Jim Goodwin insists there was there was no fallout with Scott Brown before he quit Aberdeen as the Irishman announced Joe Lewis will be captain again.
Lewis was the club skipper before Brown arrived last summer and previous boss Stephen Glass decided to give his player-coach the armband.
Brown terminated his contract earlier this month following the arrival of Goodwin when the new manager made it clear there would no longer be a coaching role, while his playing responsibilities would also be diminished.
The pair had a frank discussion and Goodwin believes the decision taken was the right one for all parties and Brown and him left on great terms.
Goodwin stated: “It was best for all parties. The conversations between myself and Scott were really open and honest.
“Regardless of what has been out there on social media or whatever, he left on great terms.
“He was very understanding of my situation here.
“Scott came to Aberdeen with the previous management team to get some coaching.
“I’m quite hands-on as a manager. I do a lot of the day-to-day stuff.
“There really wasn’t going to be an opportunity for Scott on that front.
“Also on the playing side of things, we’ve got quite a few midfielders and I just didn’t feel Scott was going to play regularly between now and the end of the season.
“He kind of agreed that maybe it was best we part company.
“But I have to say, he was an absolute pleasure to deal with.
“I didn’t know him before he came in.
“We had a few good tussles on the pitch as players and he was exactly what I expected.
“He was a model professional around the place, well liked within the dressing room and he left with a shake of the hand.”
Goodwin has revealed that Lewis was the obvious candidate to be skipper but is adamant it isn’t a big thing for him.
The Dons manager stated: “Joe Lewis will take the armband. He had it prior to Scott coming up and then that change was made.
“We’ll give it back to Joe. He’ll be captain between now and the end of the season.
“Joe’s one of the most experienced members of the group.
“He’s been captain for plenty of times since he’s been here. He leads by example. “But we’ve got a number of other guys out there who could be captain as well.
“The armband thing, I think it’s a bit old fashioned to be perfectly honest with you.
“Do we really need a captain anymore? Do we need to have that type of person on the park? Every manager speaks about wanting 11 leaders out there.
“It’s an honour I suppose, more than anything, for someone to be captain of any football club. I know Joe takes great pride in wearing the armband and he’ll have it till the end of the season.”
Goodwin knows it is all about looking to the future and reckons his Dons need to target a maximum nine points from the next three games, starting from Saturday's home game against Hibs, if they genuinely want to make the top six.
He said: “We’ve got three huge games coming up and it all starts on Saturday against Hibs. They are all cup finals and we need to win all of them.
“I think it is going to take three wins to get us to where we want to be.
“It might not be enough but we have to believe it will be.
“Some people are suggesting two wins and a draw might be enough but I think we have to go all out and try to get three wins and see where it takes us.
“It will be tough on Saturday as Hibs are a good side and they scored two good goals against Motherwell at the weekend.
“We know how they will approach the game so we have to impose ourselves on them.
“The team has had a decent record against them this season to be fair.”
Goodwin is boosted as Andrew Considine and Marley Watkins return to the squad although Matty Kennedy, Mikey Devlin and Adam Montgomery are all out. Striker Jay Emmanuel Thomas also won’t be involved. Goodwin confirmed Record Sport’s story that the big frontman needs to get fitter if he wants to make an impact at Aberdeen.
“The big man has got a bit of work to do physically before he will be considered.” Goodwin insisted.
“The fitness aspect is a big thing for the players and they have all been made aware of that since day one.
“We need players in the squad who can withstand the physical demands I’m going to put on them and that is the nuts and bolts of why the big man is not involved.”
