It was another season to forget for United as they continued to languish in the Championship. It all went wrong in January and February as they lost ground to St Mirren and manager, Ray McKinnon, lost his job. United stumbled into 3rd place by the end of the season, but never looked convincing as Premier League material and lost in the play-offs to Livingston.
United were billed as favourites for the title and began with three wins. However, an early 3-0 defeat at St Mirren revealed where the title was probably destined. United kept pace with St Mirren until the turn of the year, but after that their form unravelled. One win in six games crushed any title hopes and McKinnon was replaced by former Hearts manager, Csaba Lazslo.
Lazslo steadied matters at Tannadice and produced a strong finish of five wins in their last seven games. He'd switched players around and brought in some new faces, but they still didn't look convincing. They edged past Dunfermline in the first part of the play-offs, but Livingston eventually proved too strong and United face another season in the 2nd tier of Scottish football.
United will view key injuries as their reason for failure. Fraser Fyvie was a huge loss to their midfield, while Scott Fraser's season was also severely curtailed. Injury to James Keatings also left too much of a scoring burden on Scott
McDonald.
United's defence was unsettled for most of the season and teams took advantage of their hesitancy. While United were strong at home with 12 wins, they proved mediocre on the road with only six. Offensively and defensively they
were plain average and not obvious promotion contenders.
United are financially struggling and another season in the Championship will hurt them further. Csaba Lazslo remains in place for now, but doubts exist if he's really the man to rekindle the fortunes of United. Tough decisions lie ahead
for United as they face up to another season in the Championship.
