Goodwin split on ‘success’ of season

ST MIRREN have re-written the history books this season but manager Jim Goodwin admits it still cannot be viewed as a successful chapter.

The Paisley side have reached two cup semi-finals for the first time since Rikki McFarlane’s team visited Hampden twice back in 1981/82. They have also beaten both halves of the Old Firm in the same season for the first time in 31 years after dumping previously unbeaten Rangers out the Betfred Cup before stunning Celtic at Parkhead. But having failed to nail down a top-six slot before suffering Hampden heartache for the second time in four months following Sunday’s Scottish Cup defeat to St Johnstone, Goodwin is disappointed he was not able to provide the happy ending the Paisley faithful were longing for.

He said: “Every season is about making progress. We got to a quarter-final of a cup last year and this year we’ve got to two semifinals – it’s over 30 years since we’ve done that.

“We beat Rangers in the quarterfinal of the League Cup, we won at

Parkhead for the first time in 30-odd years. So we’ve done a lot this season.

“When the dust settles we’ll probably look back on the season and think it was a good one – but I wouldn’t say it was a hugely successful one.

“We set the bar really high. We were quite open and honest about that with our own supporters and the media that we wanted top six. We came up short, unfortunately, but we’ll learn from that next season and hopefully we’ll go that bit further.”