14 May 2022

Jim Goodwin urges Aberdeen fans to be ‘extremely optimistic’ about future

14 May 2022

Jim Goodwin wants Aberdeen fans to be “extremely optimistic” about the club’s future as he gets set to overhaul his squad.

The Irishman has been disappointed by results since he took over from Stephen Glass in February and will making sweeping changes with at least 10 players leaving the club.

The Dons go into the final cinch Premiership game of the season at Pittodrie on Sunday against his former club St Mirren in 10th place, with Goodwin already planning for next season.

The Dons boss said: “I want our supporters to be extremely optimistic about the future.

“I know talk is cheap but believe me, we have identified some really, really good targets to come in in the summer.

“There will be big changes, but I’ve been here before. In my first window at St Mirren it was very similar to what we’re experiencing here.

“We had to get rid of a lot of players. We had to bring in a lot of new faces but we got a great reaction once we had that turnover.

“And that’s exactly what I fully expect to happen here again in the summer.”

Goodwin accepts his share of the blame for the club’s bottom-half finish and is hugely driven to turn fortunes around.

He said: “Ultimately, the blame falls on the shoulders of a manager and there’s no issue with that.

“I have no problem whatsoever with that. I accept all of the criticism and all of the negativity that’s coming our way right now. I take it on the chin, it hasn’t been good enough.

“I genuinely believed I could get a better reaction out of the players that were here. I knew confidence was low but unfortunately I haven’t been able to do that.

“I’ll take my share of the blame for that. The players as well need to take responsibility.

“Myself, the chairman and the director of football are all in the firing line here. We’re all accountable for what’s happened here, the previous regime as well.

“There’s no hiding place, you can either sink or swim and the negativity and the criticism that’s coming, we accept that, we understand what’s happened hasn’t been good enough.

“But it only makes me even more determined to make this a success because I know it can be.”

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