275 years as your voice
The winter break comes at the worst time imaginable for Aberdeen and manager Barry Robson.
Saturday’s 3-0 home defeat to St Mirren is a terrible form for the Dons to end 2023 and the manager has been in the game long enough to know that such effects are unacceptable at the club.
Barry doesn’t want me to tell him that there will be a great strain on his shoulders if a rejuvenated Ross County, led by Derek Adams, changes in Dingwall today.
Winter break is when you play well and score points. It’s an opportunity to take inventory and regroup for the second part of the season.
But at the moment it seems that Aberdeen are in a scenario where they need to play more games and have more problems on the board.
These postponed games, coupled with an inconsistent season, make them fun to watch when you look at the Premiership table and only when those games are played will we have a true picture of the Dons’ situation.
I take a look at Scottish football and put Aberdeen, Hearts and Hibernian on equal footing with Celtic and Rangers in terms of fan base and resources.
When you’re a coach at one of those clubs, there’s a sure point of tension and expectations that come with the job.
It doesn’t matter whether an experienced manager or a new face on the management scene is expected to compete.
I’m also talking about challenging Rangers or Celtic in the league; I’m talking about fighting for third place and regularly betting on European football.
Aberdeen still have a chance to catch Hearts and get involved, but the fact is that they have a lot of work ahead of them at the moment.
There’s a full space this weekend, but I saw the home game against St Mirren as a chance to catch up for the Dons.
With a couple of postponements this month, the St Mirren game was a crucial one for Aberdeen.
Not accepting three painful enough problems, but wasting 3-0 at home the way they did wasn’t enough.
The coach said that after the game, it was the biggest anger he had ever felt and that anger on par with that of the fans.
Many had left before the halftime whistle, but those who stayed let the players know how they felt about what they had just seen.
Barry and his players have to take that criticism squarely on the chin as they know the fans were entitled to boo. It was an unacceptable performance and result.
Losing 3-0 at home can almost be tolerated if you’re deficient and facing a Celtic or Rangers team who are firing at full throttle.
But the fans are never going to accept that scoreline against a club with the meagre resources St Mirren have in comparison to Aberdeen.
The Dons were beaten on Saturday and deserved to have left Paisley with nothing previous to the season.
They were beaten there too, if we’re being honest, but they controlled themselves to take a point they just didn’t deserve.
The manager has received good support this season and I’m sure he has a strong team in Pittodrie, but it’s clear that his performance is poor.
Barry has to get wins on the board and finding the required consistency is his biggest challenge.
There have been some moments this season, but there have also been some bad ones.
The transfer window is now open but I’m not expecting a flurry of activity at Pittodrie this month.
A lot of painting has been done this summer and the manager has received support from the board of directors to create a new logo for the team.
I’m not privy to the financial situation at the club but I can’t see a month of further wholesale changes being made just six months after the last overhaul.
I look at Barry Robson’s team and I see a decent organization there. They gave him a smart policy for each and every position and the young players who come in have their chance.
It would not be unexpected to see loan players who have not played return to their parent clubs, while other members of the first team have also had little time to play.
But I think it will be necessary for the players to leave before new faces appear. We are in for a month of adjustments instead of primary surgery.
What the focus does have to be on is moving up the league.
The Scottish Cup is equally important for the club.
The fans are not happy with the current situation but the best way to get them back on board is by showing that improvement they crave in the league and by having a good cup run.
The quality is there to do both.
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