Aberdeen hosted Kilmarnock in a drab 0-0 Scottish Cup last 16 tie yesterday. Played before 8,821 fans, the low attendance was a sad indictment of Derek McInnes’ team at present, who have now drawn blank in their last five matches.
Writing his column for the Daily Mail, ex-Celt Kris Commons compared the low attendance to playing for Celtic under Ronny Deila. “Derek McInnes has tried his best to shrug off the criticism and dismiss it as water off a duck’s back. But that ship has sailed. One figure in particular from Saturday’s dismal 0-0 draw with Kilmarnock in the Scottish Cup made that clear and it wasn’t the fact that the Dons fired yet another blank. Instead, the fact that only 8,821 Aberdeen fans could be bothered to turn up serves as a damning indictment of where this team are at right now. That’s an appalling home attendance for a club of Aberdeen’s size. It was their lowest home crowd of the season. Lower, even, than in the previous round against part-timers Dumbarton. I’ve no doubt McInnes can handle the stick he’s been taking. He’s been in the game long enough to have developed a thick skin with these kind of things. But when punters decide they’ve had enough and can’t even be bothered to turn up, that’s when you know you’re in a bit of bother.
I can vouch for that from my time at Celtic. During Ronny Deila’s second season, the empty seats at Parkhead became a bit of a running joke. The top tier of the stadium would be closed for Europa League games. Flags would be draped over the empty sections to try and hide it. It becomes a source of embarrassment. Players aren’t blind. They can see for themselves and are fully aware of what’s going on. An empty stadium is a massive problem. It deprives the club of much-needed revenue and it also looks terrible on TV when it comes to attracting new players.”
