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Duncan Shearer: Toiling Aberdeen can’t get drawn into blame game, but alarm bells should be ringing at Ross County

The Dons paid for individual mistakes against Hibs, but lambasting those individuals publicly or behind the scenes will only sow division, writes Duncan Shearer.

Aberdeen's Sivert Hiltne Nilsen (R) looks dejected during the Premiership match against Hibs.
Aberdeen's Sivert Hiltne Nilsen (R) looks dejected during the Premiership match against Hibs. Image: SNS.

It is vital the Aberdeen players do not lose the spirit which has got them into the position they are in due to their current slump.

Saturday’s 3-1 defeat by Hibernian makes it six games without a win for Jimmy Thelin’s Dons side.

What I thought was only a blip has become a worrying run for the club – but it is crucial the players stick together through this challenging period.

It would be easy to point out Slobodan Rubezic should have cleared the ball when we all saw him kick fresh air for Hibs’ equaliser.

I could point out Gavin Molloy should have done better against Martin Boyle in the build-up to the second.

We could all ponder what was going through Leighton Clarkson’s head when he passed the ball straight to Hibs to set them away for the third goal as well.

But not only is that a pointless exercise, it’s a divisive one, too.

When you blame the defence for leaking goals, does it mean the strikers and midfielders are absolved of any blame? No it doesn’t.

Take the equaliser for example.

Yes it’s a mistake from Rubezic, but could any of his team-mates have done better to stop the long ball through the middle before it reached him?

That’s how you have to approach situations like this.

When the blame game starts, it splits the squad into their roles on the pitch and that does not help anyone.

Aberdeen standards have dipped

Collectively, the Dons have struggled to maintain the standards they set before the November international break. And singling out individuals is not the way you find a solution.

That’s what captain Graeme Shinnie referenced in his post-match comments on Saturday when he talked about his team being soft and vulnerable, and effectively beating themselves.

Aberdeen's Topi Keskinen celebrates putting his side ahead against Hibernian at Pittodrie.
Aberdeen’s Topi Keskinen celebrates putting his side ahead against Hibernian at Pittodrie. Image: SNS.

Aberdeen raced out the blocks and deserved their early lead, but they seemed to stop doing everything which was causing Hibs problems once they conceded the equaliser.

That shows the confidence and belief has been dented by this run a little, but the only way to get out of this rut is by sticking together.

Football is a game where there are periods where things just don’t go your way.

Aberdeen are going through one of those periods right now, but the manager will lead them out of it.

This is why Thelin was given Aberdeen job

Thelin arrived at Pittodrie in the summer with a very good reputation for the jobs he had done at unfancied clubs in Sweden.

There is a reason why he was appointed – changes were needed after a tough few years for the club and the board wanted someone who could be trusted to make them.

The fact Thelin has been allowed to bring in his own backroom staff and head of recruitment shows the club trusts him to make the change and lay the foundations needed at the club.

Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin during the 3-1 loss to Hibs at Pittodrie. Image: SNS
Aberdeen manager Jimmy Thelin during the 3-1 loss to Hibs at Pittodrie. Image: SNS.

We should not forget he has only had one transfer window, too, and more changes will be coming when the window opens next week.

It’s a brick-by-brick process at a club like Aberdeen, You don’t just empty a dressing room and replace them with guys you want.

You have to work with what you have, integrate new players, reassess and go again when the next window opens.

But while that process goes on in the background, getting as much as you can out of the players you have is your focus day by day.

That is what Thelin will be doing this week at Cormack Park ahead of two testing trips to Kilmarnock on Boxing Day and Dundee United on Sunday.

One win is all it takes to get going again and there’s no reason why the Dons cannot do that this week.

But above all else they have to stick together.

Alarm bells should be ringing at Ross County

If no-one is sounding the alarm at Ross County as they slip down the Premiership table, then they should be.

A run of four straight defeats and only one win in the last eight has given me real cause for concern at County – and I hope the players are treating this worrying run as a wake-up call.

The Staggies have pulled of a great escape via the relegation play-offs for the last two seasons, but you can only be in that situation so many times before your luck runs out.

Don Cowie’s side have conceded 13 goals in the last four matches and scored just two. In fact, they’ve found the back of the net just four times in their last eight games.

Unlike Aberdeen, who can have a slump in form and still comfortably be best of the rest in the division, County are in the bottom half of the table and dropping down a place with each passing week.

Ross County manager raises his arms by his side in frustration during Saturday's 2-1 defeat by St Mirren at the Global Energy Sradium, Dingwall.
Ross County manager Don Cowie on the sidelines against St Mirren. Image: SNS.

The players need to realise the predicament they are in now and understand their next game is the most important one.

If they don’t they’ll find themselves sinking deeper into the mire and in a position where they are needing something like four wins from their last five post-split matches to save themselves.

Sense of urgency is required at Ross County

Following a promising start, opportunities, like Saturday’s 2-1 home defeat to St Mirren, have been missed.

You only get so many of them, too.

Hearts and Hibs are both showing signs of life and dragging themselves out of the mire.

If that pattern continues, it will very quickly became a shootout between County and St Johnstone to avoid finishing bottom.

The quicker everybody realises the time for action is now, and they can’t cruise along until April, the better.

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