Dunfermline 3 Aberdeen 0
In normal circumstances, this kind of defeat sees managers quickly escorted off the premises. It was a disgrace. An embarrassment. Shocking. Horrendous. Unacceptable. Rock-bottom.
And those, by the way, are descriptions that came from the Aberdeen dressing-room, including the manager, in the aftermath. The only way to add any extra oomph to their own appraisal of the horrors that unfolded at East End Park on Saturday night is to delve into the realms of all-out profanity.
Interim boss Peter Leven eventually took a different direction in his post-match inquest. He warned the players they are in danger of being dragged into a relegation battle if they carry on like this. He made it clear he is not standing up for them any longer.
Asked by media afterwards if he believes he has the characters in the squad to get out of this mess, he certainly didn’t say ‘yes’.
He came across, frankly, as a guy who has run out of ideas and had enough. And the whole affair just creates another issue that chairman Dave Cormack, back centre stage and doing interviews with club TV last week on the embarrassing two-month hunt for a new boss, needs to address tout-suite.
Aberdeen are eight points clear of second-bottom Kilmarnock in the Premiership. Chances are they’ll survive. However, can Cormack take the risk of sticking with Leven and the coaching set-up as it is in the hope that the failings of other teams will keep their heads above water and let them bring in someone new — and permanent — during the summer?
Peter Leven looks on helplessly from the bench as his Dons side relinquish the Scottish Cup
When a head coach, interim or otherwise, stops defending his own players, it’s almost always the beginning of the end. Aberdeen were on a dreadful run of form before they went to Dunfermline. Five defeats from seven with one victory was awful enough. They’ve now won just three times in their last 17 games.
This was as bad as it gets, though. They were outshone, outmuscled, outfought, out-thought in every department by a relatively inexperienced Dunfermline side whose inconsistency — certainly, on this showing, not their levels of potential or ability — has them lying fourth in the Championship.
The moment Matty Todd made it 1-0 on 14 minutes when rifling home a great shot after some grim defending from Mitchell Frame, it was game over. Aberdeen just crumbled. Mentally, as much as anything else.
They couldn’t handle the fire and the physicality. They certainly couldn’t handle the Pars’ strong counterattacking strategies. They could have shipped way more goals than the two that were later scored by Olly Thomas.
Aberdeen gave up that Scottish Cup won with such grit and guile at Hampden against Celtic last May with no kind of fight whatsoever. In front of an away crowd just short of 4,000 folk. Disgusting stuff, really.
This squad has cost a small fortune to assemble and it just isn’t up to scratch. Nowhere near it. Where the cup final last season should have offered some kind of platform to build from, the Dons just seem to be drifting again.
Where a city felt energised and behind the club on the day of that jubilant open-topped bus tour, we’re now back to the supporters jeering the team off the pitch and chanting ‘you’re not fit to wear the shirt’ as they did at the weekend.
Jubilant Dunfermline players revel in a victory that manager Lennon said ‘put them on the map’
None of that is Leven’s fault. He didn’t spend large amounts of money on players who are proving themselves inadequate. He didn’t make dreadful managerial appointments in the recent past such as Stephen Glass, who simply didn’t have the CV to merit being given the role. Or Jim Goodwin, who didn’t handle it well. Or Barry Robson. Or Jimmy Thelin, whose deliberately boring demeanour would suck the life out of a box of Tasmanian Devils.
However, he isn’t getting a tune out of this side at all and probably should be taken out of the firing line now that he has refused to defend them in public. Whether Tony Docherty or Ian Burchnall, brought in to help on the coaching front, could step up is doubtful.
Maybe, if the person they really want as boss cannot commit until summer, some kind of short-term appointment could come in to try to get a reaction. Just not Neil Warnock. Not after last time.
Part of the problem is that this is all likely to boil down to Cormack again.
Chief executive Alan Burrows is seen about as regularly as the snow leopard these days, which makes it look like Dollar Dave is still steering the ship. The jury is still out on sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel, although the inability to get a new manager in the door is not reflecting well on him either.
Aberdeen chairman Cormack can add Scottish Cup misery to his long list of disappointments
No matter how much money Cormack has thrown at the club he supports, the fact remains that there is very little in his record since taking over as chairman in 2019 to convince you that he knows how to run a football club successfully.
It’s a mess, all right. With no evident sign that the bloke at the top will be able to come up with a solution. When talk in the dressing room is turning to the dangers of being relegated, though, he’s going to have to do something.
Dunfermline Ath (4-3-3): Oxborough 8; Turley 8 (Benedictus 80), Chilokoa-Mullen 8, Ngwenya 8, Fraser 8; Todd 8 (Cooper 80) Gilmour 8, Amade 8 (Hamilton 66); Tod 8, Kane 8 (Kearney 65), Thomas 9 (Oakley-Boothe 83). Booked: Gilmour. Manager: Neil Lennon 9.
Aberdeen (4-3-3): Mitov 0; Lobban 0, Milne 0, McIntyre 0 (Morrison 76), Frame 0 (Molloy 46); Cameron 0 (Nilsen 46), Shinnie 0, Armstrong 0 (Lazetic 74); Milanovic 0 (Olusanya 46), Nisbet 0, Keskinen 0. Booked: Shinnie. Manager: Peter Leven 0.
Referee: Ryan Lee.
Attendance: 10,139.
