Jim Goodwin's Dundee United future undecided despite talks with chairman

Jim Goodwin has revealed he has had “positive” talks with Dundee United owner Mark Ogren but there’s no clarity on his his future of the club.

United go into the final game of the season with relegation to the Championship looking more likely than not after a 3-0 defeat to Kilmarnock in midweek.

To avoid automatic relegation United need to win at Motherwell, and Ross County would have to lose to Kilmarnock with an eight-goal swing in goal difference across the two games.

Goodwin knows that’s improbable given recent form but he is interested in extending his stay past the end of his short-term contract and leading the push for promotion.

As things stand, Sunday will be his last game in charge but he has had discussions with Ogren.

“I have just met the chairman for the first time face to face over the last couple of days,” Goodwin said. “I spent hours with him on Thursday just giving him my overview on what I have experienced during my time here.

“He has made a hell of an investment financially from his own personal wealth into the club. He is a man that’s used to succeeding in business and he certainly didn’t come to Dundee United to be having this kind of experience.

“So whatever the outcome is on Sunday, he is fully behind supporting the club and trying to make sure this kind of thing doesn’t happen again in the future.

“We had good, positive talks but there has been nothing decided with regards to my long-term future.

“I have explained to him that I have loved my time at the club, I have met some great people here. There are some fantastic people behind the scenes doing some great things in a lot of the other departments within the club.

“But a club is always going to be recognised on what happens on the pitch and unfortunately as a team we haven’t been good enough. All the other good things have been brushed under the carpet.”

Goodwin made an initial impact when he replaced Liam Fox and took the team out of the drop zone with three wins on the bounce but a run of defeats since then put the team straight back into trouble and now on the precipice.

The manager admitted his bitter disappointment at the situation but underlined his happiness at being in the job.

“It’s not been enjoyable in terms of the way things have panned out but I love the job that I’m in,” he added.

“I’ve been very fortunate as a manager to have worked for some great clubs and been given some fantastic opportunities.

“I’m very grateful to the board here for putting their trust in me to try and turn this situation around.

“From my own personal point of view I’m disappointed I wasn’t able to do that. I wouldn’t have taken the job on if I didn’t believe that there was enough within the group to be able to survive.”

While being realistic about the chances, Goodwin vowed that the team would give their all in the final game and see what happens.

He said: “As I keep saying, it’s not done yet and there is a glimmer of hope and while it’s there we have to keep believing but I’m just gutted for the chairman, the great staff here and obviously so disappointed for the supporters because their loyalty and commitment to the club has never been shirked this season.

“Although we are not mathematically down, we need a minor miracle to happen on Sunday to get that play-off place.

“We are not going to throw the towel in, of course, but I don’t want to sound silly and look silly by sitting here saying to you guys that we are going to achieve it.

“We have to just go there on Sunday, play for personal pride, give a good account of ourselves and try and finish the season on a positive note.”