Barry Robson has admitted his biggest regret as Aberdeen manager was losing the League Cup final. Robson, speaking in a Daily Record ‘In Conversation’ interview, led Aberdeen to third place and the group stages of the Conference League, but acknowledged the major disappointment was not lifting silverware.
His Dons team reached the 2023 cup final amidst a gruelling European and domestic push and, despite pushing Rangers all the way, his side fell short, losing to a James Tavernier goal at Hampden.
“The cup final really annoyed me”
Robson confirmed: “The cup final really annoyed me. I do think we could have beaten them that day. We did rest players in the (Conference League group game, Eintracht) Frankfurt game but it still took it out of us. Could I have changed anything other than that to get the cup win?”
Robson, as an Aberdeen player, had lifted the trophy under Derek McInnes. He just couldn’t push his team over the line. He made headlines after it by saying Aberdeen had no given right to beat Rangers - but he insisted he and his team went to Hampden with the belief they could do it.
He added: “No team has a given right, even when I played with Celtic we didn’t have a given right to go and win. That is what annoyed me. I beat Rangers more than they beat me when I was an Aberdeen manager. Nobody can aim that at me. It was a frustration. Should I have said it? No. Would I have changed the way we lined up that day? I couldn’t really. You have to remember we were good in the game. People say you should have gone and attacked, but Rangers will open you up. If you can get to where we got to in that game with a bit more quality and energy I think we could have won that game. We could have and we did alright. But we don’t have a God-given right to go and beat a team with six times your budget. Let’s be honest. Did I have the belief and did my players have the belief? - 100% we did. It is a comment people pick up on but it is by the by.”
European toll and the run-in
Robson admitted that playing the likes of Eintracht Frankfurt, PAOK and HJK in the group stages of the Conference League took a toll on his side. He knows that European football had a major impact and cost him his job.
Robson, who has just led Cork City to the Irish First Division title, explained: “I remember the draw was coming in and Steve Agnew was sitting next to me and I said: ‘The two teams we don’t want are Eintracht Frankfurt and PAOK. First one, Frankfurt and second one, bang, PAOK. We got six points in that campaign. We were outstanding in Europe. It was brilliant the way we did things in Europe and what a challenge it was against top managers and finding a way to win.
“We also had a big run in the (League) cup and got to the final of that. The games stockpiled up and going into the season because we needed to replace players none of them came in until the end (of the window). Players would come in but because of the European games we had no training time. When we finished third we were on the training pitch all week drilling the players. That didn’t happen in the second season because we had players coming in, game, rest, game and rest. It was all done on analysis. It sounds like I am making excuses but I am not. I am just giving you what the challenges were as a manager. Can I rest (Bojan) Miovski and Duk here (in Europe) and just win the game on the Sunday? Then I was like, no, I think I can beat PAOK here! Those are the challenges that are thrown at you.”
Robson felt if he could get to the other side, there were fixtures, without the European distraction that his Aberdeen side could get back on the rails. He just ran out of time.
Pride and support from the top
He recalled: “What a lot of people don’t realise during that spell we played seven out of eight-in-a-row away from home. We played PAOK, Frankfurt, HJK, Hibs and Rangers at Hampden. The frustrating part came just before I lost my job. We had a seven or eight game run without Rangers, Celtic, Hearts and Hibs. I thought if we can get there, we can go on a run and maybe get to fifth (without European games). It would have been an unbelievable season from where we were at. We just didn’t make it there. We never won enough games on the Sunday. If I had won three or four more games I would have still been in a job, but that is the reality of football and what we were dealing with.”
It didn’t end the way he had hoped but Robson still looks back with pride on his time at the club and it is still the first result he looks out for. He also knows the people at the top are all, like him, desperate for Aberdeen to do well.
Robson stated: “I loved my time at Aberdeen and the people were great. Dave Cormack, as an owner, is so passionate about the club. He has put a lot into the club. Stephen Gunn was really good at his job and I got on really well with Alan Burrows. I got on really well with them all and they all want to do really well for the football club. Everybody needs to know that.”
