Keeper Joe says doing is a one-off
Lewis: We must show Dons fans Dingwall doing was just one-off
Pittodrie shot-stopper Joe tells fans beating won’t happen again
JOE LEWIS has called on his Aberdeen team-mates to prove this disastrous Dingwall performance was a one-off.
With dissatisfaction growing among the fans, Derek McInnes’ side blew the chance to crank up the pressure on struggling Celtic and mount a genuine tilt for second place in the league.
Oli Shaw struck the home side’s opener after 36 seconds, with Charlie Lakin slamming in a second on 20 minutes.
A deflected finish, credited as an Alex Iacovitti own goal, brought hope on half-time but the second half proved lame in an attacking sense, with increasing desperation late on creating gaping holes in the Dons defence for Shaw and Jermaine Hylton to pick off.
The fact this crushing setback came just a couple of days after Jonny Hayes trumpeted his hopes of Aberdeen splitting the Old Firm made it all the more galling for fans watching at home.
Attacking failings, with chances missed and striker Sam Cosgrove looking a shadow of his former self, were at the heart of one of the worst results of the McInnes era.
There also seems to be a boredom among fans over the team’s predictable style of play, with McInnes now eight years in the job.
There is also fatigue and frustration at the all-too-familiar sense of missed opportunity for Scotland’s perennial third force.
It was the first time since May 2016 the Dons had shipped four goals against a team outwith the Old Firm. County thumped them 4-0 at Pittodrie on the final day of the season but that was against a top-six Staggies side. Saturday’s calamity came against the morning’s bottomof-the-table team.
The Dons back three, abandoned and switched to a four in the first half after Ash Taylor went off injured, seems to be failing.
Further injuries to Hayes and Ross McCrorie will stoke serious additional concern. But more than anything, the failure to take chances at the other end of the field led to a need to pile forward late on, costing the away side two more goals conceded and leading to even more flak and fallout from the dire result. The Dons are clearly missing the spark and creativity of injured Marley Watkins, now unlikely to return from Bristol City after his serious hamstring problem. McInnes could move to replenish his creative options before the January transfer window closes.
But it appears he has already been informed by the Pittodrie board that resources are thin to non-existent.
More probably, the Dons face being weakened by Scott Wright’s departure to Rangers, with the identity of any makeweight player swap now crucial to appeasing supporters.
Lewis, the Dons keeper and captain, sidestepped talk of crisis but summed up the depth of dismay in the away camp, voicing
his belief that the team wasn’t proactive enough.
He said: “We’re very disappointed. You have to assess the game and sometimes when emotions are high it’s best to reflect maybe on Monday morning.
“We have to make sure we’re nothing like that going forward.
“We were slow to react to things in either box. We were flat-footed and didn’t make the most of any opportunities we had – and obviously Ross County did.
“We ball-watched a little too much when it came into our box.
“We didn’t anticipate at either end where the balls were going to land.”
Aberdeen, of course, still have it all to play for. Games in hand could take them back above Hibs into third place, with the new subEuropa League tournament planned offering the potential for group stage football.
But Supporters crave and expect a challenge on Celtic, not vague and banal platitudes.
Lewis added: “We deserved the goal but didn’t capitalise on that in the second half.
“We got into some good areas but we didn’t make the most of that. Towards the end of the game we were pushing forward and they get a couple more goals, which compounds it really.
“It’s hugely disappointing and we have to expect more from ourselves in both penalty boxes.
“They haven’t beaten us with an incredible piece of magic and they haven’t stuck one in the top corner from 25 yards, we were flat-footed in both boxes.
“We were waiting for things to happen rather than being proactive and taking it by the scruff of the neck. We need to make sure we lift ourselves.”