Killie walked over United yesterday – who performed like a bunch of amateurs. Most Arabs, including me, thought we had seen the end of non-battling performances when we saw Ian McCall arrive at Tannadice. Most Arabs, during the summer, were looking forward to the forthcoming season and had high hopes to do, in fact, what Aberdeen actually have done – play well and win most of their games.
What’s happened is we’ve played 7, lost 3, drawn 3 and won only 1, against ICT, themselves bottom of the league. We’ve also shipped 15 goals – more than two-a-game, and we’ve yet to play Rangers or Celtic. The only team we’ve played so far in which the opposition DIDN’T score is in the CIS Cup game against Clyde. Every SPL team has managed at least one goal, with our ‘mighty’ defence allowing (coz that’s what it is) nine goals in the last two.
That’s not happy reading – and it would certainly appear that something drastic and immediate has to happen.
McCall is not a new manager anymore – a year and a half now – and most of the players playing are his own. It’s not unfair to point to the injuries in the squad, and we have been unlucky in that department, but that’s still no explanation for the lack of passion and commitment on the park. It’s McCall’s job to make sure that each player is revved up and focused for each and every game. I would have to say that that’s not happening.
I think McCall needs to ‘rebuild’ his squad – and by that I don’t mean bring in any new players, I mean take a really big look at what he’s got and where/how they are playing – because something is clearly going very wrong. Every player in the squad also needs to take a big long look at himself. Non-battling performances like these simply have to stop.