Jim Goodwin saw his Aberdeen side come from behind to draw with Dundee United in his first game at Pittodrie and afterwards, he spoke to the press.
“We got off to the worst start imaginable. To give away the penalty was extremely disappointing. There was a slight tug on the jersey but we need to be careful about how we award penalties because the amount of jostling that goes on prior to any set play coming into the box, players are pulling each other all the time. I would understand if their striker was going towards goal and was about to score, but he was going away from goal, drifting out of the box. It was a poor decision from David Bates, no getting away from that, but it was a very soft penalty.
“I though the reaction from the players thereafter was excellent. They looked a bit nervous in the first five or ten minutes but once things settled down, we started to get to grips with it. Once we got the goal, that relaxed everybody.
“We finished the first half particularly well, had the last 15 or 20 minutes on the front foot, and for the majority of the second half, I thought we were in complete control, albeit United offered a threat on the counter-attack. Saying that, the recovery runs and the desire to get back in behind the ball and prevent any real danger was brilliant. Joe Lewis hasn’t had a great deal to do, which tells you how hard the boys in front of him have worked.”
There were a number of excellent individual displays from the Dons, including another mature display from Connor Barron in midfield.
“I saw Connor for the first time in the flesh against Motherwell last weekend and he was one of our best players on the day. Barry Robson and the guys in the academy deserve a lot of credit for developing him to this point. We’re not going to get carried away, he’s got a lot to learn, but it’s very promising for the future.
“The level of investment put into Cormack Park, we need to keep trying to producing boys like him. They’ll get an opportunity under me, if they’re good enough, they’ll play. Connor has taken his chance. But I thought there were a number of good individual performances today.
“My two centre-backs have taken a lot of criticism in recent weeks but take away David’s penalty in the first three and a half minutes, thereafter I thought he and Declan were excellent, a real solid pairing. During the week, I asked them to be defenders, I’m not interested in them being fancy on the ball, just go and be horrible, be a good old fashioned centre-back, be nasty and aggressive with the guy they’re up against, and I thought they did that.
“Vicente was a real threat too, we tried to work on isolating him in 1v1s with their left centre-back, we got joy from that in the first half, the goal came from there.
“There’s plenty here for us to work on. The supporters who stayed behind in great numbers showed real appreciation for the efforts of the players. As a fan, what you ask from your team is that they give everything. We had two boys come off with cramp because they’d run themselves into the ground, Matty gave us a good 65 minutes despite not playing a great deal this season.
“With all the disruption during the week, the injuries, the Covid issues with three of the boys, while we’re never going to be satisfied with a draw at home, especially in front of a packed house, there’s still a lot we can be pleased with today.
“We’re hoping to have a couple back in midweek. In fairness to Scott Brown, he wanted to give it a try today but he is only 70 or 80% and I didn’t think that was fair on him or the team. Such is his character he wanted to be a part of it but it was a bit too soon. The 16 that we had available gave everything, including the boys on the bench.”
The game was of course watched by a very special guest of honour, Sir Alex Ferguson taking his seat at Pittodrie following yesterday’s statue unveiling. The game’s greatest manager took time out over the last couple of days to talk to the new Aberdeen boss.
“I met Sir Alex and he was an absolute gentleman, as you would expect. I had the pleasure of meeting him 18 months ago at Harmony Row when one of his Foundations had invested in refurbishing the place, and I sat quietly in the corner and listened!
“Yesterday I had a good chat with him for ten minutes and he was being pulled and dragged here, there and everywhere, but he made a point of coming over and chatting. I got to spend an hour with him this morning, we had a cup of coffee and he gave me some great advice.
“My wife and kids travelled up last night, we haven’t seen each other for a week, and we were all looking forward to having breakfast together this morning in the hotel, and I had to break the news to them last night that that wouldn’t be happening because you can’t stand up Sir Alex can you?!
“He didn’t give me much of an option, he told me to go to the hotel at nine this morning for a coffee, it wasn’t “Can you make it?” I wasn’t missing that! I said to the players yesterday, “Just make sure he doesn’t come in here at half-time tomorrow, kicking the door down and putting us right!””
As well as a big day for the Club, it was a. big day for Jim Goodwin too, his first in charge of the Dons at his new home.
“I loved every minute of it. It was quite emotional actually. My wife will tell you I’m the least emotional guy in the world but coming out of the tunnel, seeing my wife and kids, it was a big moment for me on the journey that we’re on as a family, not just me as a manager.
“To be at a club of this magnitude is incredible and I will never take this opportunity for granted. I will give my all and I will make sure that the players going out to represent this club give everything as well. If we do that then the people of Aberdeen have shown today that they are willing to come and watch. There’s at least 16,000 of them out there and we need to make sure we get all of them back regularly.”
