Jim Goodwin has taken Dundee United back up and has them sitting third in the Premiership.
Mark Ogren believes it justifies his controversial decision to stick by him, after their relegation at the end of the 2022-23 season. The Irishman’s record was given a short-term contract with the unenviable task of keeping United in the top-flight.
Yes, admittedly, the newly-sacked Aberdeen boss was already behind the eight ball but United dropped like a stone, losing all five of their post-split games Chairman Ogren admitted that on results alone, Goodwin should never have been rehired but he saw something in him that he felt could spark a Tannadice revival. Now that controversial decision has been more than validated.
Ogren recalled: “After we decided to extend Jim’s contract, I said to him: ‘If you’d told me when we were interviewing you, we’d be relegated and lose all our games after the split, I would have said there’s no way I’ll be rehiring you!’ But he showed us enough of what he can do that we felt he was the guy. As it turns out, he’s definitely the guy. We are very happy with how that panned out.”
Goodwin was still hurting after how his time at Aberdeen came to an abrupt end. Salt was rubbed into those already gaping wounds when he failed to keep United up. It was equally as sore for Ogren and United. They had started that season in Europe and he had invested heavily. The club looked to be going places but the backside quickly fell out of their season and the only place they ended up in was the Championship. It required a major restart on a much reduced budget. Things hadn’t gone well for Goodwin at Pittodrie but he had a proven track record at St Mirren and Alloa Athletic, building teams up.
Ogren explained: “He certainly had his ideas and had thoughts on his vision going forward. That certainly had something to do with it.
“The conversations that we had. He was the right fit for what our club needed. A manager needs to work well with everyone, throughout the club, but it’s also about relationships and how he deals with players.
“It didn’t work out at the end of that season – we lost every game after the split – but we knew there was a good manager there. He’s proven himself in the past. It’s not like we took a flyer on him. Granted, he had issues up at Aberdeen – that didn’t work out for him – but we knew he was a new manager and we were willing to give him more time.”
The American tycoon has gone through his fair share of head coaches since Robbie Neilson was headhunted by Hearts. There was Micky Mellon, Tam Courts, Jack Ross and then Liam Fox. Ogren admitted he is more hands on with Goodwin than he has been with any of the others. He had never even met Mellon!
He explained: “I probably have more interaction with Jim than I had with any other manager, barring maybe Robbie. I never even met Micky Mellon, to this day!
“It was all through Zoom during Covid. It was a strange time and it’s hard to develop a relationship with someone through video conferencing. Everyone has their different attributes, but we are extremely comfortable with Jim.”
Goodwin has re-energised United. The Tangerine Army is now dreaming of Europe in their first season back in the Premiership. He has also rebuilt his own managerial relationship and if he continues then Ogren’s biggest challenge could be keeping him at the club. Ogren acknowledged: “We are certainly open to keeping him long term and, from his view, I think he’s open to staying long term. But you never know. Things change.
“It’s the same with players; you bring people in and hope they do so well that someone else wants them. That’s just business, frankly.”