Jim Goodwin has praised captain Ryan Edwards’ ‘excellent’ reaction after being dropped to the Dundee United bench.
The new Tannadice manager took the decision to take his skipper out of the firing line for Wednesday’s draw with Livingston, believing the defender would benefit from hitting ‘the reset button’.
Edwards took heavy criticism amid United’s slide to the bottom of the Premiership, with pundit and ex-Dundee manager Neil McCann even claiming he ‘chucked it’ during a 4-0 hammering at Ross County. Goodwin, however, defended the 29-year-old’s integrity, insisting he is a ‘very honest big fella’.
But he still feels the move to withdraw Edwards from his starting XI was the right one – and hopes it sends a message to the rest of his squad that nobody is above the axe.
“Ryan is the club captain and he showed a really good reaction to coming out of the team,” Goodwin revealed. “I told him on Tuesday morning and he trained really well after that.
“His reaction was positive. He is a very honest big fella, he understands that his own performances individually haven’t quite been where they need to be at.
“It’s really important for me that the group knows that it doesn’t matter whether you are one of the most experienced players in the team, the captain, or one of the younger ones. If the performances are not at the level required then you risk having to come out of the team.
“Ryan’s reaction was excellent, he was encouraging the boys before the game and will be an important player for us between now and the end of the season. Sometimes players need to come out of the team just to hit the reset button to go again.
“I was very pleased with Loick coming in, I thought he was excellent - very assured. For a young centre half he played with a lot of maturity, which was great to see.”
A point at the Tony Macaroni Arena halts a run of six consecutive defeats for the league’s bottom side. The return of the Scottish Cup now gives Goodwin 10 vital on the training ground before they host St Mirren; vital time to implement the methods he hopes will keep United in the top-flight.
“The break we have now will be massive for us. We can go into the next ten days now and work extremely hard on what we have to improve on.
“We have only been together for six or seven days and when you are playing Saturday then Wednesday you don’t have much time on the training pitch.
“The players have been extremely receptive to what we have been asking them to do. I have been impressed by the desire, commitment and aggression they have shown - and that’s what you need in any relegation battle.
“Wednesday was only a point so we’re not getting carried away but it was important to get something considering the run we’d been on. And it could be a crucial point come the end of the season.”
Meanwhile, Goodwin revealed that Dylan Levitt is being assessed for a knee injury, and that the club have decided not to complete a deal for former DC United keeper Bill Hamid.
“There were conversations going on prior to me coming in,” Goodwin said. “Bill came over, had a look around the place and we had a conversation with him. We’ve decided to go in a different direction with regards to that one.”
