building the Club the right way. We know we are putting the Club in the right direction. If we keep playing we know we'll get the results coming our way. It's got to be because if you keep doing the right things the results have to come."
