EE: Aberdeen FC’s McGhee ‘betrayed’ by players

[Kowalski]

Aberdeen FC’s McGhee ‘betrayed’ by players

Furious manager vows to make changes

 

By Charlie Allan

 

Published: 17/02/2010

 

FURIOUS Aberdeen FC boss Mark McGhee today vowed to wield the axe in the wake of their latest Scottish Cup shame game.

 

McGhee was spat at and fans threw scarves and other objects at him as they reacted in fury to seeing them lose 1-0 to First Division part-timers Raith Rovers at Pittodrie.

 

In a question and answer session with the Evening Express, the irate Aberdeen FC manager accused his men of “betraying himâ€.

 

Question: What did you say to the players after this latest night of Scottish Cup shame for the Dons?

 

Answer: That I felt they had betrayed me and are responsible for the worst result of my managerial career.

 

Carbon copy of Calderwood.

[tsr]

What changes can he make? We have no options whatsoever.

[Kowalski]

What changes can he make? We have no options whatsoever.

 

Strip the captaincy from Kerr and drop him would do for a start.

[mizer]

Strip the captaincy from Kerr and drop him would do for a start.

 

He wont though. He is the cheif judas but nothing will happen as before.

[tsr]

Giving the captaincy to who? Diamond injured again last night I assume as he never came out for 2nd half or was he ill like Mulgrew?

[Guest ally s]

 

According to bbc website he was ill like Mulgrew.

 

I'd give Diamond the captaincy and I'd drop MacDonald, Ifil, and Aluko injuries and suspensions permitting.

[tsr]

Fair enough, i'd dump Aluko too, his attitude is stinking.

[TENEMENTFUNSTER]

I'd probably give Aluko more time to get fit.

 

McDonald can eff off now, Kerr I'm conflicted about. I have no doubt the captaincy has to be passed on, then see where he's at. If he gets back to playing like he did against Celtic, fair dues, if not, "Gary haud that door, another fanny coming thru it".

 

The only alternative for captaincy really is Zander. I still feel he is a liability but shows the necessary bollocks for the show we need right now. Ifil and Grassi, cheery bye. Bit part players at best hopefully, every squad needs pretty average/bad players, we canny have 22 superstars.

 

But the long and the short of it is this, even without a fucking manager I would expect this group of players to pump RR. They failed to show up. They did embarrss and humiliate their manager but the thing they will probably never understand nor care about, is what they are doing to the club. Every fucking one of them.

[BigAl]

Not having been at the game last night, difficult for me to comment on whether all responsible for betrayal or not.

I do however feel that McGhee needs to shoulder a large part of the responsibility.

Those that were there can tell me....what did he do to change things when it patently wasn't working.

Im far to busy to get dragged into this, and have stayed of here and kept my opinions on the whole debacle to myself.

Part of the reason is that I don't have time, I'm afraid the other part is sadly down to a sense of inevitability about it all, and feeling numb about all that is AFC. Was going to post last night, but frankly it would have been a moronic rant, and simply can't be arsed. This is what the state of things at Pittodrie has reduced me to.

[Ptayles]

So the players just betrayed McGhee? I thought since we effectivly pay there wages...Enough said

[mizer]

The only alternative for captaincy really is Zander.

 

How about Langfield? Not too keen on keepers being captain but has been decent this season.

[Guest ally s]

Langfield started the season really well but imo his form has dropped over that past few months.  I reckon he should just concentrate on his own game. 

 

Like you say, I'm not too keen on keepers being the captain either.

 

It's quite startling to think how few leaders we have in the squad.

[tsr]

Langfield is having a very poor season for me, he's making to many errors then pulling of a cracking save now and again to cover it up.

[dickofthedons]

Well Zander is the obvious candidate. I thought peope were impressed with Foster when he had the armband earlier this season for a game or two. Also I'm sure I heard on the radio that he's now played something like 230 games for us so he has experience.

 

[thomsod]

was just about to suggest foster but you beat me to it!

zander as first choice captain then foster as second. kerr is just awful, both at captaincy and, at the minute, at playing, if he gets captaincy removed maybe he'd be more consistent on the field.

langfield having too shaky a season to be captain, it could distract him even further if given the captaincy.

[BobbyBiscuit]

Full article here (thanks K-9!).

 

Q: What did you say to the players after this latest night of Scottish Cup sahem for the Dons?

 

A: That i felt they had betrayed me and are responsible for the worst result of my managerial career. I've been a manager for more than 800 games and lost play-offs and the like.

 

But this one is the most embarressing, so i'm very upset. I've tried to befriend the players since i came to Aberdeen and done my best to look after them, but they didn't care about me. I reckon some of them will eventually leave here and still not give two hoots about me.

 

When i played for Alex Ferguson at Aberdeen everyone had a sense that he took every game personally. When we didn't play well you knew it hurt him a lot, so you did your best not to let him down. Well i've taken this one personally.

 

I don't think they went out on to the pitch playing for me, They were out playing well against Celtic on Saturday for something but i have to assume that wasn't for me either. I also question whether they will be feeling as bad about this result as i do. I'm hurting because i care a lot for this club and the fans.

 

When i played for Aberdeen we used to hurt after defeats because we cared for each other as well. In fact the best teams i've played in loved each other. They looked after each other out on the pitch but i am not sure it is the same with this group.

 

I suspect there is a lot of self interest involved.

