Quite by chance, I have encountered Aberdeen’s new manager before.
It was 9am on a spring morning in the unlikely setting of a Cumbernauld corner shop, whose chocolate stocks were being assessed by a familiar Irishman with a silvered beard.
It was striking because, only hours before clocking on for this shift in his confectionery distribution day job, Jim Goodwin had been in a dugout in Inverness, trying to steer his Alloa side away from the Championship relegation zone.
It was a task whose difficulty he acknowledged was significantly increased by his players, the division’s only part-timers, having put in a full day’s work beforehand.
Though neither of the jobs he held down in 2019 – with the Wasps or the Wispas – are directly relevant to the project he assumes at Pittodrie, they speak of a man who has seen professional football’s less glamorous side.
It is clear he is not afraid of working harder than everyone else in pursuit of success either.
The same applied to a playing career in which Goodwin made his talents go far further than the eye would have judged.
The team he now leads has the opposite problem. It is less than the sum of its parts.
And so, if he can inspire buy-in from the beleaguered, belaboured squad, there is immediate upside for a tireless maximiser to exploit.
Aberdeen need a new identity under their new manager
The style – whatever Dave Cormack’s data tells him – must change, for it cannot be simple bad luck for a team to have so much possession yet make scoring goals look this much harder at one end of the pitch than the other.
But if Goodwin can make his players think and act like ones who need to outdo opponents in every aspect to prevail, delivering that chocolate chip from his shoulder to theirs, he has the tools to exceed norms.
Though many of the questions raised of Goodwin’s appointment are valid and understandable, they are the same ones asked of Derek McInnes when he inherited a side sitting in a remarkably similar position.
The future lasts a long time: in the here and now, Goodwin may be bringing the boost Aberdeen need.