Mail Online

EVEN WORSE THAN DARVEL DISASTER

Goodwin sacked as dismal Dons are hit for six by Hibs in a shameful surrender

By Graeme Croser AT EASTER ROAD

AFTER the humiliations of Darvel and Hearts, who would have thought it could get even worse for Aberdeen and Jim Goodwin.

Dumped out of the Scottish Cup by sixth-tier opponents and trounced 5-0 at Tynecastle, the Dons contrived to deliver an even weaker performance to lose by six on the east side of Edinburgh.

By half-time it was all over. There was scarcely any point in the manager entering the away dressing room, let alone speaking to his players.

Soon after full-time he was gone, with the club issuing a statement confirming the sackings of Goodwin and assistant Lee Sharp at 5:13pm.

There hadn’t even been a hint of the ‘immediate’ response demanded by chairman Dave Cormack as he offered his manager a conditional stay of execution in midweek.

The players clearly retained no interest in playing for the Irishman, to the point where they allowed a notoriously flaky and weakened Hibs side to lord it over them in an excruciatingly one-sided fixture. With the manager now gone, the spotlight will be shone on a wellpaid but seriously under-delivering squad.

Josh Campbell won’t score three easier goals in his career and the sight of Elie Youan bullying Ross McCrorie to head in the third was as embarrassing as anything that happened in Ayrshire last Monday night.

A man who pays close attention to the views of the rank and file, Cormack would have been keeping a keen ear out for the sentiments of the Dons’ travelling support.

The presence of a ‘Goodwin Out’ banner unfurled just before the teams emerged sent a clear signal. There were chants against the manager and, oddly, director of football operations Steven Gunn, but a sense of resignation reigned supreme for the much of the game.

Prior to Aberdeen’s spectacular implosion, Hibs boss Lee Johnson was the Premiership’s clearest contender for the sack.

If the Aberdeen scenario has taken some of the glare away from Leith then the Hibs board’s decision to sell his two best players over the past week would perversely seem to have strengthened his position.

The breakdown of Kevin Nisbet’s transfer to Millwall saw the striker return to the fold and, despite being deemed ready only for a spot on the bench, he would help himself to his customary goal.

The void left by the sale of Ryan Porteous to Watford would have been tough to fill even before news emerged that his regular sidekick Rocky Bushiri will miss the next three months injured.

Paul Hanlon slotted back in alongside Will Fish but this was not a day to test the Hibs centre-backs.

Instead, they benefited from facing an opponent guilty of all the things they have been accused of this season.

Ponderous and barely reactive, Aberdeen played like a beaten team. That Aiden McGeady should thrive in such a scenario was no surprise. Yet seeing Harry McKirdy winning 50-50s and executing flickones for fun was a genuine novelty for the home crowd.

Jonny Hayes had already cleared a Chris Cadden shot off the line when Campbell grabbed his first.

Youan forced the opening with the low shot across goal that had Joe Lewis stretching to save. The keeper tipped the ball away but Campbell had a straightforward task to force home the rebound.

Even simpler was his second. Joe Newell’s floated corner should have at least been contested by an Aberdeen head, yet it was Campbell who arrived unmarked to send a leaping header into the net.

Hayes and Graeme Shinnie, benched for Darvel, were showing some signs of fight but their efforts were being matched by a Hibs team that had the whiff of blood in their nostrils.

When Shinnie forced his way through for the Dons’ best chance, Campbell was there with a perfectly-timed sliding challenge.

On the brink of half-time came the third goal. Again Newell swung the ball over and Youan outmanoeuvred McCrorie to nod home. McCrorie had questioned the character of certain teammates after the 5-0 loss on the other side of Edinburgh but this was hardly an advert for his own fortitude. Booed back on to the pitch by their fans for the second half, Aberdeen scarcely improved.

There was some further cheer for the home faithful as Nisbet entered the fray in place of McGeady.

Within five minutes he had helped himself to a goal, his eighth since returning from injury after the World Cup break. Campbell was again involved, this time delivering the assist via a well-measured pass that was equally misjudged by Dons sub Hayden Coulson. With Coulson left in a heap after overstretching, Nisbet advanced to place a cool finish beyond Lewis.

Youngsters Josh O’Connor and Oscar McIntyre were handed a run-out by Johnson for the last quarter of an hour. O’Connor, son of former club favourite Garry, won the penalty that completed Campbell’s hat-trick, expertly putting himself between the ball and Liam Scales.

The defender was suckered into the foul and was shown a second yellow by referee Craig Napier.

There was still time for one more, Fish nodding home the final moment of indignity in stoppage-time.

At full-time, Goodwin shook hands with his Hibs counterparts then marched straight up the tunnel. Minutes later he and Sharp were relieved of their duties.

HIBERNIAN (4-3-3): Marshall; Cadden (MacIntyre 77), Fish, Hanlon, Stevenson; Jeggo, Newell (O’Connor 77), Campbell; McKirdy (Miller 72), Youan, McGeady (Nisbet 68). Subs (not used): Johnson, Cabraja, Tavares, Henderson, Laidlaw. Booked: Campbell, Nisbet.

ABERDEEN (4-3-3): Lewis; McCrorie, Stewart, Scales, Hayes (Myslovic 83); Shinnie (Barron 83), Clarkson (Coulson 60), Ramadani; Kennedy (Roberts 60), Miovski (Duncan 83), Duk. Subs (not used): Ritchie, Watkins, Polvara, Marshall.

Booked: Hayes, Shinnie, Lopes. Sent off: Scales. Referee: Craig Napier. Attendance: 16,671.

Football

en-gb

2023-01-29T08:00:00.0000000Z

2023-01-29T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://mailonline.pressreader.com/article/283751318251509

dmg media (UK)