days earlier for breaking club regulations. David Fernández and Paul Ritchie were also freed before the deadline, with Fernandez signing for Kilmarnock and Ritchie joining Cypriot side Omonia Nicosia. United started September with a 3–0 defeat at home to Hibernian but their unbeaten away run continued in Inverness with a 0–0 draw against Caley Thistle. United crashed out of the CIS Cup with a 3–0 defeat away to St Johnstone, with ex-United player Jason Scotland scoring the first goal. Further woe followed with only a draw at home to bottom-placed Motherwell. Free agent Grant Smith was recruited in late September to provide goals from midfield. October started with a 4–0 defeat to Hearts at Tynecastle and a 4–1 home defeat to Celtic, sending United to the bottom of the table. In-between these matches, former Dundee defender Lee Wilkie signed until the end of the season. a 3–1 defeat to Aberdeen at Pittodrie led Brewster to publicly admit his players were in danger of heading for the First Division and the following 5–1 defeat to Falkirk did little to change this viewpoint. The low point of the season represented Brewster's final attempt to turn things around, illustrated by handing debut starts to no fewer than four players. United lost all four games in October, conceding 16 goals in the process. On 29 October, Brewster and assistant Malky Thomson left by "mutual agreement", with widely tipped Craig Levein appointed less than 24 hours later. Levein's first match, a televised Sunday affair at home to Rangers, was watched from the stand as he completed a touchline ban from his time at Raith; it made little difference, as United came from behind to win 2–1 and record their first home league win of the season. The following weekend, Levein matched Brewster's record of two league wins, doing so in just two matches with a 1–0 win over Kilmarnock (Noel Hunt scoring). Mark de Vries – who played under Levein at Hearts and Leicester City – made public his desire to play for United. Levein's third match in charge brought a disappointing late 2–1 defeat at Dunfermline but November finished with three home wins in a row with a 1–0 win over St Mirren. Three wins from four was enough to hand Levein a Manager of the Month award in his first month (something also achieved by Gordon Chisholm in April 2006 during his caretaker