DONS IN EUROPE AGAIN

 

(Image taken from BBC)

Aberdeen haven't won the SPL since 1984/85, when a certain Alex Ferguson was manager and Willie Miller was captaining the side with Jim Leighton, Mark McGhee and John Hewitt in the team. The last time they reached 2nd place was in 93/94. By that time I was up there and Miller was manager with Theo Snelders in goal, Alex McLeish as captain and Duncan Shearer doing the business up front. Since I moved south of the border though, top two finishes have looked unlikely, the best finish of the Jimmy Calderwood era was 3rd place in 06/07. Last time round, the club had to settle for 4th in the SPL, and that meant a season without European football.

Hibs, well the Dons have a mixed record against them. Last time round, the two sides drew 3-3 at Easter Road, the Dons won 3-1 at Pittodrie, Hibs won 3-1 at Easter Road second time around and the Dons replied with a 2-1 win at Pittodrie. For the Dons to have a 100% record against Hibs in the SPL you have to go back to the Willie Miller era, the 92/93 season to be precise. The Dons won 3-0 at Pittodrie first time round then 2-0 second time around. At Easter Road they won 3-1 first time around, then 2-1 second time around. Still though, overall the Dons are seen as the bigger club with Hearts proving to be the bigger of the two Edinburgh sides over recent years.

This time aroun, well again the Dons weren't going to get a 100% record over Hibs. They'd been beaten 2-1 at Pittodrie before getting out of Easter Road with first a 2-2 draw and then a 0-0 draw. For their final encounter though, the Dons were the team who had something to play for. Jimmy Calderwood's men were, even on the final day, still in the mixer for a Europa League spot. Hibs, on the other hand, had nothing to play for at PIttodrie. The Dons went 4-5-1. Mulgrew and Jarvan Vidal in central defence. Severin, Duff and Aluko in central midfield. First team rookie Peter Pawlett at left mid. Lee Miller up front. Time for the Dons to stop riding their luck.

Except to an extent, that's exactly what happened. The Dons had the early attacking and the Hibs goalie collected the ball after one such raid in the 13th minutes...before promptly throwing the ball to Miller, 1-0 Dons. The Dons kept attacking only to find that said goalie had found his brains, getting a second goal wasn't going to be 'that' easy. Further attacks came but the Hibs defence proved solid this time around. However when Mulgrew fired in a 45th minute free kick, Hibs had their work cut out. The visitors appeared to be up for the challenge though, Derek Riordan taking out two Dons defenders in injury time before slotting it into the net.

The Dons had the early attacking in the second half but the Hibs goalie was more reliable this time around. Things weren't so good later on for Hibs though as they found themselves down to ten men. Further Dons attacking got them a penalty, only for the Hibs goalie to further redeem himself. At the other end, Hibs had their own attacks but never looked particularly threatening and overall the Dons were the stronger side. Hibs did have the last attack of the match from a corner but ultimately it came to nothing. The Dons celebrated, having picked up their first win of the month and their only win since the late-season table-split. They needed more luck elsewhere though.

Elsewhere, Dundee United faced Rangers at Tannadice Park. Well the Gers opened the scoring through Kyle Lafferty. The Blues continued to have the better game and with the title in sight they went two up before half time through Miguel Pedro Mendes. Kris Boyd got the Gers third goal early on in the second half. Overall though, the second half was a lot more even. Didn't mean that the Tangerines could hit the net though, and in the end it was the boys in blue celebrating because they'd won the title. That meant that at the 11th hour, Aberdeen rose to 4th in the SPL, level on points with Dundee United but with a +4 goal difference advantage, securing themselves a spot in the Europa League! It'll be their first appearance in European football since 07/08!

Of course, there was some rain on that parade as Jimmy Calderwood quit as Dons manager. First impression? Where now? The split was by "mutual consent", basically, Jimmy wanted to go one way, the club another. The main fan argument for Calderwood leaving was bad form in the domestic cups. Can't argue with that, the Dons have been mugged a bit too often there. However, the Dons general SPL form has been consistent, even if they were looking dodgy at points this season, Jimmy knew that much. And there was the best European run since the Fergie era in 07/08. How do you replace him though? Yes there are enough managers around with Dons connections, Mark McGhee is one name that springs to mind but he's also linked to the Celtic vacancy and they have Champions League football to offer. The likes of Strachen and Alex McLeish would see it as a step backwards. At the other end of the scale, Duncan Shearer was last seen getting fired from a Highland League club. This is not a good situation.

Overall though, here's how the SPL ended up. Rangers win the title and in doing so secure a spot in the Champions League group stages. Celtic will join them if they can survive the preliminaries. Hearts head for the Europa League. Aberdeen will join them if they can survive the preliminaries. Inverness CT are the team that will be going down this time around. The former Highland League team had been in the SPL since 04/05 and had some decent seasons but even Scotland assistant manager Terry Butcher couldn't save them this time around though Caley certainly weren't dead men walking, the relegation battle also going to the wire.

Still though, congratulations goes out to Rangers for winning the SPL title. Rangers winning the league with Water Smith in charge certainly gives me a sense of deja vu only now Ally McCoist is his assistant manager. It was the first time the Gers had won the title since 04/05 with Alex McLeish as manager. Unlike that time around, the campaign proved to be a lot tougher. Some would argue that Celtic still had the better team but just gave the title away on a plate. Well maybe but you still have to take advantage of those sort of slip-ups and the Gers got one over on their old rivals this time around, now Walter Smith will want them to get their act together in Europe again.

South of the border, United faced Hull at the Kingston Communications Stadium in the Premiership. With nothing to play for, Fergie fielded what was largely a reserves side but still opened the scoring through Gibson. The second half was generally an even affair despite the fact that Hull could have done with a result here to stave off relegation. The Tigers couldn't make much of their chances though and ultimately were left to rely on favours elsewhere. For United, this was the sort of game that can happen at the end of the season. Still, we picked up three points but the rested big names were more concerned about events in Rome midweek.

So, the Premiership season is over and here's how things stand. United have won the title(four points clear of the competition). Liverpool and Chelsea join United in the Champions League group stages. Arsenal will join them if they can survive the preliminaries.. Everton and Villa are heading to the Europa League. Fulham will join them if they can survive the preliminaries. The teams going down this time around are Newcastle, Middlesborough and West Brom. The Geordies going down says a lot about the moron that runs them. The biggest unanswered question is, what happens to Michael Owen. I can't see the former England assasin wanting to play in the Championship.

Going down a level, Sheffield United played Burnley at Wembley in the Championship playoff final. Wade Elliott opened the scoring for Burnley early on. Despite that the Blades seemed to have the better half so there was every reason to expect a turnaround. That did not happen though and the Blades will probably blame the ref for that after two penalty shouts and a dodgy red card that the Clarets were unable to take further advantage of. Still Burnley are the team headed for the Premiership next season for their first spell in the top flight since 1975/76. Still, any Burnley fan that claims they're a bigger team than Bolton has probably had one too many.

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