Dons article from The Away End

[BobbyBiscuit]

An article on the Dons from the Scottish Football online magazine The Away End:

 

(pretty long winded but generally a pretty good piece with a wee nod to our friends at the hat and how they were advised not to protest)

 

THERE are a lot of myths that surround Aberdeen. One is that if Alex Smith had never been sacked Aberdeen would currently be the leading lights in Scottish Football. Another is that Dons fans wake every morning and within minutes are consumed by a rabid hatred of Rangers that instantly ruins their day. Myth number one though, is that everyone in the Granite City demands a return to the glory days of the 80’s.

 

Step forward Alan Kernaghan, who preserves the mantra of “if you tell a lie often enough, it becomes a truth.†And therefore, just after Aberdeen have struggled to victory over Caley Thistle, Dons fans travelling home are told by Scott Davie to be more grateful, and Kernaghan pipes in with “I think the fans expectations are the same as when Alex Ferguson was here.â€

The Aberdeen Supporters Society or whatever moniker they’re going under this week may not have said it in their letter to Willie Miller, Dons fans may not say it on their internet message boards, and the Red Army may not sing about it at games; but make no mistake these ungrateful vagrants demand league and European success.

If anyone cares to find evidence of this though then I’ll find Lord Lucan. When the day arrives that Jimmy Calderwood leaves Pittodrie, Dons fans may wish to avoid all papers and media outlets for a few weeks. Make no mistake, when that day comes, the press vitriol

will be unfathomable.

The stigma of Alex Smith still lives with Aberdeen fans. Failure to get anywhere near the league title since 1994 is the fault solely of the Red Army it would seem. The future of the club was wrecked, destabilised and broken beyond repair when fans chanted in the street for the removal of Smith as manager.

Fans chanted for Smith’s departure with the Dons sitting in fifth. They eventually finished sixth. This was no ordinary Dons side, this was one that less than a year earlier had been within 90 minutes of pipping Rangers to the league title. It has always seemed unfair to outsiders then that Smith be ousted so sharply afterwards. However the major mistakes that went on in that final day disaster were his fault, the struggles the next season were his fault and a painful 5-0 defeat to St Johnstone were

mainly his fault too. It’s the equivalent now of the Old Firm falling to fifth - the press would be helping to

get the manager ousted - so why gang up on Aberdeen fans who felt their manager had seen his best

days? Smith of course has never managed to prove the Aberdeen support wrong, and only in hypothetical

tales can anyone claim it was the wrong decision. Smith has tried and failed in management since then, most notably at Dundee United.

As the Jimmy Calderwood era at Pittodrie reaches possibly its end, the similarities between the two are comparable.

Smith’s position and support amongst the support was weakened after the final day disaster at Ibrox. A Rangers side on their knees with injuries, struggling to get to grips with new manager Walter Smith after Souness’ walkout, and hammered going into the game by Motherwell; they were there for the taking.

Ibrox was a cauldron that day; however the Dons had players who had performed in worse. A European Cup Winners’ Cup winner was their captain. If they had gone into the game, played 4-3-3 like they had done for most of the season and went for Rangers throats, the feeling is they would have taken the title.

Instead, Smith’s confidence deserted him. He played 4-4-2, went for the draw, and despite two early chances that could have put Aberdeen in front, there was only team trying to win the game and two Mark Hateley goals ensured they did. Smith had the job of trying to win the fans’ confidence back. The league campaign which had seen them plummet to fifth put paid to that. His final game, a defeat to Hibs through a late Micky Weir

winner, ended his reign.

16 years on, and the man who replaced Smith is now the man keeping Calderwood in a job. Defeat to Queens’ Park in the cup would have seen many a manager handed his P45, but the club kept faith.

Despite some doubters, the majority of the Dons support stayed with him too. Humiliating semi-final defeats to Dundee United and Queen of the South, in a season where

Aberdeen failed to gain their aim of third place, sent many fans over the edge. When the season ended and anger subsided, many backed their club’s decision to give Calderwood another season, however the damage was done. Calderwood HAD to produce this season.

The League cup run lasted all but two games, Kilmarnock putting four goals past the Dons. In the midst of a dire start to the league, fans again vented their fury. The club resisted the urge to act, fans accepted it, the team was continued to be backed in impressive numbers.

However, what irks Aberdeen supporters today is what happened next. Calderwood’s side went on a decent run, went unbeaten at home for a spell that still stands at the moment, and into the New Year recorded an impressive victory over Celtic. Humility wasn’t on Calderwood’s agenda though, and he took the opportunity to fire back at anyone who had dared criticise him before, boasting how he had proved them wrong and that he wouldn’t forget their criticism. To continue the broadside by telling all and sundry that he would win a trophy then move onto bigger and better things didn’t exactly endear him to the Dons faithful either. Basically saying you’ve outgrown the club and that it no longer matches your ambitions tends to upset people.

Of course, that was January. Since then Aberdeen have managed just two victories at Pittodrie, less than

enthusiastic 1-0 wins over Hamilton and Caledonian Thistle. The promised Scottish Cup final appearance won’t come to fruition, with the exit at the hands of Dunfermline putting paid to that. And as far as the league goes; Calderwood explained the Dons only failed in their search for third place last season due to their tiresome European run. What’s the excuse this time?

Naturally, fans’ who had vowed last summer to give Calderwood one more chance do not accept he still deserves more time to prove them wrong. In a few weeks he’ll have completed his fifth season with Aberdeen. He’s the longest serving manager since Alex

Ferguson and according to Chick Young he’s the most successful. The facts thrown in Aberdeen fans faces are:-

 

•?Five seasons in a row he’s made the top six.

