BYE AND MIGHTY
Goodwin: I’ll make sure Andy gets proper send-off.. because I didn’t get one at Buds
JIM GOODWIN knows only too well how it feels to be denied a proper farewell to a club he served with distinction.
Which is why he’ll make sure Andy Considine gets the send-off he deserves when the curtain comes down on his Aberdeen career tomorrow.
The defender, 35, will play his 571st game for the club – a record bettered only by Willie Miller, Alex McLeish and Bobby Clark – before bowing out.
And his gaffer is determined to make it a day to remember against St Mirren at Pittodrie.
Goodwin made the tough call to end Considine’s 23-year association with Aberdeen as he makes his stamp on the side.
He said: “Andy has been a great servant to the club. He’s been unfortunate with injury this season but since we had the conversation about him leaving, he has been spot on.
“It will be an emotional day for him and his family. He will get the chance to say farewell to the fans and they will get to show their appreciation for him.
“When I was leaving St Mirren I had a similar conversation with Alex Rae to the one I had with Andy a few weeks ago. There was a lot of disappointment from my side as I wanted to stay.
“It is similar to what Andy is going through here but unfortunately good things have to end at some time.
“In my last game for St Mirren I came off the bench against Rangers and got 15 minutes alongside Steven Thompson.
“So I will try to give Andy a few more minutes than Alex gave me.
“I would’ve loved to have started against Rangers as it was the last game of the season.
“It would have been great to lead the team out one last time but unfortunately I only got a cameo. I will give Andy longer than I got.”
With major shake-up of the underachieving Dons planned, one player firmly on his radar is Irishman Connor Ronan.
Goodwin brought him to St Mirren on loan from Wolves and is making a big play to be reunited with the midfielder.
The 40-year-old added: “He’s a player I really admire.
“Players of that quality are on our radar but he has lots of clubs in Scotland, England and abroad after him.
“He is the type of quality we want to add in the summer.
“Whether we can get him or not remains to be seen.”
But Goodwin, appointed in February, insists players of Ronan’s quality will check in.
He said: “I’m disappointed I wasn’t able to get a reaction out of this group. I genuinely believed I could get them lifted and get them top six.
“We have had a number of difficult conversations with a lot of players who are out of contract. As you can imagine, the atmosphere in the camp hasn’t been where I would like it to be, when players are maybe not as motivated as you would like them to be either.
“A lot of the players know as well that their futures are not at Aberdeen. Sometimes, subconsciously maybe, these players aren’t as committed as you would like them to be.
“All I can say to our supporters is they can be very optimistic about the future. The players we have identified to come in are very exciting prospects and ones we believe will take the club back to
where it belongs.”