Jim Goodwin explains why Aberdeen made Hearts look 'very good' and sends accountability message

Aberdeen boss Jim Goodwin believes the performance of his side at Tynecastle Park made Hearts look like a “very good” team.

Aberdeen manager Jim Goodwin. (Photo by Ross Parker / SNS Group)

The Dons fell to a 2-0 defeat in the Capital and struggled to lay a glove on the third-place side.

Lewis Ferguson missed a penalty for the visitors but at that point they were already 2-0 down through goals from John Souttar and Stephen Kingsley.

It is a defeat which leaves Aberdeen in tenth place, three points off the top six and a massive 17 points behind Hearts.

“Listen we’re very disappointed, obviously,” Goodwin said. “We were nowhere near the levels required.

“I’m not saying anything out here I haven’t said in the dressing room. Hearts were better in every department and sometimes you have to hold your hands up, They pinned us back in for the opening ten minutes.

“It settled down and we started to relax a wee bit but we never got into any rhythm, we kept turning over cheap possession.

“We made Hearts look a very good team tonight. We never got close enough to them, we didn’t show enough aggression, we didn’t show enough energy.

“And that’s something we need to take responsibility for.”

The anaemic nature of the Aberdeen display demonstrated the work Goodwin has to do to turn the Dons around.

It was his third game as manager since taking over at the club following Stephen Glass’ sacking and he is still to taste defeat going into the weekend’s match with Rangers at Ibrox.

“Listen, I wouldn’t be here had previous results and performances had been good enough,” Goodwin said.

“A good man has lost his job in Stephen Glass because of what went on. But there comes a point when everybody needs to take a bit of accountability. I include myself in that, I’m not trying to throw anyone under the bus. That was my team, my tactics, my gameplan. We all need to accept what happened.

“I’m not trying to say we’re in a crisis moment, but we need to do the basics better. And that’s something we’re going to have to work very hard on.”

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