Former Sunderland boss made favourite for role at Dundee United

Courts guided United to their best SPL finish in a decade but has left the club ahead of a proposed move to Croatian side Rijeka.

Dundee United’s sporting director, Tony Asghar said: "Through the course of discussions with Tam, it became clear he was keen to pursue other options and we had to look after the best interests of the club.

"We have now agreed to mutually terminate his contract to allow him time to secure his next opportunity.

"He leaves with our best wishes, but I would like to assure Dundee United fans that the club is moving in a timely fashion to appoint a new head coach. We have identified a preferred candidate and we anticipate making a further announcement on this in the coming days."

That ‘preferred candidate’ is believed to be former Black Cats boss Jack Ross who has been out of work since leaving Hibernian at the end of last year.

Ross, who took charge of 76 games as Sunderland head coach, told the Echo earlier this month that he was looking for opportunities to get back into work after taking a break from football: “I wanted a break after six or seven years of constant management. Quite intense jobs as well. I have had opportunities to go back but I have decided that they weren’t quite right.

“I want to get back now as soon as possible but you want to make sure it is the right one.”