WRITE down a list of managers and players you would expect to be big fans of the work of the Scottish Football Association's Compliance Officer and it would be quite some time before Jim Goodwin's name flowed from the barrel of your quill.

St Mirren's combative player-coach has, rightly or wrongly, the whiff of a man who should be naturally opposed to the idea of the off-the-ball skirmish and the sly dig behind the referee's back being dissected frame-by-frame by Hampden's man with the bans.

He was one of Vincent Lunny's early victims back in late 2011 when accepting a two-game suspension for having punched Steve Jennings of Motherwell in the stomach and landed another spell on the sidelines just last season for flooring Dundee United's Stuart Armstrong with a forearm smash that carried echoes of the days when Big Daddy was the nation's biggest draw on a Saturday afternoon.

Lunny, of course, is now off training to be an advocate and his successor, Tony McGlennan, will take centre stage tomorrow when Kris Boyd contests his offer of a two-match ban for an alleged headbutt on Jordon Forster of Hibernian during Rangers' recent 3-1 loss to the Easter Road side.

McGlennan, a Glasgow-based lawyer, had been shadowing Lunny until last week. The first test of his powers came when Bilel Mohsni accepted his punishment for taking a swipe at Liam Fontaine during that same match at Ibrox and the next will arrive when Boyd submits the argument against his ban.

Goodwin is unwilling to offer a judgment on McGlennan's ability to construct a case with the same forensic detail as his predecessor, but he believes all players must now be aware that they cannot get away with anything untoward on the field of play and that being carpeted by the compliance officer is simply part of keeping football's image clean.

Yes, this is the same Jim Goodwin we are talking about. The Irish bloke with the shaven head.

"I don't really feel comfortable talking about it because my record is a shambles," smiled Goodwin. "People will laugh at me telling people what they should be doing. I can't listen to myself half the time, so I can't give anyone advice on that matter. As players, we've all got a responsibility to stick to the rules of the game.

"What I do know is things happen in the heat of the moment. I've had my difficulties in the past and done some stupid things. When you have done something stupid, you know almost immediately it was the wrong thing. With hindsight, you wouldn't do it, but the compliance officer is there for the good of the game. They've got an important job. If things do get missed by the officials, it's important things are punished sufficiently."

Goodwin, of course, now serves as assistant manager at St Mirren in addition to taking care of his playing duties. You can argue that he has to be seen to respect officialdom but he is one of these men whose on-field persona does not reflect the person you meet behind the scenes.

Goodwin is friendly, cordial and interesting. Unlike many of his ilk, he is also willing to talk about almost anything. He learned his trade as a young man at Celtic, then left a couple of years into the Martin O'Neill era, having been witness to a domestic treble and some memorable evenings in the Champions League.

That team assembled by O'Neill was formidable, in the extreme. The mere mention of Celtic Park terrorised opposing players.

As another of his former clubs, Hamilton Academical, proved at the weekend, that is no longer the case under current manager Ronny Deila and Goodwin believes that it is proving to be of great benefit to Scottish football as a whole. "Celtic, with the squad and resources they have, are expected to go and win the league," said Goodwin. "I expect them to win it and to get it right. Craig Gordon has to be the signing of the decade when you consider they paid no money for him. He still looks a world-class goalkeeper.

"What has been proven by recent results is that they are not going to get it all their own way. The fear factor isn't there anymore, to be honest. Teams look forward to playing Celtic. For their players, it must be difficult because it is like a cup final every week.

"The pressure is always on them because they're expected to turn you over. That's the difficulty they have at the moment. It's great for the league. If Celtic were sitting there with a 10-point lead and the league was wrapped up, people would be bored already. It's good they've got competition from Aberdeen and Dundee United and Hamilton, who are proving everyone wrong.

"We had a good go at our place recently and were disappointed not to come away with anything. I think it's good to be disappointed not to take a point off the champions."

Goodwin sees clear reasons for optimism at St Mirren following a dreadful start to the season. Seven points from four games and a decent display in the 2-1 loss to Celtic have taken them out of the relegation places, with the performances of a number of young players bringing particular pleasure.

"In the last couple of weeks, when we had injuries to more experienced boys, the younger lads have had to be called upon," said Goodwin. "They have come in and been absolutely terrific. Usually, John McGinn and Kenny McLean take a lot of the plaudits, but Sean Kelly came back in to left-back while Thomas Reilly is a natural striker and had to fit into midfield. These boys are in now and it's up to them to keep the jersey. There's no reason to change it."

Supportive and encouraging, Goodwin is turning into a real father figure. Proof, perhaps, that age mellows us all.

Jim Goodwin was speaking at the launch of the Topps SPFL Match Attax Collection, which features all Scottish Premiership and Scottish Championship clubs. It is on sale now.