its a specialist formation imo similar to the 352. for it to work you need a certain type of player.

the 4231 was good under jackie because we had to the players to play it.
the 1 up top needs to be able to hold the ball up and be able to run in behind. (ciftci) we then need energy from a no.10 or who was also able to play passes (armstrong or gauld) the wide players had to be capable of coming inside and linking up and also being able to link up with the full back (GMS). the main think that made that jackie team threatening going forward was because the Fullbacks both bombed forward so they provided the width. (Robertson and Watson)

now compare that the guys in our team ? obviously not at the same quality but their not even in the same mould of the jackie team.
our full backs dont bomb forward enough (robson more than murdoch) fraser comes inside alot when hes the wide midfielder. that would work if you had a robertson type as the full back but we dont. we dont give mcdonald enough quality up to him. so he struggles to hold it up by himself and he cant run in behind. so far at tannadice ive seen qots, brechin and dumbarton all playing a higher line because mcdonald doesnt threaten in behind.

get back to basics. 442 at home. not too bothered if he tries a 451 or 4231 away from home because some games are tricky but at home we should be attacking teams and being the ones dictating play (looking like we might score).