Jim Goodwin apologised to Aberdeen's irate fans after the “abysmal” and “appalling” display at Kilmarnock. And the under-fire boss insists the Dons’ dismal run of form simply cannot continue. Goodwin did not hide from the desperate effort which has plunged more pressure onto him.
The boss could not defend his troops after the Ayrshire nightmare which made it four straight defeats since the World Cup break and saw them booed by their incensed punters. He said: “I’m not hiding away from anything. It’s a results driven business as everybody says, however you try and dress it up. There was not a single positive. It was our worst performance of the season by a country mile.
“The expectation is huge at this club and it can’t carry on, it’s as simple as that. The one thing you want as a manager is grit, determination and desire. When things are not going well, you stand up and be counted and we didn’t do that. I don’t think the players will hide away and, as manager, I’m accountable. I brought most of them here and I stand by them. But tonight was abysmal, that’s all I can say. The first 45 minutes was appalling. The fact we were only 2-0 down was a positive as Kilmarnock could have been 4-0 up. We caused our own downfall a lot of the time and two goals we conceded were pathetic.
“I don’t like publicly slagging off players and I haven’t had to do it this season. But we can’t hide away from this. There is no player who can disagree. It was a really bad performance. We’ve lost games where three or four were below par, but tonight we were abysmal. I can only apologise to the fans who made the trip here. We really let them down.
“For the majority of the season, I don’t think I could say we showed a lack of commitment or fight, but there is nothing we can take from it. You can talk about a late goal to Celtic, injury time goals to Rangers and three penalties to St Mirren, but Aberdeen have lost four goals on the spin and it’s not good enough for Aberdeen. There's huge pressure now. I’ve been in this position before where one win can change things. This is our spell now and we can either stand up and be counted or hide behind someone.”
As Goodwin suffered, Derek McInnes was thrilled with Killie’s success and said: “I thought from the word go there was a lot to like about us. We wanted to be physical and ask them questions. Up against a good team at 2-0, we said no backslapping as there are too many good players in the other team. Our home form has been very good and it is going to have to continue.” McInnes also praised goal hero Scott Robinson and added: “He’s had to have lots of cuddles, keeping his spirits up. He brings life to the dressing room and is such a popular boy.”
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