Latest news with #Tannadice
Yahoo
06-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Aberdeen experience 'definitely' improved Goodwin as manager
Jim Goodwin was sacked by Aberdeen in 2023 before moving on to Dundee United [SNS] Jim Goodwin's difficult Aberdeen experience has "definitely" improved him as a manager, says the Dundee United boss. After moving from St Mirren to Pittodrie, the 43-year-old was sacked by the Dons board in January 2023 following an 11-month spell in charge. Advertisement Goodwin was back in work quickly, becoming United manager two months later, but he was unable to prevent the Tannadice side suffering relegation. However, he guided the club back to the top flight at the first attempt and led them to a fourth-placed finish last term, beating Aberdeen on the final day to finish above Jimmy Thelin's side. Asked if he is a better manager as a result of his time at Pittodrie, Goodwin told BBC Scotland: "Yeah, I think I definitely am. I've definitely learned a lot about myself in terms of how I approach certain situations and how I handle certain individuals. "You have to always try to learn and get better. The past two seasons [at United] have been some of the most enjoyable seasons I've had, certainly as a manager." Advertisement Having enjoyed an impressive return to the top tier last season, Goodwin is out to emulate that success next term. "The fact we finished fourth, everybody, from a Dundee United perspective, would want us to be at least in that top six and competing for those European places," he added. "We're not stupid. We understand how difficult that's going to be, especially when you see the kind of investment that's been made in some of the other clubs."
BBC News
06-07-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Aberdeen experience improved me as manager, says Goodwin
Jim Goodwin's difficult Aberdeen experience has "definitely" improved him as a manager, says the Dundee United boss. After moving from St Mirren to Pittodrie, the 43-year-old was sacked by the Dons board in January 2023 following an 11-month spell in was back in work quickly, becoming United manager two months later, but he was unable to prevent the Tannadice side suffering he guided the club back to the top flight at the first attempt and led them to a fourth-placed finish last term, beating Aberdeen on the final day to finish above Jimmy Thelin's if he is a better manager as a result of his time at Pittodrie, Goodwin told BBC Scotland: "Yeah, I think I definitely am. I've definitely learned a lot about myself in terms of how I approach certain situations and how I handle certain individuals."You have to always try to learn and get better. The past two seasons [at United] have been some of the most enjoyable seasons I've had, certainly as a manager."Having enjoyed an impressive return to the top tier last season, Goodwin is out to emulate that success next term."The fact we finished fourth, everybody, from a Dundee United perspective, would want us to be at least in that top six and competing for those European places," he added."We're not stupid. We understand how difficult that's going to be, especially when you see the kind of investment that's been made in some of the other clubs."
Daily Record
05-07-2025
- Sport
- Daily Record
Dario Naamo given Dundee United rave review as Finland insider maps 'high level' talent's path to to the top
Stevie Grieve managed Naamo as SJK and gave the Tannadice club the lowdown on the Finnish Under 21 international Stevie Grieve has insisted Dario Naamo is 'a high level talent' who can become a very big asset for Dundee United. Jim Goodwin has snapped up the Finnish under-21 wing-back on a season-long loan from St Polten, with an option to buy. Grieve previously had Naamo at SJK and gave Dundee United a glowing recommendation as they did their homework on him ahead of his Tannadice switch. Grieve said: 'I spoke to Ross Goodwin (head of recruitment)on Tuesday and Luigi Capuano a few weeks ago. I sent Luigi a couple of players. Ross called me to discuss him. "He was aware of what we are doing as a club. A lot of clubs in Europe are aware of what we are doing because we have one of the youngest senior teams in world football. 'I explained all the characteristics but Ross had done his homework on him and had seen he was a player. He professional and he has a good background. 'His mentality is his biggest thing. He will succeed wherever he goes, as long as he gets the chance to play and is given a run in the team then I can see him becoming a big asset for Dundee United. 'I can't speak more highly of the boy He is going to be a high level talent in the future.' Naamo has just come back from being involved at the under-21 European Championships. He will offer full-back and wing-back options on both sides for Goodwin's side. 'Dario can play both sides as a full-back or a wing back,' the SJK head coach confirmed. 