Goodwin vows to repay United faith in him by building a side for promotion

JIM GOODWIN has vowed to overhaul Dundee United’s squad after being confirmed as the club’s permanent manager on a two-year deal. Barring an improbable combination of results, United’s relegation will be confirmed at the conclusion of today’s final Premiership fixture of the season at Motherwell.

Mark Ogren, the club’s American owner, has stated that in the event of demotion United would ‘come straight back up’.

Goodwin, 41, backs that view and has now been charged with making it a reality. Recruitment will be key to his strategy.

Appointed on a temporary basis just weeks after he was sacked from his previous position at Aberdeen in March, the Irishman insists he has no regrets over taking on the apparently doomed mission to preserve the Tannadice club’s top-flight status.

However, if he could alter the circumstances surrounding his short tenure he would have incorporated a transfer window in which to try and stiffen the mix within a talented yet brittle Dundee United squad.

Before he delves into the transfer market, discussions will need to be had with those men on high wages and contracted for next season.

Steven Fletcher, Dylan Levitt and Tony Watt are all paid salaries commensurate with a club budgeting for European income, not visits of Queen’s Park and Arbroath.

And Goodwin will need a team studded with players capable of going to these clubs and grinding out the away results needed to piece together a title-winning campaign.

United’s statement confirming Goodwin’s appointment referenced his role in building the Aberdeen team that has gone on to finish third and he believes he is capable of readying the side for a promotion tilt next term.

He said: ‘I enjoy the recruitment side of things and it obviously needs done this summer. There needs to be a big turnaround. Players need to leave and new players need to be brought in.

‘My recruitment at St Mirren was decent — 50 or 60 per cent of their team now were brought to the club by myself. My recruitment at Aberdeen is proven too.

‘I am capable of doing the same here at Dundee United.’

A year ago, United had finished fourth and were bound for Europe. In hindsight, Tam Courts’ decision to leave for Honved Budapest might have been seen less as a quirky career move as a warning flag.

Jack Ross was appointed and, although he welcomed signings such as Levitt and Fletcher, the emphasis of sporting director Tony Asghar’s recruitment strategy leaned too heavily towards flair when a replacement for midfield enforcer Jeando Fuchs ought to have been a priority.

‘I wouldn’t like to go public and tell people where I would have fixed,’ said Goodwin, clearly itching to do just that. ‘But it’s pretty obvious to everybody out there that we have conceded too many goals.

‘That’s not just always down to the goalkeeper. That’s as a backline, collectively, not aggressive enough. And as a unit not disciplined enough in key moments.

‘I think the balance of the squad, possibly, is not where it needs to be. There are a lot of similar players throughout the group.

‘To play in an environment like this, at a big football club, you need to have courage.

‘And I don’t think we have shown enough of that this season. We have been in a pressure situation and quite simply we didn’t stand up to it.’

With more than a whiff of player power in the air, Ross exited Tannadice early in the campaign after heavy defeats to AZ Alkmaar and Celtic.

Liam Fox was elevated to the head coach role but the team scarcely improved and Asghar himself departed the scene in the wake of fan protests.

Despite his turbulent season, Goodwin’s appetite for the job is undimmed.

He said: ‘Listen, it’s been a very difficult season for me personally.

‘Things definitely haven’t worked out as I intended, either at Aberdeen or here. Everybody said I was taking a risk coming in here.

‘But it’s not in my nature to shy away from this type of challenge. And I don’t regret it one bit.’

Goodwin will ask his players to throw the kitchen sink at today’s final league clash at Fir Park.

Win well in Lanarkshire and they’d still require Ross County to suffer a heavy defeat at Kilmarnock to reverse the eight-goal difference between the teams.

‘We’re playing for personal pride first and foremost,’ he said. ‘We’ve got to try and repay the fans, somehow, with a performance. As a team we have not repaid their commitment or loyalty to the club.

‘I understand the worry that will be there with them. But nobody can argue with the level of investment the chairman has made.

‘I think clubs like Dundee United — the size of the club and the supporters who are there — will always bounce back.’