Aberdeen

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Former referee Steve Conroy thinks it is "mission creep" with VAR in Scottish football before new changes to the laws for the upcoming World Cup.

VAR was introduced in Scotland almost four years ago but has frequently been criticised by fans, players, managers and former players.

Now there could be more changes to the scope of technology as football's law-making body the International Football Association Board (Ifab) backed plans to increase the powers of VAR.

For this summer's World Cup in America, VAR will be allowed to intervene on second yellow cards and the awarding of corners, provided the process doesn't slow down the flow of play.

Ifab has also expanded the countdown rule around goalkeepers where they have eight seconds to release the ball from their hands to include goal kicks and throw-ins.

But former referee Conroy thinks involving the technology in more decision-making is bad news for the game.

"It's inescapable that there is more and more mission creep with VAR," he told the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"The authorities seem hell-bent on using it more and more and relying on it and I think that is to the detriment of football.

"I know Ifab are talking about getting them involved for corners and second yellows and all that sort of stuff. As [Celtic interim manager] Martin O'Neill said, soon enough we'll just referee from a port-a-cabin somewhere.

"And this is all happening at the same time as every football supporter survey tells you that they just want it binned."

Aberdeen boss Stephen Robinson will opt for pragmatism to ensure Premiership survival before making changes in the summer. (Press & Journal)

Read the rest of Thursday's gossip.

Glen Schreuder
Fan writer

Nobody was expecting Stephen Robinson to work miracles and a point against Falkirk is not to be sniffed at.

It could prove to be a crucial point in the context of the season, or for those of a negative mind it could be two dropped of course.

It was nice to see us use two strikers - Kevin Nisbet and Marko Lazetic - in a show of attacking intent. I don't necessarily think it worked but it's clear new ideas are going to be tried.

Both full-backs - 20-year-olds Mitchel Frame and Dylan Lobban - looked good and showed no signs of mental scarring from the Dunfermline defeat.

Robinson is now in the midst of a full week working with his new charges. I'm not expecting a reinvention of the wheel at Ibrox on Satureday, but slow, continued improvement in performance would be welcomed prior to a game in Paisley that is taking on huge importance after the international break.

Glen Schreuder can be found at Red Tinted Glasses, external

Liam McLeod
BBC Sport Scotland Commentator

The constant ringing sounds across the north east of Scotland are those of alarm bells.

The hastily arranged ascension of Stephen Robinson to the Pittodrie throne was proof the Aberdeen board are concerned about the spectre of relegation.

The results at the weekend did little to silence those alarms. Barney Stewart's late equaliser for Falkirk at Pittodrie, which the visitors deserved, could be incredibly damaging with Kilmarnock's victory over leaders Hearts on Saturday night slicing the gap between the Dons and 11th spot down to just six points.

And while Killie host basement dwellers Livingston on Saturday, Aberdeen face Rangers in Glasgow before a quickfire return to Paisley for Robinson after the international break.

The bottom line is the Dons are potentially in deep trouble and to suggest otherwise would be tantamount to foolishness.

There was more resilience to the Aberdeen performance against Falkirk, there appeared more appetite, but once again, the quality was in short supply as Robinson pleaded with his players from the sidelines to get the ball forward more often.

In all likelihood, two or three wins from their remaining eight games should be enough to avoid hovering over the trapdoor where finishing 11th would leave them.

But this is a side that have won once in their past 14 Premiership outings. Having posed the question here several weeks ago, we still ask where the next Aberdeen win is coming from?

I doubt the Dons players would relish a trip to Firhill, Gayfield or a dreaded return to East End Park in order to help save theirs and the club's skins.

Had it not been for Jimmy Thelin steering the side through a purple patch of one defeat in 10 during the autumn into early winter, the situation would be even more grave.

And so it is Ibrox on Saturday teatime when they could be just three points above the water line. The next few weeks won't be for the faint hearted.

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Stephen Robinson has confirmed he will have a "big say" on Aberdeen signings after arriving as the club's new head coach. (The Herald, subscription required), external

Eirik Horneland, who had been linked with Aberdeen before Stephen Robinson was appointed head coach, will work as a TV pundit at this summer's World Cup and admits he "wanted a little break from coaching" after leaving Saint-Etienne in January. (Sun), external

Stephen Robinson has already made Aberdeen harder to play against, says former Celtic and Hibernian midfielder Scott Allan.

Robinson left St Mirren last week to take the Aberdeen job and drew his first game in charge against Falkirk on Saturday.

The result leaves Aberdeen ninth in the Scottish Premiership, six points above Kilmarnock in the relegation play-off spot.

"Yeah, listen, I think obviously he's showed his consistency at St Mirren with the top-six finishes and the highlight of winning the League Cup," Allan told the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"I think he's been looking for that move for a while and deserving of it with the hard work he's put in at St Mirren.