'He is a very good athlete. He is very quick and his acceleration over the first 10 to 15 yards is excellent. 'He has the balance and agility to get out of tricky situations, especially when a ball goes in behind. He can dribble with both sides. 'He is not the biggest but physically he is strong. 'On the ball, he is very good. St Polten used him more as wing back. His recovery rate is very high and so is his speed. 'At SJK, we gave him a free role. He played right back but came into the middle and joined in. We could also use him going outside and he has worked hard on his final ball. 'He also gets in at the back post and has added that goal threat to his game. He is a really exciting talent.' Grieve managed to snap up Naamo after their rivals Honka went bust. He recalled: 'He had played 700 minutes for Honka and he had played pretty well. He showed all the things I look for in a young player. 'He is brave on the ball, he tries to get away with the ball when he is under pressure and he likes to drive the game forward. 'As I said, he was good under pressure and can retain the ball. 'He was only 18 and that is not always easy. He can play off either foot and can get away from people. 'Honka went bankrupt and we were able to get him for free. We told him if he came to SJK he would play and we would develop him. 'We highlighted areas where we felt he could develop and I told him how we were going to play. He was excited to come. I gave him a free role and we knew what we were getting.' Character is a big thing for Naamo. He struggled initially at SJK but went away and worked at his game and became the best full-back in Finland before he moved to Austria. Grieve added: 'In pre-season, he struggled a little bit. It was the mechanical nature of our training. 'He went away and strengthened his core and pelvis and he managed to get through that difficult spell. 'When the season started, he improved week on week and towards the end of the season, he was comfortably the best full-back in Finland. He was good. 'St Polten gave us a good loan fee and there was an obligation to buy. The ownership went bankrupt and we are still waiting on our money.' Follow Record Sport on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for all of the up-to-the minute breaking news, video and audio on the SPFL, the Scotland national team and beyond. You can get all the news you need on our dedicated Rangers and Celtic pages, and sign up to our newsletters to make sure you never miss a beat throughout the season. We're also WhatsApp where we bring all the latest breaking news and transfer gossip directly to you phone. Join our Rangers community here and our Celtic community here. Tune in to Hotline Live every Sunday to Thursday and have your say on the biggest issues in Scottish football and listen to Record Sport's newest podcast, Game On, every Friday for your sporting fix, all in bitesize chunks.
BBC News
04-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Goodwin eyes European return with 'big rebuild'
Manager Jim Goodwin aims to lessen Dundee United's reliance on loans as he embarks on another "big rebuild" at the six new signings so far, only Isaac Pappoe is on a temporary deal, with the midfielder arriving from Ferencvaros in last season, United had six players on loan as they finished fourth in the Scottish Premiership, including top scorer Sam Dalby and goalkeeper Jack may yet try to tempt back Luca Stephenson and Emmanuel Adegboyega, who were also regulars last term, since he is far from finished in the transfer market."It seems to be one big rebuild after another," he told BBC Sport Scotland."I feel it's the way it's been for probably the last five or six years of my managerial career."It would be nice to go into next summer and only need three or four players. But that doesn't ever seem to happen."We relied heavily on the loan market last year, which is something that we're trying to change a little bit."We've signed a number of players on permanent contracts already. But we've got a job on our hands to put a squad together that's going to make us as competitive as possible in the league first and foremost."But also we want to compete in all the other competitions and we have the Europa Conference qualifier, that first competitive game at the end of this month." Having enjoyed an impressive return to the top flight last season, Goodwin is out to emulate that success."Our points return in the opening 11 fixtures was really good," he reflected. "I think since August last year we never dropped out of that top half."The objective changes as the season goes along but the fact we finished fourth, everybody, from a Dundee United perspective, would want us to be at least in that top six and competing for those European places."We're not stupid. We understand how difficult that's going to be, especially when you see the kind of investment that's been made in some of the other clubs."
