Aberdeen boss Jim Goodwin insists there is no ill feeling between himself and Andy Considine after confirming the veteran defender’s 18-year Dons career will end this summer.
Goodwin moved to clarify the situation on Wednesday after claiming details of a confidential meeting with the 35-year-old Scotland international had been leaked, saying that he felt like he and the club had been “thrown under the bus”.
Considine had originally been offered a one-year deal with a pathway into coaching in the club’s youth academy but after further discussions with Goodwin he will bid farewell to Aberdeen at the end of the season.
Speaking further on the matter on Thursday, Goodwin said: “There’s absolutely no bad blood whatsoever between myself and Andy.
“There was real disappointment on my part that the conversation that we had on Monday managed to drift its way out into the media.
“As a club, we wanted to be the ones to break that news to our supporters because it is quite a big deal at the end of the day, and we wanted Andy to play his part in the statement as well but we were denied that opportunity.
“These are things that we would rather be able to bring to our supporters ourselves.
“The fact that that was denied to us on Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning was very disappointing.
“And I told Andy that, whether it was Andy or his agent or a member of his family but certainly nobody from in-house here at Aberdeen had to put that out there in the public.
“So that was a disappointment from us. But as far as Andy is concerned, he remains training with the group.
“He trained this morning, he trained well, we had a conversation this morning before that.”
Goodwin, who is preparing for the final pre-split game on Saturday against Ross County where he still harbours hopes of a top-six finish in the cinch Premiership, added of the long-serving defender: “He will remain part of the squad going forward and I suppose the really important thing here is that the Aberdeen supporters will get the opportunity to show their appreciation to Andy in the weeks ahead.
“I’ve got no doubt that they’ll give him a good reception on Saturday when he’s part of the squad for the Ross County.”
