Aberdeen manager Stephen Robinson has revealed he relies on perspective to guide his team through a difficult run, insisting his players will not be beaten by a low block. The Dons boss divides the season into blocks of four games and sets points or win targets for each segment.
Aberdeen have collected just four points from their opening five league matches. They beat Hearts, then lost to Dundee, Rangers and Celtic, before drawing 0-0 at home with Kilmarnock on Saturday. That goalless draw prompted an angry reaction from a large portion of the Pittodrie support at full-time.
Four-game blocks and targets
Robinson explained his approach: “I use a word called perspective a lot, which isn’t common in football. You have to put everything into perspective. We break it down into four-game blocks. And then we know how many points we need to get to finish and achieve our targets.”
“When you don’t achieve that in one block, you don’t get too down because you know you can achieve it in the next block... or overachieve, which balances it. That’s what we show the players, how we deal with the disappointment and how we aim to make up for it. To target certain games and blocks where we think we can get good points.”
The new-look Dons have struggled in the league but have enjoyed success in the Premier Sports Cup. They travel to Rugby Park for the quarter-final on Saturday evening, hoping to continue that run.
Adjusting to Scottish football
Aberdeen have made 14 signings, with almost as many players leaving. Robinson acknowledged that with such change, time is needed for adjustment, and not all new arrivals will hit the ground running immediately, especially those experiencing Scottish football for the first time.
“People like Chris Cadden fit in straight away and hit the ground running because he knows the pace,” Robinson said. “Some of the players who have come in from England or abroad have come into transitions. Scottish football is just transitions all the time, there is not loads of ownership in the game and you have to be prepared for that.”
“It does take a little bit of time. It took Nesta (Guinness-Walker) a few weeks to get up to speed and he has been excellent the last few games. Dan (Happe) was the same. It is different in England and any league. Scotland is one of the quickest and most direct leagues in the world in terms of the pace of it, so it takes time.”
Fatigue and substitutions
Robinson said his team looked tired and jaded after playing three games in a week. Guinness-Walker was one of those who had to be taken off against Kilmarnock because he was running on empty. “Three games in a week with that energy it ran out, which is disappointing as we needed him on the pitch. But he gave absolutely everything, as did Chris. Their legs just went from under them unfortunately in the last few minutes,” Robinson added.
Robinson made several half-time changes for the second consecutive game, with Kevin Nisbet and Tony Yogane substituted in both matches. “Ultimately we are trying to win the game, so you have to make these kind of decisions. I didn’t think we were going to get any more energy out of the team if we didn’t make changes. We did and we got more energy. But did we get more quality? Questionable. It was a frustrating afternoon and the two games have caught up with us.”
“We didn’t have enough within a group to grind the result out. Sometimes you don’t deserve it and I don’t think we did. The negative is the performance as it looked tired and jaded – and lacklustre, which no one sets out to do and sometimes you have to grind out results. We are all disappointed with the performance, we are not hiding away from that and expect the criticism we will get. We have to deal with that.”
