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Jimmy Calderwood will perhaps not have been thinking the same thing. With the weight of expectation on his shoulders after last season's much improved performance taking the Red Army to within a whisker of Europe, the tanned one was almost in a no-win situation. The fans expected, nay demanded victory against a team that only escaped relegation on the last day of last season and had added very little to their underachieving squad over the summer. Compounding this, Jimmy had to cope with a crippling injury list to an already small squad, with both first-choice full-backs incapacitated and his premier strike force pairing also out. In fact, with Derek Adams leaving for Livvy on Friday, all we had left was teenager Budgie Stewart and transfer-listed misfit Steven Craig.
In true Calderwood fashion, a silk purse was fashioned from a potential sow's ear. With clever personnel, positional and tactical changes, Aberdeen lined up in the 3-5-2 formation that they started both United away games last season. Young Andrew Considine played on the left side of a back three, with Kevin McNaughton and debutant Barry Nicholson as wing-backs. Gary Dempsey got his first start in a three-man centre midfield, with himself and Chris Clark positioned just ahead of the deeper-lying Scott Severin. Up front, the makeshift pairing of Stewart with new signing Jamie Smith promised pace but not much else; the onus was on the midfield to provide the goal threat.
It took the Dons five games to let in their first goal last season, this time it took just over five minutes. Of course, it was the heckled comedian that had the last laugh; Lee Miller swivelling and placing the ball into the net while the Dons defence stood back and admired. Miller had received special attention from the noisy Dons support, and he seemed keen to use the Red Army's spite to spur him on in the first half, but the Arab support will be less pleased with his complete ineffectiveness in the second period, especially considering the reported wage he is pocketing. The goal came from a corner earned with virtually United's first attack of the game after the Dons had dominated the opening few minutes, but the Terrors settled after their goal and comfortably controlled the next half hour of the game, threatening occasionally thanks to the busy frontline of McIntyre and Miller and the guile of Stevie Crawford. Aberdeen only had a couple of pot shots to call on during this period, but in the 5 to 10 minutes prior to the half-time break, the Dons players showed what they could be capable of with a period of sustained pressure that had United on the back foot.
This burst of activity will have made the Jimmys half-time chat all the easier, as it probably went along the lines of “more of that, please.” The team duly responded, as the second half basically belonged to the team wearing their new navy fatigues. It only took three minutes of the second half for the Dons to draw level, with Nicholson earning a ‘dream debut', stroking the ball in at the far post from a McNaughton cross. This reporter cannot comment on the action immediately after the goal, as I was involved in the first ‘bounce' of the season among the gleeful shed masses. United briefly pressurised in order to claim a quick reply, but they were snuffed out and Aberdeen continued their domination of the proceedings.
With Dempsey, Clark and McNaughton ever forceful on the counter-attack, Scott Severin pulling the strings at the heart of midfield and Jamie Smith full of running up front, it seemed like a case of not if but when the Dons would grab the winner. But the lack of a cutting edge up front was to prove costly as Clark, Nicholson and most notably substitutes Craig and Winter passed up golden opportunities to grab all three points. But all in all a point after going a goal down so early has to be seen as a positive result, and that is multiplied indefinitely when added to the superb second-half performance by a team missing four first-team regulars.
Jimmy Calderwood felt his makeshift side were unlucky not to collect all three points at Tannadice, and told RedWeb: "I thought we deserved to win the match today and played the better football throughout. We lost a sloppy goal in the first half but Esson only had one more save to make in the match. Considering we were missing four important players including our two main strikers we showed great character to come back from that early set back. Not many teams will come here this season and recover from a goal down.
"We looked strong and handled their strike force really well. This is a difficult place to come and we could have easily grabbed the winner in the closing stages when both Winter and Craig had chances but overall I have to be pleased."
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Esson: had a couple of misjudgements, but nothing serious. His vision and quick throw-outs led to a couple of very dangerous counter-attacks in the second half - Schmeichel-style. Is really beginning to inspire confidence in the fans and defence alike. 7/10
Diamond: solid in defence, and great going forward, after a shakey start. Has an incredible attitude, and it's plain to see why he's a fans' favourite. 8/10
Anderson: like Zander, Russell took about half an hour to settle and the whole defence has to take a share of the blame for the goal conceded. Other than that, a quiet afternoon for the captain, who coped well with the Arabs' attacking threat, snubbing them out completely by the second half. 7/10
Considine: clearly not left-footed, so distribution was generally awful, but otherwise coped well with being thrown in at the deep end. Will improve. 5/10
McNaughton: the talented players are always the most frustrating ones, and Super Kev is no different. Sometimes sublime, with great runs at the United defence, sometimes poor, with woeful passing and link-up play. Left-wing-back is not really his position, but where is? Jimmy, it's over to you. 6/10
Dempsey: impressive 'debut' for Dempo, who is a bit like Tosher but harder working. Great reverse pass to free Stewart in the first half, and generally busied himself in midfield. Effective going forward, and strong in the tackle. Will become a fans' favourite given time and first-team appearances. 7/10
Severin: a class apart from anyone else on the field, Aberdeen FC will do great things if we can tie him down to an extended contract and he stays injury free. Baffling that he is not a regular Scotland pick, but their loss... Strolled through this game, and had two blistering drives that could easily have gone in on another day. 9/10
Clark: a bit like Kev, Clark is sometimes brilliant, sometimes awful, but at least he's trying things. Quiet for parts of the game, but effective throughout, and has clearly built himself up over the summer. 5/10
Nicholson: a dream debut for the wee man, and for most of the game looked like he'd been playing for us for years. When he came onto the pitch, he stared into the packed, noisy shed with delight, then turned to Zander with a clenched fist. It was not long until the fans were singing his name. Great finish for the goal, and he and Severin snapped around the United midfield constantly. 8/10
Smith: another great debut, despite playing out of position as a striker. Drifted out to the wings, and showed good ball control and composure, as well as a modicum of skill. Not really a goalscoring threat, but made the United defence earn their corn by dragging them all over the place. 7/10
Stewart: not going to pull any punches here - he was awful. Terrible first touch, no goal threat and bullied far too easily. Will not get a look-in when Lovell and Mackie are fit, and all to easy to see why Jimmy is searching for more depth up front. 2/10
Winter (for McNaughton, 85): missed a sitter, but not really a striker. Muirhead should really have been brought on for Kev in a straight swap - a mysterious substitution that added nothing to the team. 3/10
Craig (for Budgie, 73): missed a sitter, and he is (allegedly) a striker. Get him out of here. Baffling standing ovation from the fans when he came on. 1/10
Cms1903