Dons must ignore mind games and take the high road
BOBBY JONES famously suggested golf is a game played on a five-inch course between the ears.
But his adage about his own game can just as easily apply to any sport – especially football.
The pitch at Hampden is 115 yards long and 75 yards wide. It’s absolutely massive. But the space between the ears will be just as important this weekend as the size of the playing surface.
It might have been subtle but the battle of wits has started already.
Brendan Rodgers fired the opening shots. It’s probably no surprise a man who studied neurolinguistic programming for five years is fluent in mind games.
Neuro-linguistics is basically a user manual for the mind, a way of using, words and body language to hard-wire people’s thought processes.
It gets into players’ heads, helps figure out what makes them tick and gets them to overcome whatever stuff is blocking them from achieving peak performance.
It has been done by gaffers since time began but has only in recent decades got a label and a field of study.
It can also be used to manipulate rivals.
Rodgers doesn’t waste a word. Last Sunday he had blank-faced hacks digging out dictionaries when he spoke about telling his players about being “infrangible”.
It didn’t take the Oxford English to spell out what was going on the previous week when he threw a wee snider at Aberdeen.
After his side’s 3-1 win at Pittodrie, Rodgers said: “Aberdeen are a very direct team. The ball from behind is in the air, the ball down the sides is in the air, so you’re having to deal with a lot of long-ball football.”
Fair enough. But Rodgers knows the connotations of branding rivals long-ball merchants.
It’s a slap on the chops in football terms. For some reason a lot of folk take it as an insult but the Dons should view it as a chink of light.
They shouldn’t feel remotely guilty if taking the high road is what is required to give Celtic grief in the Final.
It should be the opposite. Celtic didn’t enjoy the 80 minutes or so when Aberdeen shelled them at Pittodrie. The Dons got a bit of joy and it should have given them the blueprint for Hampden.
Derek McInnes’s side can’t play Celtic at their own game. It would be folly. Rodgers might be trying to tempt them into having a bash but they can’t fall for it. It’s a trap.
It’s not a fair fight when you have guys on two grand a week taking on rivals on 10 times that amount. You need to find other ways. You need to use your napper.
Building out from the back against the highpressing Hoops hasn’t worked for anyone this season. You lose the ball and end up under constant pressure.
Perhaps the best way is
Rodgers may be trying to tempt them into having a bash but they can’t fall for it. It’s a trap
to defend deep and in numbers and get it up the other end as early as possible. Get the widemen to leg it up pronto to support the big fella up front.
It might not be pretty on the heat map but it might be the only way to turn up the temperature.
Aberdeen have tried it in the last couple of encounters. They went man for man all over the pitch at Parkhead and looked to ping long diagonals when possible.
It nearly came off. Hearts tried it last Sunday but couldn’t get the ball to stick when they went forward and didn’t have the players’ support when they did. Aberdeen do. Celtic are a juggernaut and if they turn it on they won’t be stopped. But if the Dons are to have any hope they need to use brains and keep Celtic’s manager out of their heads. IT’S one of the cup cliches rolled out at Aberdeen every time they get a sniff of glory ... and it’s almost rude not to bring up the pictures on the walls of Pittodrie.
Some see the Dons glory days as a millstone while others use it as an inspiration.
Adam Rooney has his own spot in the corridors of the famous old ground. Scoring the winning penalty in the League Cup Final shootout in 2014 earned him a permanent place in the Aberdeen hall of fame.
But even the star striker admits not every picture tells a story.
The Dons have arguably enjoyed their most successful campaign for 25 years – regardless of what happens in the Scottish Cup Final.
Two cup finals, countless records broken and the unofficial title of being best of the rest in Scotland is an impressive season.
But Rooney is well aware you don’t end up in a frame on the wall for finishing second. Memory Lane doesn’t have a nook and cranny for runners-up and he’s determined to get the better of Celtic and get his