Paul Quinn has launched a blistering verbal attack on his former club Dundee United.

The defender let rip in the wake of Csaba Lazlo’s sacking on Sunday after their humiliating 5-1 mauling from the Staggies.

Quinn spent one season with the Tangerines, having signed in August 2017, and left Tannadice in May after just 19 appearances.

The 33-year-old is saddened to see his old team struggling but insists Laszlo’s departure won’t solve much deeper-rooted malaise.

Quinn said: “There are bigger problems there than just replacing the manager.

“There needs to be an element of realism around the whole club.

“There is expectation everywhere you go but some places just don’t have the realism to merge with it.

“It seems that, over the past few seasons, the aims at Dundee United are coming without having the right foundation.

“The current squad is huge and the place is draining at times,” added Quinn, who also played for County, Motherwell and Aberdeen.

“Let me tell you from personal experience, it can be a negative thing.

“For the players who see the pictures of past greats from the 1980s within the stadium, they are expected to measure up to that as soon as they walk through the door.

“It can be a negative environment which needs to change.

“Nobody wants to go and play amid a negativity bubble. That’s what it’s been like for a while now.

“We’re all thinking it but I’m happy enough to say it. I might get shot down for saying it but it doesn’t bother me.”

Quinn insists he wasn’t shocked to see United lose 5-1 at home to County and blamed Laszo’s laborious training methods.

He added: “To be honest, I wasn’t surprised.

“Overall, the results haven’t been good.

“In my opinion, a lot of that must have been coming from the training ground and the energy-sapping nature of training.

“They have the best of facilities possible at St Andrews but I refer (you) to Scott McDonald, who said the manager sapped the energy out of him.

“You could be Cristiano Ronaldo walking onto that pitch on any given Saturday but if the whole week’s training is leaving you feeling like that then then you are not going to deliver.

“Scott has played everywhere in his career yet he didn’t feel good at United.

“There was an always argument about it and things were on a knife-edge – that’s how it was.

“If you are not getting the right training – and you’re not getting people smiling – then you’re not doing your job and that doesn’t matter in any walk of life.

“Csaba wanted to train Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.

“He said that a day off on a Sunday and on a Wednesday would be amateur.

“One thing I felt was Csaba’s training was tactical.

“It was long and it was every day.

“I don’t think you can swamp players tactically for four days and then…expect them to be sharp.

“We had guys like McDonald, Billy King, Sam Stanton, James Keatings and Paul McMullan, who need to thrive on tempo to get their quick feet into action.

“I was looking at them and thinking: ‘He is not looking sharp today – he would normally score that.’

“All of a sudden, you’ve got guys looking ordinary who should be seeing off lesser teams.”

United introduced a policy in the summer to ensure new signings live within a 25-mile radius of the city but Quinn felt that was papering over the cracks.

He said: “Dundee United fans have proved themselves to be good, loyal supporters over the years.

“They want the best for their club but when you are in Dundee getting moaned at from fans, I guess in restaurants etc, that’s not helpful to the players.

“When we travelled up, we were late on two occasions. The first time we had a burst tyre and the other time was due to bad snow.

“I understand the idea but I don’t think you can make that restriction on players, especially when there’s pressure and it can be a negative environment.

“Sometimes you need a release to spend time with your family and get away from it all.

“For me, it’s just another way to say we’re trying to change something.

“What they should try and change is Tannadice.

“When you go in the door it needs freshened up and modernised.

“I love all their history. There are players there up on the wall who I couldn’t even begin to lace their boots.

“Even within the tunnel area, though, could there not be something changed to reflect the modern era?

“Something needs to change in the mental side of things to move Dundee United forward.

“That will be the challenge for any new manager – to make it all positive.”

Quinn was surprised to see club legend Paul Sturrock return to Tannadice in March as an advisor to Laszlo.

He said: “Our manager is our leader – that’s the golden rule in football.

“You give the gaffer everything but then somebody else comes in all of a sudden and immediately you think: ‘What’s going on here?’

“Players talk as football is a small world. They think: ‘The manager likes me but do I now need to keep this new guy happy as well?’

“How does it work? Who do you need to impress?

“I felt for Csaba then. There’s no way you can dispute what Luggy did as a player for United but that was back in the day.

“It looked from the outside as though there was undermining going on – that’s just a fact.

“They (Laszlo and Sturrock) could say they had a great relationship but what it did was create question marks elsewhere.

“The question was being asked: ‘What is Luggy doing? Is he head of recruitment or is he involved in the coaching side? He was on the training ground some days coaching.”