Ryan Christie’s absence from Aberdeen’s game against Celtic on Sunday is an anomaly I believe needs to be looked at.
One of their best players was unable to play against them as technically he’s a Celtic player. That’s four games over the season he can’t play in and it’s not right.
It’s OK for a player coming down from the Premiership to the Championship, where he can play in every game.
But, in this instance, the only team it benefits is Celtic. Their player is getting experience and helping the Dons take points off rival clubs, which, in turn, helps the Hoops.
He’s an Aberdeen player for that period of time and Ryan is such a key player, his absence has an effect in those four games. Aberdeen are taking a strong player out of their line-up.
It also means that if Aberdeen and Celtic reach the Scottish Cup final again, like last season, Ryan is effectively part of both clubs but can play for neither.
It’s a rule that needs to be looked at and you should be able to play against your parent clubs.
I’ve heard a few people say it was a missed opportunity for Aberdeen because of Celtic being knocked out of Europe on Thursday night. But, having heard their arrangements, I think Celtic have been clever in giving their players as much rest as possible.
They went straight to Aberdeen from Russia, so they didn’t go back to Glasgow. They’ve also got a big squad of players, so they’re able to freshen it up. They didn’t look tired or jaded from what I saw.
For me, the difference was Celtic took their chances and Aberdeen didn’t. Celtic were dangerous on the counter, which showed by their second goal.
Aberdeen were maybe a bit naive getting caught like that but it was at a stage of the game when they were trying to get back into it. They left themselves short at the back.
The absence of Graeme Shinnie, one of Aberdeen’s strongest players, through suspension was also unfortunate.
I don’t think the pitch at Pittodrie helped, either. Because of the age of it and the amount of work done on it over the years, it becomes difficult for two good footballing teams to play on. They deserve to play on a better surface and I felt sorry for Aberdeen and Derek McInnes. They may not get the pitch right until they move to a new stadium.
Aberdeen have to keep going in the league as second place is still there. Winning the league in the future is going to be very difficult but Derek said a couple of weeks ago he had a feeling this could be their year in the Scottish Cup.
Concentrating on winning the cup has to be the main thing they work towards, while maintaining their league position.