By any reasonable measure, Jim Goodwin’s three years at Tannadice have taken Dundee United from turbulence to an emerging stability. Put alongside other Premiership mainstays, the tenure of Jim Goodwin stands out.

Appointed on 1st March 2023 to fight a fire he didn’t start, the Irishman endured the inevitable relegation but impressed the Club’s hierarchy enough in that short time to be offered a prolonged stay.

Taking that opportunity was a huge risk for a young Manager – at the time still just 41 years of age – looking to develop his own career. Having already successfully negotiated been in the Championship with Alloa Athletic in 2018/19, taking the part-timers to promotion the previous year, it may not have been seen as a growth opportunity.

Goodwin arrived at Tannadice fresh from experiencing the lows of management. At Aberdeen, he had rebuilt the playing squad ahead of the 2022/23 season and as that season froze for the Qatar World Cup (ironically immediately after Goodwin’s Aberdeen had defeated United), the Dons were in a much heralded third position. After resumption, Aberdeen’s form dipped suddenly and ultimately led to Goodwin’s departure from Pittodrie.

Keen to bounce back, the Tannadice opportunity was too good to turn down, and has since guided the club back to the Premiership, and subsequently to European football, reestablishing United as a competitive side in the top division.

In the next few weeks, Goodwin will overtake Craig Levein’s total of 139 competitive matches in charge of Dundee United. That will put him behind only Peter Houston in terms of games managed since the retirement of Jim McLean in 1993. By the end of the season his tenure in terms of days between first game in charge to most recent game in charge will also be longer than Scottish Cup-winning Houston.

Whilst his win percentage stands up to scrutiny alongside the likes of Levein, Houston and McNamara, around a quarter of Goodwin’s games managed so far at United were against Championship opponents. However, his tally is now comfortably higher than the total of his four most recent predecessors combined.

His first full season in charge at United may not have been in the top flight, but there have also been plenty of positives to take from the seasons thereafter. To give a bit more colour to the picture, it’s worth breaking down his tenure so far into discrete phases.

PHASE ONE - PREPARING FOR A RESET

The first act - after a relegation that was already bearing down on arrival - was to embrace accountability: “Next season it is about winning the title and that is the bottom line… There are no excuses.” said Goodwin to BBC Sport in the summer of 2023.

That confident tone mattered.

It mattered to the club’s ownership, and to our faithful supporters. Having been through the stagnation of 2016-2020, when United languished in the second tier after the previous relegation through the tenure of three different managers, they simply could not contemplate a similar spell outside of the top flight again.

It also mattered to playing staff - recruitment was a key vehicle for fulfilling that promise. Quoted in a Scotsman article prior to the 2023/24 season, Goodwin saw that himself: “I recognise where the weaknesses have been… and understand the key areas we need to improve and strengthen.”.

PHASE TWO - RETURNING TO THE TOP FLIGHT

Recruitment targets were pursued on a sole focus to win promotion, and thus an experienced spine to the team was assembled. Supplementing new additions were a core of retained players who needed confidence rebuilt. Goodwin’s man-management skills were key – not just to senior players, but also to young Academy graduates who would have a pivotal impact on the term.

United’s response was emphatic. They topped the Championship with 75 points, scoring more goals than any of the previous seven Championship winners, and conceding fewest in the whole league pyramid. This wasn’t just a return. It was a recalibration of standards.

Despite the overwhelming success, it wasn’t all plain sailing. A League Cup exit was followed in November with exits from the Challenge Cup and Scottish Cup on consecutive weekends. Raith Rovers were in hot pursuit in the league, having committed large resources to chase their promotion dream.

When a last-minute goal gave Raith victory against United in February, a few concerns began to be audible. A further stutter - in perhaps the worst performance of the season - at Dunfermline a month later followed.

Fears continued to grow when struggling Inverness CT opened the scoring at Tannadice in the next game. Were United supporters set to see their side snatch defeat from the jaws of victory with just 7 more games remaining?

The answer was an emphatic “No”. The instilled belief from this United side overcame any nerves transmitting from the outside. They only conceded 1 further goal before wrapping up the title, and that was a consolation goal at Morton when United were already 4-0 up.

Unlike the previous spell in the Championship, this United were made of sterner stuff. There was a unity from boardroom, to pitch, to stands which felt different from that previous stint in the Championship.

For context, Raith’s record finishing second was an outstanding achievement. Their points-per-game return was better than 15 of the previous 17 runners-up in the division. In fact, their points tally would have been enough to win the title in the prior two campaigns, but despite that, United effectively won the title with 2 games to spare.

There was symbolism that Academy graduate Chris Mochrie came off the bench to score the decisive late winner against Ayr that effectively sealed the title. Players aged under 21 played over 5,100 minutes that season, as the Academy played its part in the success.

