Aberdeen manager Jim Goodwin grateful to board after defeat to Darvel

Jim Goodwin has thanked the Aberdeen board for not sacking him after their defeat to Darvel and insists he won’t walk away from the job of turning the team around.

The Dons’ 1-0 defeat to non-league side Darvel on Monday was one of the biggest upsets in the competition’s history and one of Aberdeen’s worst defeats.

Coming on the back of a run of poor results for Goodwin’s side, many expected that he would be relieved of his duties.

After a midweek board meeting to decide his fate, Goodwin was given the club’s backing to continue but warned that an “immediate” improvement in results was expected.

“The easy thing for the board of directors to do on Monday night would have been to part company with me,” Goodwin said at his pre-match media conference on Friday.

“The easy thing for me to do would probably been to have walked away but I’ve never shirked a challenge in my life.

“I’ve got a lot of making up to do with a lot of people to go and prove to everyone out there that I am the right man to manage Aberdeen and to take them back to where they belong.

“Talk is cheap. It’s about actions now and that needs to start tomorrow.”

The manager said that he was grateful for the backing and reiterated that he has no plans to walk away from the challenge.

“I owe the board for sticking with me and showing courage at a time when the simple decision would have been to sack me,” he said.

“I thank them and I want to repay their faith.

“With regards to me walking away, I won’t be walking away from anything.”

Players have been back in training this week ahead of a crucial Premiership match against Hibs and Goodwin said that after frank conversations everyone knew what was expected this weekend.

“Obviously they haven’t been the most enjoyable few days because we had an extremely difficult result on Monday night,” he said.

“We’ve had the necessary conversations as you would imagine. The players accept their part in that, the staff and myself accept our part in that performance and that result. We’ve all agreed that nothing like that can ever happen again.

“Not just in terms of the result but in terms of the manner of it.

“There’s ways to lose games of football and unfortunately on Monday night that commitment, effort and desire that you want in a performance just isn’t there.

“It is a very honest group and we spoke about the disappointment and we spoke about what has to happen so it doesn’t happen again in the future.

“We’ve got an opportunity on Saturday to make amends, it’s as simple as that, and we have to go and show the supporters how much this means to us.”