Ante Palaversa’s emergence has given Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin a selection headache – but don’t expect captain Graeme Shinnie to rock the boat at Pittodrie.
The Dons extended their winning run to 11 matches with the minimum of fuss on Saturday as they despatched League Two side Spartans 4-0.
One of the standout performers – in what was a very good team display – was summer signing Palaversa.
The Croat, who made his first start in the 2-1 win against Motherwell the previous weekend in Shinnie’s absence, again impressed after keeping his place in the side.
Palaversa has given his manager a headache, albeit a nice one to have, with three talented central midfielders fighting it out for two places in the side.
But knowing Graeme as I do, there’s no chance he’ll be banging on the manager’s door demanding to play.
Graeme is a team player and the type of character who respects the fact he has to bide his time to come back into the side if a team-mate has done the business in his absence.
That sort of attitude is why he is captain of the club in the first place.
I can see why a player who is 20 or 21 might be frustrated in that situation, but Graeme is experienced and knows it is all about what’s best for the team.
He will be totally on board with that – but don’t doubt for a second he’ll be putting the hard yards in to show his manager he is ready to go back in when needed.
Dons will revel in Hampden return
Palaversa’s emergence is the latest chapter in what is fast becoming a good news story at Pittodrie, and Thelin must bee delighted with how things are going.
On Saturday, all three of his strikers, Pape Gueye, Kevin Nisbet and Ester Sokler, were on the scoresheet, while fit-again Leighton Clarkson also scored in the Premier Sports Cup quarter-final win.
The Dons did what was expected of them, but that’s rarely as easy as it may sound.
Their reward for reaching the last four of the League Cup is a semi-final meeting with Celtic at Hampden in November.
I know if I was an Aberdeen player right now I’d be eagerly looking forward to facing the Hoops.
When you play for a club like the Dons, you want to be competing in the cup competitions and at the top of the table.
Celtic are the best team in the country, and in all likelihood any team hoping to lift silverware this season is going to have to beat them to do it.
We felt that way about Rangers when we faced them in the League Cup semi-final at Hampden in 1995. They were the top dogs at that time and the belief we took from beating them took us to cup glory against Dundee that season.
Aberdeen’s will stay on Premiership… for now
There’s a lot of football to be played before Aberdeen think about Hampden, though, and Thelin will be looking no further than this weekend’s trip to Dens Park to face Dundee.
I used to love playing there as it was only an hour down the road and I knew the Aberdeen fans would be there in great numbers.
This weekend is no different with 4,500 Dons supporters traveling to Dens in buoyant mood given the fabulous run their side are on.
Would I put it past Aberdeen to make it 12 wins out of 12? No chance, given the way they are playing right now.
Ross County should be wary of managerless Hearts
Ross County boss Don Cowie must beware the wounded animal when he returns to Edinburgh to face his former club Hearts this weekend.
The Jambos dismissed Steven Naismith as manager on Sunday following the 2-1 defeat at St Mirren – the club’s eighth defeat in a row.
Naismith can at least console himself with a decent pay-off, given he only signed a new deal at Tynecastle 44 days prior, but it’s another example of just how fraught a job being a manager is these days.
With Liam Fox in interim charge, Hearts will be hoping to stop the rot against the Staggies, but I expect County will be feeling in good spirits after their dramatic fightback against St Johnstone on Saturday.
From 1-0 up to 3-1 down, County rallied with two goals, the second coming deep in injury-time, to rescue a point against the managerless Saints.
I was happy to see Alex Samuel on the scoresheet after coming off the bench for County.
He really impressed me during his loan spell at Caley Thistle last season and is a player who gives nothing but 100% effort whenever he plays.
He is a pest of a player with a great attitude, so it was nice to see him get the goal to spark the County comeback.
Caley Thistle’s lack of goals continues to cause concern – and might be hitting attendances
The ongoing dearth of goals in the Caley Thistle team continues following Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Cove Rangers.
Five draws from their seven league games tells the story of the club’s season so far in League One – six goals scored in those seven matches is the major reason why.
I’m concerned it’s starting to take its toll on home attendances, too. Saturday’s draw attracted 1,505 fans, roughly 500 down on last season in the Championship.
It is going to be a struggle to nudge those numbers back up unless Duncan Ferguson can find a solution to the goals problem which has left his side in mid-table.
The division is shaping up to be a keenly contested one, with Caley Jags two points off the play-offs and two points from the bottom.
They need to put a run of wins together – but to do that they need more goals, plain and simple.
It is going to be interesting to see how Duncan solves this particular issue.
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