Systems failure stalls attempt to kickstart season

Sports Writer

Monday 8 October 2012

NEVER before have so many people put in so much preparation so needlessly.

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STEWART FISHER

Dundee United's players had been subjected to six days straight of gruelling double sessions in an attempt to get last week's 4-0 humbling by Inverness Caledonian Thistle out the system, and here they were at around 3.15pm on Saturday, saluting the travelling support and trooping from the Fir Park pitch again without so much as a ball being kicked.

After a winless five-game league run, during which time they have scored a solitary goal, at least this abandoned match due to a serious power outage in the Lanarkshire area wasn't another defeat. But at best all it did was prolong a grim holding pattern at the Tannadice club for another couple of weeks while manager Peter Houston, still to extend his contract beyond this summer, switches back on to his Scotland responsibilities. Jon Daly, the United captain, said afterwards that there was no lack of application from the United players. But all anyone had to go on for this assertion was the way they performed their pre-match sprints and keep-ball. "We have worked extremely hard this week, not had any days off, and we've tried to work on what we feel has gone wrong," said Daly, thought to have held a training ground heart-to-heart with the manager last week."It is disappointing it didn't go ahead but the safety of the fans has to come first and the people who look after the game felt there was an issue there. When you come off a couple of bad defeats, you just want the next game to come as quickly as possible. Motherwell hadn't been on a great run themselves. So we just have to just keep working hard the next couple of weeks."Houston was similarly philosophical, sparing his players to a further run-out in a bounce game. At least he didn't have to explain to chairman Stephen Thompson that he was off to Wales in the immediate aftermath of another defeat. "First and foremost there is nobody to blame here, certainly not Motherwell," Houston said. "I sensed the players were very keen to get the game going ahead and it just adds to our frustrations that we have to wait another fortnight."We could have asked Motherwell to use the park but it is six days in a row now that the players have trained. So we just sent them up the road, will start again Monday and work all next week. I will be away with regards to the Scotland stuff then I will have them [the following] Wednesday, Thursday and Friday."The news wasn't much better for Motherwell. The Lanarkshire side's chief executive Leeann Dempster will be left with a shortfall of approximately £40,000 to make up for, but with the power supply to Wishaw General also briefly knocked out, she felt the club's concerns were secondary to those elsewhere.Although this was an act of God and the club were blameless, it was the second time in 10 months they had been forced to abandon a match at Fir Park. "Some people are annoyed but what do we do? Run a match and then something happens?" she said. "Then people would be asking why we didn't evacuate."

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Systems failure stalls attempt to kickstart season

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