"Difficult place to go just now with Aberdeen. I think he'll probably be looking at that squad, thinking he'll make a lot of changes in the summer.

"What I did notice, they were a lot harder to play through than they have been. There's a softness about Aberdeen this season no getting away from that.

"It was like watching St Mirren with red shirts on."

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Aberdeen have confirmed the departure of interim assistant coach Tony Docherty following the appointment of new head coach Stephen Robinson.

The former Dundee and Ross County boss had returned to the club in February to aid the temporary management team headed by Peter Leven.

Docherty had previously spent eight years at Pittodrie as number two to Derek McInnes.

Robinson left St Mirren to join Aberdeen last week and opened his tenure with a 1-1 home draw against Falkirk.

Wishing Docherty the very best for the future, Dons' sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel said his "overall contribution to this club has been immense".

Stephen Robinson's debut as Dons manager ends in a 1-1 draw with Falkirk at Pittodrie.

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We asked you Aberdeen fans for your thoughts on the 1-1 draw against Falkirk, which was the first game in charge for new head coach Stephen Robinson. Here's a taste of what you had to say...

Arch: One point is no good at this stage. The first thing Robinson needs to do is tell his players the game lasts 90 minutes. On the plus side they actually scored! That's close to miraculous. And they were never behind. Maybe all is not yet lost.

Still wondering why it took so long to get a manager. Was that down to 'Pfaff-and-stall'?

David: We have a goalkeeper that comes diving out like Superman one minute, then stays on his line the next. Marko Lazetic needs to try and watch the flight of the ball instead of looking at the centre-backs all the time. I was pleased to see us start with two up top, although they need better service from the wide areas.

Niall: Expectations were raised with a potential new manager bounce and then an opportunist Kevin Nisbet goal, which should have seen the Dons grab a precious three points.

The late sucker-punch goal was such a disappointment, but exposed the reality of the Dons' frailties in defence, and particularly the inability to defend cross balls. This has to be one of Robinson's main key areas to improve as it's been an achilles heel all season.

Martin: Clear-out needed at season's end, starting from the back and right through to the top. Robinson has a big, big job on his hands and I hope he gets the time to do it.

All are underperforming and don't looking interested at all. There's too many to mention but I'll back Robinson. We need to give him time, though.

Sandy: Needs a big clear out in the summer. Nicolas Milanovic and Marko Lazetic first to go. Whose idea was it to sign them? These two are as bad as Kusini Yengi. Graeme Shinnie is past it and needs to be shipped out. Good luck getting half-decent players in, and that is if we're not in the Championship.

Ross: Falkirk exemplified what we should be aiming for; clearly playing like a team that know each other well. Robinson's main job is to get his players to know each other better. Dylan Lobban showed the right attitude, heartening that Robinson recognised this straight away!

Willem: Horrendous, I've not seen us this bad. There is no football left in this team, just kick the ball away and hope for the best. We've only gone backwards since Jimmy Thelin was sacked. No football, no vision, no future.

New Aberdeen head coach Stephen Robinson confirms he will look to the free agent market to sign reinforcements in a bid to save his new side from being dragged into a relegation play-off battle. (Press & Journal), external

Read Sunday's Scottish Gossip in full.

Stephen Robinson's debut as Aberdeen head coach was ruined by an 88th-minute Falkirk equaliser, but John McGlynn's side will have to wait to have their Scottish Premiership top-six place confirmed.

Read the match report here.

Let us know your thoughts.

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Aberdeen head coach Stephen Robinson was happy with a point after his debut game in charge.

"We're disappointed in the goal at the end," he told BBC Scotland. "We looked a lot more structured and organised than we have been.

"We only had one day to work on that. Up against a very good Falkirk team that didn't look like they were going to score.

"We can be much better on the ball. We looked like a team that have lost five out of six games. Confidence is fragile, but they know they have a structure to work on.

"There were positive performances. It was Liam Morrison's best game in an Aberdeen shirt, young Dylan Lobban was full of energy, Dennis Gieger was excellent and Nizzy [Kevin Nisbet] scores.

"There's positives but a lot of improvement needed. Going forward, we want more than a point against Falkirk at home, but it's a start. There is much more to come in possession.

"We're getting into areas. I have to take the positives out of it but I'm not kidding anybody. The reason I'm here is, it wasn't going very well."

Aberdeen, Oxford United, Bolton Wanderers, Barnsley and Plymouth Argyle are among a number of clubs targeting 30-year-old defender Omar Sowunmi, who has impressed as he helped Bromley to the top of League Two. (Football Insider), external

Read Saturday's Scottish Gossip in full.

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Aberdeen defender Nicky Devlin (knee) could miss out again, while Mats Knoester (concussion), Kristers Tobers (knee) and Nick Suman (ankle) remain out.

