Betrayal of trust that could spell the end for McInnes
FORGET those early summer promises from Derek McInnes about making this the season in which the people of Aberdeen would rekindle a dwindling love affair with their club. That’s surely gone. And thanks to a gormless band of selfish idiots in his dressing room, who somehow felt they could all go out on the town together when they had been banned from even travelling to training in the same car, McInnes might soon be too.
The players who skipped gaily from restaurant to pub on Saturday, as the Granite City was riding the wave of positive Covid-19 tests all the way back into lockdown, may well be feeling remorse over breaking coronavirus guidelines (or, more likely, seeing two of the gang catch it), but it is their manager who is likely to bear the worst of the hangover.
Like it or lump it, McInnes, requiring results with a severely depleted pool, is under real pressure as a result of this. He had a vocal section of the support chanting for his head before last term spluttered to a halt and the events of the last few days will only add fuel to that fire.
If anyone should be glad that Joe Public getting back through the turnstiles now looks about as likely as Nicola Sturgeon taking out an £18-a-month Premium Membership of AberDNA, it is him.
Those present at February’s goalless Scottish Cup draw with Kilmarnock will remember how they winced as the Red Shed end of Pittodrie echoed to the sounds of sweary songs telling him to sling his hook. Much like a visit to St Mirren a week or two earlier. Just a whole lot louder.
This is the stuff that sees people, no matter how well-remunerated or in with the bricks they may be, leave their jobs. Had the Reds not won the replay at Rugby Park with two goals in the dying moments of extra-time, who knows whether McInnes would have made it through the storm?
The goodwill restored of late, through fans buying season tickets for a campaign that cannot even guarantee entry to the stadium and raising £1million to reduce the Dons’ £10m shortfall, certainly won’t survive this latest rough patch no matter last night’s grovelling apologies.
Those who want McInnes out will still find a way to have their voices heard. And this horrendous embarrassment of giving the Scottish Government ammunition to close down the national sport as a whole will simply amplify their disquiet.
True, McInnes cannot babysit his staff 24/7. However, what does it say about the overall culture at Pittodrie when players feel comfortable enough to disregard guidelines and go out on the town after an obscenity of a performance in losing at home to Rangers on the opening day of the campaign?
To make a bad situation worse, they were also in for training the following day.
What does it say about the relationship they have with McInnes — their respect for him, themselves and the club in general — that they don’t appear to have paid attention to a single word he has uttered?
At the same time as he expressed that hope of restoring local passion in June, he also made it clear that he would be talking face-to-face with his entire squad about the need to limit time spent out in public to thwart coronavirus.
‘We still have to treat this like a lockdown,’ he said.
This is not just one or two rogue agents stepping out of line here. We are talking about eight players. Eight. And as far as breaches of discipline go, this is way more than a silly red card — although they managed one of them last Saturday — or a failure to show up for work (insert punchline about defeat to Rangers here).
McInnes won a cup for Aberdeen in 2014. Finals and semi-finals have been regular features in his seven years. Same goes for Europe. He has lost most of his best players over time and had major injury problems last season.
However, he is running out of excuses too. Aberdeen have by far the third-biggest wage bill in the Premiership and, for two campaigns now, have finished fourth behind Kilmarnock and Motherwell.
The club felt stale last year. The style and standard of play created unrest. Dave Cormack promised ‘exciting and attacking football’ this term after taking over as chairman, but, robbed of Sam Cosgrove through injury or not, the display against Steven Gerrard’s side was the antithesis of that.
Negative, defensive, lumping high balls up to a pipsqueak in Bruce Anderson, the first half, in particular, was brutal. Enough to drive even the players to drink, you might say. If you like a spot of mischief.
McInnes, of course, came out with the right things in his press conference on Friday. There was anger, contrition and apologies.
It was certainly better than Cormack’s perplexing Twitter video in which he asked for patience to be shown to the offending octet and admitted he is ‘prone to making errors of judgment’ himself.
Aye. Like pressing record on your cameraphone and letting your belly rumble.
Cormack’s engagement with the public has generally been good, but, for a guy who has spent the past few months criticising others for a lack of leadership, he was caught with his Bermudas round his ankles on this one.
Last night’s grand beg-pardon from the Coronavirus Eight was necessary, albeit a day late. But that stuff about believing they were all ‘part of one big household’ simply doesn’t wash. Where have they been over the last five months? Planet Zog?
Aberdeen still predict a loss of just under £4m this term. If football is stopped and Sky turn off the lifesupport system, the Dons will be one of many clubs on a sticky wicket.
McInnes is already there, of course. Given he was on the shortlist last year, he might hope Steve Clarke looks for something new when the Euro campaign is over and gives him a run at the Scotland job.
It is impossible to see how he rediscovers the magic at Pittodrie now. The spark went some time ago. And last weekend’s stupid act of betrayal by those players is only going to open up the same old fractures as before.