Aberdeen are playing a dangerous game as their wait for their season to click into gear continues.
A quick look at the Premiership table tells the story of the Dons’ predicament with my old club two points off a relegation play-off place and three points from the top six.
We’re reaching the midway point of the pre-split season and it is not being dramatic to say I could see Aberdeen’s hopes of finishing in the top six sunk by the end of December unless they get going.
They have 18 games to play but it is the lack of points being collected which is giving me cause for concern.
With two home games this week against Livingston and St Mirren it is vital the Dons take maximum points. Aberdeen’s fortunes could improve quickly but by the same token their woes could deepen too.
Stephen Glass does not have his problems to see at the moment with captain Scott Brown and Dylan McGeouch both limping off in Sunday’s 2-1 loss to Celtic in Glasgow. With an entire back four also unavailable the Dons are down to the bare bones.
Brown in particular is a huge loss and while Stephen was optimistic about the chances of both players being fit to face Livi tomorrow.
I have my doubts as far as Brown is concerned as it looks as if the former Celtic skipper was in some discomfort as he limped off at Celtic Park.
He is at an age where those niggles take a little longer to recover from and for Aberdeen’s sake I hope Stephen’s diagnosis is more accurate than mine as Brown is a huge presence for the team, especially in Andy Considine’s absence.
Despite losing to Celtic on Sunday it does seem as if the manager found positives from the performance. Celtic Park has been a far from happy hunting ground for the Dons – or any side for that matter – in the last 20 years but Aberdeen held their own.
While I would not dispute Ange Postecoglou’s side deserved to win the game Stephen can be pleased at seeing his side bounce back from the loss of an early goal by reaching the break on level terms.
I haven’t seen the challenge on David Bates given as a penalty too many times in the past but I’m sure the Dons were not complaining at the spot kick being given and Lewis Ferguson was calmness personified as he beat Joe Hart from the spot to make it 1-1.
If Celtic felt hard done by then Callum McGregor’s ricocheted winner made amends but Stephen was pleased to see his side stay in the game until the end and come close to an equaliser.
Those positives, however, will count for nothing if the Dons cannot turn their performances into points.
County digging deep in fight for Premiership survival
While the Dons continue to struggle to pick up points the same cannot be said for 10-man Ross County who dug deep to earn a point against Dundee United on Saturday.
Malky Mackay’s side have taken seven points from their last four matches to close the gap on the teams above them at the bottom of the Premiership and Saturday’s last-minute equaliser against United in Dingwall must have been especially satisfying.
I still have no idea what Harry Clarke was thinking when he made a needless challenge resulting in his dismissal for a second yellow card offence 15 minutes from time.
He was late, his arms were high and he gave the referee a decision to make. It was one of those fouls which, as an ex-professional, I watch thinking ‘why would you make a challenge like that when you are already on a booking?’
While County are showing signs of fight at the foot of the table predicting which club is going to go down is shaping up to be a near impossible task this season.
If you are the type of fan who fancies a flutter on a football coupon then I would respectfully suggest you don’t touch the Premiership with a barge pole.
When the Staggies can win 5-0 at Dundee, only for the Dark Blues to beat Motherwell 3-0 a few weeks later then that tells you all you need to know.
Home advantage counts for nothing this season and the prediction of this being a competitive league is proving spot-on. As a neutral it’s great but I wouldn’t envy any of the managers working in the top flight.
Time for SPFL to give Steve Clarke and Scotland a helping hand
The World Cup draw has worked as well as we could have hoped but I’m not rushing to pack my suitcase for Qatar just yet.
I was interested, and a little worried, to hear Ukraine head coach Oleksandr Petrakov has reached an agreement with the national league in his homeland to have all domestic league fixtures postponed for two weeks to give him time to prepare for the big play-off semi-final at Hampden.
I really hope the SPFL and SFA can come to some sort of agreement to help Steve Clarke and the Scottish players in a similar manner.
I know a lot of our players are based in England but anything we can do to avoid losing players to injury in the build-up to a massive game at the National Stadium should be investigated.
After all, qualification should be cause for celebration for everyone.
