Before yesterday’s match against Celtic, Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes’ insisted the game was not ‘must win’ if the Dons are to mount a serious title challenge, instead he believed the game was ‘must show improvement’.
After yesterday’s match, which the Dons won 2-1, McInnes admitted the only real improvement he had wanted to see was nothing to do with performances, he simply wanted an improvement on the Dons results against Celtic.
The Dons took just one point from the final four games of last season to finish the campaign 17 points behind Celtic, however, it was not those final four games which ruined any potential Aberdeen title challenge, instead, it was games in September, November, March and May – the Dons’ four games against Celtic.
No matter what level you are playing at you cannot play your direct rivals four times, lose to them four times and still realistically hope to finish above them.
Unfortunately for McInnes and the Red Army, Celtic did collect all 12 points from the matches last season and yesterday, the Dons boss knew he and his team had to put that right.
Had the results between the teams last season gone the other way, and the Dons had won all four, then McInnes’ men would have finished seven points ahead of the Parkhead outfit.
The Dons aren’t expecting a clean sweep against the Hoops this season but yesterday was certainly a step in the right direction.
But should we really be surprised with yesterday’s result? Large spells of the encounters between the sides last season were closely contested and since then McInnes has improved his Aberdeen team while Deila’s Celtic team has gone backwards.
In Graeme Shinnie, Aberdeen have not only signed the best left back in Scotland but also, as he proved in the early season European ties and again yesterday, one of the best midfielders playing in the country.
While Jamie Langfield was a great servant to the club and Scott Brown produced some good stops, Liverpool loanee Danny Ward has undoubtedly improved the Dons between the sticks.
The Dons also added another leader and a solid defender in the shape of former Ross County captain Paul Quinn, while right back Ryan McLaughlin ensures the Dons now have suitable cover for Shay Logan and Josh Parker, signed on loan from Red Star Belgrade, gives the Dons another option in attack with his pace and direct approach.
Down the road it has been a rather different summer for Deila and Celtic. The Hoops boss has lost the heart of his defence with Jason Denayer returning to Manchester City and Virgil van Dijk moving to Southampton.
At the other end of the pitch the Hoops waved goodbye to John Guidetti who scored 15 goals in 35 appearances for the Hoops.
Deila has tried to replace Danayer with fellow Belgian centre half Dedryck Boyata but he has yet to convince and does not look anywhere near as comfortable as the Manchester City loanee.
The Celtic boss has also spent close to £5million on bringing in Jozo Šimunović from Dinamo Zagreb to replace van Dijk but reports are somewhat mixed on the 21-year-old Croatian defender who struggled to establish himself in the Zagreb team. Only time will tell if he can prove himself as a suitable replacement for van Dijk but as a unit the Celtic defence is certainly weaker this season than it was last term.
Up front, Deila has signed Nadir Ciftci to replace Guidetti. The Swedish striker scored almost a goal every two games for the Hoops, his Turkish replacement has yet to score after playing six games.
The Hoops have also signed Saidy Janko, Scott Allan, Logan Bailly and Tyler Blackett but all four look likely to provide back up to the first team when everyone is fit, while the final summer arrival at Parkhead, Ryan Christie, has returned to Inverness Caledonian Thistle on loan until the end of the season.
Aberdeen’s summer strengthening had seen the team win five matches from five games before yesterday. Celtic’s failure to enhance their starting 11 had seen them knocked out of the Champions League and drop points against one of the worst Kilmarnock teams of the last 20 years.
Yesterday’s result didn’t tell us anything we didn’t already suspect, the result simply confirmed those suspicions and gave even more belief to Derek McInnes, his Aberdeen squad and a rather jubilant Dons support.
What we now know is there certainly will be a fight for the title this season. That is, as long as Celtic’s squad can deal with playing in a tough Europa League group while also trying to keep up with the rampant Dons…