ON RED ALERT
Drama for Dons need not end up in a crisis
SPEAKING last week in the BBC programme that accompanied the launch of his latest book Leading, Sir Alex Ferguson eloquently summed up the essence of being the manager of Manchester United.
‘When you’re at the top … and you’ve got there and the view is beautiful … in normal circumstances you have to come down the mountain,’ he said. ‘Not in football. At Manchester United you have to stay up there and look at the view — you can’t come down.’
While it would be ludicrous to draw any comparisons between the global superpower United are these days and Ferguson’s former club, Aberdeen, those words do carry no little resonance for the current incumbents of the Pittodrie dressing room. Rewind to September 15 and Aberdeen were flying so high that the entirety of Scottish football was beneath them. A single-goal victory in a re-arranged midweek game with Hamilton sent the Dons five points clear at the top of the Premiership table. The following Sunday, Hearts were swept away in a three-goal first-half blitz at Tynecastle to ensure the view from the top remained. Eight straight league wins had been racked up, outstripping the record of five set at the outset of the 1984-85 season when you-know-who was still at the helm.
But, since then, Derek McInnes’ side haven’t so much slipped and stumbled as plunged off the edge of the mountain.
As disappointing as a League Cup reverse at Hibs was, such a lacklustre display was long overdue and was therefore forgivable.
Yet, the three consequent league defeats to Inverness Caley Thistle, St Johnstone and Ross County have seen a blip turn into a bad patch.
A full-blown crisis remains some way off but the downturn in form has been dramatic enough to give considerable grounds for concern.
The numbers concerned are almost impossible to comprehend. In winning their first eight league matches, McInnes’ side conceded just three league goals.
Yet they have now shipped 11 in just four matches.
The curious thing is that process of elimination offers the manager no real insight into what has gone so badly wrong.
In defeating Dundee United on day one, McInnes fielded a back four of Shay Logan, Paul Quinn, Ash Taylor and Andrew Considine.
Graeme Shinnie, who began the season in midfield, has reverted to left-back on four occasions when either Paul Quinn or Andrew Considine were benched but, with the exception of Ryan McLaughlin starting ahead of Shay Logan in the Hamilton game, personnel changes have largely been as expected.
One theory is that the physical toll of such a small band of players being so miserly for long has finally come home to roost.
There may be something in this. Notwithstanding the demands of the first round of Premiership games, it’s worth remembering that Aberdeen also had to endure trips to Macedonia, Croatia and Kazakhstan — all before a curtain-raiser at Tannadice.
Given both the distances involved and the high calibre of opponents they faced, it’s perhaps a wonder that they managed to maintain a perfect league record for as long as they did.
But, for all the recent run has been both perplexing and damaging, Aberdeen would do well to remind themselves that they remain well ahead of schedule.
At this juncture last season, they had accumulated just 19 points — a start that was still good enough to take the league race into the first weekend in May.
Already, they are five points better off this time around.
If there’s a degree of solace to be had from the fact that their position remains the envy of most clubs in the land, then McInnes will need no reminding of the need to prevent an unfortunate recent drama developing into a crisis.
Mark McGhee’s Motherwell travel to Pittodrie on Saturday, the former Aberdeen boss heartened by his players’ second-half display in the narrow loss to Celtic on Saturday.
Were McInnes’ men to claim their first win in five, the prospect of a trip to Celtic Park the following weekend would suddenly become all the more enticing.
Despite the recent slump, confidence remains high that the kind of mid-season purple patch that cast the Dons as title contenders last term can yet be discovered.
‘We went on a winning streak halfway through last season that got us right back up to the top end of the table,’ said winger Jonny Hayes.
‘We have improved upon that team. So there is no reason why we can’t do that again.’
A famous former resident of the Pittodrie manager’s room would doubtless concur.