Not a top pro? Feel free to go
Boss insists he’ll keep on wielding the axe if players not cutting it
JIM GOODWIN has admitted unless standards are upped then he will swing the Aberdeen axe again.
The manager has moved on the majority of the older players as he looks to rebuild a team who finished disappointingly just above the relegation zone last term.
Goodwin terminated the contracts of Scott Brown and Jay Emmanuel Thomas early and he released the likes of Andrew Considine, Dylan McGeouch and Funso Ojo. He told them early doors and confessed it had an impact on results.
The Irishman claims he has a group of top professionals but there are others who need to up their game or they could be out before the new season kicks off.
He said: “The buck stops with the manager. If the results or the performances are not right, I’ll lose my job. I totally get that.
“But everyone needs to take responsibility for what their role is within the club and do the job you have been asked to do.
“If you are a player that’s to be a role model, a top professional and in the best condition that you can possibly be in, you must give yourself the best chance to perform at the top of your ability.
“And I have to say the majority of the group are like that, there are some top pros within the group.
“The ones who aren’t, you won’t be surprised if they’re not here by the start of the season.”
Top striker Christian Ramirez was given time off at the end of last season to recharge his batteries for the new campaign.
There has been serious debate within the Aberdeen fanbase whether he will fit into Goodwin’s style of play or even return from America this summer, although he remains under contract.
Goodwin has also warned his Dons squad that they will be putting their Pittodrie careers on the line if they don’t return from pre-season ready to hit the ground running.
The former Alloa manager said: “In terms of the profile of players, I want a team full of athletes.
“I have no interest in players who are overweight or lack professionalism.
“Players have everything they need now, sports science, dieticians and all that stuff.
“There are no excuses now for going away on holiday in the close season and coming back a stone overweight.
“The lads who are here now know that won’t be accepted.
“They have their programmes and when we come back on the first day of pre-season, it’s not spending the first two weeks losing half a stone.
“I always think you can be fitter. World records are broken in athletics year on year because people keep pushing themselves.”
Goodwin is ready to start closing deals with a £100,000 move for MTK Budapest’s Albanian midfielder Ylber Ramadani close to completion and he is also trying to seal a deal for a left-sided centre half.
The manager knows he had the chance to get the Dons into the top six and fell short.
He now has to try and build a team that wants to be looking up rather than down in terms of the Premiership, as he kicks off in the Premier Sports Cup group stages. Goodwin, talking on RedTV, said: “This season was a major disappointment but there is no doubt we’ll get it back. “With the changes we are making, we will be competing at the top end again. I know supporters will be thinking it’s easy to say and talk is cheap. “So they need to see the action.”