When Gio van Bronckhorst departed Rangers in November he left behind a cryptic comment reflecting on his time at Ibrox.
The one about having had to work under “unique challenges and difficult circumstances”. His successor would appear to believe he isn’t being hampered by the same constraints. I am a quotes man – the bolder, the better. And as many of them as you like. But the one delivered to the press by the Michael Beale manager after last Sunday’s defeat of Dundee United at Tannadice was a belter. "We are not Real Madrid yet but we are moving in the right direction,” said Beale.
To mention Rangers and the European champions in the same breath was to invite ridicule but Beale clearly won’t be held back when it comes to restoring his team’s self-esteem as quickly as possible. The Londoner is a footprints and fingerprints kind of guy. His footprints were high visibility in the directors’ box at Ibrox last October, on the day Aberdeen flattered to deceive before crumbling in a four-goal heap after originally taking the lead.
His fingerprints were all over a self-promotion exercise that ultimately resulted in his appointment as manager when Gio could no longer be trusted. That afternoon vouched for Beale’s ruthless streak and now he’s in the business of tangible reward in the shape of a trophy to prove he was the right man for the job all along.
Today at Hampden, Aberdeen are the side who stand between the manager and the next step towards his ultimate aim in the Viaplay Cup. An Aberdeen team who have suffered from what looks like an involuntary twitch whenever they play Rangers. A nervous condition they took to a new level of insecurity at Pittodrie in the last meeting of the sides.
The home team survived five of the seven minutes added on that night in December with a 2-1 lead intact – but the sound of bottles crashing could be heard in Stonehaven as Rangers scored two goals to win. That’s why today’s game looks to me like the definition of a foregone conclusion in favour of the side yet to lose under Beale’s management.
In the interests of livening things up, I was going to throw paranoia into the debate and point out that, on top of everything else, Aberdeen have conceded eight penalties this season and none have been awarded against Rangers. But then along came a press conference in the Grampian region on Thursday that stole my mischievous thunder.
I have to believe I am perfectly positioned to address the controversy surrounding Aberdeen captain Anthony Stewart saying publicly he’d rather face Rangers’ Antonio Colak than Alfredo Morelos in today’s semi-final. I have spent the last 38 years of my professional life working on a radio programme that gives fans a daily platform to express their opinion on the game.
That is to say, to routinely slaughter, praise, condemn or commend players, managers or even media pundits at will. And I have been grateful – and lavishly entertained by – every caller to the programme. Even the one who phoned in from my own home, adding to my bill, after plumbing in a white appliance in our kitchen one Saturday afternoon.
Four decades’ worth of experience have led me to the conclusion that the West of Scotland in particular – and this country in general – can accurately be described as the gobbiest place in the world. Bar none. Stewart was asked a straightforward question and responded with a straightforward answer.
What’s your problem? Stewart chose Morelos as his favoured opponent because he believes Colak is a better player. I can understand that take on events. Stewart wasn’t here when the original version of Morelos was so impressive he became Rangers’ top scorer in Europe.
Anthony has only seen the pale imitation of that player who now divides opinion among Ibrox supporters over whether he’s worth keeping at the club at all, never mind starting the game at Hampden today. It is, of course, an especially brave thing to say on Stewart’s behalf because if you were an Aberdeen defender you would want an ‘X’ against your name for no publicity based on the progress of the season so far.
Jim Goodwin’s side have had two clean sheets against Ross County and St Johnstone prior to today’s cup tie but they had shipped 32 goals in 19 games before then. Stewart has been as inadequate as the rest at Pittodrie. And that includes the seven goals lost to Rangers in the sides’ last two meetings.
None of which incidentally was scored by Morelos so the ball is in the Colombian’s court today. If he plays then Morelos must surely be incentivised by Stewart’s comments. Otherwise, he has justified every syllable spoken by the Aberdeen captain. If Colak starts then it’s up to him to justify Stewart’s opinion that he’s better than Morelos.
If he fails to rise to the challenge – and Aberdeen win the tie – I’ll prepare myself for an onslaught of public opinion. Especially from the caller to the show last week who said he “detested” Aberdeen as much as he did Celtic. Free speech is available to everyone, players included, as a reminder it’s a free country. Denial of free speech by those who want an unbroken right to give their opinion is hypocrisy.
In my opinion.
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