If Aberdeen did not know before, Sunday’s League Cup final confirmed the Dons face a real fight to hang on to second place in the Scottish Premiership.
Rangers may have come out second best in their penalty shoot-out loss to Celtic at Hampden, but it was clear the Light Blues are a very different animal now to the one who fell nine points behind the Dons.
Aberdeen’s lead over Rangers is now down to two points, with the Gers having the chance to move above the Reds if they win their game in hand.
They have done this by hitting form just as Aberdeen’s has tailed off in the last two weeks.
Rangers have been impressive in Europe and followed that up by matching Celtic for 120 minutes at the National Stadium.
They’ll have taken a lot of encouragement from the final as they look to close the gap at the top of the table.
But Aberdeen have shown great staying power of their own to be in the position they are in now heading towards the end of 2024.
Aberdeen will bounce back, and I hope the fight with Rangers for second place does become an exciting tussle in the second half of the season.
If it is to be third for Aberdeen, then being best of the rest is nothing to be ashamed of – considering how last season went.
But it would not surprise me if there are a few more twists and turns to come in this one…
Winless run is nothing more than a bad phase for Aberdeen as Rangers chase them
I’m convinced this current run is nothing more than a phase the Dons are going through.
Three away games in a week added up to a tough shift for Jimmy Thelin’s side and I am sure this was why the manager was glad to have a free weekend to recharge the batteries.
Some extra time to ensure some players have recovered from the niggling knocks they will have been carrying won’t have done any harm either.
That seems even more important as the club await news on the severity of the injuries suffered by Vicente Besuijen and Jack Milne in their last game against St Johnstone a week ago.
With Dimitar Mitov and Pape Habib Gueye already on the sidelines, and Dante Polvara only just back in the first team squad after missing the start of the season, the return of Jack MacKenzie this weekend is much needed at Pittodrie.
There’s a fine art between keeping all your players happy and needing a big squad to handle periods when players are absent, but the Dons look a little stretched at the minute.
I’d still be looking for a home win this weekend when Hibernian visit Pittodrie, however.
The game at Easter Road a few weeks ago was a terrific advert for Scottish football and produced a breath-taking finale, and while Hibs are improving, they remain a wildly inconsistent team.
Aberdeen are in the midst of their own sticky spell following five games without a win but there are only two defeats in that run, and I’m confident one win is all Thelin’s side need to get going again.
Dons are playing well despite recent results
The positive for me is Aberdeen are not playing badly; they just haven’t been getting the rub of the green which perhaps went their way in their outstanding start to the season.
The chances are still coming, and they could do with tightening up a little at the back, but there is still enough quality there to win matches on a regular basis.
Football remains the most unpredictable of games.
Just look at Manchester City right now.
From invincible to a team with one win in 11 matches is a remarkable turnaround in fortunes.
I keep expecting Pep Guardiola’s side to put six or seven goals past a team, but it just is not happening for them at the moment.
But City will come good again – they are too good not to.
Aberdeen operates at a different level to Guardiola’s outfit, but the sentiment is the same – the Dons’ quality will shine through soon enough.
Festive fixtures will be crucial for Ross County
The remaining fixtures of 2024 are shaping up to be vital for Ross County.
Saturday’s 3-1 defeat by Hibernian at Easter Road means there are now just two points separating the bottom four teams in the Premiership.
There’s a long way to go, of course, but it does feel as if every point is a prisoner given how congested it is at the foot of the table.
The Staggies made a decent start to the season, but it feels as if they let the points slip away at Easter Road.
They were deservedly ahead after a bright start in Edinburgh and had chances to extend their lead before conceding an equaliser out of nowhere deep into stoppage time at the end of the first half.
As game changing moments go, it was a huge shift in momentum following a much-improved second half from the home side.
County have three games left in 2024 and two of them are at home.
A trip to Dundee is sandwiched between home matches against St Mirren this weekend and Hearts on December 29.
I’ve said all season home games are so important for the Staggies, and certainly the next two in Dingwall are huge for Don Cowie’s side.
Positives in defeat for Caley Thistle
The manager of the month curse struck again as Caley Thistle were beaten 2-0 by Arbroath on Saturday.
Just days after collecting his award, Scott Kellacher watched his side have Robbie Thompson sent off and there’s little doubt it changed the game.
Caley Jags had played well up that point and continued to ask question of Arbroath after Thompson’s dismissal, before on-loan Ross County player Dylan Smith headed home the opener for the visitors in the second half.
The Red Lichties add a late second to kill off Caley Jags’ hopes of a comeback, but under the circumstances Scott can be pleased with what his players gave him.
Even with 10 men, they were always in the game and there’s little doubt Inverness are heading in the right direction.
Saturday’s trip to Stenhousemuir will be another tough one for the team, but, despite the weekend’s defeat, they should be heading to Stenny with confidence after another solid display.
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