Jim Goodwin has insisted he didn’t try to play mind games with Philippe Clement to help Dundee United come away with a much-deserved weekend point from Rangers.
The United manager got the upper hand before a ball was even kicked when he said he was looking for his players to frustrate the Ibrox crowd by making full use of nervous energy that could be in the air. Clement took the bait and admitted he liked it when others motivate his players – although it didn’t work as Rangers dropped another costly two points at home!
Goodwin explained: “No, I mean, look, I really wasn’t trying to be clever. I just was stating the obvious. I think it’s something that managers say before every time they play Celtic or Rangers away from home. We know the expectation that’s on those two teams and we know that the fans can be quite fickle at times if things aren’t going according to plan. I’ve got a lot of respect for Philippe Clement and it wasn’t a case of disrespecting anybody.
“I was just stating the obvious. You know, we go there and try to quieten the crowd. We try to frustrate Rangers, try and deny them space and all of those things.”
Dundee United’s pre-match preparations were something of a nightmare. Storm Bert and the debris from a number of road accidents meant it took them several hours to make the short trip from Tannadice to Ibrox and kick-off had to be delayed. Goodwin explained that the bus left Dundee early but had to go via Edinburgh to get through the traffic. United then had to go for pre-match and tried to push for a further delay.
Goodwin stated: “The players had to have pre-match. They’d been sat on a bus from 9.30am I think there were certain people saying we should just go straight to the stadium and just play the game on an empty stomach and things like that, which is just ridiculous.
“These things happen. Rangers had something similar when they stayed at St Andrews before a game with Dundee last season.
“The St Mirren v Aberdeen game got pushed back to 4pm for a pitch inspection and we asked for the same courtesy. “They asked for 3.30pm and we managed to get 3.45pm. “Unfortunately, we weren’t ready for 3.45pm and I think the game kicked off around about 3.50pm So, you know, we’d done everything we could to get ready for the game.”
Former United boss Ian McCall suggested a use of the dark arts as United were still on the pitch doing their warm-up around the time the game was due to kick off. Goodwin stated: “It’s not just a case of running off the bus, sticking on your strip and away you go out and play.
“We’ve got player welfare as well that we have to consider. The players need to get warm in order to try and avoid injury. Some of them have got strappings that they need to get from the medical team. So, all of these things add up.”
Goodwin reckons if anything his players were the real victims because the time they spent on the coach and the poor preparations meant that many of them went down with cramp and that is why they deserve enormous credit for digging in for a point.
He claimed: “The weather, the accidents, it all mounted up. “If people think that’s an advantage for us, then, lads sitting on a bus for four hours it certainly is not an advantage. “The Rangers players would have been sitting in comfort in Ibrox in the players’ lounge or in the dressing room or whatever.
“Legs (of our players) were stiffening up and I think we had five players in the end that were struggling after 65 or 70 minutes. We’ve never had that before in any game and we can only put it down to poor preparation. “But thankfully, those cramp injuries didn’t become muscle injuries.
“I don’t think there would have been a team in the country that has had to prepare for the game the way that we did at the weekend and for the players to go out and put on the kind of performance that they did and take a really, really good point was excellent. “I think it was a real monumental effort.”