Rovers hell has been the making of Goodwillie
Dons are reaping the benefit of striker’s English education — now he just needs to add goals
DAVID Goodwillie is convinced his miserable spell with Blackburn Rovers is responsible for making him a much better player now than the one the Ewood Park club paid Dundee United £2million for three years ago.
It may have been a lucrative move, but the striker walked into a club in turmoil after the Venky’s takeover as relegation from the Barclays Premier League was followed by a revolving managerial door. There were four bosses in all during a short spell in Lancashire, with the unsettled forward also loaned out to Crystal Palace, Blackpool and even back to Tannadice.
Nothing seemed to help to relaunch the former Scotland international’s career and his contract was eventually terminated by mutual consent last summer.
Despite that, Goodwillie admits starting just 30 games in three seasons was a real wake-up call for someone who realised he needed to work harder on his game if he really was going to succeed.
Goalscoring was never a problem as a youngster, but the 25-year-old
“I was a wee bit
lazy, but now I
help the team”
freely acknowledges he wasn’t the best team player during that time and has learned a painful lesson.
Aberdeen are r eaping t he r e wards of much- i mproved all- round performances since signing him in the summer.
All Goodwillie wants i s to rediscover the goalscoring touch which made him such an exciting young prospect. He has just three to his name so far this season.
‘I’ve learned a lot more about the game in the years that I was away from Scotland,’ he said. ‘Maybe I didn’t play as much as I wanted, but you take things in, you learn to adapt your game and try to do your best.
‘It was difficult not being able to get games as often as I wanted, so you had to put everything into training.
‘Then it was a case of taking that into a match when you had the chance and that’s what I tried to do.
‘That’s why I think I’m a better all-round player than I was before, when maybe I was a wee bit lazy.
‘Back then, I was staying in the box a lot but now help the team out more in terms of linking things up.
‘I think my overall play has been great but I still feel I need to score more goals. That’s what I’m here to do.
‘I’m now up to match sharpness that was lacking at the start and I am enjoying my football more. I’m getting on the ball in dangerous areas more now as well and hopefully the goals will come.’
Goodwillie helped Aberdeen beat former club United in the league at Tannadice last weekend and hopes to repeat the trick in next month’s League Cup semi-final.
However, the focus is firmly on continuing an i mpressi v e Premiership run at home to Kilmarnock this afternoon.
The Dons have won five of their last six league matches without conceding a single goal, with the only exception being defeat against Celtic.
That has taken them to within a point of second-placed Inverness Caley Thistle, with a trip to Inverness to follow tomorrow week.
It means even talks about extending Goodwillie’s contract beyond this summer are on hold, although the player seems ready to do a deal.
He added: ‘It’s been on my mind but the manager wants me to concentrate on the next game and the contract situation will take care of itself.
‘I just come in every day, do my job and focus on what’s going to happen on a Saturday — that’s the most important thing for us.’
Meanwhile, Kilmarnock left-back Chris Chantler has been impressed by how his side has reacted in adversity.
Allan Johnston’s men haven’t won since mid-October, losing six and drawing one of their last seven games and scoring just three goals in that time.
Yet Chantler, who came through the much-vaunted Manchester City youth system, has been encouraged to see there is a unity at Rugby Park which was sadly lacking at his previous club.
The 23-year-old was part of the Carlisle side demoted to English football’s fourth tier last season, during which time the divisions in the squad became so pronounced that team-mates would regularly refuse to even acknowledge each other’s presence.
‘We’ve not been on a great run but this is the best group of lads I’ve ever been around,’ said Chantler. ‘To be honest, I’ve been in a few dressing rooms that have been a little bit dodgy when a few results go against you.
‘But we’re all still together and everyone is just trying to get out of this little rut we’re in.
‘Last season I was at Carlisle and we ended up going down, and the dressing room was fractured. It wasn’t a case of people pointing the finger at others — because sometimes that can help. It can make people raise their game if it’s done in the correct way.
‘But what we had was people not interacting with each other, not even speaking. Fortunately, at Killie, it’s not like that at all.
‘We all get on very well with each other and that’s vital because, if things are going wrong on the pitch, then you need to pull together.’