http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/aberdeen-receiving-unfair-criticism-after-9367462
Excellent article
Aberdeen deserve credit for what they are doing, not criticism.
The fallout from the
Betfred Cup Final last Sunday has been fascinating.
The Dons were well beaten by
Celtic – no one can argue with that. It was a comprehensive 3-0 defeat.
But some of the flak aimed in their direction since they trooped out of the National Stadium with losers’ medals has been frankly preposterous.
Celtic have some players in their squad earning in excess of £30,000 a week. That’s at least six times what you’ll take home at Pittodrie.
It’s the same as the majority of Barcelona’s top stars who came to Parkhead four days earlier get six times as much as Celtic’s top earners.
Theoretically that means, as
Aberdeen chairman Stewart Milne claimed, we should really be comparing the gulf between Celtic and Aberdeen in the same way as we view the gulf between Barca and Celtic.
Aberdeen chairman Stewart Milne
Now it’s not that big, we all know that. But to be hammering Aberdeen for being soundly beaten by Celtic is a bit like slagging off your old man for losing to Rory McIlroy at golf.
You can argue, correctly as Willie Miller has done, that the Dons made it too easy for Celtic.
They stood off them during the opening periods of the game and let Brendan Rodgers’s team dictate the tempo.
At no point did they slam in a few tackles to try to ruffle the champions up. Sports View is certainly not going to argue with one of the greatest players the club has ever had but Derek McInnes’s team tried that approach at Pittodrie a month earlier and it still didn’t work.
No one is saying McInnes is the greatest manager on earth. No one is saying his team are magnificent. No one is disputing the Dons boss has made some mistakes and the players have let themselves down on a couple of big occasions. If you are going to point fingers for specific instances, though, it’s important to give reasons.
If you look at big matches in the cup competitions, Aberdeen had a real setback when they lost a Scottish Cup semi-final 2-1 to St Johnstone in April 2014 after taking a 15th-minute lead.
Celtic go into their famous huddle ahead of the Betfred Cup final while the Aberdeen team look on
They did the same thing against Dundee United in a League Cup semi-final the following season. There have been other cup setbacks in earlier rounds.
Among the supporters there are those who don’t understand why the manager makes some of his changes.
The use of Graeme Shinnie in midfield puzzles, as does the need to deploy Andrew Considine at left-back when McInnes makes such a decision.
Dropping Adam Rooney and James Maddison for October’s Premiership defeat to Celtic was hammered by his own fans yet he brought them back for the Cup Final at Hampden and it didn’t change anything.
The manager knows his players better than any one of us and the bottom line is that for every mistake on the pitch or in the dugout, there have been three good decisions and good displays.
McInnes’s team is young and vibrant when they turn it on. They go on winning runs and have brought supporters back into Pittodrie with an exciting brand of football. Ex-Aberdeen striker Charlie Nicholas said they have stagnated. How’s that?
Managers Brendan Rodgers and Derek McInnes lead out their teams ahead of the Betfred Cup Final
They reached the first cup final of the season, got to within a missed penalty kick of the play-off round for the Europa League group stage and still look the best bet to finish closest to Celtic in the title race.
Sure there have been bad days but every club has them.
Instead of slaughtering Aberdeen we should be commending them for actually making a fist of things over the past three years.
The cynics who point out the Dons, for all the plaudits, have won the same number of trophies as Ross County and Inverness Caley Thistle in the past four years are being churlish.
While Rangers were languishing in the lower leagues McInnes’s team have been the only ones to even come close to having a proper go at Celtic in the title race.
Had Milne seen the possibility of history and handed McInnes a couple of extra bob last January when Ronny Deila’s team were on the ropes with their eyes glazed over, they might have upset the odds Buster Douglas-style and delivered a knockout punch to claim a title and go down in folklore.
They didn’t – but they have still been the second best. Aberdeen might be that again this season although given the comparative riches on offer at Ibrox that’s some going.
Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes
You can talk all you like about Light Blues boss Mark Warburton not having the same funds as Celtic or finding his feet in the top league but McInnes could only dream of shelling out £1.8million for Joe Garner.
Rangers are above Aberdeen in the table but they have played two more games.
And if the Dons pull off a win at Ibrox on Saturday it will be another praiseworthy effort that puts them back in pole position to be best of the rest.
Best of the rest might not be good enough for some Aberdeen fans but that’s the way it is.
Spare us the Leicester guff. They won the Premier League title because the big clubs flopped for an entire season.
Whether you like McInnes or not, just look at the state of Aberdeen under the likes of Ebbe Skovdahl and ask yourself if the current criticism of him and his players is really justified.
Aberdeen fans should be very careful what they wish for.
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