JIM Goodwin tonight admitted that he was embarrassed by the “pathetic” defending in Aberdeen’s heavy 5-0 defeat to Hearts at Tynecastle – but vowed that he wouldn't “chuck in the towel”.
Goodwin was at a loss to describe why the Pittodrie club performed so poorly at the back in the cinch Premiership match against their rampant third-placed rivals.
Hearts fans chanted “you’re getting sacked in the morning” as the visitors disappointing run of form continued – they have now one just once since club football resumed after the World Cup break last month – in Gorgie.
But Goodwin, who admitted that he is trying to bring in new defenders before the January transfer window closes, has pledged to fight on and sort out Aberdeen’s poor away form.
The north-east outfit have triumphed in just two of the 12 league games they have played on the road in the 2022/23 campaign.
"Hearts looked like they could score at will,” he said. "What can I say to the players now? What's the point? The talking has to be done on the pitch.
"I can't get my head around how I am speaking after a 5-0 defeat. I can talk about this, that and the other thing, but we didn't deal with situations defensively well enough. That is why our goals against column is as bad as it is.
"I am extremely embarrassed and the players will be feeling the same. We have let everyone down and that's on me. I didn't see it coming. We played well on Sunday (Aberdeen lost 2-1 to Rangers in the Viaplay Cup semi-final at Hampden after extra-time) and it's difficult to make a lot of sense of it.”
Goodwin added: "I am not a beaten man. I will never chuck the towel in if that's what you are suggesting. But this is not the time to talk about positives.
"It’s a humiliating defeat for me, the players and the club. But I will turn up in the morning and try to put things right.
“I don’t think they are a weak group, I really don’t. I think there are a lot of good characters in there. It is very early right now for me to analyse the game and there is a helluva lot to digest.
“But our home form has been very good this season and our away form has been abysmal. And you can’t rely on our away form to take us where we want to be. It’s an extremely difficult one for me to put our finger on right now."
Aberdeen have been linked with Sunderland defender Bailey Wright and Goodwin stressed that he is eager to bring in new faces in the coming days.
“The chairman and the board and everyone behind the scenes at the club has been absolutely brilliant from day one,” he said.
“This is on me. I’m the manager, they are my players, I brought the majority of them to the club. I still believe in them as a group. I think there are a lot of good players in there, a lot of talented players. But ultimately we concede far too many goals and that’s the crux of the matter.
“Part and parcel of being a manager at any club is getting results and winning games of football. Unfortunately, on the road this season up to now we haven’t earned enough points away from home.
“It’s something that has to change and it has to change quickly. We need to do better defensively. That’s on me. I am the one that puts them out there and asks them to play a certain way.
“When they cross that white line it’s over to them and you want them to do well in key situations. Unfortunately tonight some of the goals were just far too easy.”
“It (bringing in defenders) has been a priority since the start of the window. We thought we had one coming in early, but it fell through unfortunately. We will just continue to work on that.
“Obviously Kelle Roos hurt himself in the game on Sunday and we will get a full assessment of that tomorrow when he sees a specialist but it doesn’t look good at the moment so there might be a need as well to bring in a back-up keeper.
“There are one or two other areas we need to strengthen but right now it’s too early for me to talk about that type of thing. We have lot more to concern ourselves with in the next 24 to 48 hours.”
