Well of course to put the title of this article into context I’m one of those aged Arabs who actually remembers the days when winning derbies, trophies, European cup ties and games against the Old Firm were regular events. Nowadays it seems that only derby victories come our way and this reflects how far the club has fallen since the heady days of the 1980s.
But are Arabs of my generation living on false memories? Or put another way – have our memories of the “glory years” extended those years a little longer than they actually lasted? A league table I came across today showed that since our appearance in the UEFA cup final we’ve never got passed the second round in Europe, and no-one could argue that we’ve come close to league success since the mid-eighties either.
That may or may not be the case and perhaps I’ll spark some discussion with those comments! Turning back to the title of this article it maybe puts things into perspective for younger Arabs, brought up on a fare of the lower reaches of the SPL with occasional flirtations with the relegation zone, brightened only by the occasional cup semi-final.
And that is perhaps the paradox we are in – my expectation is that United will return to their “glory years” and the younger fans’ reality is that anything above 7th place would be a breakthrough.
Our current Chairman is firmly in the “expectation” camp I am convinced – certainly his talk to the GLS Arabs conveyed a bit more ambition than has been evident at Tannadice in recent years. But is this expectation just a pipe-dream?
The reality is, and the wee team supporters are ever glad to repeat this, that United have never graced the top six of the revamped SPL, and indeed even our best league position of recent years came on the back of promotion from the first division. Both Hibs and last season Livingston have shown that such a position can be based on only the other team’s unfamiliarity with the newly promoted team – look for Thistle to do relatively well and Livingston to struggle this season in my opinion.
We have made two signings for the forthcoming campaign, and neither can be said to have set the heather on fire. Our new striker may or may not prove to be a “Smart” move by Alex Smith, and although McGowne will bring much needed experience to the defence, I am surely not alone in thinking that we are needing just a little more flair on the park.
So I suppose it’s time for predictions. My expectation says 4th and a European place, but the reality suggests that unless the manager pulls another signing out of the hat we will struggle to maintain last year’s placing.