Dundee United Manager Jim Goodwin Aims to Create “Nervous Tension” at Ibrox

Manager Jim Goodwin stated that the prospect of drawing even on points with Rangers this Saturday serves as a “huge motivation” for Dundee United, as he encouraged his team to generate “some nervous tension” at Ibrox. Goodwin’s most recent trip to Ibrox with United on 1 April 2023 ended in a 2-0 loss. Currently, United holds the fourth position in the Premiership, trailing Rangers by three points and one spot. Goodwin remarked, “We want to stay as close as we can to the teams above us – a win would be fantastic.” He added, “That is a huge motivation for the players.” He further noted, “We have analysed Rangers and I thought St Mirren and Hearts in particular ran them really close at Ibrox. We have to learn from that.” Despite a somewhat sluggish start to the season, Rangers have secured victories in all six of their Premiership home fixtures. For United, their last league triumph at Ibrox dates back 13 years. Goodwin affirmed, “We go into every game trying to be positive,” highlighting recent successes that have ended long-standing winless streaks. He elaborated, “The boys have ticked off a few of those kind of records; we hadn’t beaten St Johnstone for about a decade at Tannadice and I think it was about 14 or 15 years since Dundee United last won at Tynecastle.” He concluded, “Records have to change at some point and there is no reason why we can’t be the team to put another one straight.” Rangers, currently nine points behind Celtic and Aberdeen, secured a 1-0 victory against United at Tannadice in September, marking their sole away win in five matches this season. As Saturday’s hosts aim to reduce their points deficit, Goodwin, with the return of fit-again striker Louis Moult, anticipates leveraging any potential unease among the spectators. Goodwin commented, “We know how good the Rangers fans can be in terms of creating a good atmosphere.” He then added, “But on the flip side of that, if we can go there and get the game plan right and try and create some nervous tension about the place, we know the fans can very quickly get on the backs of the players.” He suggested this approach is common, stating, “That is what a lot of mangers would be saying to their players going into these games.” Goodwin further elaborated on the opposition, saying, “To play for a club like Rangers you have got to be a strong character and that character has been called into question numerous times this season, so we have got to put Rangers under as much pressure as we can.” He concluded, “We’ve got to take the positives from the last time we played them and I believe we have got players that can cause Rangers problems.”