Falkirk welcome Gary Oliver back from injury, but Kyrell Wilson (ankle) joins Ben Parkinson (ankle), Ross MacIver and Louis Marsh (thigh) on the sidelines.

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Stephen Robinson wants backing rather than booing from Aberdeen fans on Saturday as he looks to make a winning start to his tenure.

The Dons were barracked by their own support for much of the dismal 3-0 defeat at Dunfermline last weekend as their Scottish Cup defence ended with a whimper.

But Robinson is hoping for a more positive mood at Pittodrie on Saturday as he attempts to lead his new side to victory over Falkirk.

"Everyone's got an opinion. Everyone's entitled to that opinion," said the former St Mirren boss.

"Some are more educated than others of course. But look, we want to hit the ground running. We want to win the game on Saturday.

"Players don't respond to criticism. Nobody in life goes to work and responds when you're told you're not very good or you get booed.

"So we ask the fans to get behind the players. We can all have an opinion after the game. Any time that I've been to Aberdeen and any time Aberdeen have come to any team I've been involved with, it's been an incredible support."

Robinson has given the underperforming squad a clean slate.

"There's a lot of injuries, a lot of injuries at the back which will dictate certain things in the system we have to play, but everyone's got a chance," he said.

"Everyone's coming in fresh. When you look at people from afar you don't get a full picture, you don't know the circumstances. We've had a meeting and we said that everybody will start from scratch.

"I demand total respect and I demand that everybody respects each other and works as hard as they possibly can and shows their talent, and we'll pick the team accordingly. Every player will get an opportunity to be the best version of themselves."

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• Kevin Nisbet has scored five goals in his past three home league games; the last player to score in four successive home league appearances for Aberdeen was Bojan Miovski in October 2022.

• Falkirk have alternated between defeat (four) and victory (three) in their past seven away league games, losing 1-0 at Hearts last time out. Indeed, the Bairns haven't had the same result in two successive Scottish Premiership away matches yet in 2025-26.

• Aberdeen have won just one of their past 13 Scottish Premiership matches (D2 L10), a 6-2 win over bottom side Livingston in January. Since the first game in this run (3-1 defeat to Celtic on December 21st), they would be bottom of the table in the division, below Livingston on goals scored.

• Falkirk have won four of their past five league games against Aberdeen (L1), including two so far this season, both 1-0 wins in August and January.

• Aberdeen have only lost one of their past 13 home league games against newly-promoted opponents (W7 D5), although that was to Falkirk in August of this season (1-0).

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Stephen Robinson has spent seven years managing in Scotland and enjoyed success with Motherwell and St Mirren - but is there still an element of the "unknown" about the new Aberdeen head coach?

Former Premiership striker Rory Loy thinks the Pittodrie job is a different kettle of fish to what Robinson has been used to at his previous clubs.

"Robinson did extremely well with Motherwell when he was there and with St Mirren but I still think he's an unknown, which sounds crazy," Loy told the BBC's Scottish Football Podcast.

"Everyone will say he knows the league, he knows how to get results, etc, but in terms of having one of the bigger budgets in the league, in terms of having players at his disposal who are capable of playing really good football and being a good side, they've [Aberdeen] not shown it but they're capable, he's never had that to work with before.

"So from that perspective, I think it's still a relative unknown because he's not used to doing that. Is he capable of it? Ultimately, if he did have that at his disposal, would he be getting the ball down and playing a lot more attractive football?

"I'm not saying St Mirren don't play attractive football at times, but they have a method to their success, which probably doesn't involve as fast-flowing football as other sides.

"At his previous clubs he has constantly been fighting to overachieve. At Aberdeen, overachieving really is finishing second and that is extremely difficult to do.

"I don't know how much weight the fact that he knows the league and he's been with St Mirren for years holds given the budget he's going to get compared to what he's used to."

Inverness Caledonian Thistle want on-loan Aberdeen striker Alfie Bavidge to sign a permanent contract with the club. (The Press and Journal, external)

Friday's Scottish gossip

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Stephen Robinson has a simple approach to winning round Aberdeen fans unconvinced he is the right man for the manager's job.

"Win football matches," the former St Mirren and Motherwell boss said.

"Quite simple. I say to people, make your own opinion when you see the team play. Sometimes there's a lot of false narratives in football.

"You can't fight every single critic. My body of work should speak for itself."

Robinson, who has signed a three-year deal at Pittodrie, led Motherwell to a third-place finish and two cup finals.

He then secured three top-six finishes with St Mirren and won the League Cup, having guided both clubs into Europe.

"Listen, if Jurgen Klopp was appointed, there would be somebody not happy," he added.

"I can deal with that, I am very confident in my own ability and the staff I have brought with me, and I am also confident when I look around that there's a real willingness for everyone to come together. And I aim to do that.

"I'm as ambitious as every Aberdeen fan. We aim to meet those expectations."