St Mirren captain Jim Goodwin signs new deal

JIM Goodwin claims he resisted the “easy option” of moving to Hibernian to sign a new deal at St Mirren.

So there were eyebrows raised yesterday morning when the Paisley club revealed that the Northern Irishman had signed a new contract which will take him up until at least the end of season 2013-14.

Goodwin revealed that he ignored most of the advice given to him out of a sense of loyalty to St Mirren and manager Danny Lennon, who signed him from Hamilton a year ago.

“I was never that close to leaving to be honest,” he said. “Hibs had expressed an interest and, out of respect for Pat Fenlon and Hibs, it was right that I spoke to them and heard what they had to say. But, when I sat down and had a moment to myself, I thought I was giving up an awful lot here, in terms of relationships, the captaincy and what we are trying to do. It is one of the best dressing rooms I have been involved in and I am extremely happy here. The easy option might have been to go to Easter Road and the big facilities and all that but I think I made the right decision. The majority of people I spoke to were expecting me to go to Hibs and probably advising me to go to Hibs. So I think it says a lot for St Mirren and for the manager that I chose to stay here.

“The gaffer showed a lot of faith in me and gave me the armband at the start of the season. I enjoy going to work every day.

“St Mirren play the way I want to play and that was a huge factor in my decision.”

Lennon, who ruled out a move for former Newcastle and Hibs winger Alan O’Brien who was training with Saints for a few days, said: “Jim has a big part to play in what we are trying to build. It was very flattering for Jim that a club of Hibernian’s stature comes looking for his services. I think it is a credit to everyone at St Mirren, that that type of player has chosen to stay.”

Saints did suffer a blow with the news last night that midfielder Kenny McLean has been ruled out for six weeks after breaking his collarbone. The Scotland under-21 cap, who has been one of Saints’ best players this season, sustained the injury in a training collision. “It was just an accidental collision with one of the young players,” the 20-year-old said. “The physio took me to hospital and the X-ray showed that I had a broken collarbone. I will be out for six weeks but you just need to get on with it.”