Goodwin homecoming spoiled by defeat but gaffer vows to land more new faces
ST MIRREN...2 DUNF’LINE...3
JIM GOODWIN admitted he needs up to five new faces after watching his sloppy St Mirren slump to defeat.
The Irishman was staring at a horror homecoming after trailing Dunfermline by three goals following a first-half flop.
Pars hit the hosts with a quick one-two as Ryan Dow and Andy Ryan netted inside six minutes to leave Saints on the ropes before Tom Beadling added another.
Despite rallying after the break with goals from Cody Cooke and Danny Mullen the former Buddies skipper was disappointed at the loss.
St Mirren looked disjointed after a summer of upheaval that saw fans’ favourite Goodwin replace Oran Kearney and they now host Edinburgh City on Wednesday.
Goodwin – who handed debuts to Tony Andreu from the start and Oan Djorkaeff off the bench – is closing in on Dutch striker Thomas Verheydt but the former Alloa boss knows he needs to add quality and quantity.
He said: “I do believe there is a good quality of player here but we are short on numbers. Any Premiership squad needs about 20 bodies and if you can add a couple of kids from the academy then great.
“We’ve been lucky enough to add Andreu and Djorkaeff and we’re close with another couple. Hopefully we’ll have a bit of news next week.
“But we probably need another four or five. The players’ effort and commitment since I’ve been in has been absolutely brilliant.
“I’m happy with what we’ve got player-wise but we’re short and I’m sure the players would all agree we need to add some good quality to it.
“By doing that it raises everybody’s game and gives us some healthy competition for places. Nobody should be guaranteed a place in the side but right now there isn’t enough competition. It’s as simple as that.
“Obviously there’s been a lot of good vibes around the place and the ovation before the game was lovely and I have to thank the fans for the ovation they gave me.
“But the result is obviously what we were after and I don’t think any of us envisioned that scoreline at halftime before the match.”
Saints were punished at the opener after Ryan Flynn lost the ball in the middle of the park.
Josh Coley played a one-two with Kevin Nisbet before finding Dow and he slipped the ball under Vaclav Hladky. The Buddies soon found themselves two behind with Flynn again careless with a pass that was picked up by Paul Paton. He found Nisbet who played in Ryan to curl the ball into the bottom corner. Pars added a third after Ryan’s effort rebounded off the post but Beadling was first to the rebound. Saints pulled one back when Cooke’s shot was deflected into the corner and two minutes later Mullen fired home. Dunfermline boss Stevie Crawford said: “I’m delighted for the boys because it’s pleasing to see things coming off that we’ve been working on during training.”