Aberdeen defender Ross McCrorie insists the players are to blame for the club’s poor run of form.
Dons boss Jim Goodwin is under pressure following Wednesday’s 2-1 loss at Kilmarnock.
The defeat at Rugby Park means Aberdeen have lost all four games since the World Cup break and Aberdeen fans have been quick to voice their displeasure.
However, McCrorie believes the players are culpable and have let their manager down.
The vice-captain said: “Recently I feel as if we’ve let him down.
“I wouldn’t put anything on the gaffer. It’s us – the players who have the responsibility.
“We’ve got a team full of talent. There are some real quality players.
“We need to stick together and start getting results.
“It’s got nothing to do with the gaffer.
“He set us up in a really good way in a really good shape.
‘”We’ve got really good players on the pitch to go out there and put on a good performance.
“It’s the players’ responsibility and we weren’t good enough on the night.
“We need to rectify that in the game against Ross County.”
Killie display must be a wake-up call
Wednesday’s dire showing at Rugby Park was labelled the worst display of the season by the manager and McCrorie hopes it serves as a wake-up call within the dressing room.
He said: “Since we came back from the break we’ve not picked up any points at all and it’s not been good enough.
“Wednesday night was, pretty simple, atrocious.
“We never won a battle anywhere on the pitch. We were second to every ball. It just wasn’t good enough at all.
“We’ve got a lot of new players this year. It was a wee bit of a learning curve on Wednesday that at times it’s not going to be nice, especially when you go to places like Rugby Park when the weather is cold and windy.
“You need to roll the sleeves up and just battle. You need to win your individual battles.
“We certainly didn’t do that – not enough of us anyway.”
Aberdeen failed to do the basics
McCrorie knows where it went wrong at Rugby Park. Too many basic errors and a complete inability to do the simple things required in any game.
He said: “There was too much damage done – especially the first half with the goals.
“The start wasn’t anywhere near it. The amount of crosses they got into our box was far too many.
“Killie won every second ball. Every time it landed, they were first to it in the first half.
“We weren’t able to build up a head of steam.
“It’s not the start we wanted after coming back from the break points wise.”
Response needed against Ross County
Aberdeen’s alarming run of results has resulted in the Dons dropping a place to fourth in the Premiership.
But with just two points separating fourth and eighth place McCrorie knows it is vital the Dons bounce back to winning ways in their first game of 2023 against Ross County on Monday at Pittodrie.
He said: “We need to stick together and back each other. We need to make sure no one goes into their shell.
“We have to keep the confidence up by backing each other in each moment of the game and encouraging each other in certain moments.
“It’s just something we need to keep doing because on Wednesday the battling (spirit) wasn’t there, the aggression wasn’t there.
“We need to be more aggressive throughout the game. I think you saw that.
“It’s not been a good enough start but the games are coming thick and fast.
“So we can rectify this really quick.
“We’ve got a big game coming up against Ross County at home. We need to be ready for it.
“If that’s going to be a battle we need to have the right mentality to go out with the sleeves rolled up and win those battles.”
Time for players to stand up
McCrorie is at a loss to explain how his side’s form has dipped so drastically in the last two weeks.
But the he has been at Pittodrie long enough to know it cannot continue.
He said: “Playing at a big club, there’s pressure every week.
“There’s probably that wee bit of added pressure now because of the run.
“This is when we need to stand up. Each players needs to stand up and be a man and handle this pressure.
“If you want to play at a club like Aberdeen then you are expected to win the majority of games.
“We are going to have to put in a big performance on Monday.”
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