ABERDEEN and Celtic are the two best teams in Scotland.
If you remove the upcoming Old Firm League Cup semi-final from the equation, it is our biggest fixture right now and the fact Derek McInnes and Ronny Deila aren't letting up over the Aleksandar Tonev-Shay Logan racism row is only going to add an edge to today's match at Pittodrie.
I don't think it is a full-blown argument, I still feel there is a respect there, but both managers are sticking up for their player and no quarter has been given. The SFA have found Tonev guilty of making a racist remark towards Logan in the previous meeting between the two teams and have hit him with a seven- game ban, but these things can be hard to prove. Theoretically, Tonev is available today, but I think it would be best for everyone if he didn't play until his appeal is settled.
You can end up in an awkward situation, because somewhere along the line one of these players isn't telling the truth.
We played Aberdeen on Monday and they were excellent. They have now won their last three games, all by 1-0. It is the same kind of results they were racking up last year, and they are hitting a bit of form.
With Celtic having travelled to Romania on Thursday night, Aberdeen will fancy giving Deila's team a bloody nose at home in front of their own fans. But while McInnes will be desperate to win, this match isn't a season breaker for him.
Their campaign will be defined by beating Dundee United in the League Cup semi-final or getting a good run in the Scottish Cup.
That is what Aberdeen are looking for, more silverware, along with avoiding last season's end-of-season scenario of ending up 20 points behind Celtic.
If anything it is a bigger game for the fans, just to see how far they have come as a club. Let's be realistic. Aberdeen will be unable to challenge Celtic in the league, but they need to keep showing they can push them in individual games.
They have already come a long way in that regard since the Mark McGhee era where they lost 9-0 at Celtic Park. They beat them 2-1 at Pittodrie last year, but even with a man sent off, Celtic turned the screw even with 10 men.
Not everyone will agree with me, but Celtic's 1-1 Europa League draw against Astra in Romania in midweek was a good result. I know they could have clinched qualification on the night, but this keeps them in a good position. In away games in Europe, I feel you always have to be satisfied with a point.
We have played both these teams and lost heavily, Celtic giving us a going over by a 5-0 scoreline, in one of their best performances of the season, while Aberdeen have beaten us twice, 3-0 earlier in the season then a more narrow defeat during the week.
I don't think it will be a 0-0 today. There will be goals in it.
I WOULDN'T say I am a great friend of Stuart McCall, but I like him as a person and it was a form of miracle working that he did at Motherwell. To pip Aberdeen to second last year, and finish third the year before, was simply sensational stuff. It is sad he felt he could take the club no further and departed this week.
They are a good club who are in a struggle financially, but there is no doubt in my mind that it remains a good job for somebody who wants to get their coaching career back on track.
You saw last night against Dundee United, that although they are down the bottom, the Lanarkshire club are more than capable of going on a run and being top six material.
The likes of Gary McAllister and Winston Bogarde have been linked with the post, but you have to be realistic and I'm not sure it is realistic to think McAllister is going to give up his TV commitments to go to Motherwell work on a shoestring.
More likely, I think, are names like Steve Lomas and Scott Leitch who are far closer to the stereotype of the kind of guy Motherwell will be after.
THIS Friday is crunch time for Scotland, our biggest match since Italy in November 2007. It is a game we cannot lose. Through no fault of our own, the percentages are in the Republic of Ireland's favour. They have done their part, nicking a draw in Germany and getting a late winner in Georgia. While a draw is not an absolute disaster, it would help them more than us.
While they will get the butterflies and the adrenalin, the likes of Aiden McGeady and James McCarthy will cruise the occasion. It is not as if they are kids being thrown into the lions' den. These occasions are the norm for these players now. Martin O'Neill and Gordon Strachan have been through it all before. It will be a British-type game and a tough one to call, but I don't think the Republic of Ireland will beat us. We need to make a statement and I have a feeling we might just nick it.
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