Anderson hopes for happy ending to cup final hoodoo
CAPTAIN Russell Anderson is the only Aberdeen player still at Pittodrie to contest a cup final — and jokes that it was so long ago that he can’t remember it. A quick reminder, then: the defender was 21 when he turned out for the Dons in the 4-0 defeat to Rangers in the 2000 Scottish Cup Final, a game notable for the fact Scotland goalkeeper Jim Leighton’s career came to a painful end when he was substituted after sustaining a facial injury in an early collision with Rod Wallace.
With only three substitutes allowed in those days, striker Robbie Winters ended up keeping goal but he will now lose his own special status as the last man to stand between the sticks for the club in a cup final as Jamie Langfield prepares for the League Cup equivalent on March 16.
It was thanks to Anderson and central-defensive partner Mark Reynolds, aided by full-backs Andrew Considine and debutant Shaleum Logan, that Langfield had so little to do yesterday in a team performance notable for the lack of nerves shown by the Dons.
The weight of history may now consume the minds of supporters but, despite being a hometown boy with a real link to the past, Anderson echoed manager Derek McInnes in his cool detachment from some unwanted history.
‘It feels really good but it’s a strange feeling because we still haven’t done anything yet,’ said Anderson after the 4-0 victory. ‘We have given ourselves an opportunity to go on and win it but we can’t get too carried away.
‘We have been crying out for days like cup finals, it has been too long, to be honest, with the size of the city of Aberdeen. The supporters have been used to being successful and getting to cup finals and 14 years is a long time for them to wait for another one.
‘I can’t remember the last one, it was so long ago. Obviously, it didn’t pan out the way we would have liked that day but I’ve played an awful lot of football since then, so I won’t be dwelling on it ahead of the final.’
There have been five semi-final defeats in the 14 years that have passed since the last final, yet aside from debacles such as a Hampden loss to Queen of the South, there have also been defeats in earlier rounds to the likes of Livingston, Dunfermline and East Fife.
McInnes has distance himself from these humiliations and Anderson, who left for Sunderland in 2007 before re-joining in 2012, takes a similar view.
‘The club has had to endure those defeats but there are an awful lot of players here who haven’t and the manager wasn’t here, either,’ he continued. ‘New people have come in and there aren’t many who are left associated with those defeats.
‘I don’t think it weighs on their minds as much and the manager has
The fans have been waiting for 14 years for a cup final. I can’t remember the last one but it didn’t pan out as we’d hoped
not mentioned it once this week — it’s been remarkably low key, just like any other game, and credit to the boss for that because it helped.
‘The support are the ones who have been through it all but the manager has his way of doing things, he does it every game — he won’t let us get carried away with ourselves and it’s worked so far this season.’
Nevertheless, Anderson remains a supporter as well as a player and the mere act of progressing to a cup final is significant to him.
‘It means an awful lot and when the day comes it will mean a lot to an awful lot of people associated with the club who work tirelessly behind the scenes,’ he said.
McInnes, meanwhile, believes his team made life far harder for themselves than was necessary at Tynecastle, despite the scoreline.
‘We got off to a fantastic start but it was almost as if St Johnstone had scored. We invited trouble into our box, gave away needless fouls and were a bit too frantic,’ he said.
‘A lot of things were frustrating. We were just a wee bit too excitable. But in the second half we were far more measured and controlled and I thought we were outstanding and played with a lot of confidence and intelligence.
‘The two goals we got in the second half were rally slick and incisive, but we know we’ve got that in us.
‘I thought we managed the game far better in the second half than in the first and the fans were also brilliant.’
McInnes also praised Jonny Hayes, whose double helped pave the way to the final, pointing out: ‘He needs to add goals to his game. When he plays in those forward areas like he did today, we know he’s a team player with pace to cause teams problems.
‘He has the quality to provide — but he also needs to take the responsibility for chipping in with goals.
‘He did that today and I’m delighted for him. He put in a right good shift and got his reward with a couple of really good finishes.
‘Shaleum Logan also impressed on his debut. It’s always difficult. We hoped to get that bit of business on Wednesday so he could train with us on Thursday.
‘But that wasn’t possible and we had a decision to make on whether we throw him straight in.
‘But he can be pleased with his performance. If he wasn’t sure about Aberdeen before the game, and the level of support we have, he sure does now.’
Looking ahead to this weekend’s Scottish Cup-tie with Celtic, McInnes added: ‘I don’t want us to fear anyone.
‘We can be positive going into that game. Celtic will realise it will be a tough game for them. Teams rarely beat St Johnstone 4-0. We had to be clinical today to get that scoreline.
‘But we’ve done the business to get to one cup final — with that to look forward to — and now want to make sure we do as well as we can in the Scottish Cup. As difficult as the tie is, I’m confident we can go there and make a right good fist of it.’