GOODY AS GOLD
Alloa boss had his brushes with authorities as a player but since stepping up into management he says he’s cool as a cucumber
IT was a career marked, even bruised, by hard labour but Jim Goodwin had gentle brushes with genius and these, too, left an imprint. As he scurries to employ part-time players in his role as manager of Alloa Athletic, the 36-year-old Irishman can also reflect calmly on encounters with those at the more rarefied end of football.
The names of Kenny Dalglish, Martin O’Neill, Robbie Keane, John O’Shea and Sami Hyypia pepper the conversation but as influential characters in his story rather than as celebrities demanding a namecheck.
A Henrik Larsson anecdote reveals something of the Swede but much about how Goodwin takes lessons from experience.
‘People see the brilliance of someone like Henrik but don’t see what good people they are behind it,’ he says. ‘When I was at Celtic there were no egos. Henrik was amazing.
‘He was coming back from his leg break and we were in the gym together. He would give you advice on how to live your life, on diet, not going out on the lash, keeping your focus.’
Goodwin left Celtic after playing one match to continue his career at Stockport.
‘I was back in Glasgow 16 months later and out for a meal with my brother-in-law and our wives. Henrik was in the bar, getting harassed. My brother-in-law, a mad Celtic fan, wanted me to go over and say hello. But I said: “No. He won’t know who I am”.
‘Later I go to the bar and Henrik spots me. He shouts: “Hey Goody!” He gives me a hug and asks how life is at Stockport and ends up sitting with us. A brilliant, brilliant guy.’
The lesson is that one is never too big to forget but always big enough to offer support and guidance. As the names, games and experiences flow seamlessly from the articulate Irishman, it is perhaps best to pause and insert the details of his career.
Born and raised in Waterford, Goodwin was part of the Irish Under-16 squad that won the European Championships in 1998. He was courted by Newcastle and Leeds but signed for Celtic.
After one first-team game, he moved to Stockport, Scunthorpe, Huddersfield, and Oldham Athletic before returning to Scotland at Hamilton Academical and winning the League Cup with St Mirren in 2013.
As a manager, he took Alloa via the play-offs into the Championship, one of the outstanding achievements in Scottish football last season.
He has also played for Republic of Ireland once. But has two caps.
‘Aye, I played for the Under-21s the night before and must have done okay as I was asked to travel with the first team,’ he says of that match against Finland in 2002.
‘I thought I was there to tidy up the dressing room and I was delighted with that. Then I got a place on the bench and with 15 minutes to go Mick McCarthy takes Robbie Keane off, reshuffles the line-up and I am on.’
His cap was later complemented by a golden one given by the Football Association of Ireland to every player who had played for the country.
‘I got Hyypia’s shirt too,’ he says. ‘Strangely, he didn’t seem to want mine.’
This self-deprecation does not disguise Goodwin’s pride in what he achieved in a career covering 16 years in senior football. ‘I have been blessed,’ he says.
‘I have no regrets. I know I got to the level I should have got to. I could never have played for Man United, I could never have played regularly for Celtic. When I came to leave Celtic, I knew I wasn’t good enough.’
It is his story of coming to Celtic that reveals the core of Goodwin and how a ‘country lad’ can find himself among the aristocrats of the game.
‘I always wanted to be a football player,’ he says. ‘Simple as that. I played GAA football for the county and that is where I get my aggression from but I was spotted by scouts from Leeds, Arsenal, Newcastle and Celtic when playing soccer.
‘It could only be Celtic for a boy from the south of Ireland.’
His first formal trip to Celtic was educational. ‘It taught me how the big clubs do it. Tommy Burns was the manager at the time and my mum, dad and myself were met at the airport by Packie Bonner,’ he adds.
‘You have to realise how big a hero Packie was and is in Ireland. My mum couldn’t believe it.’ There was no negotiation over the contract.
‘I could have got a helluva lot more at English clubs but there was no way me or my dad were going to ask for an extra 50 quid a week or whatever.’
Initially, he was to be joined by his partner in the heart of a young Irish defence. ‘I think John O’Shea was on the verge of signing for Celtic but one day he opened the door and Alex Ferguson was standing on his doorstep,’ says Goodwin of ‘a humble lad’ who went on to play more than 250 matches for Manchester United.
Goodwin was restricted to one game under Kenny Dalglish before O’Neill revamped the side. ‘I was always a realist,’ he says.’
Guys like (Alan) Stubbs, (Marc) Rieper, (Joos) Valgaeren, (Bobo) Balde came in. I was not going to be ahead of these guys.’
Instead, he stuck to principles and values imbued in an upbringing in Tramore with a father, who worked in a builders’ merchants, and a mother who was a homemaker by trade and vocation. ‘My old man used to say: “Do your best”. That’s been my attitude with anything. I am 100 per cent. All in or nothing,’ he says.
‘I expect it from team-mates and now as a manager I expect that of my players. I was always one of the earliest guys in, always at the gym, always willing to do a bit extra. I believe that if you are a good pro you can have a good career.’
This unrelenting focus was a factor in his disciplinary record.
‘I am a terrible loser. I don’t have any embarrassment or shame in admitting that. If I think I might not win, I don’t play,’ he says.
‘It is a family thing. There is five years between me and my older
I got Hyypia’s shirt too. Strangely, he didn’t want mine
John O’Shea was on verge of joining me at Celtic but Sir Alex stepped in
brother. I came back from Celtic on holiday and was playing with him and his mates. I nutmegged him and I laughed and he smacked me and I fell over. It was a lightbulb moment. Have a bit of respect, don’t rub it in.’
He admits: ‘As a player I had disciplinary issues. People get a perception of you. They think you are an animal or a thug.
‘People who know me know that is not who I am.
‘Yes, I did things in the past I regret but as a manager I am relatively calm. I try not to put added pressure on my players.’
He has produced an Alloa side that is enterprising, entertaining and successful.
‘I was doing my badges at 20,’ he says. ‘I always wanted to stay in football. I get the “best days of your life” argument over playing but I enjoy the managing side more. I love setting up teams, trying to affect another guy’s team, looking for the small improvements.’
Yet he rejected a chance to talk to St Mirren about the vacant manager’s job that was filled by Stubbs.
‘St Mirren was the right job at the wrong time,’ he says. ‘I felt the interview process would take too long during the summer.
‘I could not put everything on hold at Alloa.
‘It would have been unfair on them. I also made commitments to certain players and I didn’t want to turn round and tell them I’d be off. That didn’t sit well with me. I owed something to the chairman too.’
He laughs at the perception of his present job.
‘Being a part-time boss is a full-time job,’ he says. He couples this responsibility with being a sales rep for a confectionery company.
‘The days start about seven and end about midnight,’ he says of life with two jobs, three kids under 12, and one understanding wife.
‘I want to be a full-time manager,’ he says. He leaves to do some sales calls, receive some agents’ calls, working hard for the chance to work harder.