You’d be forgiven for thinking that Saturday’s game against Livingston is even being played. For United the focus is now the playoffs (okay we still need a result to guarantee 3rd) and for Livi it will be a case of party mode as they can relax in the knowledge that they have a bit of time off before they face Dunfermline in the second round of the playoffs (see what I did there?).
As soon as I published my last match preview I knew that I had pretty much guaranteed United losing the game in Dumfries. It was full of positives and praise for the players who had started to show grit, desire and determination. Amazing then that this all seemed to disappear and at the most important time. I am all for questioning Csaba Laszlo and his managerial capabilities but last Saturday was all on the players. They made the errors, they suddenly lost any drive they had in previous games and they were the ones who let us down YET AGAIN.
The match against Livingston is an absolute non-event. Should the manager play the youngsters? Should he use it as a way of testing the team he would like to start in the playoffs? Either way the atmosphere on Saturday will be completely flat and it will be a pretty meaningless game of football. We don’t have long to wait until the first playoff matches but my worry is that most United supporters (myself included) seem totally nonplussed by the whole scenario. I am absolutely behind the team in terms of wanting them to achieve but it does feel as though there is an inevitability about our failure to secure promotion for the second time in succession. Maybe I shouldn’t be so pessimistic and in many ways there is more depth to this squad compared to last season but the reality is this group of players have a track record for falling short when the pressure is really on.
A short match preview for a match short on excitement. Maybe by Sunday I will be in a better place to go full steam ahead for the playoffs. Hopefully the United players will feel the same. If we do fall at the first hurdle then I suppose we can comfort ourselves with the knowledge that you would expect some major reshuffling at the club to start pretty soon after the last ball is kicked.