Manager of month believes Aberdeen not 'too far way'

THERE was an instant pick-me-up for Jimmy Calderwood after Aberdeen's narrow midweek defeat to Hearts at Tynecastle. His team may have lost their first match of May but Calderwood discovered that he was the Manager of the Month for April. "It was very surprising," he says. "I learned after the Hearts game. We were on a wee bit of a downer and then I got told that."

Not that the manager is grabbing all of the credit for his personal accolade. That would be neglecting the sterling efforts of his players over these past few weeks. "They've done great," acknowledges Calderwood, "and that is reflected in the award."

As Calderwood has cared to mention to anyone within hearing range recently, he does not think that this Aberdeen side are too far away. Too far away from what, you might ask. Well, being a team that the Granite City can be proud of again, although even that does not necessarily mean squaring with the serious expectations of Aberdeen's most ardent supporters. Calderwood gives a wry smile. "I don't know if it's a minority or a majority of our support that would still think we are going to win the league, you know. It's great that they think like that, but sometimes you have to be a wee bit realistic. Hearts have changed everything. They have put everyone else under pressure. And it doesn't make life any easier here. But wherever you say you are going to finish in the league table, be it fourth, fifth, or third, the supporters are always going to think that you'll finish two places higher."

Aberdeen finished fourth last year and were rightly praised for it. They could still match that placing this year, but they would at least be required to see off Celtic at Pittodrie this afternoon. Gordon Strachan's runaway league champions are the only side that Aberdeen haven't taken a point from this season. You point this out to Calderwood and he winces. In the sense that he doesn't need to hear it. "You want to take points off everybody and it would be nice to put that one to bed."

Aberdeen haven't prised a point from Celtic in the north-east in over three years and haven't beaten them by the beach since 2001. But it's not worth mentioning that. Jimmy might get annoyed.

Such is the silliness of the split that Aberdeen now have fewer points than Inverness but we will ignore that for a moment and say that if Hibs succumb to Kilmarnock at Rugby Park and Aberdeen do beat Celtic then the Dons will be fourth. But that's all it would be since Gretna have acquired the fourth slot in Europe (good grief). Nevertheless, Aberdeen have latterly turned good in this campaign and head into the summer bounding with optimism.

"I don't think we're too far away," says Calderwood the Believer. "OK, Hibs weren't at their best last week, but we had a massive game at Ibrox and deservedly got a draw. We scraped a win in Inverness, OK they don't have a great home record, and we beat Hibs to get into the top six. My team have done it when the pressure's on. We have managed to close the gap on Hibs and, to be honest, the other night at Tynecastle, I didn't see us losing that game. We were still in it, even when we were down to ten men. Hearts were hanging on a bit at the end there. We weren't that far away." And there he goes again.

For Calderwood there is no longer the fear of wondering which Aberdeen team is going to turn up.

Consistency is developing, and it's a good consistency, partly because of an absence of the injuries that hindered the first half of Aberdeen's season, although captain Russell Anderson is a doubt for today's final fixture at Pittodrie.

The manager has been blessed with the presence of his more experienced charges, performers like Steve Lovell and Scott Severin, signings from last summer who have finally had a run and been able to prove their value and thus validate their manager's decision to bring them to the club. It may be that Aberdeen don't have much money to throw around this summer but in truth Calderwood is largely content with the squad he surveys. He'd still like to add a few new faces though.

"You always try to better yourself," he says. "You always try to get better players in and we got better players in last summer, I'm convinced of that. But they came to this club and I think that some of them found it hard. Pre-season was the worst I've ever witnessed, with injuries, and then we had a poor start to the season and there was maybe a wee bit of unrest with the crowd. Those things don't help and the players lost some confidence. But I think now that players like Lovell, Barry Nicholson and Stevie Crawford have all that behind them. Jamie Smith was maybe the exception. He fitted in right away while the other lads struggled. But they know what it's about now and I think they will go from strength to strength." Aberdeen demonstrated against Hibs their ability to pounce on weakness and capitalise. It was an impressive attacking performance with adventure being such a hallmark of their manager's approach to football, as shown previously with Dunfermline. "Last season we probably played more on the counter-attack because it was our first season together. Now it's a wee bit different. But I think we're very well organised and difficult to beat when everyone's available. I think we always try and play attacking football."

Those who have witnessed Aberdeen in the late bloom of their season can attest to that. But the test today is a sizeable one, even if Celtic have technically nothing to play for. Aberdeen signed off last summer with a Pittodrie victory over Hearts. A positive ending today will have Dons supporters crowing down King Street.

Taken from the Scotsman