MARK REYNOLDS thinks Jim Goodwin stepped up the pressure on himself by firing Andy Considine.
The Aberdeen legend will leave the club at the end of the season after failing to negotiate a new deal with Pittodrie.
Last week, Goodwin released a statement criticizing the player and his agent for leaking information that he was leaving, as well as revealing details of contract negotiations.
Reynolds, who played with Considine for seven years, says the Dons missed him a lot while he was sidelined with a cruciate ligament injury.
And he insists that Goodwin has a huge responsibility to find someone better.
He said Sky Sport: “When you make important decisions, you create more pressure, and for me, this decision created more pressure.
“Football is about making stories. You could draw a narrative that Andy is 35 years old and recovering from a serious injury.
“For me, the truth is that Andy has been a huge disadvantage for Aberdeen this season, they missed having him in the team.
“He brings a calmness, composure and firmness in the back that they never had.
“So to support Aberdeen and the team that mourned him, starting next season saying we don’t need you is a big decision.
“This is what you live or die with as a manager.
“I am sure that if Aberdeen goes away, succeeds and does not need it, then this is the right decision.
“But I’m sure someone like Andy, his locker room aura will be missed anyway.
“You will never meet a better pro or a better guy in football than Andy.
“He had opportunities to leave Aberdeen, bigger clubs came to him and tried to poach him, but he always wanted to stay at Aberdeen.
“Personally, I find it strange how it all happened.
“I understand that Jim Goodwin wants his own players to be there and wants to send a message.
“But when a modern legend like Andy Considine, I know the Aberdeen legend is reserved for Willie Miller, Alex McLeish and Joe Harper, but for 18 years he has remained staunch.
“He ditched any competition that came along and always found himself on the team.
“From what was released by the club, Andy made an offer and turned it down – that’s the definition of negotiation.
“They come to you with something and you come back with something and then you meet in the middle.
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“Or you’ll find a way to part amicably, which is the least Andy deserves.”
“Something doesn’t work for me.”
Reynolds was part of Don’s team under Derek McInnes, who always finished in the top six and even challenged Celtic for a couple of seasons.
The Dons fired their longtime boss last March before bringing in Stephen Glass and then Goodwin when he left this February.
Reynolds insists that there is no doubt that this side of Don did a poor job at the task at hand and needs to take stock of what went wrong.
He said: “Aberdeen didn’t do well this season? There is no other way to dress it up.
“For the last ten years they have been aiming for Europe, and for several seasons they have fully promoted Celtic.
“So dropping out of the top six is a huge, big blow, and there will be some big questions from within the company.
“The chairman of the club definitely put his money into the development of the team, and he also took a risk at the beginning of the season by bringing in an untested manager in the form of Stephen Glass.
“The argument could be that Dundee United did the same and it paid off for them.
“It’s recruiting, building dressing rooms and building teams, but they didn’t have that kind of consistency.
“When they needed big performances, they didn’t give them.
“There are huge questions to be answered.”
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