THE departure of Dean Windass to Bradford has darkened the mood of United's fans.

Most supporters were resigned to losing their talismanic leading scorer at some point. However, hopes were high that he would stay long enough to help the U's avoid relegation.

But some now believe that their chances of beating the drop have all but evaporated.

"It spells relegation as far as I am concerned," said Paul Beevers, co-editor of fanzine Rage On.

"While he was here I was confident, but I can't see where our goals are going to come from.

"If Malcolm can keep us up now, then he will have done brilliantly, but the writing really is on the wall. It depends on who we can get in to replace him."

Dan Curtis, editor of Yellow Fever, agreed.

"If you has asked me on Saturday whether we were going to stay up, then I would have said 'yes'.

"But now we are in the same boat as teams below us like Port Vale and Bury, who are all struggling because they don't have a classy and consistent goalscorer."

And Curtis hit out at United for not getting more than £950,000 for Windass. "It is a pitifully small amount, especially when you consider that Barnsley got £3.5m for someone like Ashley Ward who is not as good a player as Deano.

"It is not good enough from the club. Last week there was talk of a bid of £1.2m, but this week it is much less.

"We seem to be very good at talking down the value of our players. We have done it with just about eveyone we have ever sold. I'm absolutley gutted."

Curtis also criticised Windass's behaviour over the last month.

"His heart just hasn't been in it lately - that was clear at QPR when he was diabolically uninterested.

"You hear stories about him being unbearable in training and getting sent to train with the kids, and I think that's a sad way to carry on for a grown man.

"He was a great player, but I feel he treated us badly. He has just used us as a stepping stone, because he was a forgotten man up there in Scotland."

Beevers, however, was more sympathetic.

"Who can blame him for going to a club which can pay him better wages? I hate to say it, but he was probably too good for us.

"OK, he was never the most modest of players, but I don't think people will hold that against him, because he could deliver."

Story date: Saturday 06 March

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.