So this is my final in depth look at the top 3 candidates for the Dundee United managers job.
This time round is arguably the most popular choice among fans. Most people if not all people know a lot about Tommy Wright given he was manager of St Johnstone for 7 years.
As a player he was as most know a goalkeeper for Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest and Manchester City during the 90’s he also had a large number of loan spells away from these club. He was during most of his career considered a good solid back up to the first choice keeper. His career as a player was a strange one he didn’t take up full time football until the age of 25 and took his badges at the age of 27. For a lot of his career he was hit with injury this allowed him time to hone his coaching skills.
Even with his injury record he did manage to get 31 Northern Ireland caps. He took up his first purely coaching position with Norwich City as goalkeeping coach. In 2003 though he returned to his native Northern Ireland firstly as a youth development officer before taking his first steps into management with Limavady United in November 2003, who at the time were in the second tier of Northern Irish football. He took the club the their first cup semi-final in over a century in his first campaign. The following season the club stayed mid table and he earned a move to Ballymena United.
At Ballymena United he signed his name into history when he first arrived becoming the clubs first ever full time manager. At the time the Sky Blues, had fallen from the success of their past and they were desperate to return to those glory years. He soon stamped his authority on the club and took the team to there first cup final in 17 years only to be defeated in harsh circumstances 4-2 by Linfield. At the end of the season the club had made great progress and finished the season in 7th. The following year they couldn’t build on this and finally finished in 9th. In his final season though things looked different, by New Year the club looked a strong side for the title. However, after that though the sides form dropped and he ended up resigning in April 2008. When he resigned he was heavily connected to the then vacant Norwich City job, though he never took the job.
Instead of going to England he became goalkeeping coach at Shamrock Rovers under Micheal O’Neill, finishing second in the league and getting to a cup final. In September 2009 he was appointed manager of Lisburn Distillery. During his time there the club stayed mid table and got to two cup semi’s.
In November 2011 he left Distillery to take up the assistant managers role at St Johnstone under Steve Lomas. When Lomas left Perth to take over at Millwall in June 2013 Wright was appointed manager. His first game in charge was against Rosenborg in which he guided them to there first ever European win beating the Norwegian’s 1-0 and drawing away 1-1 taking them through to the next round before going out on pens to FC Minsk.
The 13-14 season will go down in history as arguably the best in St Johnstone’s history. He as said took them to there first victory in Europe. Won manager of the month in October 2013 Achieved a 4th place finish in the league and much to the Dundee United fans pain he won them the Scottish Cup in a 2-0 victory over United as Celtic Park. He then in 2015-16 he won the Manager of the year award.
He then has had to deal with an ever dwindling budget and a number of public spats with the owner at St Johnstone which final meant that in May 2020 he left the club. During his time as manager he managed 5 top 6 finishes 3 of which were in 4th. He took them into Europe 4 times. He won the club there first ever senior cup in 2014. During all of this he was under extreme pressure with the club operating with an extremely limited budge.
So after looking into his career it would be easy to think he would be the best man for the job. However, there really isn’t much evidence of how he would deal with a bigger budget. This is were the others have had experience in dealing with. Also is his contacts book as big as the others? Also to those players in Scotland Tommy Wright has a sense of knowing where you stand. But if you are want to attract players from further a field there is no arguing that Steve McClaren has a big name.
So as Dundee United Manager would he be a good option. In my opinion yes. Absolutely but understandably it wouldn’t be seen as the most imaginative and optimistic appointment but would without doubt be the one where you know pretty much what you will get from him. People will argue that the football he plays isn’t the most attractive but in reality if we come away with the 3 points does it really matter who they came about?
That is my last in depth look into the top 3 candidates for the United job. As with the others only time will tell. All 3 have a number of benefits. So lets hope they get the right man for the job and that the club stay where it should arguably be.
A Football Fans View 