Scottish Cup 4th round
Darvel 1 Aberdeen 0

Jim Goodwin’s future as Aberdeen manager is in major doubt after the Dons were dumped out of the Scottish Cup by minnows Darvel.

Already under pressure going into the tie against a team in the sixth tier of Scottish football after a dismal run of results, there seems little prospect of him continuing in charge after the humiliation in Ayrshire.

The Dons got what they deserved as the West of Scotland Football League Premier Division side inflicted Aberdeen’s worst result in their 120-year history, the Recreation Park horror show topping previous cup exits to Stenhousemuir, East Fife and Queens Park.

Jordan Kirkpatrick wrote himself into Scottish Cup folklore with his first-half winner, Darvel’s deserved triumph going down as one of the tournament’s biggest ever shocks.

The defeat means the Reds have recorded just one win in nine matches since the winter break, the run testing the patience of owner Dave Cormack.

Speaking after the humbling fourth-round defeat just days after a 5-0 thrashing from Hearts, Goodwin insisted he was still the man for the job.

“We have a bit of assessing to do that’s for sure,” he said. “I do believe I can turn it around, absolutely.

“I have confidence in the squad I have got, although we are going through a very difficult period at the moment.

“The last two results have been extremely disappointing.

“To concede five in midweek against Hearts and then to come here to a junior team and get turned over is embarrassing and humiliating for everyone connected to the club.

“I can only apologise. I speak on behalf of everyone, the staff and players here – we are extremely embarrassed by what happened.

“As a manager especially as the size of Aberdeen, you need to win games of football and our form since the World Cup break hasn’t been good enough.

“This is an extremely difficult result for me to take.”

The Irishman, who has been in the post for less than a year after replacing the sacked Stephen Glass, heaped praise on the victorious home side.

“We’ve come here as the Premiership team against a team who are many tiers below us and we should’ve put on a better performance, it’s as simple as that,” he said.

“I don’t want to talk about how bad my team’s performance was, I want to congratulate Darvel.

“I thought they were excellent on the night, got their noses in front and defended for their lives. They thoroughly deserved their victory.”