Dundee United have made a one-off offer of compensation in a bid to secure Bohemians’ Pat Fenlon as their new manager and will either have him on board tonight or move on to other candidates (writes Tom Duthie).
Although it remains United’s understanding Fenlon could move for nothing because his contract has effectively been breached by the Irish champions due to their failure to pay bonuses on time, their determination to act honourably has seen a five-figure sum offered for his services. As of early this afternoon, that proposal had still not been accepted by the Dubliners and, if that remains the case after tea-time, the move for the 40-year-old will be off.
Today, Tannadice chairman Stephen Thompson was eager to stress what had been a frosty relationship between the clubs had thawed somewhat, but he was still in no mood to let this matter drag on.
And he was equally firm on his stance that, having made a fair offer that runs well into five figures, he would not be upping the price.
“I have spoken to both their chairman Robert Dunne and the Bohemians board as a whole, and I have to say Mr Dunne is a gentleman,” he said.
“I appreciate his position, but I have made clear our position and it is now down to Bohemians taking stock of that and getting back to us.”
If agreement is reached, weather permitting, Fenlon will jump on a plane and head for Scotland so he can put pen to paper and at least watch United in Scottish Cup action at Firhill tomorrow. If not, the search for a team boss will continue and, while the appointment of the vastly-experienced Archie Knox on an interim basis would be a possibility, a rekindling of interest in St Johnstone boss Derek McInnes should not be ruled out.
Changing subject, the United chairman expressed concern that tomorrow’s cup-tie looks set to go ahead.
“I know the pitch is fine, and maybe even the streets around Firhill, but these are exceptional weather conditions and all this weekend’s games should probably be called off,” he said.
“We are asking people to travel large distances to get to games like ours, but, today, I struggled to get from my house to Dundee city centre.
Former Dundee United player Alan Irvine was today named as boss of Sheffield Wednesday, only 10 days after being sacked by Championship rivals Preston.
Irishman can be big hit
Jon Daly admits knowledge of Dundee United managerial candidate Pat Fenlon is limited, but sees no reason why his fellow-Irishman would not be as big a hit in Scotland as he’s been back home (writes Tom Duthie).
Fenlon’s proposed appointment at United was hanging in the balance today as haggling with Bohemians over compensation dragged on.
And, while Daly insists the players will not let the managerial matter distract them from tomorrow’s Scottish Cup tie at Partick, he was following developments with interest.
“As players, whether or not he is appointed is a matter to be decided in the boardroom and not by us. All we are concentrating on is the cup-tie,” said the striker.
“And, although Sean Dillon knows him well from playing under him at Shelbourne, my career’s been in England and up here, so he’s not someone I know.
“What I’ve heard is he has a very good reputation back home and, if he was appointed here, I don’t see why he couldn’t be a success.
“Plenty of players have come across from Ireland and done very well, and there are a lot of good players over there. There are good coaches, too, and he is obviously one of them.”
Daly is happy to let those upstairs deal with the Fenlon issue and is determined whoever comes in as boss will have a place in the fifth round of the cup to look forward to.
“We’ve hit a bit of a bad patch and Partick are going quite well, so we will have to be on top of our game to get a result. We are up for this, though, and we are determined to get through.”
Thistle threat
Caretaker Dundee United boss Peter Houston has warned his players to be wary of “Tangerine old boys” in tomorrow’s Scottish Cup clash at Partick Thistle (writes Tom Duthie).
Weather permitting, United will head west knowing a couple of members of the opposition ranks will have extra reason for wanting to cause an upset at Firhill.
Jags boss Ian McCall is, of course, a former Tannadice manager and his skipper Alan Archibald played for United the last time they reached the final of this competition in 2005, and even played under the management team of Craig Levein and Peter for a brief spell.
“Alan was here when we first came to United and, obviously, there’s Ian McCall, who has done really well there,” said Peter.
“I don’t think he will mind me saying that it hurt him a bit when he left here, it was the first knock he’d taken in his career.
“He did really well at Tannadice in his first season, but, for whatever reason, things didn’t go so well after that.
“He’s bounced back from it — first at Queen of the South and now at Thistle. He’s built a team with experience, but has some young legs in there, too.
“I watched them on Monday night, so I know how much of a threat they are. They pass the ball around well and have the likes of David Rowson, Simon Donnelly, Steve Lovell, Archibald and Ian Maxwell, added to the young talents of Paul Cairney and Liam Buchanan.”
Peter also noted with interest the addition of former Dunfermline defender Greg Shields on loan from America and knows United will have to bounce back to form after a poor run of results.
“This is a massive game for us and the boys know that. There has been a lot going on this week, but they are focused on the job in hand.”
International clearance has arrived for Dusan Pernis and the big goalie is set to make his debut at Firhill.
No Dens move for Dobbie or Anderson
Dundee will not be pursing an interest in potential loan targets Russell Anderson and Stephen Dobbie (writes Tom Duthie).
Boss Jocky Scott was today sticking to his policy of not discussing names before deals have been concluded, but the Tele understands the experienced Scots pair have been crossed off his list of possible transfer-window targets.
Former Aberdeen defender Anderson, currently fighting for match fitness at Sunderland, is talking to a couple of Championship clubs down south and is unlikely to return to Scotland.
And, while Swansea are willing to offload Dobbie just months after signing him from QOS, they want any club taking him on loan to pay all his salary.
With his weekly wage said to be approaching £6000, Dundee would view that too big a price to pay.
Aberdeen striker Michael Paton could still end up at Dens before the end of the month, though even that deal is some way off completion.
Jocky, meanwhile, has admitted frustration over the rescheduling of tomorrow’s postponed Scottish Cup trip to Livingston for Tuesday night, as already that game is in doubt.
“I understand the need to get games played, but, from my point of view, leaving it until the replay date in 10 days’ time would have been better,” he said.
“As things stand, it could well go off, but I still have to get all the players in over the weekend and make sure we have prepared properly in case there is an unexpected thaw.”
That said, the manager is appreciative of the lengths Livingston went to in a bid to get the tie played on schedule.
