Houston rules out Tangerines job

Caretaker boss Houston had been the clear front-runner for the vacancy since Craig Levein quit to become Scotland manager last week.But in the wake of Wednesday night's 7-1 Scottish Premier League drubbing at Rangers, Houston confirmed he wanted to resume his role as assistant to whoever comes in.He told the Evening Telegraph: "I will not be applying for the manager's job. I had a chat with the chairman last night and I will be speaking to him again today, but I have told him that."The 51-year-old, who is keen to become a coach in Levein's Scotland set-up on a part-time basis, added: "I want to stay at Dundee United and, when someone comes in, if they want to work with me I will be happy to, but I feel sometimes familiarity is not a good thing and that is the case here."I feel it would be better for someone fresh to come in, so I have taken this decision to help the club and let the board of directors get on with making an appointment."Chairman Stephen Thompson revealed he has candidates in mind to succeed Levein."I have been doing my homework and I have some people in mind, so now it is about sitting down with the board and deciding the next step."I would like to move forward quickly and I would say that Peter taking the decision has been a help and is typical of him."Names linked with the role include John Collins, John McGlynn and former United winger Alan Irvine, who was sacked by Preston earlier this week.Tannadice legend Paul Sturrock has also been linked with a return to the club left in 2000.Thompson was more concerned today with apologising for United's performance at Ibrox, saying: "I would like to say to the fans who travelled through last night that this was a performance that was totally unacceptable."Whatever the circumstances, that is not something that should ever happen to a Dundee United team."

Source: Team_Talk