BOJAN SPARKS RED RECOVERY
Miovski magic lifts some of the gloom around Pittodrie
THE afternoon got off to a lively start at Pittodrie yesterday with club icon Willie Miller, housed in the main stand as part of BBC Radio Scotland’s team, touting Neil Lennon for the Aberdeen manager’s job.
Sadly, after a drab 90 minutes, that arguably remained the moment worthy of most note. Bojan Miovski’s 44th-minute goal to make the difference between these two mid-table outfits was sweetly converted, but it was one of few moments of inspiration and the product of some uncharacteristically weak defending from the visitors.
Yes, it puts the Dons into the top six on goal difference ahead of Livingston, with the West Lothian side having played a game less. It regains a semblance of momentum in the wake of a drubbing at Celtic Park.
It wasn’t pretty to watch, though, and could easily have been a draw had Angus MacDonald not cleared an Ayo Obileye effort off the line early in the second 45.
Aberdeen feel like a club waiting for something to happen with Barry Robson still in interim charge, no clear timescale for the appointment of a full-time manager and chairman Dave Cormack now recovering from Friday’s heart surgery in America.
Asked pre-match if Lennon, back out there doing media interviews and looking for a new challenge, should be considered as a candidate to spark a bit of life into the place, Miller said: ‘I’d think absolutely. The experience he’s got, the clubs he’s managed, the level he played at and the hunger that he seems to still have.
‘I don’t know how far they are down the line in terms of coming up with a shortlist, but if you’re looking for a man who ticks a lot of boxes, then you’ve got to look at Neil.’
Whether Aberdeen supporters agree or not is something else. Robson hasn’t gone quite as far as demanding to be considered for the role on a permanent basis, but he is making all the right noises about what it takes to up standards at the club — demanding that he wants warmongers right throughout his side.
‘Livi slow the game down and rightly so,’ he said. ‘They are good at it. We knew we would need to fight and win second balls.
‘You have to be ready to fight and then the talent and everything else comes after it.
‘Ylber Ramadani and Graeme Shinnie on the pitch just want to go to war, don’t they? But if you want to play for Aberdeen and win, you need to go to war — and they did.’
If he says so. The game, as a whole, just felt a bit underwhelming. Robson, however, was pleased to raised Cormack’s spirits with a win as he recovers in hospital.
‘It was brilliant to get a win for Dave,’ he said. ‘None of this matters really, does it? It’s football and I am sure we have all had family members who have had to go through big operations.
‘We are just thankful he has come through it okay.’
Livingston did have an early opportunity when Bruce Anderson and Obileye both had a swing at the ball to no effect. However, from then until half-time, they offered little in an attacking context.
Miovski had a weak claim for a penalty waved away on 20 minutes when going down after Jack Fitzwater had breathed on him and Ross McCrorie was only denied by a brilliant saving tackle from Nicky Devlin after taking a long ball from Jay Gorter on the right and surging into the area to release a shot.
The breakthrough came just before the interval. After James Penrice had cleared a corner for Livi, Ryan Duncan was given too much time to fire the ball back into the mixer, Obileye only succeeded in heading it across his own area and Miovski pounced with a sharp finish high into the net.
Livi boss David Martindale switched things up at the break — replacing Sean Kelly and Steven Bradley with Jason Holt and Morgan Boyes — and came close to getting some reward on 47 minutes when a curling effort from Obileye was cleared off the Aberdeen goal-line by MacDonald.
But, sadly, that was about that. Ramadani did send a howitzer just over for Aberdeen, but they were pretty much a non-event going forward in the second half.
‘I don’t think either team made that many chances,’ said Martindale. ‘One team scored and the other had one cleared off the line and that’s the story of the game.
‘We had to do better with the cross as it wasn’t a great clearance and it falls to Miovski as Sean Kelly has switched off. That’s disappointing. We weren’t our usual selves as we weren’t dominant at the back, which isn’t like us.’
Livi have now scored just once in six games, but Martindale insists that is not something to dwell upon.
‘It doesn’t come into my thinking. I’m not too worried,’ he said. ‘I don’t look at these stats because I know what we do in training every day and where we were in the league previous to this game.
‘We were in the top six for a reason, we still have a game in hand and, today, the forwards just didn’t get great service.’
Ain’t that the truth? For them, as with most present, this was largely an experience best forgotten. ABERDEEN (4-3-3): Gorter; McCrorie, MacDonald, Pollock, MacKenzie; Ramadani, Clarkson, Shinnie; Duncan (Hayes 79), Miovski (Watkins 83), Lopes (Coulson 89). Subs (not used): Lewis, Markanday, Myslovic, Kennedy, Bavidge, Roberts. Booked: None. LIVINGSTON (4-1-4-1): George; Devlin, Fitzwater, Obileye, Penrice (Bahamboula 79); Sean Kelly (Holt 46); Bradley (Boyes 46), Pittman, Stephen Kelly (Shinnie 65), Nouble; Anderson. Subs (not used): Hamilton, Longridge, De Lucas, Brandon, Stenhouse. Booked: Devlin, Fitzwater, Shinnie.
Referee: Don Robertson. Attendance: 14,091.