Jumping right in was a wait off my mind
Goodwin: I’m boss.. no way I wasn’t in dugout
The easy option was to sit in the stand.
With less than 24 hours to prepare for his f irst game as Aberdeen manager, who would have blamed him?
But that’s not Jim Goodwin’s style. Instead, with a deal struck late on Friday night after leaving St Mirren, he was on the touchline at Fir Park yesterday with his Dons tracksuit on.
As a player and now as a gaffer, Goodwin has never looked for excuses.
He’ll expect the same from a team who have done exactly that far too often for previous bosses.
Yesterday, they at least showed him a bit of fight in a scrappy draw.
After taking the lead through Vicente Besuijen, the failings that haunted axed Stephen Glass were evident again as they conceded a poor equaliser to Mark O’Hara.
Afterwards, Goodwin insisted there was no way he was going to sit and watch once he’d signed on the dotted line at Pittodrie.
He said: “The boys will never prepare for a game as badly as that as long as I’m manager.
“I had the option to sit in the stand and let someone else take the team but that was never in my mind as long as we got the deal done quick enough.
“It was important I was there with the players to make key decisions as the game went on.
“It’s not in my make up. I don’t understand why other managers do it – wait until Monday.
“I’m the manager today so I’m there. It’s been a manic 48 hours.
“We’re disappointed to concede an equaliser in the manner we did but we did well to get in front. We should have had a goal before we scored because Christian Ramirez’s one is definitely onside.
“But all in all I’ve got to be satisfied with a point.
“Considering the lack of preparation and time I’ve had with the players – and the fact the boys didn’t train yesterday because of the weather – we’ve got to be satisfied.”
Goodwin is a very different character to predecessor Glass, a lot more animated on the touchline, constantly cajoling his men in red from the off.
And in the opening 45 minutes, Aberdeen’s players responded to their new gaffer. It wasn’t pretty on a difficult pitch. They had to f ight – and that’s right up Goodwin’s street.
Talisman Lewis Ferguson forced a save from Motherwell keeper Liam Kelly early with a curling, well-struck free-kick.
In wide areas, Goodwin at least has pace to work with in the shape of youngsters Calvin Ramsay and Adam Montgomery.
The on-loan Celtic kid found Jonny Hayes on the break, he fed Ramsay at the back post and Kelly tipped his header over.
Dutch striker Kevin van Veen as the home side’s main threat and when he charged down a Joe Lewis clearance in the box, the ball ricocheted inches wide. But
Aberdeen posed more of a danger and had the ball in the net through top scorer Ramirez – only for the American to be flagged offside.
That was a warning to Well, who went behind on 35 minutes.
Hayes picked out Montgomery, who raced clear of the napping Bevis Mugabe to set up Besuijen brilliantly for a tap-in.
But solidity at the back has been Aberdeen’s main problem for a long time now – and it resurfaced in the second half.
With 20 minutes remaining, van Veen outmuscled Declan Gallagher in the box and got a shot off. Lewis got a hand on it and while Dons players dithered, O’Hara slotted in the equaliser.
And it nearly got worse for the Dons before the end.
Connor Shields latched on to Kaiyne Woolery’s flick in the box but fired just over the bar.