The Aberdeen crisis appears to have deepened further over the weekend ahead of a big trip to Celtic Park on Wednesday night.
The Dons haven’t secured a league win at Parkhead since May 2018. Even that came on trophy day and in a match which meant very little to the Celtic players or supporters.
Outside of that, it’s been dismal result after dismal result. More often than not, they’ve arrived in Glasgow with some wind in their sails and a determination to show they can compete with the champions on their own turf. Even then you have to go back to a Scottish Cup last-16 win in 2014 for Aberdeen’s last meaningful Parkhead success.
However, this time around, they’re arriving in Glasgow with supporters surrendering before a ball has been kicked. This has come due to a combination of shocking results and dreadful football under Derek McInnes.
There’s no denying the Dons boss at times works with one hand tied behind his back. The departures of Scott McKenna and Sam Cosgrove – their most effective centre-back and striker respectively – hasn’t helped this term. But the figures now read extremely poorly from an Aberdonian perspective.
They’re now on a five-game winless run. That’s just part of a larger run of one win in nine games. In those nine games, Aberdeen have scored only four goals. Their last five games have ended without them finding the net. Five of the nine have been played at Pittodrie too – outlining just how poor they’ve been.
Aberdeen fans left fed up with crisis ahead of Celtic game
The lack of chances created, however, is becoming the main concern. In yesterday’s 0-0 draw against St Mirren at home, they only managed three shots on target. This game was then followed by McInnes expressing his disappointment that the club brought in January signings “late” [BBC]. Indeed, the Dons brought in Callum Hendry, Fraser Hornby, and Florian Kamberi on deadline-day to boost the front-line and cover the Cosgrove loss. They’ve scored zero goals between them so far.
Last week, Dons chairman Dave Cormack was forced to come out with a vote of confidence in his manager. This was met with plenty of disdain from Aberdeen fans who’ve seen enough.
They’re now watching a side who have dropped four points behind Hibernian in the race for third place. A team who only sit six in front of Livingston. This from a club that has always prided itself on being the best of the rest in Scotland.
McInnes certainly didn’t impress in his post-match comments yesterday either. He effectively tried to blame the conditions for Aberdeen’s lack of chances with some heavy wind present in the Granite City [Daily Record].
But as they prepare to face Celtic twice in 11 days, it’s clear they’re a club in crisis as fans call for the manager’s removal. A comparison with the Hoops can be made, but our return to form is something the Pittodrie side doesn’t boast.
Here’s a look at how their supporters reacted to their most recent setback and McInnes’ post-match reaction:
In other news, the Celtic fans have an unlikely backer as Sky Sports man slammed board for lack of engagement.
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