IT wasn't so long ago that people used to laugh about the term 'New Firm'.
But the rivalry between Aberdeen and Dundee United has been back for at least two seasons now. Whoever wins at Hampden on Saturday will be assured of reaching their second major cup final in successive seasons and it is great to see sides like these consistently reaching finals. They are exactly the kind of teams who should be doing it.
Ever since they were holding all before them in Europe during the mid 80's, these two teams have tended to judge themselves against each other. When Aberdeen had a poor time they would have been saying 'look, at least we need to get ourselves where United are'. Then, just when Aberdeen look like they have the better squad, Dundee United come back with all these youngsters and try to close the gap. Both have managed to clear their debt and are getting better in one-off situations against Celtic.
I have played for both teams and I know how exactly much this will mean to both sets of players and supporters. I played and won a cup final for Aberdeen and got to a semi final for United. Both of them will be saying 'one of us won't be getting to a cup final so we need to make sure we play this one as though it is a cup final'.
Which one will be celebrating at Hampden this Saturday? Quite simply, whoever plays best on the day. They are evenly matched, both teams are full of flair and it is played to a finish so they are going to have to go for it. Dundee United can't do anything differently, if they try to defend it just doesn't suit them. Aberdeen can defend but they still create chances against you. So it is set up for a cracker. It is alright saying Aberdeen have the bigger budget, are the more consistent team, and usually seem to be more miserable when it comes to losing goals, apart of course from the three they lost to Dundee last Saturday. But when you get into a cup tie, anything goes, so United come right back into the equation.
I still think United are a couple of really good defenders, maybe a full back and a right good centre half, away from being an outstanding outfit. They are going to have to count on their front four to create and hope their defence has a good game. Aberdeen will be fairly confident of being secure at the back - it is whether they can get their forward players at the top of their game.
With the match played just days before the transfer deadline, there are question marks over precisely who that United front four is going to be. I still think Gary Mackay-Steven - who has signed a pre-contract agreement with Celtic - will play, because Jackie McNamara has known for a while that he fancied moving away, and his performance levels haven't dropped. Stuart Armstrong has also been linked with the Parkhead side but I don't think anything will happen before Saturday, while Chris Erskine is also likely to play behind Nadir Ciftci. Jackie is not scared to leave any of them out in favour of younger guys such as Ryan Dow, Charlie Telfer, Aidan Connolly or Blair Spittal, but if they are all fit and playing well I think they will go with that.
While I'm saying Aberdeen's defence has been more reliable, it will be interesting to see how they cope without Ash Taylor, who needs an operation on a knee problem. I don't think Aberdeen fans were sure about Ash Taylor when he arrived, but he has maybe been their best player in recent times. It may depend how close to fitness Russell Anderson is, but in all likelihood Derek McInnes will put Andrew Considine alongside Reynolds, move Jonny Hayes to left back, with either Willo Flood or Barry Robson coming in to midfield.
I usually do stick my neck on the line but it wouldn't surprise me if this went all the way to penalties. But I don't see it being a nil-nil. If it does go the distance it will be 1-1 or 2-2.
ends
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