Craig Levein, Jim Goodwin, Tony Asghar, Dundee Utd: This week has proven Scottish football's drama and comedy cannot be rivalled

Jim Goodwin is the new manager of Dundee United, just weeks after being sacked by Aberdeen.

It may not be graced by Hollywood big hitters, or take top billing on the world stage, but like the best streaming service it serves up a heady back catalogue of horrors, tear-jerkers, action, romance, passion, and, as we have seen once again this week, a seemingly-endless stream of comedy.

The latest chapter in the long-running You Just Couldn’t Make It Up saga saw Dundee United linked with former manager Craig Levein, Tony Asghar announce he was stepping down as sporting director and then Jim Goodwin emerge as the surprise replacement for Liam Fox just in time to be in the technical area for this weekend’s match against … Aberdeen, the club that jettisoned him because his side suffered arguably the greatest Scottish Cup humiliation of all time against Darvel and amassed an 11-0 aggregate loss in his final two league matches, against Hearts and Hibs, their rivals for Europe.

Goodwin’s return to frontline management comes just a month after he gave Pittodrie boss Dave Cormack a hug, and admitted the 6-0 Easter Road mauling hadn’t been good enough. The teams’ warm-downs hadn’t even been completed when he was seen skulking access the pitch, and climbing over some perimeter advertising hoardings, exiting stage left and leaving the tearful Aberdeen supremo to deal with the media.

Tony Asghar stood down as Dundee United sporting director earlier this week.

So, if the Levein link was a surprise, after so long out of the management game, Goodwin’s announcement registered high on the shock-ometer because he has been out of it for so little time.

Even in the days of loose lips and leaky ships, it was a name that came pretty-much out of the blue. But the only thing unsurprising about the Scottish game is its capacity to throw up the unexpected or downright bizarre. A managerial merry-go-round that, in this instance, didn’t even wait for the music to stop before Goodwin jumped off to become Dundee United’s third manager of the season.

It makes the appointment a tremendous leap of faith – for the club and the manager, whose first game will be against players who appeared to down tools and, metaphorically, ushered him out the door. But, he knows that despite picking up a couple of home wins since his departure, Aberdeen remain a club that has won on the road only once since the end of August. What was once a negative could now be a positive as the Reds head to Tayside this weekend.

Trying to explain where it all went wrong at Aberdeen, he highlighted a crippling crisis of confidence among the players ahead of the Darvel defeat. But those players were, at that stage, still fighting for a European spot and silverware.

Former Hearts manager Craig Levein was spoken to about a return to Tannadice.

At Tannadice, just now, the players he has inherited are sitting at the foot of the table and are fighting for their Premiership survival. So, with no transfer window, it has to be hoped that Goodwin made use of the various streaming services and spent some of the last month binge-watching uplifting documentaries and movies looking for some inspiration. Because, the United fans are fed up of horrors and are not in the mood for comedies. This late in the season, they just want action.