ABERDEEN manager Jimmy Calderwood wants his players to silence their critics by pulling off a shock Clydesdale Bank Premier League win at Celtic today.
Dons supporters booed their side off after last week's home defeat to Dundee United and then watched in horror as Kilmarnock scored four goals in the first 33 minutes to knock their side out of the Co-operative Insurance Cup on Wednesday night.
With the pressure mounting on his players, Calderwood believes the ideal way for them to respond would be by beating champions Celtic on their own turf. He said: "Some people will say this isn't the right time for us to go to Celtic Park but when is there a good time to go there? If we can get a result down there then people may realise things are not as bad as they think. We won there in the quarter-final of the Scottish Cup last season and nobody expected us to do it then. Most people won't expect us to get a victory this time either so hopefully we can prove them wrong once again."
The manager hopes the fans who are growing increasingly impatient after seeing their side slump to three defeats in a row will remember the highs of last season, when the Dons produced a series of impressive performances in the Uefa Cup. "This is a great football club with great supporters and high expectation levels," Calderwood said.
"When things are going well, it is absolutely brilliant and when it doesn't, the supporters get upset and rightly so because they pay good money to come and watch us.
"We're letting them down at the moment but I hope they remember the good times we've had. Not so long ago we took 8,000 people to Madrid, not forgetting all the other journeys we made in the Uefa Cup, which were brilliant. Everybody is disappointed right now but we've been in this situation before and we have always come out of it and I'm sure we will get through it again."
Celtic manager Gordon Strachan played down the problems Calderwood is having but admitted he was immensely satisfied with his own side's domestic form. He also said the Champions League match against Villarreal next midweek will not be a distraction to his players.
He said: "Our priority is the Aberdeen game. They made it hard for us last year, we beat them 1-0 at the end of the season and we got beat by them in the cup. I know how hard it can be against them here but this has been a good spell for us."
Strachan also confirmed Celtic will sign American goalkeeper Dominic Cervi. The 22-year-old turned down a contract with Major League Soccer after being selected by Chicago Fire and had a trial with Portsmouth without being offered a deal but Strachan was sufficiently impressed to take him on board.
The full article contains 496 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
