Diabolical Dons look up to ICT after record loss.

Inverness pop along the A96 on Tuesday evening for a midweek fixture at Pittodrie.  Aberdeen are in the undesirable position of looking up the league table to their Highland opponents who have put together an impressive opening round of results to sit in the top half of the SPL.  Aberdeen fans see the glory days of the eighties as a distant memory while Inverness fans see their teams fortunes get better and better. 

Long gone are the Alex Ferguson years, when Aberdeen were not only a force in Scotland, but humbled the mighty Real Madrid to win the Cup Winners Cup in Gothenburg, 2-1 after extra time.  Invergordon lad Eric Black opened the scoring only for a Juanito penalty to take the game into extra-time.  John Hewit scored what proved to be the winner after 112 minutes.  That was on May 11th 1983.  They followed this up by defeating Hamburg SV to lift the European Super Cup in December with a 2-0 aggregate win.  The goals scored at Pittodrie after a goalless first leg were scored by Neil Simpson and none other than one Mark McGhee.  From hero to zero I suppose.  Talking about Pittodrie.  Allegedly, the name is derived from the Pictish words for 'dung heap'.  It would appear that Pittodrie was a dung hill created by the cities police horses.  I'll let you make your own jokes up about that one.  The ground was first used in 1899 when Dumbarton were thrashed 7-1.  Another little fact that they like to keep quiet, Aberdeen FC as we know it today, was an amalgamation of three clubs.  Aberdeen, Victoria United and Orion.  The amalgamated clubs first game at Pittodrie in 1903 resulted in a 1-1 draw with Stenhousemuir. (I think Scarlet Pimple was there with The Mantis and Johnboy)  So, there you go, and here are we still debating the merger when it has all been done before. 

Cup Winners Cup team in 1983 included some great names, including ex-County boss Neale Cooper now managing at Peterhead.  Dream on Team :- Jim Leighton, Doug Rougvie, John McMaster, Neale Cooper, Alex McLeish, Willie Miller, Gordon Strachan, Neil Simpson, Mark McGhee, Eric Black - Subs John Hewit & Peter Weir. 

Anyway, as Michael J Fox once said to me, back to the future..........................

Last time out

Saw the home form of Inverness improve, unfortunately for them, Motherwell are an exciting team to watch these days and their away form is as equally impressive as the Highland sides form.  A highly entertaining game saw Motherwell open a gap in third spot after holding on to defeat Inverness by two goals to one.  Esson had clawed a Gow header out of the net but the ball had crossed the line, before Nick Blackman scored a crucial second after his shot deflected off Munro under the challenge.  The ball looped agonisingly over the head of a stranded Ryan Esson to send Well on their way to victory and they withstood a late charge from ICT after Stuart Duff had scored a superb first time rocket from 25 yards to make it game on.  Chances came and went, at both ends but it was Motherwell who coped best and held on to that third place behind the Old Firm.

Aberdeen maybe would rather not discuss their present plight after suffering a record SPL defeat.  With Paul Hartley being sent off, they were humiliated at Parkhead as Celtic made it nine in a row.............goals that is.  The phone calls to the ref must have made all the difference as Celtic were awarded three penalties on their way to this crushing defeat for the Dons.  Bet that makes Mr Lennon feel better.  Hooper and Stokes claimed hat-tricks as Celtic brushed Aberdeen aside.  Ref Muir brought Aberdeen's miserable effort to a halt by blowing the whistle just after the ninety minutes to save further embarrassment and I wonder how much longer the suffering Aberdeen fans will allow the demise of their club to continue before Mr McGhee will be brought to task.  It's the only time I ever see the word untenable used, and if it's in the same sentence as Aberdeen and McGhee then surely it's Taxi for Mark.  In fact, the Aberdeen board have a hastily arranged meeting for Sunday, hot on the heels of the Dons 107 year record defeat.  What on earth could they be talking about?  Did I hear the word untenable?  Well, I kid you not, it appears that Mr McGhee is still in charge, at least for this game, but he is drinking in the last chance saloon as the Aberdeen board look for positive results to erase the memory of last weekend.

