ABERDEEN 8 HAVE PILED EVEN MORE PRESSURE ON McINNES

IN a season where he desperately required a fast start, Derek McInnes must feel like he’s already fighting a losing battle. The sheer stupidity of eight of his players has plunged the club into a deeply embarrassing episode, not to mention putting the rest of Scottish football into the last-chance saloon. If there is so much as one more wrong move from any of our clubs, then you can guarantee that Nicola Sturgeon won’t need a second invitation to shut the whole thing down again. But what about the impact on the manager himself? Where does this leave McInnes in the grand scheme of things? It does not reflect well on any manager that eight of his squad — some of whom were vastly-experienced senior players — should blatantly ignore direct orders.

It smacks of a lack of respect for a manager who is already fighting with one hand tied behind his back after just one game this season. This is now a huge week for McInnes. Aberdeen host Hamilton on Wednesday night before travelling to Celtic Park on Saturday. Should Accies beat a vastly-depleted Dons side, then the trip to Glasgow will hold all the appeal of a trip to the dentist. McInnes was always going to be under major pressure this season. He has the third-biggest wage budget in the league at his disposal, yet has finished fourth behind Kilmarnock and Motherwell in each of the past two seasons. He spoke of trying to make the fans fall in love with the club again this season. Much more of this, though, and he’ll be handed the divorce papers.