Aberdeen Is In Crisis. Celtic Has A Great Chance Tomorrow To Secure A Statement Win.

Aberdeen is a club in freefall. Their decision to sack Barry Robson was one of the least surprising of the whole season. That they did it before they embark on a tough run of games might seem like madness but it’s actual a message about the standards they want to set for themselves. Things could not have gone on much longer like they had.

Celtic goes there tomorrow and that’s going to be one heck of a game. Suddenly it’s not the manager fighting for his future but every player at the club. A new boss will come in. This is their chance to put down a marker. It will be a tougher game than Robson’s side would have given us as a consequence of that. At the same time, we go there with our own point to prove.

As I said earlier, Rodgers and this team now know what they have to work with and what they have to do. The players and the manager are the people who matter, and this is their own chance to put down a marker for the second half of the campaign. We’re now heading into a massive three away matches and if we win them, we will have shown the rest of this league why we are champions and how difficult it is going to be to take this title from our hands.

Teams don’t look as if they fear us this season. And we’ve played a lot like a team waiting for something; reinforcements maybe? Some spark of life from outside the coaching staff. Some sign that they’re at a club which knows where it is heading. None of those things are coming to pass now. None of that is going to happen. But knowing that confers a certain freedom. The doubts are erased. All questions are put aside for another day.

This team, and the manager, can now focus on the job at hand, knowing what they have to work with and with every player in the team knowing what their immediate future is. The time for making teams fear us again has arrived and tomorrow we can get underway.

I would like to see both of the new players on the pitch. We know Idah won’t begin the game but I cannot see circumstances where he doesn’t at least come on. I don’t like us taking any player on loan without a right to buy him, but he has the pace and power the manager prioritised and I think he could be a very interesting signing in that regard.

Kuhn does excite me, and I’m looking forward to seeing him. I hope he starts tomorrow. Put Abada out wide left for a game; Palma needs to sit one out and this would be a good one. The decision about who to play at left back will depend on whether Taylor is fit; I am horrified that we might have to rely on Bernabei for a period … I’d rather not.

Still, tomorrow is an opportunity. A win would send that clear message that we’re intent on hanging onto the title. A big win would be a statement the rest of the league couldn’t ignore. This is going to be the hardest bit of the season, by far. We can get off to an excellent start.