Race for the title? Dons need to find courage to be frontrunners

IF A league race is to be worthy of its name, it is imperative that the favourite is at least given a run for their money. The difficulty with the top flight of Scottish football these days is no matter how inconsistent and unconvincing Ronny Deila’s Celtic may be, no side in the land looks capable of stretching them to an extent that a reasonable degree of doubt may hang over the final outcome.

Midway through the Norwegian’s second season in Glasgow, his team are just one point better off than at this juncture a year ago.

Ordinarily, such a miniscule year-on-year improvement would give the opposition more than a ghost of a chance of usurping them come May.

But the blunt reality is none seem to have the wherewithal to grab such a gilt-edged opportunity with both hands.

For reasons best known to themselves, Aberdeen — in terms of resources the club most capable of sustaining a title challenge — seem incapable of walking through the door that is currently being held wide open for them.

Successive home matches with Inverness Caley Thistle and Partick Thistle over the festive period presented the Dons with a chance to knock Celtic from their perch yet, to the extreme frustration of all within Pittodrie, both were spurned.

For several seasons now, Derek McInnes’ side have shown themselves to be eminently capable of getting their elbows out and emerging from the chasing pack. They can even stretch their legs to let the leaders feel their breath on the necks.

But as for striding out in front, dictating the pace and darting for the line? It seems like a step too far.

In Rangers’ prolonged absence from the top flight, Aberdeen’s inability to take their distinct improvement under McInnes to the next level is a source of deep frustration for the neutral observer.

For all the intrigue at the foot of the table, a palpable lack of a challenge at the top is bad for business — and, indeed, for Celtic.

The trouble with Scottish football, for so long, is that players and managers have become conditioned to believe that there is a glass ceiling on ambition.

Not since 1985, when plain old Alex Ferguson’s Dons last won the title, have a side other than Celtic or Rangers been crowned champions in May.

In the interim, finishing ‘best of the rest’ has become a laudable achievement for sides operating with a fraction of the resources of the big two in the post-Bosman era. Yet, it has also become a comfort blanket that has served to smother the belief that a little more can be achieved.

In Aberdeen’s case, the sure knowledge that finishing runnersup for a second successive season will be roundly praised, is hardly a spur towards an even greater feat.

Purely in financial terms, McInnes’ side have no right to pip Celtic to the title so, accordingly, they can hardly be chastised for failing to do so.

But just because the team has come so far under his stewardship is not to say they cannot go that bit further.

Leicester have thus far managed to hold back the tide in England this season. Atletico Madrid are at it again in Spain. So why can’t the Dons do likewise?

Snap shots of this season have suggested they are capable of taking it to the wire; a recordbreaking eight straight wins at the outset of this season; another four on the bounce prior to Christmas to keep them believing. Yet it seems the minute the chance to out-strip the favourite comes along, old failings take hold.

However, this much is true; for all they have stumbled and stalled over Christmas, they are still standing on two feet. Celtic may have two games in hand but goal difference is the only thing separating the sides currently.

As things stand, a title race is still worthy of its name, but Aberdeen have much work to do if it is to stay that way for much longer. Defeating Deila’s men at Pittodrie on February 3 would help enormously.

A lack of challenge at the top is bad for business