There are some opinions in football that are utter nonsense, and that’s just from the pundits, however, the urban myth that Aberdeen try harder against Rangers than they do against Celtic has been proven, beyond doubt, that it is true.
Aberdeen fans are stuck in the 80s and 90s in that they obviously still believe that they are our rivals and that they are competing with us for silverware, Mark Hateley’s double on the last day of the season in 1990/91 has obviously hit them hard.
An independent source has done the maths and, well, all it does is prove something that Rangers fans have known for years.
Ewen Cameron, speaking on The Big Scottish Football podcast, has claimed that only one thing matters to the players and the fans of the Dons:
🗣️ @EwenDCameron: “Aberdeen and their fans are obsessed by Rangers” 😬@stevenmill has the stats for Aberdeen’s head-to-head against both Celtic & Rangers…@EwenDCameron thinks it proves Aberdeen only try against one club 👀
Episode 22: “HOLLYWOOD!” is out at 3pm 🤝 pic.twitter.com/6DglFO09QW
— The Big Scottish Football Podcast (@bigfootballscot) December 19, 2022
“Rangers versus Aberdeen head to head since the 2016/2017 season, or since Rangers returned to the top flight. They’ve played 26 times, Rangers have won 14 of those matches, Aberdeen have won five and there have been seven draws.
“In the same time frame, Aberdeen have played Celtic 29 times, Celtic have won 25 times, Aberdeen have won once, and there have been three draws. The only win for Aberdeen over Celtic, came at Celtic Park, on Sunday the 13th of May 2018 when Celtic had already won the league and Aberdeen needed to beat Celtic to finish above Rangers in the league and finish second.
“That just proves and what every other football fan in the country has been saying for years, Aberdeen have four games in a season and its against Rangers. That’s it, that’s their cup final , that’s their World Cup final. Aberdeen and their fans are obsessed by Rangers.”
It’s nothing that we didn’t know already. Aberdeen players and fans alike celebrate draws against us like they would winning a big cup game. There has rarely been a team or group of players over the last few years that have cheated their fans more, having said that, Cameron is right – it’s all they care about.
I’m not sure that they would rather finish 10th, however, I’m pretty sure that they would rather beat us four times than win the league cup, for example.
For a team that was consistently second in our absence and for the first two seasons after our return to only have one win against Celtic is an embarrassment.
As we saw by their efforts at the weekend – just one attempt at goal, at home – beating Celtic is never a goal of theirs and you can guarantee that there will be an significant difference in intensity when we take the same trip to Pittodrie.