For all the success that Sir Alex Ferguson achieved as manager of Aberdeen in the late ’70s and ’80s, there was one anomaly that always stuck in his craw.
‘We won three Scottish Premier Division titles. We won three Scottish Cups in a row. We won the European Cup Winners’ Cup and the European Super Cup. We played three up, four up and two out wide but we couldn’t beat f*****g Morton,’ he declared.
It wasn’t strictly true, of course. The Greenock men, just like every other team in the country, were regular victims of Ferguson’s all-conquering side.
But very few caused his Dons quite as many problems. Indeed, only Jim McLean’s outstanding Dundee United (16) and Celtic (12) inflicted more defeats on Fergie than the late Benny Rooney’s team.
That was 10 wins in all competitions, to be precise. Trips to Cappielow became such a nuisance that Ferguson would alter pre-match routines — even change up hotel bookings — in an attempt to break the hoodoo.
Eventually the tide turned. As did Morton’s fortunes, as they dropped out of the top flight never to return. That withstanding, it’s now been more than four decades since Aberdeen were beaten by the Ton.
Jimmy Thelin has cut a frustrated figure this season after back-to-back Premiership defeats
Sir Alex Ferguson led Aberdeen to historic success both in Scotland and on the continent
The Dons ended a long wait for silverware last season with a Scottish Cup win over Celtic
Jimmy Thelin could do with that record remaining intact by the time he hops on the bus back up the road later this evening.
The Swede is still chasing a first victory of the season as he takes his men to the Tail O’ The Bank on Premier Sports Cup duty.
The feelgood factor which swept the Granite City following their stunning Scottish Cup triumph at Hampden in May is starting to wear off after they kicked off the new Premiership campaign with two abject losses.
There’s no panic yet. Hearts and Celtic were the opponents, after all. But Thelin badly needs a result this weekend to lift the dark clouds which are just beginning to creeping into view.
It was always going to be a tall order to pick up points at Tynecastle on the opening night. The Dons haven’t won in Gorgie since 2017.
Recording a first win over Celtic at home since Ronny Deila rocked up in February 2016 was asking a lot, too.
But it was the manner of those defeats which has sparked some early-season concern amongst the Reds support.
Against the champions last Sunday, they were toothless. From the moment Benjamin Nygren slid home his first goal for Celtic just before the half-hour mark, the result was never really in doubt.
New arrival Kusini Yenga has come in for fierce criticism following a disappointing start
The hosts had been bright until that point. Just as it did six days before in Edinburgh before, though, everything fell apart in the final third.
Much of the blame has fallen at the feet of new arrival Kusini Yengi, and some of his calamitious attempts on goal. While the big man can’t have any complaints about that, it would be lazy to suggest that he has been Aberdeen’s only issue.
Creativity is badly lacking. Summer signings Nicolas Milanovic and Adil Aouchiche have shown glimpses here and there, and you would expect them to get better as the campaign goes on. But it’s not quite been good enough.
Swedish winger Kenan Bilalovic joined this week on a five-year deal, while AC Milan front man Marko Lazetic is expected to follow suit in the coming days.
Exciting enough names, yes. Yet both are relatively unknown quantities to the average Scottish football punter.
Teams, on the whole, appear to have worked Thelin out. A tally of five top-flight victories this calendar year is unacceptable by anyone’s standards.
Their Scottish Cup success, as phenomenal as it was, has arguably papered over the cracks.
The manager has more than enough credit in the bank for guiding the club to their first silverware since 2014.
Morton’s only defeat this season came against Motherwell in the Premier Cup group stage
And he has absolutely earned the right to feel optimistic about their upcoming European adventure, starting this week with a Europa League play-off double-header against Steaua Bucharest.
A tricky tie, yes, but winnable. Even then, six guaranteed group games in the Conference League is a decent fall-back prize.
That challenge can wait, however. What he doesn’t want to do is enter an undeniably exciting week with a howler of a League Cup exit on his hands. And three defeats in a row to boot.
Plenty of Aberdeen managers, and we’re not talking about Fergie here, have come unstuck against lower league opposition.
The writing was on the wall for Stephen Glass after his men were dumped out of this competition by Raith Rovers four years ago. His replacement, Jim Goodwin, was humiliated by sixth-tier Darvel in the Scottish Cup less than 18 months later.
Dougie Imrie’s Morton have every reason to fancy their chances of pulling off an upset. Three wins from four group games saw them qualify for the knockouts, while they have been solid if unspectacular in their two Championship draws to date.
Home fans of a bygone era will look to the 1981 Valentine’s Day Scottish Cup clash between the teams for a source of hope, when Cappielow played host to one of the club’s finest days.
Andy Ritchie was the hero, making mugs of a static Willie Miller, Alex McLeish and Jim Leighton as he found the far corner of the net with the outside of his right boot.
A moment of magic settled the contest on that occasion. It’s fair to say that Thelin won’t care much for aesthetics this afternoon. Progression is all that matters.
