Aberdeen boss Stephen Robinson labelled his side’s performance in yesterday’s woeful 2-0 defeat at Dundee as ‘unacceptable’.
The Dons came in to the weekend looking to make it six wins from six in all competitions to kick off the new season, but were second best from start to finish against Steven Pressley’s men.
Goals from Joe Westley and Joe Bevan either side of the interval made it a comfortable afternoon for the hosts, but they were given a huge helping hand courtesy of a shambolic defensive display from their opponents, who were booed off the park by a 4,500-strong away following at Dens Park.
‘To state the obvious, it’s a disappointment,’ said Robinson. ‘I thought they ran all over us physically.
‘Collectively, as a team, we weren’t at the races. A lot of bad decisions in and out of possession, and when you play for Aberdeen, you can’t do that. We got what we deserved.
‘We have to be better than that, it’s simple. It’s my team, it’s my job to pick them back up again and I take full responsibility for that. It wasn’t acceptable today.’
Aberdeen boss Stephen Robinson was far from impressed with his side’s performance
Toyosi Olusanya cuts a frustrated figure as nothing went right for Aberdeen at Dens Park
Robinson hooked winger Tony Yogane at half-time on his return to his former club, but admitted that none of his players earned pass marks on the day. He said: ‘I’m not going to pick individuals out. We need more from everybody.
‘Nobody has come out with any sort of credit. I’ve come out with zero credit.’
Aberdeen will have the chance to put things right next weekend when they welcome Dundee to Pittodrie in the Premier Sports Cup, and Robinson hopes to have new signing Mitchy Ntelo available for action after the Belgian forward put pen to paper on a two-year deal.
‘We hope he’ll get international clearance,’ said Robinson. ‘He adds pace and strength to the forward line.
‘He can play anywhere across the front three, so he’ll hopefully add physicality and goals, which we require, and it gives us another option.’
Dundee boss Steven Pressley waxed lyrical about his team’s overall display as they picked up their first three points of the new season. He said: ‘Since coming to Dundee just over a year ago, I think that’s been our most complete and our best performance. It had everything that I look for in a Dundee team.
Dundee boss Steven Pressley piled the praise on his side after their 2-0 victory
‘It had speed, it had excitement, it had composure at the right times, but, boy, did it have resilience.
‘Some of the players were running on empty the last 20-25 minutes because of the style of football that we’re trying to adopt, and it will take time for us to reach the levels of fitness that we truly need.
‘I couldn’t be prouder of the group today. They were just incredible.’
On the performance of winger Bevan, who also notched an assist for the opener, Pressley added: ‘We’re really excited with Joe. He’s got English Premier League physicality, he’s got incredible speed, he’s really strong on one-to-one, he’s actually a good finisher.
‘We just want him to grow and keep believing in himself because he gives us something different.’
