The Tannadice sporting director believes United made the right decision in the face of popular opinion and points to the club’s top-six finish and European campaign to look forward to as evidence.

Courts was a rookie manager without senior level experience beyond a one-match caretaker spell but Asghar is delighted with the outcome after placing his faith in the 40-year-old unfairly labelled ‘the PE teacher’.

"I think hes done a fanastic job,” he said. “There was a lot of scepticism when we made the appointment and people said it was a gamble – it was a calculated risk but for me it was never a gamble. I knew what he was bringing and what I was getting.

“They talk about him with flak calling him the PE teacher – this guy comes from Lochgelly, a mining village. He’s been about the junior game for 600 games. He is no wallflower this guy, I can tell you. He’s his own man, he knows what he wants and what he’s trying to do and he’s only going to grow and grow.

“I knew when the players had him for that first game at Livingston that they bought into him so for me it wasn’t [a gamble].”

Courts took over from Micky Mellon who led the Tangerines to ninth on their return to the Scottish top flight but after the Scottish boss returned to former club Tranmere, Ashghar made the internal appointment of ex-Kelty Hearts boss Courts, who had overseen the match with Livingston during a covid outbreak and was at the time, the club's head of tactical performance. It is an appointment he is proud of, made with the right intentions he says, taking the team to fourth and Europe.

“I took a lot of flak, it was a horrible summer, but where we sit now I’m glad we had that. It’s not saying I told you so because we still have a lot of work. I’ve just come from a planning meeting with the manager. I do want everyone to know we will never take any liberties with this club, what we are trying to do is build, make it better and sustainable.”

Horrible summer: Dundee United supremo has no regrets after appointing Tam Courts