Billy Dodds knows more than most the faces may change but the fierce rivalry remains whenever Aberdeen face Rangers.
The Caley Thistle manager led the line for both clubs during his playing career, and he expects Sunday’s League Cup semi-final be the same feisty fixture he has experienced.
Aberdeen manager Jim Goodwin and his Rangers counterpart Michael Beale are joined in the same objective of trying to lead their respective clubs to a first final under their leadership.
Dodds knows from his own experience what the mood will be like in both camps.
He said: “Any Aberdeen game against Rangers is a huge fixture.
“Rangers will say it means more to Aberdeen and while some incidents on the pitch had added spice to the game over the years it has been a huge occasion for decades.
“Aberdeen look at these games as a chance to get one over on the Old Firm but for Rangers it is still a huge game too.
“I’ve been in both dressing rooms and I can tell you when Rangers beat Aberdeen 4-0 in the Scottish Cup final in 2000 there was no doubt how big a win that felt for us.
“I know you’ve got Hearts and Hibs games but Aberdeen against Rangers brings out a big, vocal crowd and the atmosphere is always great.
“It brings out the best in players and I’m sure Sunday will be no different.
“Both teams will be desperate to get to the final and the chance to do it at the other’s expense will only add to the occasion for both clubs.”
Dodds played key role in road to Hampden
Dodds celebrated Scottish Cup glory at Aberdeen’s expense 23 years ago but by then he had already got his hands on silverware in the red of Aberdeen, having helped the Dons to League Cup success in 1995.
The Caley Jags boss played a pivotal role for Roy Aitken’s side, scoring in four of the five rounds on Aberdeen’s road to cup glory and it was his double which gave the Dons a 2-1 victory against their rivals in the semi-final at Hampden.
Just don’t ask him to talk you through the road to Hampden.
He joked: “It’s funny, John Robertson here at Inverness remembers every game and every goal he played vividly but I have to go back and check.
“I’ve got no recollection of the first game in the competition where we beat St Mirren 3-1 and I scored in it!
“But I do remember scoring in the old dark blue strip at Fir Park as we beat Motherwell in extra-time in the quarter-final.
“I look back at that season as being one where we grew as a team.
“We carried on where we had left off the previous season and we had earned our place in the semi-final.”
Trials and tribulations of previous season instilled steel at Pittodrie
Older Dons fans will recall Aberdeen had completed their own version of the great escape in the 1994-95 season, rallying from facing relegation to beating Dunfermline in a play-off to secure their status.
Six months later they were League Cup winners.
Dodds said: “The threat of relegation during the previous campaign was horrible for everyone but in many ways, it stood us in good stead for what came the following season.
“We won four of the last five games in the league then beat Dunfermline home and away in the play-offs to stay up so we were in a good place collectively.
“Whatever the issues had been in that season we felt we had overcome them. It didn’t matter how we got into that situation.
“The important bit was that we had gotten ourselves out of it and by the end of the season we were proud of how we managed to come together and finish as well as we did.
“Looking back now I think it was down to two things.
“Firstly, we didn’t play anywhere near our potential and secondly sometimes it takes a team time to gel.
“It’s great when it happens quickly but it didn’t for us back then. But we certainly made up for it the following season by winning the cup.”
Jess epitomised confidence in the Dons ranks
Dodds got the goals at Hampden to book Aberdeen’s return to the National Stadium for the final against Dundee but his team-mate Eoin Jess took the headlines for his infamous keepy-ups near the corner flag.
Dodds, however, does not mind.
He said: “Jess is a great lad and he deserved all the attention even though I scored both goals.
“His keepy-ups were a reflection of the confidence we all felt. Football is a team game and we did it together.
“We were the better team for three-quarters of the semi-final and even when they had their good spell it was not as if they peppered our goal with shots.”
Late goal from Rangers did not faze Aberdeen
Aberdeen, as is to be expected, were made to fight for a place in the final by the Light Blues but Dodds has no doubt his team merited their semi-final win.
He said: “We deserved to win. We went into the Rangers game feeling really positive and we dominated the game.
“The weather was poor which meant it wasn’t a great night for supporters to watch but as a player the conditions were good.
“I remember for my second goal past Andy Goram thinking all I had to do was connect with the cross as it would beat him.
“Having got the opener we were firmly in control.
“Yes we had a wee wobble when Oleg Salenko pulled a goal back for them late in the game but that was to be expected.
“Rangers were the bigger team with their big-name stars but at no point did any of us fear we wouldn’t win the game.”