CSABA Laszlo embraced the demand for promotion to the Ladbrokes Premiership after accepting the Dundee United manager’s job.
The 53-year-old former Hearts boss has signed a contract until the end of next season after winning the race to succeed Ray McKinnon.
Former United midfielder McKinnon lost his job after 18 months after failing in the play-off final last season, two months after lifting the Irn-Bru Cup.
Two consecutive defeats proved enough for the United board last month but Laszlo takes over with the side equal on points with Ladbrokes Championship leaders St Mirren following last Saturday’s win over the Paisley side.
The Hungarian, who was the Scottish Football Writers’ manager of the year in 2009 after leading Hearts to third place, said: “This job came up and we had long discussions with the chairman about the targets this club have. Dundee United have a very, very clear target, which I accepted.
“We can talk very long about how nice it is to be in Scotland again and the grass is green and the birds are singing, but this is very, very simple: our target is the Scottish Premiership and that’s all.”
United lost about £1.5 million in their relegation season and flagged up the need to shave a similar amount off their budget for this season, before signing experienced players such as Scott McDonald, James Keatings, Paul Quinn, Fraser Fyvie and Tam Scobbie.
And chairman Stephen Thompson admitted restoring their Premiership status was vital.
“That’s our target and where we want to be as a club,” he said. “Other clubs will have their say in that, I’m sure they will, but he has a good platform to build from, equal top of the league.
“It’s what the club is about, it’s where we want to be.
“This is our second season in the Championship. We see ourselves as a Premiership club but you have to earn the right to be there. It’s important for this club to be promoted, of course it is.”
Laszlo will continue working with assistant manager Laurie Ellis after the former Raith Rovers player led United to two victories out of two as caretaker boss.
And the former Lithuania manager does not feel that drastic action is needed.
“Before I came to the interview, I watched seven or eight games and looked at what’s possible to do with the team,” he said.
“The quality is there, the players are good enough, and you saw in the last two games they were going in the right direction. So I have to continue this road.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here