Goodwin gets the job done but real work starts now
SUCH was the slide at Dundee United only 12 months ago, there was a fear they might well end up in the River Tay had they sunk any deeper.
A season which started with European football ended up encompassing three permanent managers — Jack Ross, Liam Fox and Jim Goodwin — as the club plunged down into the Championship.
It was Goodwin who was at the helm when relegation was confirmed. Having taken the job in March, he was unable to steer the ship to a safe port.
Goodwin was no stranger to choppy waters. Only two months previously, he had been sacked by Aberdeen following a disastrous run of results.
The Scottish Cup humiliation against part-time minnows Darvel was followed by a 6-0 thumping away at Hibernian. With that, Goodwin was toast at Pittodrie.
Looking to rebuild his own reputation, the fact his next job was to preside over a relegation probably wasn’t what the Irishman had in mind.
There was no guarantee that Dundee United would stick with him, something which Goodwin has referenced himself over the past week.
But, with promotion back to the Premiership now confirmed, Goodwin has pulled himself back from the brink.
A 1-0 victory over Ayr United last weekend left the Tangerines in an unassailable position at the top of the league, with Raith Rovers needing a 36-goal swing in goal difference to overhaul them in the final two games.
United’s 0-0 draw at Airdrie last night eventually put the title beyond doubt before wrapping things up with a celebration at Tannadice against Partick Thistle next week.
It has been far from straightforward at times, particularly in a run of just one win in four games across February and March when it looked like they were losing their grip at the top of the table.
Indeed, going even further back, there were plenty of United fans calling for Goodwin to be sacked when they lost to Spartans in the group stage of the Viaplay Cup in the first game of the season last July.
When that was followed by a 2-1 defeat to Partick Thistle in the same competition, it seemed like the damage from relegation might bleed into the new season.
But Goodwin has led United back to the top flight at the first time of asking and, for that, he deserves credit.
Not only at the club, with United burning through five permanent managers in four years since 2020. But also for himself on a personal level.
Make no mistake, if the milk had continued to turn sour after relegation, this could so easily have been the end of Goodwin’s managerial career.
Anything other than promotion would have been a failure. Plain and simple. And a costly failure, too. One which the club could ill-afford.
A few months ago, when United released their accounts, they posted a loss of £2.8million for the year ending June 2023.
Their wage bill was through the roof, something Goodwin knew he had to address last summer by shifting some big earners off the books.
Speaking earlier this week, Goodwin acknowledged the scale of the rebuild that will be required in the summer as he looks to build a squad capable of competing in the top flight.
United are making early moves on that front, with Michael Cairney appointed as the club’s new head of recruitment earlier this week.
And, for Goodwin, that will be the key to success. Because for all he has done what was asked of him this season, it doesn’t prove anything.
He will be judged on what he does with United next season — and rightly so. This is a club which should be challenging for Europe and to win silverware.
Never mind the platitudes about trying to consolidate and stay in the league. United’s target next season should be to get into the top six.
So whilst they can allow themselves to enjoy a lap of honour and a title party over the next week or so, nobody at United should be getting carried away.
Least of all Goodwin himself. He has shown his powers of recovery this season to steady the ship and take United back up. But the rebuild isn’t finished yet. Not by a long shot.