PHASE THREE - RE-ESTABLISHING THE TERRORS IN THE PREMIERSHIP

Back in the top flight, Goodwin talked about building a culture for prolonged success, reflecting a widening from mandated short-term focus to the longer term strategy.

Another overhaul of the playing squad followed to prepare for the different demands of the Premiership. Recruitment took a more geographically varied route, with arrivals from clubs in Slovenia, North Macedonia and Hungary, as well as astute additions from England. Within the latter were valuable recruits via the loan pathway, including Luca Stephenson and striker Sam Dalby, who added vital goals as United carried the confidence and momentum from promotion into the top flight.

The stated pre-season target of avoiding foot-of-table struggles quickly turned to securing a top six position at the 33-game Premiership split.

By time that split occurred, United were not only secure in the top half, but also very much in shape for European qualification. Despite no return from the first four post-split fixtures, United headed into the final game at home to Aberdeen with that still in their own hands.

The fighting spirit and connection between pitch and stands lifted the atmosphere to a fever pitch as a quickfire second half double in front of the Eddie Thompson Stand gave United a win against Goodwin’s former club.

PHASE FOUR - CONSOLIDATION OF SUCCESS

Striving for prolonged success meant that further reinvigoration of the playing staff was required for the further development needed to cement the Club back as a Premiershipmainstay.

United had enjoyed similar moderate success - top six and European qualification - under Tam Courts in their second season after previous promotion, but the follow-up to that is what led to Goodwin’s initial Tannadice arrival nine months afterwards. There could be no repeat this time.

As a player, many remember Goodwin as an unforgiving midfield enforcer. As a manager, however, his time at Tannadice has shown that he can easily combine the ‘old school’ Scottish football pragmatism around pressing, physicality and being direct when conditions dictate, but also the modern aspects to use data, analytics and a more measured approach on the pitch when players with the right technique and attributes can open up opponents.

That doesn’t just need to focus on transfers – Ross Goodwin’s arrival to the club as Head of Recruitment heralded the use of data as a key metric to identify and qualify targets – but also to the approach on pitch, with Goodwin working well with his analysis team in preparation for matches and to adjust during games.

After United’s first season back in the Premiership, Goodwin recognised the balance between attack and defence warranted a little tweak. He’d studied different approaches across the continent to land upon a favoured tactical approach that offered flexibility of shape and style but needed the right players to maximise the extent of this.

Finding a way to set a higher defensive line to allow more sustained pressure in an opposition half needed those with experience of reading the game and pace to recover. More energy was desired in the middle third, also with the physicality to support the back three, and with the passing range to benefit from more advanced players taking up positions in wide or inside channels.

Then there was the task of replacing the goals of Dalby, whose impact at Tannadice had led to financial offers from clubs in England that United simply couldn’t compete with.

All this against the backdrop of an early season demand to be ready for the UEFA Conference League Qualifiers. For the first time since 1997 under Tommy McLean, United were successful in beating European opposition across a two-legged tie when they defeated FC Una Strassen of Luxembourg's top-flight.

A much sterner test followed against SK Rapid Wien. United surprised many by earning a draw in the first leg in Austria. Undoubtedly the biggest frustration so far this season has been the inability to secure victory from winning positions, and this was already evident by mid-August in the second leg when United were pegged back from a 2-0 half-time advantage, going on to lose the tie in a penalty shootout.

A missed opportunity, but a major contrast not only to the club’s position when Goodwin arrived, but also to where United found themselves after their previous European experience at AZ Alkmaar just three years earlier. Indeed, 2025/26 represents the first time that United have gone unbeaten in more than one away match in a single European campaign since 1988 under Jim McLean.

Unlike three years ago, the exit from Europe didn’t signal a domestic nosedive as United – although frustratingly frequent to concede preventable goals – were able to take up a position in mid-table.

Signs of promise from summer arrivals, the continued development of Academy graduates around the first team, and the overcoming of setbacks from injuries has followed. Despite seeming destined to finish this season of consolidation without the level of league position from 2024/25, the Quarter-Finals of the Scottish Cup have been reached for only the fourth time in the past ten years.

Given the Scottish Premiership’s current average managerial tenure of 18-24 months, Jim Goodwin has not only taken a place among the modern-day longest serving Dundee United managers, but he’s also bucked the trend in a climate where instant success is demanded more than ever.

Of current Premiership clubs, only two Managers have served for longer than Jim Goodwin at their current club. John McGlynn’s Falkirk are showing the same results of momentum and confidence this season as United did last term following promotion, and elsewhere, this season’s League Cup Winners St Mirren show that sometimes stability reaps reward, as Stephen Robinson arrived in Paisley in February 2022 to continue a progressive path started by his predecessor.

That predecessor’s name? Jim Goodwin.

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