THE REIGN OF ERROR
Poorest win ratio in Dons history 8-1 loss was heaviest Euro defeat Celts thrashing a domestic record
MARK McGHEE became a legend as a player at Aberdeen only to be condemned as their least-successful manager in history.
His win ratio as Dons boss was the poorest since the formation of the club in 1903 and if Zander Diamond has one regret, it’s that he couldn’t give him 100 per cent from the centre of defence.
McGhee won only 27 per cent of matches in 18 months at Pittodrie, a ground he graced with such distinction as a player, scoring 63 goals in 164 games from 1978-84.
The writing was surely on the wall as soon as he was appointed to succeed Jimmy Calderwood, days after he missed out on the Celtic job, which eventually went to Tony Mowbray.
McGhee admitted at the media conference to announce his arrival: “On a scale of one to two, I’d put the Celtic job above Aberdeen.”
He added: “I didn’t get the Celtic job though and Aberdeen fans can be absolutely sure that I’m not looking towards Parkhead. You won’t hear me talking about Celtic. I’m only interested in Aberdeen and they will get 100 per cent of my efforts.”
Talk about winning friends and influencing people – and an 8-1 aggregate defeat to Sigma Olomouc in his first two matches, the club’s record European defeat, hardly helped. Former skipper Diamond is now making his own way in management, coaching Queen’s Park Under-16s as he completes his ‘B’ licence, and admits he wished he had been around in the early days to help out more.
He said: “I was injured and missed those European games and then broke my ankle in our first league match of the season, a 3-1 defeat to Celtic at Pittodrie.
“I had really enjoyed working under the two Jimmys, Calderwood and Nicholl, over the previous five seasons and was disappointed when they left.
“It was a transitional period for the club but Mark arrived with a terrific CV and pedigree as a manager and player.
“I was really buoyed by his arrival and the prospect of some new ideas and he and assistant Scott Leitch stressed the important role I’d have to play with the club going forward.
“I knew what Aberdeen was about and they said I’d been around the city long enough to understand what the success of the club meant to the supporters. But I missed those first six months as a result of that injury, which took eight weeks to diagnose, and I was deeply disappointed not to be on the frontline with him.
“Mark had been such a hero as a player but sometimes it just doesn’t click when you return to a club as a boss.
“He changed the routine so we’d be in at the club on a Sunday and even from the sidelines I could sense the sombre atmosphere after a defeat the day before.
“But I liked Mark and enjoyed working with him. To his eternal credit he never once backed away or shirked criticism.”
McGhee returned to Pittodrie on a one-year rolling contract after a successful two-year stint at Motherwell. He had amassed huge experience as a boss previously with clubs such as Wolves, Reading and Leicester and there was genuine hope he could deliver.
However, he was sacked in December 2010 with his team sitting second bottom of the league after defeats that included a 9-0 humiliation at Celtic Park, three weeks before the axe formally fell.
They had finished a lowly ninth in the SPL in his first season in charge and, by the end, McGhee’s relationship with the fans who used to idolise him had fallen into a state of disrepair.
He even claimed he was spat on as he walked to the Pittodrie tunnel after another shocking loss in his first season, a 1-0 defeat by Raith in a Scottish Cup replay. He said: “That walk from the dugout to the tunnel was the most humiliating experience of my life in any circumstances. Awful. I’ve said to the players they have set me up for that. “I don’t know who it was that spat on me. There were scarves getting thrown and bits of paper too but I took my time walking down there because I wanted them to have their say.” In the end, McGhee couldn’t reverse the slide and was bulleted after the Dons failed to score during defeats by Rangers, St Johnstone and Kilmarnock.