On Saturday, before his team’s top-of-the-table clash with Celtic, I asked St Mirren manager Craig McLeish how easy it has been to implement the style of football that is enthralling the Paisley club’s supporters amid their then unbeaten start to the league season.
“It’s been quite straightforward,” was the reply.
The man who led the Saints youth team under Aberdeen boss Stephen Robinson has produced a side that plays an exciting, fast-paced brand of football with a clear identity already. Eight new signings started the narrow defeat to the champions as well as Fraser Taylor, who was on loan at Partick Thistle last season.
Contrast that with Robinson’s fortunes so far in the north east and Aberdeen’s turgid goalless draw at home to Kilmarnock. It is stark.
Aberdeen were often slow and ponderous and were fortunate to take a point, with goalkeeper Marius Muller pulling off several excellent saves to keep Killie out.
The reaction from the Dons support at half-time and full-time was there for all to hear and wasn’t lost on Robinson, who must look at their three pre-international window fixtures with trepidation.
They have a rematch in Ayrshire in the League Cup quarter-finals on Saturday evening, a game that was always going to be one of the most important in Aberdeen’s season but now carries extra significance and pressure.
The Dons now face three away games against top-flight opponents with trips to Motherwell and Hibernian, following the cup tie, in the Premiership.
They haven’t beaten a top-flight club away from home since 6 December last year and have only scored six goals in that abysmal run.
When Robinson was appointed during a sequence of one win in 13 at St Mirren, chairman Dave Cormack said: “There is a strong desire to re-establish a clear identity for our club, to become harder to play against and restore competitiveness in our matches.”
The Northern Irishman’s former youth coach has proven that is possible.
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