•?Five seasons in a row he has not been in the bottom six.

Is that really what people expect of Aberdeen now? A top six finish suddenly deserves celebration and the fans

should be grateful they’re not quite as poor as they used to be? Some fans had planned a protest after the match. Although it’s probably fair to suggest the majority of Aberdeen fans would currently like to see the manager replaced, the vast majority were against any sort of protest. It has been made clear by the club they won’t be making any change in management, or at least not considering it, until the end of the season.

That would appear to be a fair deal. Support the team until the season ends, and then have an open discussion

over what should happen with the manager. The group organising the protest were advised time and again in the weeks leading up to the game to cancel any sort of demonstration. They ignored all calls, and in the end about 25 of them turned up, looking at each other

confused, puzzled as to why no-one had thought to organise the thing better, and were eventually moved along by the Police. Not only did you not cover yourself in glory there lads, you’ve given the press more ammunition to fire at any Dons fan who wishes to speak out against the management without being perceived as some sort of anti-Jimmy rambling idiot. So why do the fans want him out? Believe it or not, it’s not because Calderwood hasn’t delivered a league title, it’s because they dare to be ambitious. Fans in the Granite City want a team to be proud of, one that’s worth going to see. They back the team in decent numbers at home and their away support is extraordinary. Being bored to tears every week isn’t what they came to Pittodrie for. Let’s get something straight first of all. Making the top six isn’t an achievement; it never has been, not when your club is arguably the third biggest in the country. Getting to a domestic cup semi-final isn’t much of an achievement

either, especially when it ends with thumping defeats.

The myth that no other manager could stop Aberdeen sinking down the table has no factual merit whatsoever. For the Dons, realistic ambitions these days tend to be a third place finish and a decent challenge for the cups.

In five seasons, Calderwood has managed third place once, that’s not a show of major success.

In ten domestic cup campaigns, Aberdeen have failed each time with two first division sides and an amateur second division outfit ending their cup runs. In six of those ten knock-outs, they’ve been hammered.

Deadwood hasn’t been removed. Darren Mackie’s average of six goals a season will see him net a testimonial to

thank him for his loyalty despite no other club trying to poach him away. Aberdeen have good players, but they also have the problem that they appear to have these select few players carrying the rest of the team. The Dons have not made a major improvement over the past five seasons, which you tend to expect when a manager has been given so long to build his side. Funds might not be in the millions, but they have been generous compared to what was afforded to Steve Paterson and the board have sanctioned decent transfers for Sone Aluko and

Tommy Wright this season, and allowed Calderwood to sign on a glut of players onto new contracts. They currently sit behind a Hearts side who despite being in apparent turmoil look more organised, attack minded

and a more settled side. This is Hearts we’re talking about, settled generally doesn’t come into the same sentence as them.

 

It’s not unrealistic to want a better team when your side clearly isn’t fulfilling potential. It’s not unrealistic to want a top three place when the opposition are either in turmoil or spending less than yourselves. And it’s not unrealistic to want to be better than okay.

 

Andrew Southwick

[TENEMENTFUNSTER]

 

Decent enough piece. I don't agree with a fair bit of it but a reasoned enough article.

[BigAl]

Am I right in thinking that is "Panda" thats written the article 

[TENEMENTFUNSTER]

 

Caroline B just called to say yes Al. He eats, shoots and leaves.

[BigAl]

Caroline B just called to say yes Al. He eats, shoots and leaves.

 

Kowalski Superstar Tradesman...shit, someone anyone  has been on the phone to you 

[Kowalski]

Kowalski

 

[TENEMENTFUNSTER]

Called as in "in person". She just had time to slide off daddy's chopper.

[Reekie_Red]

Ah Panda, our old chum. Been a while since I've read anything of his. Pretty well constructed article, tbh ... certainly a good step forward from his old TMWTM magazine which was, to be fair, powder puff.

 

I especially agree with the following:

 

Believe it or not, it’s not because Calderwood hasn’t delivered a league title, it’s because they dare to be ambitious

 

I think we all agree that Jimmy has brought respectability back to Pittodrie. Too long, we've been toiling at the wrong end of the table, and been the laughing stock of the SPL. At least Jimmy has made some quality signings and has given the Red Army some very memorable moments (Copenhagen, Bayern, Dnipro ... not to mention regular home wins against the ugly sisters). But we're pretty much all in agreement that Jimmy is not the man to take Aberdeen further. He's built a good foundation for the next man to work from. We just need to be very very careful about who that next man is, otherwise we risk undoing all the work JC has done, and returning to the dark days of Paterson, Skovdahl, Alex Miller and Aitken.

[Cowie]

I think we all agree that Jimmy has brought respectability back to Pittodrie. Too long, we've been toiling at the wrong end of the table, and been the laughing stock of the SPL. At least Jimmy has made some quality signings and has given the Red Army some very memorable moments (Copenhagen, Bayern, Dnipro ... not to mention regular home wins against the ugly sisters). But we're pretty much all in agreement that Jimmy is not the man to take Aberdeen further. He's built a good foundation for the next man to work from. We just need to be very very careful about who that next man is, otherwise we risk undoing all the work JC has done, and returning to the dark days of Paterson, Skovdahl, Alex Miller and Aitken.

 

I also reckon that JC should not be punted until the person that is to replace him is 'in place' so to speak..

 

[BigAl]

 

Never fails though