I’m glad common sense has prevailed and Aberdeen’s league match against Kilmarnock will go ahead at Pittodrie on Sunday.
Killie were considering asking the SPFL to postpone their trip to Pittodrie this weekend which is sandwiched between their Conference League play-off tie against Copenhagen.
I’ve a degree of sympathy for Killie, who face a massive game in Denmark on Thursday in the first leg and can understand why they would have considered asking for the league game to be called off.
But it is not the Dons’ concern what their opponents are doing this week and, of all people, Killie boss Derek McInnes should know juggling European football with your domestic commitments comes with the territory.
It was Derek who led the Dons in several high-profile European qualifiers. He more than anyone knows what comes with the territory of playing in Europe.
The Dons had to travel to Tannadice to face Dundee United in 2015 between two Europa League third qualifying round matches against Kazakh outfit Kairat Almaty.
They were permitted a postponement of their league game against Hamilton before the second leg against Kairat – as they were for a league game against St Mirren in August 2014 – but there are some crucial differences with those requests and the current situation.
The requests were made more than two weeks before the games were scheduled to be played and before the league campaign had begun.
They went to Paisley to face St Mirren between two third qualifying round matches against Croatia’s Rijeka in the Europa League again in 2019.
More recently, in 2021, they faced Azerbaijan’s Qarabag away in the first leg of the Europa League playoff round before going to Tynecastle to play Hearts three days later.
Rounding off the recent big games, last season saw the Dons face Sweden’s Hacken away in the play-off round first leg of the Europa League and then St Mirren in Paisley three days later.
That’s plenty of examples before you add in any of the Conference League group stage games the club faced last year.
If clubs want Euro postponements they should change the rules before the season starts
Kilmarnock earned their place in Europe last season and I’d love nothing more than to see them bolster Scotland’s co-efficient by beating Copenhagen to reach the group stages.
But requests like this should not be made after the season has started.
It must be agreed before a ball has been kicked by all the clubs and a simple vote to introduce a rule would very quickly solve this issue.
You can’t move the goalposts at this point and then have another club being painted as the bad guys if they don’t agree to the request.
Killie will be without defender Joe Wright at Pittodrie on Sunday due to suspension following his red card against St Johnstone in their last league outing.
If the game had been postponed he would have served his suspension in Kilmarnock’s next league game at home to Hibernian.
Dons feelgood factor continues
I can also understand why the Dons would be keen to keep their momentum going after racking up their seventh win in a row with the 1-0 victory over Queen’s Park on Saturday in the Premier Sports Cup.
I was not surprised to see the Spiders push the Dons all the way. They are no mugs and Callum Davidson set his side out to make life difficult for Aberdeen.
But a clean sheet and a debut goal for Topi Keskinen rounded off a good afternoon’s work for Jimmy Thelin and his players.
The quarter-final draw was also kind to the Dons after they were drawn at home to Spartans.
The warning is there, if it was needed, thanks to the League Two side’s shock win over Ross County on Saturday.
But given Thelin’s constant talk of staying humble, I can’t see the Dons taking their lower league opponents lightly next month.
Ross County have missed a great chance
Ross County’s defeat at Spartans on Saturday was a sickener for everyone at the club.
There’s no sugarcoating this one – as former League Cup winners, the competition is one of two chances of silverware for the Staggies.
Manager Don Cowie spent the build-up to the game daring to dream about leading his side out at Hampden, so I have little doubt he will be deeply disappointed to go out of the cup with a whimper on Saturday.
He will have learned a lot from the game.
Don made a couple of changes to give guys who have been on the bench a chance to show what they can do, and it’s fair to say he won’t have any hard decisions ahead this week after what happened at Spartans.
A chance at a lucrative quarter-final and a step closer to Hampden have gone. Connor Randall is right – this has to be a wake-up call for his side.
Early acid test for Caley Thistle
The consensus is that there is a glimmer of hope off the field at Caley Thistle following former chairman Alan Savage’s return to the club.
But it is clear the road to recovery financially is going to be a long and arduous one.
Between loans and significant debts outstanding, the first priority is paying them off to make the club a healthier proposition for a potential buyer.
However, that means, in the short-term, manager Duncan Ferguson won’t be adding to his squad.
Duncan has a decent squad for League One, but Caley Thistle need to get their season going.
I watched them in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Montrose and the Gable Endies looked very comfortable until Sean Dillon’s dismissal handed inverness the initiative.
The draw leaves Caley Jags with two points from their three games so far and they are five points off the top spot occupied by this weekend’s opponents Kelty Hearts.
Saturday feels like a chance for Caley Thistle to gauge where they are in the division.
Win, and they can begin to look up the table. Lose, and they are eight points adrift after just four games.
We’re still in August, but the stakes already feel high for this one.
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