Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Joe Harper: Aberdeen a hard watch as Reds fail to deliver entertaining, attacking football

Pittodrie legend discusses why Aberdeen are struggling in the Premiership and warns there is a concerning lack of creativity.

Ester Sokler (19) of Aberdeen looks dejected during the 1-1 draw at St Johnstone. Image: Shutterstock
Joe Harper

Aberdeen must be more adventurous and brave in possession to kick-start their stuttering Premiership campaign.

The Dons have become a hard watch and the footage of the 1-1 draw with St Johnstone should be quickly consigned to the vaults as a video nasty.

There was nothing that excited me about Aberdeen’s play against the Perth Saints and I find that concerning.

Whenever a Dons player was in possession I wasn’t up in my seat in expectation at something exciting that could potentially happen.

Instead Aberdeen’s play just fizzled out – much like the Premiership campaign will if they don’t immediately improve.

Football is about winning and entertaining – and the Dons failed to deliver on both counts in Perth on Wednesday night.

Aberdeen’s Barry Robson was left dejected following his side’s 1-1 draw at St Johnstone. Image: SNS

As I watched the game against St Johnstone my heart was saying ‘come on, we can do this, we can win’.

But what I was watching was something completely different as the game unfolded against St Johnstone.

I don’t think Aberdeen are playing together as they seem to be performing more as individuals.

And those individuals look nervous at the prospect of doing something different with the ball.

Aberdeen had no bravery to their play when in possession against St Johnstone.

I know there was a major rebuild of the squad in the summer with 14 signings but they should be gelling by now.

 St Johnstone's David Keltjens fouls Aberdeen's Graeme Shinnie during a 1-1 draw in Perth. Image: SNS
St Johnstone’s David Keltjens fouls Aberdeen’s Graeme Shinnie during a 1-1 draw in Perth. Image: SNS

Against St Johnstone the Dons’ passing was poor and they struggled to do anything with possesssion.

St Johnstone won most of the second balls.

It was terrible from the Dons and they must dramatically improve their levels ahead of a run of games that will make or break the dwindling hope of finishing third.

The failure to retain a lead against St Johnstone means Barry Robson’s side are 16 points behind third-placed Hearts.

Granted the Dons hold three games in hand on the Tynecastle club but it is still a mammoth points chasm.

Which is why Saturday’s trip to Hearts is so huge.

If Aberdeen win it will rekindle hopes of launching a bid to finish third.

However if they lose, or even draw, I fear it will effectively kill off any hopes of emulating last season’s third-placed Premiership finish.

Aberdeen racked up seven straight wins last season to rocket up the table and overtake Hearts to finish third.

It will take a similar run this campaign to push for third, but only if they beat Hearts in Edinburgh on Saturday.

If Hearts win they would move 19 points clear.

I fear that would be too big a gap to close as Hearts are in good form and Aberdeen are far too inconsistent.

Aberdeen's Bojan Miovski celebrates scoring a penalty to make it 1-0 against St Johnstone in Perth. Image: SNS
Aberdeen’s Bojan Miovski celebrates scoring a penalty to make it 1-0 against St Johnstone in Perth. Image: SNS

That inconsistency is so frustrating and potentially damaging.

Aberdeen have delivered strong performances in the Premiership at times such as the 3-1 win against Rangers at Ibrox.

But they have failed to consistently deliver those levels for any period of time.

It is all too stop/start this season which is why the Reds are in the bottom six.

Yes, the Dons have games in hand but you have to win them to make that count.

Aberdeen have a testing run of Premiership game against Hearts, Dundee (h), Celtic (h) and Rangers (a) looming.

In Celtic, Rangers and Hearts they face the teams occupying the top three positions in the Premiership over less than two weeks.

It is vital the Reds find form and deliver results in that run otherwise hopes of a third-placed finish will disappear over the horizon.

Leighton Clarkson (10) of Aberdeen looks dejected during the 1-1 draw at St Johnstone. Image: Shutterstock
Leighton Clarkson (10) of Aberdeen looks dejected during the 1-1 draw at St Johnstone. Image: Shutterstock

Surprise at no game time for Besuijen

I’m surprised  winger Vicente Besuijen has had zero game time for Aberdeen this season.

Besuijen made an impressive start to his Dons career but fell out of favour under former manager Jim Goodwin.

He failed to get any game time under his replacement, Barry Robson.

At times this season Aberdeen have needed pace and creativity out wide which Besuijen could potentially bring.

When he was in the first team Besuijen was a tricky player who could cause problems for opponents.

Yet it is now a full year since the Dutch winger last featured for the Dons in the 1-0 Scottish Cup defeat to Darvel.

Vicente Besuijen during an Aberdeen training session at Cormack Park, Image: SNS
Vicente Besuijen during an Aberdeen training session at Cormack Park, Image: SNS

So it was no surprise Besuijen moved to Dutch second tier club side FC Emmen on loan for the rest of the season.

Besuijen is under contract with Aberdeen until 2026.

Footballers need to be playing regularly so hopefully Besuijen gets that game time with FC Emmen.

Ideally this will turn into a permanent move for Besuijen.

If he is not getting any game time at Pittodrie then there is no point him being on the wage bill for another two years beyond that loan deal.

Buckie Thistle can hold heads high

Buckie Thistle can hold their heads high after losing 5-0 to Celtic in the Scottish Cup fourth round at Parkhead.

They were far from overawed and were up for a battle against the cup holders.

Buckie Thistle did the club, their supporters and the Highland League proud with their valiant effort against Celtic.

And they also secured a valuable pay day for the club.

Conversation