Derek must put thinking cap on ahead of semi
Derek McInnes has a team selection dilemma ahead of the Scottish Cup semi-final.
Tynecastle aside, the home win over St Johnstone and away success over Motherwell were good, so I wouldn’t go making wholesale changes in response to a performance which was clearly a bad day at the office.
However, captain Graeme Shinnie, playmaker Kenny McLean and right-back Shay Logan being missing through suspension leaves the manager with some really big places to fill – decisions which may be crucial to the Reds having the chance to win the Scottish Cup by reaching the final.
The best formation is also something McInnes will have to look at – with two central midfielders out, is it necessary to have a holding midfielder screening the defence?
Could Anthony O’Connor be brought into central midfield proper, with Dominic Ball at right-back?
Then you’re just looking at a more attacking central midifielder to fill McLean’s role.
It could also be the opportunity for someone from the development side to come in to replace these mainstays, and will certainly be a good chance for whoever is called upon to stake a claim.
I’ve no doubt Aberdeen have a good enough pool to beat Motherwell and the fans will have faith in the manager to make the correct calls.
Sorting the split is a real headache for all
It’s a difficult job for the Scottish Professional Football League to put together the post-split Premiership fixtures.
At the moment it looks highly likely two teams from the top six in the country will travel to Ibrox for a third time this season to play Rangers, while the Glasgow side have only been to other best five teams’ stadiums once.
It’s one of the pitfalls of the split, this inequality which is produced by it.
Teams and fans feel they’ve been singled out and there is some grand conspiracy theory behind it.
You could also argue the administrators – and I’m no fan of administrators – could have seen this situation coming with at least five of the top six, and should have avoided all of them visiting Ibrox in their first meeting with Rangers this campaign.
But Rangers, expected to benefit from the system this time, have complained about unfair treatment themselves in the past – you can’t keep everybody happy.
Every year, there’s always going to be teams or a team who are going to feel hard done-by.
Fortunately for Dons fans, and Celtic fans, administrators are good at playing politics and will most likely avoid sending them back to Govan again until next season.
This article originally appeared on the Evening Express website. For more information, read about our new combined website.