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ANALYSIS: New Firm derby a must win as Aberdeen cannot afford to slip into another slump

Motherwell's Kevin van veen makes it 2-0 against Aberdeen at Pittodrie in November.
Motherwell's Kevin van veen makes it 2-0 against Aberdeen at Pittodrie in November.

Aberdeen cannot afford to slip back into another slump and must deliver a win in the New Firm derby.

The Dons’ mini revival was halted by a disappointing 2-0 loss to Motherwell prior to the recent international break.

Having taken seven points from a triple header against Hearts, Rangers and Hibs losing to the Steelmen was a bitter, unexpected blow.

Aberdeen must ensure that frustrating loss only briefly dented momentum and did not derail it.

That will only happen if they see off Dundee United at Tannadice in a derby clash where they will be backed by a large travelling Red Army.

That memorable week where the Reds beat Hearts and Hibs and drew with Rangers at Ibrox provided renewed and much needed hope that the Reds could still have a successful season.

For those three games Aberdeen delivered on the pre-season promise and positivity that manager Stephen Glass had built an exciting, attack minded team.

Then against Motherwell it all reverted back to type with the defensive slackness and lack of cutting in edge in attack that had been culpable for a recent 10 game winless streak – the club’s worst run of form since 2010.

Aberdeen must ensure that memorable week is not an island stranded in a depressing sea of months of frustration and barren results.

Aberdeen manager Stephen Glass at full time following the 2-0 loss to Motherwell.

Tannadice must be a launch pad to propel the Reds into a run of games in November and December before the winter break that will be absolutely pivotal to the season.

Will it be a winter wonderland – or a winter of discontent?

It is all about perception. Aberdeen are either six points from a European spot, or five points from the relegation play-off zone. It all depends which way you look at it.

The Dons are either in the midst of a revival with seven points from the last 12 against teams in the top six – or they are mired in a slump with just two wins in 14.

The optics at the moment can either be positive or negative.

Motherwell’s Kevin van veen celebrates his second goal against Aberdeen at Pittodrie.

It is up to the Dons to swing the pendulum towards the positive, starting with a win in the New Firm derby.

Fundamental to achieving that will be cutting out the mistakes at the back.

Aberdeen have secured just two clean sheets in 20 games in all competitions this season which is a dismal, and damaging, return.

The foundation of any successful team is a solid back-bone in defence. That needs to return.

Aberdeen have been guilty of switching off at the back and those lapses in concentration, as in the loss to Motherwell, have been costly.

Aberdeen manager Stephen Glass during the 2-0 loss to Motherwell.

Aberdeen’s rearguard must retain concentration for the entire 90 minutes at Tannadice and the Reds must rediscover potency in attack.

Sounds like an easy enough formula – but Aberdeen have struggled to get both aspects clicking at the same time this season.

Aberdeen kicked off the Premiership season on August 1 with a 2-0 defeat of Dundee United at Pittodrie.

Motherwell’s Liam Kelly makes a crucial second half double save, tipping a header onto the post then clawing away the rebound

It seemed like a benchmark performance laying down a marker after a summer rebuild for what Glass’ new look Dons could achieve.

They completely outplayed Dundee United to start the domestic campaign with a bang.

Combined with a successful start in the Europa Conference League qualifiers the outlook for Aberdeen this season looked resoundingly positive at the conclusion of that New Firm derby.

If I had been asked after that Premiership opener derby which manager in their first full season in the Scottish top flight would endure a crash in form I wouldn’t have picked Glass.

Yet it is Dundee United that are six points ahead of Aberdeen in the table.

Aberdeen must slash that gap to three points to gain control of not just the perception of how their season is – but the reality of how it will turn out.

From Kazakhstan to a new era

I remember watching Scotland crash 3-0 away to Kazakhstan on March 21 and feeling utterly bereft of any hope for the national team’s future.

I have a son who was just eight years old then and I genuinely feared he would be an adult before Scotland graced the finals of another major tournament.

It all seemed so bleak as the Scots suffered one of the most abject defeats in the nation’s footballing history – to a nation ranked 117th in the world.

Alex McLeish’s side were two goals down inside 10 minutes in Astana in a nightmare night for the Tartan Army.

As bleak as that was it should however be remembered that McLeish did secure a Euro 2020 play-off place via the Nations League.

His replacement Steve Clarke finished that job.

However fast forward two-and-a-half years and I was lucky enough to be reporting at Hampden to witness one of the Scots’ best performances in years in the 2-0 defeat of Denmark.

Scotland were superb as they extended their winning run to six games in the qualifying campaign to secure a seeded spot in the World Cup play-offs.

Goal hero Che Adams celebrates after scoring to make it 2-0 Scotland against Denmark.

From the low of Kazakhstan the Scots are just two games away from securing back to back tournament qualifications after reaching Euro 2020.

What a turnaround. My son loved every second of Scotland at the Euros this summer even though they only took one point from the three group games.

It was about being part of the tournament. Hopefully he can enjoy Scotland at Qatar.

Superb title win for Dean Sutherland

Aberdeen welterweight Dean Sutherland continued his relentless ascent in the professional ranks by securing the WBC International Silver title.

Sutherland secured the title with a sensational eighth round stoppage of Italian Michele Esposito at the Beach Ballroom.

Aberdeen’s Dean Sutherland holds the WBC International Silver welterweight belt up to his fans.

Esposito, 35, had never been stopped in a 10 year pro career.

However the referee had no option but to stop the contest when Esposito had no reply to a barrage of shots from Sutherland.

It was another impressive performance from the undefeated Aberdonian to follow up his WBO Youth title secured in July.

British boxing is starting to take notice of Sutherland.