 

I stuck up for them with the fans by saying they were playing for the jersey. But after looking at the way they then played against Raith i have to suspect they were only trying to look after themselves by impressing because it was Celtic. Perhaps it was because the game was live on the telly, so they would be in the shop window, who knows?

 

There is clearly something that gets them up for games like that but not for ones against teams like Raith. It's a serious flaw and i have to change it. I need players who can raise their game in any circumstances.

 

 

Q: Will this defeat result in some of players being shipped out of the club next summer?

 

A: Without focusing too much on individuals, I will say it's the final straw with me as far as these players as a group go. It won't surprise me if we have some good games again before the season ends, just as we had when we played Hibs and Celtic. But i'll not be blinded by those because i've been let down too often.

 

It's why i've never gone overboard after good results, i've always said we should wait and see what happens in the next match. That's because i've not trusted them to deliver in games that maybe aren't as glamorous as ones with Celtic.

 

There is something inherently missing from this group. I might be able to fix it by bringing in one or two players that have the personality as well as the ability to handle the extra pressures that come with playing for Aberdeen, but it will probably take more than that.

 

 

Q: Why do you think your players allowed themselves to be outplayed and out-fought by Raith?

 

A: The players showed a lack of sporting courage. When i watch the Winter Olympics i admire those guys who go down the slopes risking their lives for a bit of glory. Some of our lot weren't even brave enough to go into tackles.

 

We needed all of them to have the courage to go out on that pitch and realise they would have to get wired in becuase we knew Raith would be up for it. They were in our faces, competing for every ball and were prepared to get hurt. It was basic stuff but we didn't cope. Our guys just didn't want to know.

 

They didn't have the courage to go in there and compete for every header or tackle. Sometimes it even looked as if they were pretending to go for the ball. Most of the time they just stood off and allowed Raith to dictate the game and that should not be happening.

 

As the game progressed i became more and more frustrated because i looked at the bench and didn't feel i had the players to change it at all and maybe get us the goal we needed. I have to look at that for next season aswell.

 

If we want to avoid any more nights like that i will need a squad with enough experienced options to allow me to change the course of games and so that we can win them, particularly as far as attacking options are concerned.

 

 

Q: What do you have to say to the fan who spat at you and the ones who threw objects at you as you left the pitch?

 

A: That i'm quite willing to accept their wrath on this occasion. Whether the fan was right to spit is open to debate, but i almost feel like arguing he was within his rights. It wasn't nice, but that fan was only expressing his frustration and i can live with that. I don't want any action taken against that fan, I wont be making any effort to identify him. I picked the team so i left myself open to criticism.

 

But that walk down the track was the most humiliating experience of my life, without any shadow of a doubt. Nothing that's happened to me in football felt worse than that couple of minutes before i got safely to the tunnel.

 

I was embarressed because i knew i had let those people down. But i took my time walking past them because i felt it was important to let those fans have their say. They deserved the opportunity to vent their anger because, even though i wasn't playing, i'm not innocent. It's my team and it's clear i didn't get my message across to the player.

 

What made it worse was i had asked the fans to lay off a bit and back the team and they had been doing that. They were right to be angry with a result like that because we were second best in every department. What i can promise them is i have no intention of being forced to endure that walk to the tunnel again. It has made me even more determined to fix Aberdeen's problems and deliver a winning team.

 

 

Q: How are you going to get the players up again for Saturday's league game at Falkirk?

 

A: It won't be easy, but we will do our best. Some of the players maybe don't want to play for me but they have their futures to consider. If they are to get moves they will have to show they can do a lot better for Aberdeen and i'm hoping that will work in our favour.

 

 

He's very honest in his assessment, without taking on too much of the blame himself. However, it sounds that there are players there who he knows are not playing for him. If he maybe didn't have the full support of the dressing room before hand, he certainly won't have it after those comments.  But that's maybe not a bad thing, the players have to hear it as the "arm round the shoulder" method clearly doesn't work.

[rocknroll]

Good to see McGhee having a go at the players but will he carry through with the threats. Agree that Kerr needs captaincy taken off him now.

[Kowalski]

Some of the players maybe don't want to play for me

 

Intriguing.  Lost the dressing room?

[Guest ally s]

 

I've thought for a while there are members of the squad who were never with him in the first place.

[Azteca1903]

It won't surprise me if we have some good games again before the season ends, just as we had when we played Hibs and Celtic. But i'll not be blinded by those because i've been let down too often.

 

Interesting line for me, the supporters have certainly been let down too often over the last few seasons. McGhee has obviously made up his mind and I guess by dissassociating himself from the players he's staking everything on a summer re-shuffle.

 

I suspect that he never had the dressing room in the sense that some players didn't take to him and his methods. I don't necessarily blame him for that though, partly because there seems to be an inherent attitude problem amongst the squad (perhaps the entire club) when it comes to playing teams inferior to our own.

[BobbyBiscuit]

I've thought for a while there are members of the squad who were never with him in the first place.

 

same here.

[Kowalski]

same here.

 

Aluko by any chance?

[BobbyBiscuit]

Aluko by any chance?

 

Aye, and chuck Bert & Ernie from the midfield in with him.

[Ajja]

Thing is, I suspect their are several players at all clubs who are not interested in the club or the manager of any football club. It spart of the modern game and the managers who can crack it are not going to be managing Aberdeen FC. These players he is referring to were not performing week in week out last season either.

[Goldie03]

His article, honest tho it may be is hardly going to inspire any players to come to Aberdeen

 

What is happening to our club