Aberdeen certainly cannot afford to keep defending like they did against St Mirren if they want to keep third spot in the Premiership.
They scored a great opening goal from Matty Kennedy, but cost themselves with too many mistakes in losing 3-1.
Jim Goodwin said afterwards they can’t get too carried away about the poor results over the past week or so. They played three league games in quick succession – the manner of 1-0 loss to Celtic was down to their own fault tactically, the 3-2 loss to Rangers they had within their grasp to get three points before losing two late goals, and the third one in Paisley they’ve given away three penalties.
It was a bit of a catastrophe for them and they’ve played three games without taking any points.
But Jim’s right. They haven’t become a bad team overnight. You get these phases where things just aren’t going your way.
You saw it last year with Ross County, where they couldn’t buy a win in the first dozen games, but went on to finish sixth.
The Dons have to find a way through it.
They’re away to Kilmarnock on Wednesday, who are fighting for their lives at the bottom of the division.
Aberdeen are still sitting third and can be pleased with what they’ve done at the moment. That’s the sort of area of the table you would expect them to be in.
They are where they are, despite losing three games on the trot.
Their early work has stood them in good stead, in terms of keeping them up there – but the other teams are closing in.
They certainly have to cut out the mistakes. The mistakes against St Mirren, to give away three penalties – two of which were scored – and then not clear their lines when the Buddies broke late on, were awful and they can’t keep defending like that.
With the last three games, it’s like all the seasons have come at once. You have the negative approach against Celtic, being hit by the sucker-punch against Rangers and the mistakes against St Mirren.
They have to go down to Kilmarnock and put on a performance. It’s a difficult league and you can go on these sorts of runs, particularly when the games are so close together.
They could have been sitting there with two wins and Aberdeen created some great chances against St Mirren. But their defending was awful.
More misery for Caley Thistle
Inverness got turned over badly on Friday night against Partick Thistle and the injury situation, coupled with players not playing well, has hit them badly.
However, when I see the starting 11 they put out most weeks, it’s good enough to beat most teams in the Championship. But they’re just not getting going.
It’s still a relatively early stage, but they’re 11 points off the top, so I think that’s a bit beyond them at the moment. There’s too many teams between to make up the 11 points.
I think what Caley Thistle are looking for, like most seasons, is the play-offs again. They’re at home to Cove Rangers on January 2 and if they lose that, they’ll be down to eighth.
They’ve got a lot of work to do. They might get one or two players back, but it’s been horrific for them.
They need to dig deep and find reserves from somewhere, in case they start losing touch with fourth position.
A good win on Monday would give everybody something to smile about. because, at the moment, it’s just not working for them.
It’s been six years out of the Premiership for Inverness now and the longer it goes on, the harder it’s going to get for them to get back there.
Ross County in need of points
I expected a bit more from Ross County against Rangers.
In the first half, County had the best two chances but conceded. I’m not saying the outcome would have been different had the home side netted, but Rangers looked like a team who have a lot of work to do to get close to Celtic.
Had County put a bit more pressure on the Rangers back four later in the game, they might have got something out of it. But they didn’t really threaten at any time.
They had a header saved and one dragged across the goal in the first half. Apart from that Rangers were in control, without being convincing about it.
That was a chance missed, because to get something out of that would have been great for them.
The Staggies now got the big one on Wednesday night against Dundee United, which is a massive game for them. We shall wait with baited breath for that one.
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