The path from St Mirren to Pittodrie is well-tread one when it comes to Aberdeen managers.
In a month where the most famous coach to make the journey north from Paisley will visit the Granite City, where a statue will be unveiled in his honour, the remit for the Dons’ latest appointment will be somewhat different.
Sir Alex Ferguson was charged with the task of winning the league championship when he replaced Billy McNeill in the summer of 1978.
He delivered it two years later and then some – as further league titles, cup success and two European trophies followed in a stunning eight-year spell before he was lured to England by Manchester United in 1986.
Alex Smith followed Ferguson in making the trip north from Love Street and delivered a cup double-winning season in 1989-90 before taking the club to a final-day decider against Rangers at Ibrox in 1991.
The good old days, where clubs not named Celtic or Rangers had a genuine chance of competing for the league title.
Much has changed since then with the financial dominance of the big two effectively rendering Scottish football as a two-horse race and you have to go back to 1985 for the last time a team other than Glasgow’s big two were crowned champions.
That was Ferguson’s Dons team.
Europe is Goodwin’s immediate aim
Jim Goodwin’s initial challenge will be to restore the Dons to their more recent past glory of being regular European campaigners.
It will not be an easy task.
The 40-year-old has served his apprenticeship in the lower leagues of Scottish football and with St Mirren.
But he has arrived at Pittodrie to take charge of an Aberdeen team languishing in eighth place in the Scottish Premiership.
They are only three points off fourth place, which holds the carrot of European football this summer.
But the Dons have showed little to suggest they will continue their fine recent tradition of competing in Europe every year.
You have to go back to the summer of 2013 for a pre-season where Aberdeen were not in Europe.
The closest the Dons came to European football back then was an Energy Cities Cup match against Viking Stavanger.
Derek McInnes changed all that by leading the club to Europe for eight seasons in a row.
Even though he departed in March last year, he had effectively done enough to secure Europe for his club before making way for Stephen Glass.
Dons chairman Dave Cormack’s desire is to see his club recognised as one of the top 100 clubs in Europe by Uefa.
Right now he would settle for earning a seat back at the table of European club competition.
Repairing the fragile confidence at Pittodrie will be key
Goodwin has it all to do. His appointment has happened because the man he has replaced in the Pittodrie dugout has gone awry.
Too many misjudged signings and an erosion of the confidence and assurance which was the hallmark of the club in recent years has left the team a shell of what it once was.
Forget tactics and formations – Goodwin first needs to rebuild and restore the fragile confidence of his new charges and give them the belief the remaining matches of this campaign can produce a tangible benefit.
It is a tough task at a time when the same players he needs to rely upon will also find themselves being assessed.
Given the number one reason he is at Pittodrie is because of their poor results only adds to the degree of difficulty he faces.
But with futures at stake, the new manager will be hoping to use the period between now and the end of the season to lead a revival.
If he succeeds, there will be no statue. Not yet, anyway.
But he will have earned the gratitude of his chairman and given himself a more secure foundation to build from in the summer.