Previous games

These two clubs have met 16 times in the SPL.  The stats favour Aberdeen in these fixtures with Inverness having only 2 victories in the 16 attempts.  The Dons have come out on top in 8, with the points being shared 6 times.  However, the pendulum could be swinging in favour of the Highlanders with a home win already secured over Aberdeen this season.  Aberdeen have scored 20 goals and the Inverness reply is 13.  The highest aggregate score for a single game was the Don's 3-4 victory in an enthralling encounter at Inverness in March 2008.  That day, a dramatic injury time winner by Chris McGuire took all three points East against ten man Inverness.  A see-saw match saw Aluko put Aberdeen in front, but  a Bus og and a superb Russell Duncan effort put the home side in front before Barry Nicholson squared it.  Russell Duncan was needlessly red carded at half time.  Lee Miller headed the Dons ahead early in the second half, but 10 man Inverness levelled when Roy McBain scored around the hour mark.  ICT almost held out until the sucker punch four minutes into injury time kept the Dons' top six hopes alive.  Great game, just the result that spoiled it for the home fans, and the news from the dressing room was that Grant Munro was red carded after the whistle.  Aberdeen also dumped Inverness out of both cup competitions during this SPL sequence, 4-1 at Pittodrie and 2-1 at Inverness in the Scottish Cup.  So, the stats are heavily against Inverness, but the recent turmoil at Aberdeen suggests all is not well.  The Don's will be hurting after last weeks thrashing in Glasgow and will be out to show their own fans that all is not lost, while Inverness will be looking to extend their long unbeaten away record.  Shaping up to be an interesting evening, one way or another.

***Latest Team News***

Russell Duncan has joined Blumenshtein, Proctor, Innes and Gillet on the injured list.  The defensive midfielder suffered a late groin injury forcing him to pull out of the Motherwell game at the eleventh hour.  On the bright side, Lee Cox will be back in the squad after showing no ill effects in a bounce game against a Dundee United eleven last Monday.  Inverness finished the game against Well with a youthful blend on the park.  Richie Foran looks to be struggling to shake off a stomach strain although the introduction of Shane Sutherland last week sparked some life into the ICT attack and he was unlucky not to score with a terrific turn and shot.  Gavin Morrison could start if Cox needs more time and Shinnie surely won't have such a handful to contend with.  The young ones will take great inspiration from starlet Nick Ross who has been selected for the next Scotland U21 squad to play Northern Ireland.  Well done Nick.

Aberdeen have plenty to ponder coming into this one.  Red card captain Paul Hartley is suspended after his sending off at Parkhead.  Mr McGhee reckons the sending off changed the game, really.  Nikola Vujadinovic and Andy Considine may well miss this one, adding to longer term injured players, Fraser Fyvie and Peter Pawlett.  Lots of decisions for the gaffer to consider after a performance like that.  Does he show faith in the players who showed so little passion for the game or does he make drastic alterations throughout the team?  Questions Questions...................

Squads:-

Aberdeen (from): Langfield, Diamond, McArdle, Robertson, Folly, Aluko, Young, Jack, Vernon, Magennis, Maguire, Mackie, Ifil, Howard, Velicka, Hansson, Fraser, Shaughnessy.

Inverness (from): Esson, Tokely, Munro, McCann, Cox, Shinnie, Duff, Hayes, Ross, Foran, Rooney, Odhiambo, Sutherland, Golabek, McBain, Tuffey, Morrison, Sanchez.

tm4tj Prediction

McGhee's response to the drubbing at Parkhead has been well documented. "It's only three points"  Whilst that is true, try telling that to the Red Army who are not best pleased.  He has also been quoted as saying "I've gone from legend to idiot".  That may be true as well, however 17 wins from 58 matches does not sit well on your CV.  This may well be the ideal time for Inverness to put the boot in where it hurts, but surely the Dons players owe McGhee and the fans one after that debacle.  I'm not so sure that this will be an easy game, for either side.  Aberdeen are under massive pressure to perform, Inverness will be looking to keep the unbeaten away run going.  In the first encounter at Inverness, the Red's defence looked all over the place, Celtic confirmed this last weekend.  If Aberdeen don't tighten up their back line, then Inverness could take all three points.  However, I'm a reasonable guy, and I doubt they will be so benevolent two games in a row.  With that in mind and considering the future of Aberdeen Football Club is at stake, then I reckon we might have to settle for a point.