Upbeat Miller looks at the positives from Dons’ season
ABERDEEN DIRECTOR SAYS DESPITE HAMPDEN HUMILIATION CAMPAIGN HAS BEEN A SUCCESS
By Michael Gannon
Published: 17/04/2008
Willie Miller watched in dismay along with Aberdeen supporters at Hampden last weekend as the Dons’ hopes of a Scottish Cup final and the prospect of a second successive European campaign crashed down around them.
Disappointment hit the Aberdeen director of football every bit as hard as the 14,000 supporters in the stadium and countless more watching on television.
The 4-3 defeat to First Division Queen of the South, preceded by the 4-1 hammering by Dundee United in the League Cup semi, has plunged the club into meltdown as supporters have vented their fury at players, management and board.
Semi-final failure is often the hardest to stomach, with glory close enough to taste.
When the Dons capitulated for the second time this season at the penultimate stage, Miller could understand why supporters have been engulfed in anger and depression.
The margins between failure and success are painfully thin and the Dons have found themselves on the wrong side.
Miller believes despite the morose end to the campaign, this season should be recognised as a success.
He said: “Everyone is bitterly disappointed not to make a final after having two chances to get there. I would suggest if we had made it to even one of those finals it would have been seen as a fabulous season, but now we have people thinking it has been an awful season.
“I do not think it has been either.
“We have to look at the season overall and then dissect it.
“But we are not kidding ourselves, the manner of the defeats in the semi-finals has brought us down as a club and is what is making the majority of the supporters depressed.
“I can understand the supporters’ reaction.
“I am the last person people have to tell how disappointing it was. If the supporters felt bad I wouldn’t want to say how bad I felt.
“We cannot put up much of a defence for the way we played in both of them.
“The second half of the League Cup was very unprofessional in the manner we conceded the goals and got a man sent off. You would have thought they would have learned from it.
“Unfortunately, that was not the case and they did not handle the occasion at Hamp-den at all.
“We do not have many players who have the experience of playing in those games and it showed.â€
Miller pointed to the club’s run to the last 32 of the Uefa Cup and qualification for the top six in the SPL as plus points of this rollercoaster season.
He said: “We have had some huge high spots as well as those low ones.
“The European adventure was fabulous, it gave us some great memories for our young and older supporters.
“It also gave us a fair amount of finance as well to help the business side of the football club.
“It is a season where we have to look at the bigger picture rather than let our emotions take over at this time.
“People say we scraped into the top six, but we are sitting six points behind Dundee United and Hibs, both would say they have had good seasons.
“We are only eight points behind Motherwell and have they had a good season?
“Everyone seems to say so, but they have not reached any semi-finals and none of the other clubs have had runs in Europe.â€
He's obviously trying to be positive while facing criticism himself, but I think I agree with his comments.
He's obviously trying to be positive while facing criticism himself, but I think I agree with his comments.