For someone lambasted with such heavy criticism for his alleged negative approach in defeat to Celtic, Jim Goodwin paints a much more positive picture at Aberdeen.
The Pittodrie boss came under fire from pundits and a small section of supporters after a late Callum McGregor strike denied Aberdeen a point after a resolute defensive display.
Pragmatic Goodwin - who himself admits it's not a style he wants his side known for - was pleased with the defensive display on the whole but understands the minor fan backlash.
However, he did defend his side's recent form at home and talked up previous performances which have Aberdeen as the third top scorers in the league with all but seven of their 29 goals in the league scored at Pittodrie.
After all, Aberdeen remain third in the table and have, Saturday aside, been in scintillating form on their own patch.
"To be perfectly honest, I haven’t read or seen a thing. I haven’t had a chance to watch Sportscene or anything over the weekend. I’ve been busy," said Goodwin when asked if he was surprised by the response to his side's performance.
"I’m not aware of any backlash. Obviously, there were one or two murmurs after the game. The supporters were disappointed we lost the game, which is understandable."
Goodwin, 41, is under no illusions of the expectations at Aberdeen. But the progress made from last season is stark - as he mentioned when reflecting on the weekend.
"The expectation is there, absolutely," he said. We are sitting third in the table as opposed to fighting a relegation battle last year. We’ve got a cup semi-final to look forward to.
"I think the players as a whole have done quite well, particularly at home. That was only our second defeat in eight league fixtures at Pittodrie. The fans have been outstanding in that run of games.
"We played against the best team in the league on Saturday. I believe Celtic will hammer teams between now and the end of the season.
"Obviously, we would love at one point to be able to go toe-to-toe with Celtic. I think this young team we have put together, it’s very early days in what we’re trying to do here.
"Unfortunately, we’re not quite at Celtic’s level. I certainly can look at it in a pragmatic and realistic way. But I accept the criticism that comes our way, of course."
It's perhaps fitting that Goodwin's next match comes against Rangers at Pittodrie. The Aberdeen boss has faced both aftermath extremes against the Glasgow rivals this season.
Aberdeen were commended for their attacking intent at Ibrox in a 4-1 defeat earlier this season before Goodwin was slated at the weekend despite the narrow defeat.
Goodwin mused: "It’s always funny. We go to Ibrox and get beat 4-1 and everybody gives you a pat on the back and says: 'Oh well, at least you had a go'. And it could have been 10-1.
“We watch those games back and think we can’t go that way against Celtic because if they beat us 4-1 or 5-1 at home then we’re really going to get a lot of trouble after the game.
“So, we tried to come up with a plan to contain Celtic. It did for large spells. We didn’t offer enough for large spells offensively and we accept that."
Liam Scales will return to the fold for Aberdeen at Ibrox tonight - having been unavailable against parent club Celtic - and Goodwin is hopeful he'll keep the defender for the rest of the season.
He said: “The chairman was due to speak to Celtic’s board to get a feel for what their thought are.
“I know that Steven Gunn (Director of Football) has been on to Celtic already.
“I think we will get confirmation on that one pretty soon.
“Obviously Celtic have signed another defender who will be coming into their fold in January.
“The boy Jenz was on the bench for them on Saturday and Stafelt is back now.
“Realistically I’m not sure they will be needing Liam back but we will have to wait to get that confirmed."
