Joe Harper: Paisley display was one of the worst Aberdeen performances I have ever witnessed

The dismal, shocking loss at St Mirren is one of the worst performances I have ever seen from an Aberdeen team.

I felt so sorry for the Aberdeen supporters who travelled down to Paisley to witness that unacceptable 90 minutes

A large support cheered on  the Dons in Paisley – there always is a strong away backing.

Those fans paid money for tickets and made the six-hour round trip on a Tuesday night in the height of winter.

They stood in the freezing cold and cheered on the Dons throughout.

Those supporters probably didn’t get home until around 1am and then had to go to work in the morning.

How was that loyalty repaid?

With an abject performance.

This season supporters have travelled to 11 away league games and one away League Cup tie, but have witnessed just two victories on the road.

That is not good enough.

The entire team failed against St Mirren on a miserable night in Paisley.

They were bullied by a team who just seemed to want three points more.

Aberdeen cannot afford another performance like that when they host St Johnstone at Pittodrie on Saturday.

Saints may be bottom of the Premiership, but they are fighting for their lives against relegation.

Saturday could be a real battle – and Aberdeen must be up for it.

I can’t understand why the Dons were so poor, because there are good players in the team.

It was night and day to the high tempo shift against Rangers when the Reds were unfortunate to only draw 1-1 with the league leaders.

How can Aberdeen go from that to being so bad in Paisley in just seven days?

There was no life to the performance against St Mirren.

Even when they were a goal down and facing a damaging defeat, there was no urgency.

With five minutes to go the ball went out of play and an Aberdeen player sauntered over to pick it up.

Then he passed it over for someone else to take the throw in.

By the time the throw in was taken, St Mirren were organised again and the chance to gain any advantage had gone.

Aberdeen should have played the game at their pace, not St Mirren’s – who were leading and didn’t need to force the issue.

With five minutes remaining, the Dons were still passing the ball around the back.

Get it up the park into the danger area to put pressure on St Mirren!

Aberdeen had the opportunity to jump up to fourth in the table, albeit only for 24 hours, but blew it in Paisley.

As bad as that defeat to St Mirren was, it’s also important to remember the Reds have only lost twice in the last eight games. Hopefully it was just a blip.

It is vital they show that shocker was a one-off by bouncing back against St Johnstone.

The Dons have a run of three games coming up against bottom six sides – Saints, Ross County and Livingston – before hosting Celtic.

These are games they must win if they have aspirations of pushing further up the table.

However, these matches will not be easy and it will take far more fight, belief and creativity than was on show at St Mirren to come out on top.

Excited by Besuijen’s potential

Aberdeen’s plan to sign young talent from overseas will hopefully pay off both on and off the field.

Dutch youth international Vicente Besuijen is the second young talent from overseas to be snapped up on a permanent deal in the January window.

Midfielder Dante Polvara was also drafted in from the United States, having played college football with Georgetown University.

Besuijen is 20 and Polvara 21, so both are players that can be developed.

The ideal scenario for Aberdeen is for both to make significant impacts in the first team for a season or two before being sold on for a large fee.

Besuijen may only be 20, but he arrives at Pittodrie with a strong pedigree.

He played 30 times last season in the Dutch top-flight for ADO Den Haag.

Following their relegation last year, he has banged in six goals this season in the Dutch second tier, with 10 assists.

That is a decent return and hopefully he can make an immediate impact.

Besuijen couldn’t make his debut at St Mirren, because the Dons were waiting for a visa.

Aberdeen certainly needed a spark of creativity against the Buddies.

Hopefully that clears so he can face St Johnstone on Saturday.

Good luck to Niall McGinn on his move from Aberdeen to Dundee.

McGinn was a tremendous servant for the club in a near-10-year career at Pittodrie. He won the 2014 League Cup and scored 87 goals.

However, McGinn had to exit Aberdeen to get game time as he is still a regular in the Northern Ireland squad.