Dandy Dons are still on a high

You know what Aberdeen fans are like, bi-polar. After two wins at the start of their season, some fans were digging out their passport, so convinced were they that the Dandy Dons were assured of winning the league and heading for the Champions League.

Then Mark McGhee worked his magic on the side and the same fans were being refused entry to Superdrug to keep them away from the painkillers and razor blades. It’s a strange old world being an Aberdeen fan and this was shown again on Saturday.

A win in the Cup should always be celebrated but some of the fans remarks following the 6-0 drubbing dished out to East Fife went over the top! It’s good to see Craig Brown having a positive impact on Aberdeen and the fact that the Dons never exited to a lower league team was probably one of the cup shocks of the day!

It is likely that Aberdeen will face a tougher test in the 5th round of the Scottish Cup when they take on Montrose or Dunfermline Athletic. In saying that though, Aberdeen will be confident of winning the tie and with one of the big Glasgow lot out…who knows where this cup run may end.

The fifth round ties of the Scottish Cup are scheduled to take place the weekend of the 5th and 6th of February. These dates may change when the television companies start announcing their fixtures but at the moment…that’s the dates for the Cup!

With a League Cup semi-final already secured, are the Dandy Dons going to take up residency at Hampden this season?

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The Buddies are team most likely to

At the moment, the team most likely to stop Rangers from doing a domestic treble is St Mirren. The Paisley side are the champions’ opponents in the League Cup final next month and they provide the next hurdle in the Active Nation Scottish Cup.

This comes tonight as the two sides replay after the first game at St Mirren Park ended goal-less. That score line was not a surprise but it would be something of a shock if the Buddies were to progress tonight but with extra-time and penalties a possibility, you can’t rule them out.

Tonight’s match is likely to have no real bearing on the League Cup final but St Mirren could give themselves a great deal of confidence by playing well and/ or getting a result tonight. Given the choice, the Buddies would probably choose to win the Cup final as opposed to tonight’s tie but league survival remains their key aim.

Rangers could make a number of changes tonight as players return from injury and the possibility of freshening up their squad arises. The pitches are heavy and with an important time of the season coming up; it could be an opportunity to rest some of the more regularly featuring players.

Aberdeen’s exit last night will serve as a reminder that shocks can happen so no one at Ibrox will be taking this game lightly but Aberdeen went out with a strong line-up. Well, they may have been strong on paper but on grass, they were mentally weak and that is where the difference at Ibrox will lie.

The players coming in tonight may not be first team regulars but they will be given the chance to show that they should be. After all, the Rangers squad is not so large that a player on the bench should feel as though they’ll remain there permanently.

Even accounting for the fact there is unlikely to be a match between these sides after the split, these two clubs will meet 6 times this season. In all fairness, that is far too often and you cannot blame fans for feeling a little jaded with the same old faces.

When it comes to next months final, Hampden will be buzzing but there should be no over-reaction if Ibrox is a little subdued for this evening’s clash. St Mirren could turn this to their advantage if they play it right.

In all likelihood though, Rangers will roll on to face Dundee United in the quarter finals of the Scottish Cup.

Will there be another cupset tonight?

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Raith get their reward at Pittodrie

On Saturday afternoon Aberdeen fans and players celebrated their draw with Celtic as though they had won a cup. That was just as well because due to yet another Cup capitulation at the hands of lower league opposition, the Dandy Dons won’t be getting to Hampden this year.

Unless they get tickets to see Pink in concert that is.

Aberdeen boss Mark McGhee was insistent before the weekend that the Raith Rovers clash was the important one for the Dons but it just shows you that Aberdeen are not a top team anymore.

Yes, they can raise their game against Celtic and Rangers and give their fans something to cheer but when it comes time to mentally raise their game against supposedly weaker opposition, they regularly let their fans down.

Defeats against lower league opposition in the cup eventually saw Jimmy Calderwood out of a job so the Kilmarnock boss will see some irony in his new team still being in the tournament whilst Mark McGhee’s outfit are out on their backside.

It was Dundee who defeated Aberdeen in the League Cup and they would have been their opponents in the next round if they got through, which now means that there is an all First Division tie in the quarter finals.

Yet again, there will be a First Division side in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup.

The final place in the Scottish cup quarter finals will be decided on Wednesday night when St Mirren and Rangers replay at Ibrox.

Can Raith Rovers get to Hampden?

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