Glasgow Times
04-07-2025
- Business
- Glasgow Times
New Premiership sack race intrigues me but overused motto needs killed
We can probably discount Brendan Rodgers. He's got a lot of credit in the bank, the biggest reputation and his team will win a lot of games. And even if they surprise everyone and struggle (relative for Celtic) the board has shown in the not-too-distant past that they are willing to hold on to a struggling manager even when external pressure is telling them to move on. David Gray will also get a good grace period at Hibs should they get off to another slow start. He's proven he can turn things around and his Hibs legend status, if it were even possible, was cemented further by last season's third place finish. There may have been question marks around Jimmy Thelin, but his masterminding of Aberdeen's Scottish Cup final victory will certainly buy him until the end of the year unless the wheels fall off completely. He'll also be helped by a general acceptance that every non-Old Firm team who goes into the group stages of European competition tends to toil a bit in the league as a result. Elsewhere, Stephen Robinson would have to see his side in imminent relegation danger for his job to come under threat after three consecutive top-six finishes for St Mirren, while Jim Goodwin at Dundee United is an interesting case. After getting a newly-promoted club into Europe, you'd think he'd have nothing to worry about, but the Tannadice club are big enough that fans will demand top-six contention, and that may not come to pass following a summer of transition with many key former players out the door. For a side who have bounced too much between the top two divisions in recent years, though, the hierarchy would likely go with stability – again, unless they're in deep trouble a couple of months in. Read more: Then there's a bunch of managers who are either newly promoted or new to their jobs. David Martindale is viewed as being in with the bricks at Livingston and survived his side's miserable 2023/24 relegation, which would suggest he would remain in his post even if they endured a tough return to the top flight – though the recent takeover of the West Lothian club by US businessman Calvin Ford (presumably his automotive lineage has fostered a love of roundabouts) does complicate that somewhat. John McGlynn is rolling the dice with a squad largely made up of players who starred for him in League One as recently as last year, so that's one to keep an eye on. His heroics in winning consecutive titles should, in theory, make him safe regardless of what happens in 2024/25. Although, if they emerge as early front-runners to go right back down, his future may depend on whether his loyalty to those players was enforced by budget constraints or not. As for the five new entries, Steven Pressley will need to get off to a strong start at Dundee to keep the wolves from the door, but other than that they should all expect a honeymoon period. There's always the possibility that a 'Jack Ross at Dundee United' type scenario could occur where it's just a terrible fit from the start and the boardroom feels compelled to act, but this could end up being a rare season where everyone is still in their positions post-Christmas. Regardless of the sack race winner's identity, one thing is absolutely certain. At some point following the dismissal, the most lazy, overused, vacuous cliche in football will be uttered, likely by many different folk in the game: "the players have got to take responsibility".Why does anyone think this observation holds any sort of substance? The players themselves can be exempt from this particular criticism. Whichever experienced first-team pro is put up for press and media duties around the first game following the sacking, they will inevitably be asked about it and they will say "we as players have to take responsibility". But they have to say that. If they don't say something along those lines their reputation will sink further amongst a fanbase who have already grown hostile towards them, what with all the losing of football matches in the weeks leading up to the change of manager. They also wouldn't want to appear unprofessional or make a bad situation even worse by attracting negative headlines if they answered: "That useless p***k? He was clueless." But media members and pundits should be delving much deeper in their analysis. Of course the players are ultimately the ones responsible. A manager can meticulously plan all week, set out the perfect strategy to take on the opposition, give an inspired team-talk – then sit back and watch his star centre-back fall over the ball inside his own penalty box a minute after kick-off. And yes, we often don't appreciate as fans how difficult it is to transition work from the training field to the pitch. Fans and pundits alike can be guilty of failing to consider that a manager is trying to get his team to do one thing and the players keep doing something else. That is obviously the fault of the players. But it is also the fault of the manager as is the entire point of having a manager. They are employed to elevate players as individuals and as a collective. If they are unable to do so then they aren't doing their job correctly. And, frankly, the reasons don't actually matter. Take the prior Jack Ross example. He's got a strong record in the Scottish game, having impressed at Alloa Athletic, performed minor miracles at St Mirren and got Hibs to third place and two cup finals. When he went in the door at Dundee United he soon found that he couldn't mesh with some of the bigger personalities in the dressing room. This unhealthy environment resulted in some humiliating results, which culminated in the 9-0 defeat to Celtic and Ross' dismissal. Are the players at fault in this instance? Absolutely. But I'd bet Jack Ross would do some things differently if he had the chance again. If you can't get your players to respect you enough to play well for you, regardless of who is at fault, then you're doing something wrong as a manager. Let's try and remember that when the sack-race winner of 2025/26 is confirmed.
