Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes has said fitness was a reason for his side’s poor League Cup showing. He has to take accountability for some of the performances of late.
After the 2-0 home defeat to Rijeka, he spoke to the BBC about how poor the referee’s decision to send off Funso Ojo was. Against St Mirren, the referee was again partly to blame for things not going Aberdeen’s way according to McInnes after not awarding a penalty to Aberdeen.
McInnes hasn’t been happy with the referees. (Photo by Scott Baxter/Getty Images)
Now in the aftermath of their League Cup victory against Dundee, he has told the Evening Express that fitness is a reason why performances have been so poor of late.
These could all be factors, but McInnes must take some accountability as well.
Aberdeen fans don’t want to hear excuses from McInnes
The Dons have looked a bit short of confidence recently. It was only a few weeks ago they looked fearless against Chikhura Sachkhere, with a relentless 5-0 win at Pittodrie.
Aberdeen were great against the Georgians. (Photo by Scott Baxter/Getty Images)
They can perform to that level evidently, but McInnes has to make them believe that.
The Ojo card complaint is a bit off as well. Yes, the first yellow may have been soft, but it’s then up to the player to remain calm and composed throughout the match. He flew into another challenge despite being on a booking.
You can’t critique the ref for that. There is an argument to be made for the first yellow, but the second challenge was wild. Ojo was deserving of his marching orders.
Ojo’s red card was a refereeing fault according to McInnes. (Photo by Scott Baxter/Getty Images)
A penalty decision was put under the spotlight again by McInnes after his side’s Paisley defeat. They didn’t do enough in attack to win the game anyway, managing just four shots on target from 13 attempts according to the BBC.
Perhaps fitness was a factor against Dundee, but ultimately they were still poor. It was another excuse to try and take a bit of heat away from some of the anger Dons fans directed at his side following the match.
The Dons boss won’t be blind to what is going wrong at the moment. There does seem to be a growing tendency though make some sort of excuse to deflect from his side’s poor performances at times.
McInnes has the ability to get Aberdeen firing. (Photo by Scott Baxter/Getty Images)
Aberdeen haven’t been great over the past few games. It’s up to McInnes to get them firing like they were a few weeks ago.