Fergie’s hurt by repeat defeat BROWN’S STILL THE BOSS AT CELTIC PARK
LEWIS FERGUSON admits Aberdeen left Celtic Park feeling a sickening sense of deja vu.
The Dons went down 1-0 to the hosts for the second time in 10 days having lost an early goal and been unable to recover.
Aberdeen have now lost 29 of their last 31 league games at the venue and, for the second time inside a fortnight, they were punished for a defensive switch-off when Odsonne Edouard hit the only goal from a deflection off Tommie Hoban.
Ash Taylor had hit the bar before the Frenchman’s winner but it ended in another afternoon of ‘what ifs’ for the Pittodrie men with Ferguson admitting the result was beyond frustrating.
He said: “It was a bit like deja-vu as we did enough to get a point. We never quite got ourselves the goal that our play deserved.
“We had to start aggressively. Last week we didn’t start aggressively and it cost us.
“We had to get tight to their players at the top end of the pitch. We had the best chance through Ash’s header and if that goes in it is maybe a different game and it gives our players something to hang onto.
“However we allowed Edouard to turn at the edge of our box and you are just asking for trouble when you allow players of that calibre to do that, although I know it takes a massive deflection and there is a huge bit of luck.
“When you come here and play well and deserve a point you maybe need to ride your luck at times. In the past week or so we have come down to Parkhead twice and lost 1-0 both times. We just do not have that bit of luck.
“We need to move on although it is another defeat.
“It is disappointing although it was a decent performance. It was not good enough to win so we need to do more, look forward and try to get as many points has possible.”
as his drives from defence with the ball in the first period.
One head flick of a McGinn cross to nick a gloious opportunity away from Florian Kameri was both brave and convincing.
Ajer may have faults, but he’s going to be missed as much as Edouard and leave a gap in the backline. Stephen Welsh earned yet another clean sheet in his rise in stature and he’s going to be needed.
With Christopher Jullien missing beyond the start of next term and Kennedy basically confirming post match Ajer is off, it’s root and branch stuff back there and it might be just the same in the attack when Edouard makes him move.
Leigh Griffiths and Albian Ajeti are clearly not doing enough and the fact Kennedy went straight to Patryk Klimala told a story.
Whatever the reasoning, there wasn’t a lot for the fans to get excited about regarding the Pole. The thought process seemed to be to give Celtic a weapon of speed if Dons’ defensive line went high and try to get on things in the box.
When they did and pushed on, Klimala couldn’t do anything with the space. When he did get a giltedged opportunity placed onto a plate for him in the six-yard box before the interval after a superb cross from Jonjoe Kenny which was almost as good as one ice-cool chest back to Bain in the second period at the back post under pressure, he was unable to take that either.
It would be harsh to judge Klimala on the basis of 65 minutes having been absent for so long and he did open some space for Edouard.
However, it is fair to suggest he’s going to have show a lot more than he has done at the top end of the pitch so far to convince he’s the answer, even if he did ensure the win by heading another Taylor header from a Dons set-piece off the line before going off.
The fact he’s only made five starts in his entire Hoops career since signing 13 months ago perhaps outlines his overall position. If Kennedy perseveres, Klimala might give signs that he’s got something, yet the odds don’t look great.
Proving he’s got something is, of course, something Brown doesn’t need to do. He’s been showing it at the club for over a decade.
The big question now is for how long and how often can he keep delivering. This 90 minutes showed it may be longer than many suspect.