Jim Goodwin 'deservedly' taking brunt of Dundee United criticism as he makes pledge to supporters

United were two goals up at the home of their city rivals on Sunday before conceding twice in stoppage time to all but end their hopes of securing a top six finish in the Premiership.

It followed a disappointing Scottish Cup quarter-final defeat by Falkirk the previous weekend and has led some United fans to call for Goodwin to be replaced as head coach.

The Irishman, who is a on a 12-month rolling contract, pointed to the “good success” the Tannadice club has had since his appointment in 2023 and now wants to turn them into top six regulars.

"We totally understand where the supporters are coming from and, as manager, I take the brunt of that criticism and deservedly so," Goodwin told Sky Sports. "I signed the players and it's my tactics and when we don't get the results then I deserve to get the criticism that's coming my way. I've been here now three years and I think in that three-year period we've had good success.

"Dundee United have been a team that have been up and down the leagues over the last decade. In the last couple of years obviously we've stabilised ourselves in the Premiership but I think with the league finish that we had last year, finishing fourth, automatically the expectations from the supporters rise with that. We knew how difficult it was going to be to replicate that finish but ultimately we wanted to be in the top six.

"We've had a good season in the Championship, obviously winning the league, finishing fourth last year. It's about the here and now, isn't it? It's about the present and the supporters at the moment are a little bit disappointed with where we are but we'll continue to work hard on and off the pitch and continue to try and make Dundee United a consistent top six team."

United host Celtic on Sunday looking for a repeat of the 2-1 victory at Tannadice in December, although Goodwin appreciates it the defending champions be a different proposition than the Wilfried Nancy side faced that night.

"We're expecting a really, really difficult game as you always would against a team that's used to winning leagues and that is desperately trying to overtake Hearts at the top of the table," he said. "But ultimately we're the home team, we want to take confidence from that performance and that result, albeit against a different system, it was still the same group of players and we have to believe that we can cause another type of upset like that."

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