Diamond: fan fury hurting Dons play

[Kowalski]

Diamond: fan fury hurting Dons play

Supporters’ frustration becoming more difficult for players to ignore as season progresses

 

By Paul Third

Published: 17/11/2008

 

Zander Diamond fears supporter anger is beginning to have an adverse effect on Aberdeen’s performances.

 

The criticism continues to come the Dons’ way as defensive errors are repeated and the 2-2 draw at Hibernian at the weekend is another setback.

 

Leading 2-0, Jimmy Calderwood’s men squandered their advantage at Easter Road and were eventually pegged back in injury time.

 

The result completed another inconsistent week for the Pittodrie club of a loss, a win and a draw.

 

Defender Diamond insists the frustration of supporters is proving more difficult to ignore with each game.

 

He said: “It has been a difficult week. We messed up in the first half at Tannadice and couldn’t complete the comeback in the second half, despite playing much better.

 

“Tuesday night was difficult against St Mirren at home as the supporters got more restless as the game wore on – just as the Hibs supporters did here.

 

“As a player you hear all the grumps and moans when things are not going to plan and it is hard to block it out at times. We’re all strong characters and have to take it on the chin but some of it can be volatile at times. They get to shout whatever they want but we don’t get to shout back at them.â€

 

The manner in which the Dons collapsed at Easter Road left Calderwood seething and Diamond agrees that the Dons should have held out for all three points.

 

He said: “The manager is not happy and neither are any of the players. It feels like a defeat as we were in front at half-time and managed to get the second goal.

 

“You have to roll up your sleeves and do the dirty work but we lost a goal and then didn’t finish it off when Sone Aluko went through on the goalkeeper. Once Sone had got goal side of Andy O’Brien I thought it was going to be 3-1 but once he was clipped he was too honest and tried to stay on his feet to get his shot away. To then concede an equaliser with the last kick of the ball is a sore one to take. We should have held out.â€

 

The one area of consolation for the Dons is the fact that their rivals also struggled at the weekend. The Dons remain five points off third place as Dundee United lost at Kilmarnock to allow Hearts to move above them courtesy of their victory in Inverness.

Diamond added: “This league is as tight as I’ve seen. One result moves you up a couple of places and one defeat drops you down. There’s nothing between third and bottom place.

 

“It can only be good for the supporters but for the clubs, managers and players, it is not enjoyable.â€

[stoney]

Play the next game behind closed doors and see how we get on then 

[TENEMENTFUNSTER]

Yes Zander, you can't shout back. Do your talking on the park, shut out a fucking 2 scud lead for a fucking kick off. 

[BobbyBiscuit]

They get to shout whatever they want but we don’t get to shout back at them.

 

Fucking dry your eyes Zander.

[Sharpie]

It is getting pathetic. Calderwood bringing it up every other week doesn't help either. It has now turned in to a ready made excuse.

[Slim]

So what he is saying is that when Aberdeen fans started moaning and groaning at the St Mirren game, we went on to score 2 goals and when Hibs fans started moaning and groaning on Saturday, Hibs went on to score 2 goals?

 

I'm not sure I see his point.

[TENEMENTFUNSTER]

So what he is saying is that when Aberdeen fans started moaning and groaning at the St Mirren game, we went on to score 2 goals and when Hibs fans started moaning and groaning on Saturday, Hibs went on to score 2 goals?

 

I'm not sure I see his point.

 

Aye, there's something a bit fucked up here.

 

 

[mizer]

They got a fair amount of applause after the game on saturday   ???

[Reekie_Red]

So what he is saying is that when Aberdeen fans started moaning and groaning at the St Mirren game, we went on to score 2 goals and when Hibs fans started moaning and groaning on Saturday, Hibs went on to score 2 goals?

 

I'm not sure I see his point.

 

My thought too! They whinge when the fans fail to turn up. They whinge when the fans turn up and have enough passion to complain about the shite football they're seeing on the park.

 

If the players want to get cheered from the fans for doing fuckall, maybe they should consider playing for Livi. Us Aberdeen fans have standards. It ain't winning the ECWC (despite what all the weejia think). Our standards are we expect to WIN a match after going 2-0 up against a team who haven't won in five attempts. Does he expect the red army to just sit there and accept those sorts of performances?

[Ajja]

Do we have the right to shout the odds when the team are struggling ?

 

Yes, absolutely.

 

Should the players concentrate on how they play to stop the fans from reacting this way ?

 

Yes, absolutley.

 

Does screaming at the players and booing them when they are terrible help them to improve ?

 

Not a chance.

 

I have some sympathy for Zander as what he is saying is correct even if I believe firmly that we should be able to do so without criticism.

 

I play football once a week and there is this angry guy who always screams at players who are not playing well. When he starts on someone, they always play worse for the rest of the game. I consistantly tell him that he is making things worse because no player is likely to respond to his abuse by stepping up their game. Most will begin to focus on their shortcomings, worry more about close control, go soft into tackles and forget to do the simple things for fear of further abuse. While I agree with what everyone is saying here, the reality is that the players will suffer for it, it's a basic human reaction.

[manc_don]

Completely agree with you there Ajja, but I didn't think the team had been booed off recently? Especially in the past week? Every set of home fan because agitated and restless when their team are drawing or losing to a team they shouldn't be. Part of the job and whilst I agree that booing isn't doing any good, its up to them to show that they are trying to rectify it by doing the business on the park. Fans won't boo if they see effort and results, which are our minimum requirements.