IT IS a good job Jimmy Calderwood did not meet Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink outside the press room at Parkhead on Saturday, otherwise the Aberdeen manager might well have wrung the Dutchman's neck.
Vennegoor of Hesselink struck at the death to frustrate Calderwood, who also watched the striker deny Aberdeen a win at Pittodrie in the Scottish Cup last season with a last-minute goal. Then, at least, Aberdeen still had a second chance available to
them, and took it at Parkhead in the replay. On Saturday a miserable week for Aberdeen was garnished by a cruel dollop of fresh agony as what looked for a spell like a win became just another defeat – the struggling side's fourth in succession.
The travelling Aberdeen fans cheered their players off the park at the end, but nobody at the club is under any illusion. The heat is firmly on for Saturday's match with Hibs at Pittodrie, where the home side have already lost three times in four league games this season.
Calderwood said: "If we can do it in an arena like this, then we can do it at Pittodrie also. That's why we get annoyed at them (the players].
"We went 1-0 behind from a sloppy goal, again, from our point of view but we got the equaliser and went ahead and at that time I thought we deserved it. Celtic shoved on quality players, Aiden McGeady and Scott McDonald, and we stopped doing what we are good at from then on," added Calderwood, who also accepted that the improved performance against Celtic still left his side sitting just above last place in the table. "The bottom line is we still lost," he said. The manager remains under pressure.
Whatever way Calderwood sets out his team, bad goals are still conceded. The recalled Stuart Duff watched last Wednesday's Co-operative Insurance Cup defeat to Kilmarnock from the stand – he had the added agony of having to describe the action to supporters in his role as a summariser on the club's Red TV audio commentary service – and on Saturday got a closer view of the evident problems from his berth in midfield.
"We put enough work into the game to get something out of it," said the former Dundee United player. "They were bad goals we lost.
"The manager had us in this week looking at the slack goals we have been losing – goals like against Kilmarnock. Today's no exception.
"Individual errors are costing us. It's not a team thing. Some boys aren't concentrating enough. You can't just hold up your hands after every mistake you have made. You have to stop them.
"I think everyone knows performances have not been up to standard," he continued. "We can't just sit back and think 'it's all right, we have done OK at Parkhead'. We need to get ready for Hibs and put in a home performance, something we haven't done yet this season, and give the fans what they really deserve – a victory, and one achieved while playing good football. If we can do it here (at Parkhead] I don't see why that can't happen."
The full article contains 527 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
