Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Goodwin slates Raith Rovers for ‘poor judgment’
‘Reckless’ tackle shown in post ‘worthy of red card’
JIM Goodwin has described Raith Rovers’ tweet showing a heavy foul on Dundee United goalkeeper Jack Walton as “strange”, insisting the viral video showed “poor judgment”.
The Fife club continued the social media celebrations from their 2-1 victory against the Tangerines last Friday by posting a message on X reading “sliding into Sunday like…”, with footage of Walton being wiped out by Jack Hamilton.
It has been viewed a more than 750,000 times, garnering a furious reaction from some United fans – while supporters of the Kirkcaldy club have lapped up the content.
Rovers CEO Andrew Barrowman declared that it was simply “a bit of fun” and “banter”.
However, Tannadice boss Goodwin was far from amused.
“It (the tweet) was strange and I wouldn’t expect that to happen at some of the big clubs in the country,” said the former St Mirren and Aberdeen gaffer.
“I think it was poor judgment on their part. It was a really dangerous tackle and I’ve spoken to a lot of people within the game, and everyone is in agreement it should have been a red card.
“It was dangerous, reckless and I think that was a mistake the referee has made on the night. I think Raith should have been down to 10 men.
“But Raith want to enjoy the moment and that’s absolutely fine. That’s their prerogative.
“It’s certainly not something that I would expect my media department to do.”
But Goodwin has dismissed the notion that United, a point above the Rovers in a mouth-watering race for the title, will be fired up by the post.
He continued: “We’re not bothered about Raith Rovers.
“We’re not bothered about any other team in the league. We need to focus on ourselves and not get caught up in any outside drama.
“We’ll just keep working hard during the week, focusing on our strengths and improving some of the areas in which we can improve.”
He added: “Had we won the game, you wouldn’t have seen a big celebration from us.
“We would have been quite calm and level about it, because we recognise that there is a hell of a lot of football to be played.
“This fortnight (during which United play five games), in particular, there’s a lot of ups and downs that could occur and we need to approach the games in a positive manner.”
An impressive 3,465 United fans made their feelings known last Friday after the Terrors succumbed to their Fife foes, while the reaction on social media was predictably vociferous.
Rovers have now claimed seven points from a possible six against Goodwin’s charges.
Goodwin continued: “Football fans are the same at every club, and we were as disappointed as them to lose the game.
“Had we only drawn the game, we would have still been disappointed, because we were ahead in every key metric. We just weren’t ruthless enough.
“But that’s part and parcel of the game and I’ve no problem with the reaction of the punters.
“We don’t get too high or too low. We remain calm and level and we’ll continue to do that between now and the end of the season.
“It’s important to remind people we are sitting top of the table right now; a great place to be.”
Skipper Ross Docherty is likely to be missing for Queen’s Park’s visit tomorrow with Goodwin saying: “It’s been well-documented how frustrating this campaign has been for Ross.
“He’s not been an injury-prone player prior to coming here, but it’s just been one setback after another so we’ll have a decision to make on him on Friday.”