This weekend sees the lads face a tough challenge, up against the double whammy of the huns at iprix and a gallus Glasgow referee who has a track record of helping out his masonic mates when they play against us. Will this time be any different? I doubt it. All we can do is hope that the Dons transcend the obstacles and play out of their skins to try and get that elusive Glasgow victory. Nothing's impossible and that includes the likelihood of overcoming the huns on their own turf. The west coast press would have us believe that we can't hope to win down there, but then they have a vested interest in trying to make us believe that. We don't and sooner or later the Dandies will start to make them eat their words. Go for it boys, the Red Army's ready to back you to the hilt
All simple enough questions that are never likely to get honest answers from the SFA, if they were to get answers at all. Yesterday's game was completely outwith the guy's control. After a fairly quiet opening first quarter he just lost it, as did the Hearts players and mayhem ruled the park. Staggeringly, amidst the spate of bookings and sendings off, the dithering divot failed to throw a net over Pressley who was allowed to climb and kick our players with gay abandon and never a word said. It's a good job that none of our players showed much in the way of dissent over the mishandling of the game, because after sending people off for foul play it can only be assumed that any dissenters would have been lynched from the top of the Dick End and left to dangle in the stiff breeze until the flesh was stripped from their bones by marauding seagulls.
Nobody claims that a referee's job is easy and I certainly wouldn't want to do it, but surely there are enough people out there with the necessary qualities to be able to control a football match and ensure that the players operate within the rules.
This business of taking the collective foot off the gas used to drive me potty when the team of the eighties were doing it and there was next to no danger of them ever surrendering their advantage. For our current squad to do it is little short of criminal because they are not yet good enough to shut out a determined opposition. Why can't they just keep on doing what they do best and attack throughout the game, a tall order admittedly, but Saturday was one of those days when if they had been up[ for it, the visitors weren't going to stop them. Instead we saw the Redz go into coasting mode and nearly coming a cropper. A hammering handed out to Dunfermline would have guaranteed them a much bigger crowd for next weeks match against Hearts and isn't it part of every player's agenda to play in front of as many people as possible? Always send the punters home happy Dons, it'll make a hell of a difference to the response at the next game.
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Grampian TV's "Hissing" Tyrone Smith prepares to face the North Tonight Cameras. Smith, who has rapidly become a football clult figure in recent years' models part-time for DC Thomson artisits struggling for inspiration. |
If we had made a game of it and lost then most fans would probably have been unhappy but satisfied and gone home already psyching themselves up for the next match. As it was, most fans more likely went home experiencing emotions from fury to total despair. This match wasn't a humiliation, it was a downright disgrace and the players must be utterly ashamed of themselves. Just think, there were likely some people there for their first Dons' match and a cup tie should have been a great opportunity to fire them up with the enthusiasm to come back again. After Tuesday? Big turn-off and back to the old fireside with a nice warm telly thanks.
You can't even single out one or two players for exemption from the general criticism over this shaming, they were all hopeless for most of the ninety minutes. You might expect that in any one game there might be one or even two players who may have an off-day, but for an entire team it just beggars belief. What was wrong with them all? It reminded me very much of a visit to Tannadice one New Year (under the late lamentable Smiffy) when our boys took the pitch looking as though they'd been out on the tiles all night and hadn't begun to get over the hangovers; we got stuffed 4-0 that day and we had much better players than we do now.
Maybe with a team that has slumped so low in recent years we have to expect the odd aberration, but we are left desperately hoping that they can pick themselves up, dust themselves off and get stuck right in on Saturday. It's not just up to the manager to motivate the team for their visit to Livingston, it's up to each and every player. They owe the fans big time and need to settle up pronto or they'll be playing to rapidly declining crowds and slithering spinelessly back into the relegation zone. Fingers out boys!
