All the talk this week after Celtic’s draw with Aberdeen has been about whether or not the Pittodrie club are genuine contenders for the Scottish Premiership now.
Battling back from 2-0 down, The Dons rescued a point against Celtic and that has set the tongues wagging amongst pundits and media people on whether or not Jimmy Thelin’s side can keep up with the Parkhead club.
There is a view, however, that Aberdeen have it in them to at least finish second and when asked if they could win the league, former Rangers midfielder Ross McCormack delivered a verdict that is not good news for the Ibrox club.
Aberdeen can finish second behind Celtic in the league
McCormack told The Scottish Football Podcast, “Well, that’s two different questions you just asked me there.
“Title contenders, I’m not too sure but in terms of splitting the O-d F-rm, why not? Why not?
“You know, we’ve been crying out for this for a number of years. When I was at Motherwell, we finished third in the league and that was like winning the league outside of the league sort of thing.
“But if someone could go and split the O-d F-rm, then it’s great for the game. It gives everyone else the belief that they can go and do it. And as I say, why not?”
Celtic still ‘head and shoulders’ above Rangers and Aberdeen
“They’ve drew one game and won the rest” continued McCormack, “I think that was, not to be disrespectful to the other teams in the league, but that was probably the biggest test yet for Aberdeen.
“And in my eyes, they passed it, especially with that second-half performance. So they’ll see a huge amount of confidence moving forward from that game.
“And when teams are on winning runs and they’ve got that never-say-die attitude and they always believe that they can get something, then they’re very dangerous.
“So it makes no difference to them now whether they’re going to be playing Celtic or Rangers or anyone else, they now believe that they can go win the game. So, I think it should be taken seriously in terms of finishing second but finishing first, I think, Celtic are still head and shoulders above the rest.”
The season is just eight games old. There are still 30 more to go and 90 points left to play for before any prediction can be made on whether Aberdeen can challenge Celtic for the title.
However, many pundits, like Chris Sutton, are starting to come around to the idea that Rangers need to be worried about Aberdeen this season.
After the Ibrox club lost at Kilmarnock in an insipid Sunday lunchtime defeat, the pressure is on them now to try and catch Jimmy Thelin’s side.
As for challenging Celtic’s crown, it would take a monumental effort to do that with the squad depth Celtic have. And whilst nothing is impossible, the chances of winning the league may be a bridge too far for Aberdeen right now.
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