Mcnaughton reckons Dons fans must think of Europe as a bonus
Fans of Aberdeen hacked off at recent losses suffered by Derek Mcinnes’ side might want to consider the Pittodrie team that Kevin Mcnaughton was plunged into as a youngster.
The club may have had their Europa League interest ended by Croatians Rijeka last week, but that pales when compared to the 2000 Uefa Cup exit suffered at the hands of League of Ireland Bohemians.
Mcnaughton, now 36, made his first start for Aberdeen as they lost at home to the Dublin club. It followed a season where they finished bottom of the then Scottish Premier League, but were spared relegation as Falkirk’s stadium did not meet topflight requirements.
All these inglorious moments – and many others – came during the reign of the chain-smoking, witticism-adept Ebbe Skovdahl, who, despite them, remains a cult figure among the club’s faithful in a way Mcinnes, despite six successful seasons, will never be.
“When you look at that it should make fans appreciate what Derek has achieved with what he’s had to work with,” said the former fullback, who carved out a fruitful career with Cardiff City.
“It’s never going to be level pegging with the Old Firm in terms of finances but he’s brought some success in terms of a League Cup win, multiple more cup finals and consistency in the league. Europe is a bonus in my opinion.
“The fans remained fond of Ebbe because he was such a character. Some of his quotes after games remain etched in the memory of most of the supporters and the players as well. Some of his team talks were great. He didn’t have a filter so he just said what was on his mind.
“His famous one was ‘statistics are like mini-skirts. They give you good ideas but hide the most important thing.’ Another one was ‘The operation was a success, but the patient died’ [when talking about Aberdeen’s tactics after a defeat by Celtic].
“In the dressing-room he kept trying to say top trumps one time but just kept saying Trumphus. When the lads went away on an end of season trip we got T-shirts made up saying ‘Trumphus Tour 2000’. We used to joke that he had a lighthouse in the corner of his office so you could find him through all the smoke. He liked to go for a fag.
“But, for all he wasn’t the healthiest himself, he was big on diet, sports science for his players. He brought in a lot of things that a lot of top clubs use now – like Olympic weights for training. A lot of the older players didn’t take to it but looking back on it now, Ebbe was probably ahead of his time in terms of his approach to the physical side of training.
“Nowadays it’s common for boys to be lifting Olympic weights on the bar. That was a bit alien to the older pros when I was starting out atpittodriebutasayounglad I think it really helped me. It made me physically stronger going into pre-season.”
• Kevin Mcnaughton was speaking at the Back Onside celebrity golf day, staged to help raise awareness of mental health and Back Onside, a charity that aims to help build a society where no young person or adult is left tackling mentalhealthproblemsalone.