ROBBIE TARGETS CONSISTENCY AND WINS

Robbie Neilson took his first training session as Dundee United Head Coach this morning and shortly before doing so he spoke to ArabZONE.

Robbie was in the door at around 7am this morning to plan for Saturday's away fixture at Partick Thistle and was keen to get started and meet his coaches and playing squad. He held a meeting ahead of the training session.

"I am excited to be here. This is a fantastic football club; I know that from my time here as a player. It has the right infrastructure. The facilities here are second to none and there is a really good first team squad and academy system, and staff. Everything is right -  with one exception - we are not where the club wants to be, in the top flight, and that is an obvious goal for me," said Robbie.

Media reports suggested that Robbie had rejected the opportunity to take charge of a couple of other clubs over the last few months and he was happy to explain what it was about Dundee United that convinced him to sign up.

"It has to be the right fit for me. There were a couple of jobs that I didn't feel were right and there were a couple I was keeping an eye on as ones I would relish. This was the one I was keen on. As I said, everything is geared towards success and it is a case of delivering it. I have watched United play a few times this season, and I believe there is a strong squad here that I can work with and improve results."

The target remains promotion to the Ladbrokes Premiership, but there was an air of pragmatism in Robbie's answer to the question of what his objectives were.

"Winning on Saturday is the first target. Then after that, we will come in next week and focus on the next game. It would be wrong to look too far ahead and what we will need to win this league is consistency." said the Gaffer.

"It is a tough league, and no one has the divine right to go up, but what I have seen in games I have seen good points and some stuff that gives me an opportunity to work on things. We have to respect the other clubs in the league, but we have to seize the opportunity to improve."

Robbie, of course, was manager of the successful Hearts team that won the Championship and his experience of what it takes to succeed in this league will hopefully prove pivotal to United's aims.

"There are a lot of similarities to what I inherited at Hearts. Consistency is what is needed but that will come from hard work, and while I see a lot of positives in our squad, I know we need to do some work. There is a lot of hard work ahead of us; I know I am not the most animated of people but trust me I am excited about the task ahead and I feel the positivity amongst the players and staff this morning, and we will work to win games and build on the positive feeling that is here."

Unites take on Partick Thistle away this coming Saturday and advance tickets are currently on sale from the Ticket Centre on Tannadice Street.

Robbie's first home game as United Manager will be on Saturday 20 October versus Inverness, and you can purchase your ticket either online or from the ticket centre now.