WITHIN 15 minutes of last year's pre-season friendly in Peterhead, Aberdeen lost a goal on the way to a 4-0 drubbing.
By that time last night, the Dons were two goals down in the equivalent fixture at Balmoor, and some of the Dons support must have been already beginning to query the decision to dump Jimmy Calderwood.
But on this occasion, the Dons fought back to win 3-2 (although some sources, including Sky Sports News, are reporting a 3-2 victory for Peterhead), playing some slick passing football in the process, although many concerns remain particularly surrounding the suspect defence.
And with only a week and one more friendly match to go before Aberdeen's crucial Euro qualifier at Pittodrie, new boss Mark McGhee, who delayed his trip to Paris in order to take in the game, has his hands full sorting out the team's weaknesses.
Aberdeen surprisingly started in a 4-4-2 formation, with Mark Kerr taking his turn wearing the captain's armband, and the Dons quickly went 2-0 down to goals from Cameron in the 12th minute then Ross three minutes later.
Lee Miller smashed a shot off the crossbar and had a goal disallowed before putting the Dons back in the game from the spot after half an hour.
The Dons were level in 53 minutes when a wonderful solo run from the halfway line from Sone Aluko ended in the Nigerian international winger calmly wrong-footing the keeper with a shot in at the near post.
The match was won when second-half substitute Michael Paton was sent clear by Aluko and the youngster went one-on-one with the keeper before producing a cool finish.
Aberdeen-Mad contributor thestooge said: "This is clearly a very different team under McGhee. We had some nice touches and all the action was on the deck.
"Mackie and Miller up front look as toothless as ever but the interplay between the midfield and Miller has been impressive until a shot is required.
"At the back we're a mess. Mulgrew and Duff are a shambles, though both have contributed going forward, and Zander gave away a poor free-kick for the goal. Kerr has shown no indication of being a captain.
"The kids are alright but we sure as rich need more depth. Overall it was obviously a learning curve but we have a long way to go and need more experienced players."
Another headache for McGhee was an injury picked up by Considine that may cause some concern with the first competitive match only a week away.
Aberdeen now face Dundee at Dens Park on Saturday in their final match before the opening Europa League tie next Thursday.
Aberdeen: Langfield, Mulgrew (Ross), Duff (Young), Foster, McDonald, Diamond, Considine (Holm), Kerr, Miller (Paton), Mackie (Maguire), Aluko (Stewart (Crawford))
| Sat 25th July | 3:00pm | Dundee | Dens Park, Dundee |
| Thu 30th July | 7:45pm | SK Sigma Olomouc/ Fram Reykjavík |
Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen |
| Thu 6th August | 7:45pm | SK Sigma Olomouc/ Fram Reykjavík |
TBA |
| Sun 9th August | 3:00pm | Hull City | KC Stadium, Hull |
