Barry Robson makes ‘boring’ plea to players ahead of Aberdeen v Rangers showdown
Aberdeen manager Barry Robson has urged his players to take the “boring” approach by focusing on each game as it comes, starting with the visit of Rangers this weekend.
The two sides meet at Pittodrie on Sunday (26 November) upon the return of Scottish Premiership action in a dress rehearsal for next month’s Viaplay Cup final.
Sky Sports pundit Kris Boyd recently suggested Aberdeen will be more motivated to face the Gers than they were against Celtic in their 6-0 loss on 12 November.
Robson denied that is the case, however, and insisted he does not already have one eye on the upcoming Hampden Park showdown.
“If you know me, you know I want to win every game,” he said, as per The Press & Journal [23 November]. “That’s what my teams are all about. We try and win every game we can.
“The cup final is a good bit away. We have huge games in between then to try and perform in. We need to navigate them. It is the old cliche of one game at a time.
“I know it’s old and boring but the boys have done really well at that apart from the last game [against Celtic]. We had navigated it quite well up to then.”
Defining period
Rangers boss Philippe Clement will no doubt be in full agreement with Robson’s “one game at a time” comments, as the Light Blues have a huge period between now and the new year.
The cup final with Aberdeen on 17 December obviously stands out, but before then we have games with Aris Limassol and Real Betis in the Europa League, as well as facing the Dons, St Mirren, Hearts and Dundee in the Scottish Premiership.
There are then four more league games between the cup final and 30 December, culminating in a trip to Celtic Park.
The hope is that Clement has a trophy in the bag come the end of 2023, with Rangers also through to the knockout stages of the Europa League and within touching distance of Celtic in the league.
A win against Aberdeen this weekend would be the ideal way to keep the momentum going heading into a season defining run of games.
In other Rangers news, Stevie Clifford has named two Gers players who could help save Clement in the January transfer window.