Looking around the other ties in Scotland, there was one other one that stood out because of a low crowd despite being an SPL clash. That was the game at Ibrox where just over 25,000 showed up for the visit of Hibs. Even though the Edinburgh club are struggling, that is a very poor crowd for the Weegies. Is there a common factor? Probably two: First up is the issue of season ticket holders having to buy separate tickets for these ties, a frustrating and time consuming arrangement; personally I'd rather pay more up front for the season ticket and not have the harassment of organising extras for cup ties (European matches would be different as they are special and not part of the domestic routine). Clubs reckon that they can make more money by only having season tickets covering league games, but the economics start to go out the window if you consider yesterday's crowd. Of course it isn't a straightforward arrangement to allow season tickets to cover these games because the gate receipts have to be shared between two clubs, but there must be a way of sorting that out.
The second potential reason for the low crowds at yesterday's matches might just reach back a week to the trouble at last Saturday's Pittodrie match. Is it possible that significant numbers of people have got it in their heads that going to an Aberdeen or rangers game is too risky for their kids? Is that what the brainless yobs have achieved at last? It's possible: the gaps in the Merkland Stand at Pittodrie suggest that families stayed away in big numbers. Normally for any match not involving the old farm there are house full notices on the gates there. Either that or people have simply decided that the cost of admission to a Cup tie, over and above their season ticket, is too great.
One piece of evidence that hints that the crowd trouble of last week cast a pall over this game was the story in the papers that Livvy fans were asking their club whether it was safe to come to Pittodrie. What possible reason could anybody, outside of the blue hordes, have for wondering such a thing? Aberdeen fans don't try and make Pittodrie a living hell for visiting teams and their fans, why should they? Normal, decent visitors should always be welcomed because they help to make the atmosphere. Of course people wind each other up, but the same folk could easily be planning to have a pint together after the match.
If THAT game has put doubts in people's minds over coming to Aberdeen, it will probably be a factor that fades quite quickly and the desire to watch the Dons will overwhelm any doubts, especially as people come to remember that there probably isn't a safer stadium to visit anywhere in Scotland. let's hope the tie against Celtic will be a total sellout and turn out to be a fantastic advert for the domestic game, the Dandies deserve that and so do their fans.
One thing that happens tomorrow should be the silence of the drums - AFC should make them leave the things on the bus and invite them to be as vocally noisy as they want instead. Nobody will worry if a drum ban gets extended to our terracing as well. At least the Livvy guys can actually play their drums rather than just thumping and hoping for the best like we get. Oh for a few Brazilians to get some Samba rhythms going.
On the park, of course, it's up to the Redz to get over whatever barriers they have in their minds about playing Livingston and just get on an turf them oot the cup at the first time of asking, defeat is unthinkable and a trip to the Lothians on a freezing February night is hardly an inviting alternative so get well stuck in!
Presumably the Club's reluctance to cut the number of visiting hun fans or to stop them altogether is based in the misguided idea that cash is king and that they'd be losing out on the sale of 4000 tickets. Well, first and foremost they should think about their own supporters interests first. Safety and security of fans and players should always come ahead of a few thousand quid. There are loads of Dons' fans who won't go to a rangers match, or at least won't take their kids, because they don't want to listen to the foul sectarian bile that pours out from the traveling support. If there was the prospect of seeing such a game without all that triumphalist garbage then many more home supporters would want to come and watch so the Club wouldn't lose out financially, especially as there would be no need for a massive policing bill or the major repair work that follows every Glasgow rangers visit.
Maybe this suggestion has just been one throwaway thought from the Chief Exec and inside Pittodrie they are kicking around countless other possible steps that might be taken, but they need to come to the right decision and share it with the outside pretty quickly. Furthermore, whatever decisions that may be arrived at in the aftermath of Saturday night should be reached in consultation with the major fan groups.
Don't forget that the reputation and good name of Dons' fans has come under the microscope now, with the Edinburgh police already making noises about their preparedness for our visit on Wednesday night. Strange that, even the west coast press today have hinted that the bulk of troublemakers were from south of Scotland's border and the police haven't denied that, yet already they are expecting our traveling support to be up to no good at Easter Road. Talk about give a dog a bad name. Let's hope that all our traveling fans silence the critics with exemplary, good natured behaviour and fantastic vocal backing for the Reds.
The whole thing could have been a lot less spectacular had the police stepped into the situation as soon as the coins started flying, but for some inexplicable reason they stood back and let it get worse, only intervening after Winters got whacked on the back of his head. The only person that made any kind of attempt to stop it at the beginning was Amoruso and he deserves praise for that, especially as he isn't even his club's captain. But the absence of police along the South Stand track left it possible for casuals to come over the wall and make their way down the track towards the hun element. Even two or three police officers up by the south-west corner of the park would have been enough to stop them or turn them back, it didn't take too much effort when a couple of Bobbies did get involved. There's a crucial issue there that needs to be addressed by the authorities.
Reading today's papers, it is staggering to see how many inaccuracies and twists of the truth are already finding their way into print and the talk of double standards is utterly despicable. There are no worse double standards than from the Scottish press who constantly rake over the coals of the animosity between our two clubs and stoke up the heat before every match between the two teams. Worse still, we all know that they are only doing it to try and sell more copies of their rags and that they will deflect any blame from themselves onto the fans. The stirring from that quarter will go on and on and they will get away with it because they are the so called "fourth estate" and allegedly guardians of democracy and the British way of life. Piffle, they are cynical conmen, cheating the public of the truth for the sake of sensationalism and sales. It would be easy for them to write about this issue without using inflammatory language, but they choose not to because they feed off the mayhem that they provoke.
Solutions? For years, the Aberdeen fanzines have called on the club to exclude rangers fans or at least reduce their numbers to the same proportion as we are allowed to take to Ibrox. The club has resisted this idea on the grounds that it would cost money through lost ticket sales, but how much does it cost them to have hundreds of police and stewards involved? How much does it cost to put right the destruction that goes on in the visitors part of the South Stand? We probably get about 2% of the seats when we go to Ibrox, so let them have the same amount in Pittodrie - that's about 450 - surely it wouldn't be beyond the ability of the "mighty" ibrox machine to identify 450 responsible fans who could be relied on to behave decently in Aberdeen? If that were the case then it would also provide a huge incentive to AFC and the authorities to ensure that our own cancerous minority were kept away from Glasgow on the relevant match days.
When he walks out of the tunnel today, I hope that Dons fans cheer him to the rafters because it will drive the unwashed blue horde to distraction - they will hate it and there sod all that they can do about it. Remember, Big Eck did loads for us but he's done nothing for the huns and he is facing colossal pressures if he doesn't start winning things for them soon. We don't need to give him a hard time, that'll come from to him on his own doorstep. So Alex, Alex, Alex McLeish!