| While no appointment is imminent, Tangerines chairman Stephen Thompson has revealed one possible solution to the managerial vacancy would be to “go down a different road”.
What that means is leaving “Houstie” in charge of coaching and team selection and bringing in a director of football, who would have responsibility for unearthing new talent and negotiating contracts.
He stressed today, going down that route remained very much an “if”, but the longer the current good run continues, the more appealing such a move would become.
“The way things are going just now, I do not have to rush and I will not. Peter and I will probably sit down next week and have a chat about a few things, because this week he has a couple of games to prepare for.
“If you are asking me, though, if I’d thought about having a director of football and leaving Peter to get on with the part of the game he prefers, then the answer has to be yes.
“That’s not to say it is what we will do and, while it is appealing in some ways, there are pitfalls to such an arrangement.
“In a lot of ways it also makes sense, but it is a matter of getting the right people who can work with each other.”
United, meanwhile, are resigned to being without skipper Andy Webster for tomorrow night’s Tayside derby clash with St Johnstone at Tannadice.
The caretaker-boss, though, was quick to stress today he has every confidence that the central defensive partnership of Garry Kenneth and Darren Dods can help keep the Tangerines’ winning run going.
Webster limped off early in Sunday’s win at Falkirk with a calf strain and has not even managed light jogging since, prompting “Houstie” to admit he has virtually no chance of being on duty against Saints.
“Even just walking he is feeling a bit of pain and that tells me he isn’t going to make it,” said Peter.
“We’d rather have him fit, but, as Sunday showed, we have three very good centre-halves available just now and I’ve no worries about using Kenneth and Dods.
“At Falkirk, they were faced with a big physical presence (Enoch Showunmi) and coped with it well and, in either Kenny Deuchar or Cillian Sheridan, I’m expecting them to have the same kind of challenge.
“They are two players who are a test for any defence, but our boys have shown they can handle that kind of player and I’ll be looking for them to do it again.”
There were a few other minor knocks picked up at the Falkirk Stadium and opening goalscorer David Goodwillie was withdrawn early to protect a groin problem. Webster apart, though, all the players who were on duty at the weekend are expected to be available.
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