I’m still backing Aberdeen to finish third in the Premiership despite suffering a shocker at Ibrox.
It won’t be easy as Hibs and Hearts will be amongst the teams gunning to finish third.
However, I believe Aberdeen have enough attacking threat to edge that battle.
The Dons have an opportunity to lay down a strong marker in the race for third when they host Hibs at Pittodrie tonight.
Hibs currently hold third spot and sit a point ahead of Jim Goodwin’s Aberdeen.
Victory would see the Dons jump up to third which would go some way to getting the team back on track after the nightmare at Ibrox.
To achieve a third-placed finish Aberdeen’s concerning inconsistency away from home needs to be fixed quickly.
I don’t blame manager Jim Goodwin for setting up to attack against Rangers with a 3-1-4-2 formation.
He was right to have a go as Aberdeen have attackers who have been scoring regularly.
You have to be positive and have self-belief when playing at Ibrox and Parkhead.
However, after Rangers equalised to make it 1-1 it quickly became clear Aberdeen weren’t in the game.
Changes needed to be made and it took too long for that to happen.
Lessons must be learned from that loss.
Aberdeen gave Rangers far too much space at Ibrox and it was ruthlessly exploited.
The Reds have been so successful at Pittodrie recently because they are bursting with energy and quickly close down players.
In recent home games, the Dons quickly swarmed around any opposition player in possession.
There were two, three sometimes four Aberdeen players closing the player on the ball down.
If a player managed to get past one Don another was in front of him.
Aberdeen haven’t been giving opposition players any time and space in possession at Pittodrie and it has been highly effective.
Yet when Rangers had the ball Aberdeen backed off them and were overran.
If you give good players time in possession, especially in midfield, you will be destroyed.
Aberdeen’s intensity and fire to close down the opposition quickly and effectively must return against Hibs tonight.
The whole point of being an Aberdeen player is to try to make the club great again and make the supporters happy.
That takes a combination of passion, self-belief, ability, pace and hunger.
Aberdeen players must tick all those boxes in the remaining games of the season if they are to finish third in the Premiership.
The loss at Ibrox was a tough watch and it could have been an even heavier defeat.
However, it is important the Dons and supporters don’t suffer a hangover from it.
Aberdeen have to analyse what went wrong, learn from it and quickly move on to the Hibs game.
After a major squad rebuild in the summer, the Reds can jump to third in the table and are in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final.
That is a positive return after such a busy summer transfer window where 11 players were signed.
Aberdeen must not let that Rangers setback derail positive momentum.
However, it is vital they find a formula to get a win when next facing Rangers in Glasgow in the Premier Sports Cup semi on January 15.
Jim Goodwin’s ban still far too long
Aberdeen boss Jim Goodwin’s hefty ban should have been wiped out at the appeal tribunal at Hampden on Monday.
Goodwin was initially hit with an eight-game ban, two suspended until the end of the season, for accusing Hibs’ defender Ryan Porteous of “blatant cheating”.
On appeal, that ban was reduced to three games, a further two suspended, by the SFA.
I think that the appeal decision, like the original ban, is completely out of order.
It seems that the SFA are afraid to admit they made a mistake.
Hearts manager Robbie Neilson also accused then-Aberdeen midfielder Lewis Ferguson of “blatant cheating” in March this year.
Yet absolutely no action was taken by the SFA and the compliance officer.
The inconsistency is shocking.
Jim Goodwin has already served one game of the ban when watching the Dons lose 4-0 against Dundee United at Tannadice.
The SFA had the chance to put things right by eradicating the remaining five-game punishment, two suspended.
However, they didn’t take it and now Goodwin will miss tonight’s game against Hibs and Tuesday’s trip to Livingston.
Perhaps he shouldn’t have said those comments about Porteous.
However, emotions were high in the immediate aftermath of the game at Easter Road.
The incident with Porteous, where he grabbed Aberdeen defender Liam Scales and dragged him down, turned the game.
It was Porteous who committed the foul yet Scales was sent off and Hibs were awarded a penalty.
Aberdeen were leading 1-0 at the time and would go on to lose 3-1.
Ultimately, Goodwin was only saying what many people were thinking about that incident.
A three-game ban, two suspended, remains far too extreme.
Delight at Ramsay’s Liverpool debut
I was delighted to see former Aberdeen defender Calvin Ramsay make his Liverpool debut after his summer transfer from Pittodrie.
The 19-year-old right-back came on as a substitute in the 2-0 defeat of Napoli in the Champions League at Anfield.
Ramsay is an outstanding talent who also has a great attitude.
I am sure this will be the first of many games the teen has for Liverpool.
Hopefully, he can follow Scotland captain Andy Robertson in being a regular starter for Liverpool and lifting trophies.
Conversation