Aberdeen manager Jim Goodwin has touchline ban reduced on appeal

Aberdeen manager Jim Goodwin has been successful in reducing his touchline ban after his appeal was heard by an independent panel.

Goodwin was handed an eight-game ban after a post-match interview where he called Hibs defender Ryan Porteous a cheat, claiming the player dived to win penalties. The Dons boss was ordered to serve an immediate six-game suspension, with two games suspended.

Aberdeen felt the punishment was excessive and lodged an appeal, and a new disciplinary panel heard the case on Monday.

They reduced Goodwin’s punishment to three games immediate suspension, with two games suspended until the end of the season.

The Dons boss had already sat out one game before the appeal was submitted, meaning he will serve his remaining ban in the games against Hibs and Livingston.

Goodwin had originally been called to account for his comments after Porteous won a penalty during a Hibs win over Aberdeen. He said that the defender had a reputation for trying to con match officials, and said that he had warned the referee about his behaviour before the game.

That saw the Scottish FA charge him with making offensive comments and not acting in the best interests of Scottish football.

Goodwin has since said that the incident would mean that he was more careful in his comments to the media in future.

“There will be an appeal and then a hearing, we will just await the outcome of that.

“But my pre-match and post-match interviews might become very boring in the future. I find it very difficult not to speak my mind but maybe in the future I will need to bite my tongue.

“I take responsibility for my actions. I’m disappointed what I said has brought this negative press on myself and the club. I want to be seen as a respectable young manager but sometimes there’s a lot of emotion involved in this game and someone sticks a microphone in your face 10 minutes afterwards and you say things that, in the cold light of day, you wish you hadn’t.

“I try and give a fair, honest assessment of what I’ve seen. Maybe I could have worded it differently.