A day of the week

Ok, so two games to catch up on here, and both rather controversial it has to be said. First up it was Hearts at Pittodrie. And a 'must win' it was for ourselves to keep our Europa League hopes alive. The end result was a rather pathetic 0-0, with Hearts responsible for some rather shocking time wasting from the off.

The theatrics were highly evident throughout, and Lee Miller must be given credit for rolling Bruno Aguiar back off the pitch after he went down like he had been shot on the touchline. Miller should also have gained us a penalty when he was man handled in the box, but not one thing was going for us. Hearts were also reduced to 10 men yet again when Zaluska was red-carded for a petulant kick at MaGuire.

We only have ourselves to blame however as we missed a glut of chances to finish the game off. Jamie Smith in particular missed two gilt-edged chances and then was unfortunate enough to injure himself and effectively end his Aberdeen career. Thanks for the memories smudger. The match reaction is here. So Europe was effectively out the window as we now needed a win at Ibrox coupled with other results going our way. No danger.

And so on the the hunnery we boldly march, and the alarming thing is that it was even more controversial than the Hearts game, not to mention quite embarrassing for the unwashed scum. The game itself was proving to be rather open and competitive for a change until a late challenge from behind by Lafferty on Mulgrew. The two squared up and Lafferty went down like the proverbial sack of tatties. On seeing the replay I (along with pretty much everyone else) went livid at such a blatant example of cheating. It highlighted everything that is wrong with 'modern day' footballers. A total embarrassment to his club.

The Dons were not daunted however and actually performed very well when down to 10 men. Then came the next talking point. The ball was fired into the Dons box and Bougherra went studs first into Langfields face (not like a Rangers player to do that to one of our keepers eh?). Now, dangerous it most certainly was, but the following red card wouldn't have happened had the ref not made a horses arse of the earlier incident.

Into the second half we go and lose two goals in quick succession. A 'Ravishing Ricky Foster' own goal followed by poor marking on Kenny Miller by el Dick yet again and that's it.... 2-0 down. The faint European hopes gone.

But hark... wait.... what's that? A goal. For the Dons. At Ibrox????? Surely not!!! Paton comes off the bench to score his first Dons goal with a great little finish. This sets up a tense finale, but it simply isn't meant to be. Ah well, we can safely say we were anything but embarrassed by today's performance. Highlights here.

And to cheer us up a little more, Hearts thunp United 3-0. If we win next week, Europe is still possible. How this has happened I have no idea. Lets hope we can round off the season in style.

Celtic. Parkhead. The usual story. 2-0. Dross.

I'm not really going to say much more. Wasn't at the game. Didn't listen to it. Don't really give a shit. 'Highlights' are here for anyone that cares. I certainly don't.

Next up, Celtic. Again. At home. Lets hope we fare better. We certainly couldn't be much worse.

Edinburgh. Saturday morning. No hangover, I feel great (Sunday morning was not so good however and I was, and still am, in the bad books). Anyway, I digress, that is a story for another time. The task in hand was the impending match against Celtic.

Today I am fortunate enough to have complimentary tickets for the game (courtesy of Jeff who works for Nike, cheers Jeff). The bad news they are in the Celtic end and i'm far from enamoured at the prospect of sitting amongst the hordes of one half of the 'great unwashed'.

Still, it's going to be Jimmy's last game in charge right? Regardless, we hop on a train at Waverly and make our way to the city of doom. It's a peculiar place Glasgow. Totally different to Edinburgh, and not in a good way I find. Once in Glasgow I always feel a little on edge, there is always something a bit nasty just bubbling under the surface.

We reach our fabled destination and head for a bite to eat in Waxy 'O Connors, which I must say was excellent. A quick beer later and some Merseyside action, we hop on a bus out to the tattie bowl. Now sure, some football clubs have a fraction of undesirables in their midst, but the Glasgow teams are littered with some of the most strange looking people on the planet.

The further towards Parkhead we venture, the more shanty town the scenery becomes. The boarded up bars, unwelcoming, fearful of having their non-existant windows panned in. The shell suits, the lack of dental hygiene, the sunken white faces, the weird close-together eyes, that irritating accent.

Not to mention the fact the bus was like a sauna. We arrive at our destination eventually and weave through the mass of sellic fans and into the Jock Stein stand. Fair play to Nike, we have nice padded seats in the very back row of the lower deck. I make the observation that Celtic Park is a lot nicer than the last time I was here (it was still all standing then), although it's fair to say it's still a shitehole.

And the atmosphere, let me tell you... there was.... nothing. Dead. Dull. The famous Celtic fans. Outsung the entire match by the small band of Dons fans who were a credit to us. With a plethora of flags, smoke and songs, we lit the otherwise dour stadium up. I felt so envious to have to sit and keep my mouth shut throughout the entire game.

The game itself? What can I say, well and truly robbed. As usual. The same old story. The first half was a non-event really, the Dons were passing the ball around well and the goal lost was a total shambles defensively (Foster and Kerr, oh dear). And it's not as if we weren't creating chances, Lee Miller in particular was giving the Celtic defence a torrid time.

The second half kicked off, Seve lost to injury and Mulgrew on in his place. Again, some excellent passing and movement from the Dons, highlighted by our equalising goal, which was an absolute cracker. Mulgrew finished it at the back post, volleying it through Boruc legs from a Lee Miller flick on. To say I was delighted would be an understatement, a totally different kind of celebration though, sitting there smiling to myself and listening to the unwashed volley out all sorts of abuse.

Our second goal was excellent too. Lee Miller (yet again) wins a free kick 30 yards out and up steps Mulgrew again to pop it in via the post. He races over to the Dons fans in celebration and all is good in the world (for a few glorious minutes anyway).

What is it about Celtic? We always lose late goals, yet whenever we take the lead we feel it's time to sit back and defend on our 6 yard line instead of continuing to play the same attractive 1 touch stuff. Two late goals (as usual) and the obligatory Mackie sitter missed and it's game over. Sadly, Mulgrew should have simply booted the ball out for the eventual Celtic winner, but decided to try and dribble round everyone. Final Score, Celtic 3 - 2 Aberdeen. Gutted.

I was furious when that 3rd goal went in, my phone almost getting thrown off the wall in fury on the way out of the stadium, the usual grey Glasgow rain lashing down to worsen my mood. Football, why do I bother.......

On reflection, I thought we were desperately unlucky and felt sorry for the players (and even Jimmy). I thought Mair, Duff and Miller were excellent. Kerr also had his best game in a Dons shirt so far. The sad fact however, is if we don't start picking up results soon then there is only one outcome. But surely, if we play like that against Hibs on Saturday, we'll hammer them.

Won't we.....?