By Thomas Durning
Dundee United have appointed Jim Goodwin until the end of the season in the hope that the Irishman can save them from relegation.
Goodwin replaces Liam Fox who was sacked after the defeat to Ross County in which the Tangerines were defeated 4-0.
As well as sacking their manager, Dundee United have also announced this week that there Sporting Director Tony Asghar would step down from his role.
It has been a week of change for Dundee United and with the club in a precarious position in the table, Goodwin has to act fast and trust in his ability to keep the club in the division.
In terms of the man himself, Jim Goodwin’s playing career lasted 19 years in which he played for eight clubs altogether.
His most notable period in his playing career was St Mirren in which he played 153 times over a five-year spell. He was named captain of the club in 2011 and two years later captained his team to a Scottish League Cup trophy.
After his playing career finished, Goodwin turned to management and his first club was Alloa Athletic. His three years at Alloa were successful as he led the club to promotion to the Scottish Championship in the 2017-18 season despite having part time players and staff.
Due to his success, Goodwin returned to St Mirren this time as manager and throughout his three years at the club, he led St Mirren to mid table finishes in the top flight and also reached the quarter finals of the Scottish Cup.
He then moved onto Aberdeen and after just 11 months, he was sacked as manager after a run of poor results.
Jim Goodwin is now manager of Dundee United and when you look at both their squad and new manager, they are more than capable of surviving relegation.
Dundee United are four points adrift at the bottom of the table and when looking at their squad, it is hard to figure out why it has gone very badly for them this season.
They have a great deal of experience in their team with the likes of Charlie Mulgrew, Steven Fletcher, and Aziz Behich who are all international players who have played for there country numerous times.
Not only their experienced players, they have some talented young players as well with the likes of Dylan Levitt, Jamie McGrath, and Rory McLeod part of there squad.
When manager of St Mirren, Goodwin signed McGrath from Dundalk and for McGrath, his spell at St Mirren was successful as he played 60 games for the club and scored 12 goals in his two year spell before moving onto Wigan Athletic.
Not only the squad, but they also have a new manager that has the capabilities of keeping the club in the division.
Although the last few weeks at Aberdeen went very wrong for Jim Goodwin, he did enjoy a successful first half of the season. Aberdeen was third placed going into the World Cup break and were scoring a lot of goals especially at home. It was only after the World Cup that it went wrong for Goodwin and it eventually led to him being sacked.
Although that doesn’t guarantee Dundee United staying in the division, Dundee United fans can look at Aberdeen’s first half of the season and feel optimistic that Goodwin has what it takes to get results.
Therefore, if Jim Goodwin can get his squad in a style of play that suits the players, he can definitely save his team from relegation because as previously stated the squad has a very good blend of experience and youth and Goodwin has proved this season that he can win matches in this division which is what Dundee United desperately need at the moment
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