Goodwin is praying for fresh faces
WHEN t he s i de sitting bottom of the table is able to leapfrog you without kicking a ball, it’s time to take stock. St Mirren’s third straight loss of 2015 means they travel to face Ross County next Saturday with the ignominy of now sitting in the automatic relegation place as an unwelcome companion.
For Jim Goodwin, however, anyone eyeing the Highland clash as some kind of potential panacea to the many ills of their season is in danger of missing the point.
What was already a meagre Paisley squad became that bit thinner this week with the departures of Adam Drury, Ross Caldwell and Ellis Plummer. Hardly regulars of late, perhaps, but still shoulders who may have shared the growing burden.
In the aftermath of a typically meek surrender to Aberdeen, caretaker boss Gary Teale spoke of his hopes f or drafting i n two strikers in the coming days.
Goodwin says that would be the minimum requirement if St Mirren are to stand any chance of pulling themselves from a deepening hole.
‘We need two or three, at least, I would say,’ Goodwin offered. ‘A few have left the club this week, so we need to replace them and we need to do it quickly.
‘It’s just bodies that are needed. What positions they are, I’ve no idea. We are very light.
‘You look at the squad Aberdeen have and the other sides that are up there, Dundee United included, they have really good players who can come off the bench and make an impact. But — and no disrespect to any of our boys — we are really thin in numbers.’
St Mirren have rarely been free from relegation worries during Goodwin’s four years in Paisley.
Two 11th-place finishes under Danny Lennon were harrowing affairs f or all concerned but ultimately no harm was done.
Yet there was no missing the hint of alarm in Goodwin’s voice this time around. Old f ailings are gnawing at the li f eline that’s keeping St Mirren in the division.
Irrespective of who comes through the door this week, the 33-year-old knows there won’t be a happy ending this time around unless there’s a radical improvement in standards.
‘It’s been the story of the season and I’m sick of talking about being unlucky here and there,’ said Goodwin. ‘We are where we are because that’s where we deserve to be. I’m a great believer in that.
‘Where you finish at the end of the season is where you deserve to be — it can’t always come back to bad decisions that go against you or mistakes here and there.
‘The good teams don’t make the mistakes we’re making. We are where we are because of individual mistakes, collective mistakes.
‘We will take the positives from this game, pick ourselves up and go forward but we need to eradicate the errors that are costing us.
‘There’s no point in dominating a game for half an hour and going in two down.
‘Everybody in there has to stand up and be counted now. We’re in a relegation dogfight — there’s no getting away from that.’
The minute Niall McGinn’s cross bounced away from Mark Ridgers, St Mirren’s promising start was cast into the rubbish bin. When Shay Logan hit the second just two minutes later, it ensured the lid stayed shut.
Even in defeat, however, Goodwin commendably paid tribute to how Aberdeen eventually dominated the match — and feels there’s no reason to suspect their eight-match winning run will end any time soon.
‘ They are a great side,’ he conceded. ‘ To give a team like Aberdeen a two-goal lead, it’s always going to be hard to get back into the game.
‘Their defensive record at this minute is one of the best in world football. Aberdeen are the real deal and thoroughly deserve to be up there.
‘When you look throughout their team, they’ve got great experience but also young energetic boys with great legs. They can hurt you.
‘One minute you think you’re comfortable, then all of a sudden there are five or six of them running at you.
‘There’s great pace within their team and Derek McInnes deserves a hell of a lot of credit.
‘They obviously work hard on the training ground — you don’t just turn up on a Saturday and things happen like that.’
Ahead of a crucial trip to Dingwall, no amount of preparation will be enough for St Mirren.
‘It’s the old cliché — a six-pointer and all that carry on — but it is a must-win game,’ admitted Goodwin. ‘That’s the bottom line. It looks like a three-horse race at the minute with ourselves, Motherwell and Ross County. If we are going to stay in the league, these are the games we need to be winning.
‘We will work hard through the week and have a game plan that, when we go up to Dingwall, will hopefully get us the three points.’