Ange and Glass stewing in the Pittodrie pressure pot
BOTH Aberdeen and Celtic entered the new season offering a grand vision of attacking and high-energy football. No-one, least of all themselves, would have anticipated that come October, they would be contesting a mid-table fixture.
Today’s game at Pittodrie is more of a must-win for Ange Postecoglou and Celtic.
But take it from me, being Aberdeen manager also carries a weight of expectation.
Stephen Glass will be disappointed with the team’s points return but I do think the squad he has assembled is talented and capable.
The depth available would be the envy of every club outwith the Old Firm, who run with deeper pools to cope with their involvement across all competitions including Europe.
So you have to say the club has given the manager every chance to be a success this season.
But sometimes having too many players can bring its own problems. Last weekend, Aberdeen had eight senior players not involved in the matchday squad.
And when things go wrong people start targeting and pointing the finger at individuals.
Joe Lewis became the focus of scrutiny after the 3-2 defeat to St Mirren. As a manager, you can look to make changes to halt a bad run of form but I don’t like the witch-hunt, people calling for Joe to come out of the team. It’s not as simple as that for me.
Like every player, Joe is capable of going through a bad spell but there is a body of evidence to suggest he is a very good goalkeeper. I would not be taking Joe out of the team.
I also believe Scott Brown will be hugely influential signing for Aberdeen and I expect him to be a stand-out performer against his old club today.
There will be a lot of scrutiny on him and although he is not used to being in this kind of run, he will be crucial in helping them try to find a way to win the game.
Victory over Celtic would give the club a huge lift in confidence and optimism.
They do have a squad capable of that and they also have the potential to make up ground in the league. But they’re now at a stage where there is not much more room for error.
They’ve maybe put themselves under pressure by making a pledge to play exciting and expansive football, with hard pressing.
I have to be honest and say I haven’t seen that.
What is important for any team, and this is not exclusive to Aberdeen, is to find a way to win.
At Celtic, Postecoglou is fully committed to playing a certain style and the team will either sink or swim with that.
If they show more resilience and control, they have the potential to make it a title fight.
But they still need to convince. The manager has to keep convincing the players that his way will work. And the fans need persuading, too.
I think the Celtic supporters want Postecoglou to succeed, they are hoping this is the way forward for their team.
But if they do not win at Pittodrie today, there will be doubts.
Losing 4-0 On Thursday night was damaging. Not many people would have expected them to beat a strong Bayer Leverkusen.
But while there was no disgrace in losing, that scoreline is damaging in terms of the message the manger is trying to get across to his players and also in terms of the confidence of the support.
I like Postecoglou, I like how he talks and how confident he is in how he wants his team to play.
However, Leverkusen took full advantage of the spaces afforded to them on that turnover of possession. The German side enjoyed the game. And I don’t think you can ever allow your opponent that luxury.
Leverkusen would probably have found a way to win the game regardless. But Glasgow Celtic have a strong history and more is expected of them.
They have already lost three away games in the league this season and that is too many. They play with an intensity and a huge demand on the players to be full pelt.
It’s well orchestrated and planned, it does bring speed. But you also need control and Celtic need to show a bit more resilience and structure.
They can’t simply depend on their attackers taking their chances. If they had converted some of those chances against Leverkusen the other night it would have been a different game. But they would still have been vulnerable.
Maybe domestically that won’t have quite the same bearing on results.
They have the potential to outscore their Premiership opponents, but in Europe it becomes nigh-on impossible when they don’t take their chances.