Aberdeen 2 - 0 Motherwell: Manager celebrates 200th game in charge and enjoys some good fortune

Published on Sunday 30 November 2008 22:43

JIMMY Calderwood was at his self- effacing best when insisting it was better to be lucky than good after marking his 200th game in charge with his 84th win as Aberdeen manager.

Of course he would not be the longest servant of nine to fill the post at Pittodrie since the halcyon days of Sir Alex Ferguson if the balance was not tilted towards the latter, but there was a measure of good fortune attached to both goal scorers.

Gary McDonald was only introduced to the fray when injury forced off Andrew Considine yet the midfielder instantly added some much-needed sparkle to the celebrations by heading home a delightful Sone Aluko cross with virtually his first touch.

That goal on the hour mark was followed shortly afterwards by a Lee Miller penalty once Paul Quinn had been red carded for denying Darren Mackie a clear goal-scoring opportunity. Miller suffered an additional delay as Motherwell goalkeeper Graeme Smith was booked for gamesmanship when attempting to squirt the Aberdeen striker with his water bottle, but it made no difference. The resulting kick was lashed home by someone Calderwood had the good fortune to sign for free from Dundee United when the player's career was suffering a serious hiatus.

What has happened since has been mutually beneficial, with Miller's goals, aerial strength and link-up play earning wider appreciation with an appearance for Scotland against Argentina last month.

At this rate Calderwood's luck will have to extend to being able to hold on to the player, but Miller knows the debt he owes to the manager and seems content at a club that match his rediscovered ambitions.

He said: "Jimmy Calderwood has been great for me as he showed a lot of faith in me despite a slow start to my Aberdeen career, and really helped boost my confidence.

"After all he brought me to Pittodrie when I needed to kick-start my career again and hopefully I am repaying him with my goals now. His record has been good here despite the high expectations and it would be good if we could take it to the next level by getting back in to Europe and winning a trophy for the manager, the fans and ourselves."

Calderwood's luck on Saturday extended to facing a Motherwell side devoid of confidence and a pale shadow of the team that played with such verve on their way to third place last season.

This result made it just one point and one goal from their last five matches and just five points off the foot of the table with Hearts up next.

Quinn's red card at Pittodrie rules him out of that game, but David Clarkson will return from suspension. Just as well really, as the eleven that started on Saturday had managed just nine goals between them.

Ross McCormack, who left Fir Park last summer, has 13 to his credit at Cardiff City making him the third top goalscorer in the Championship, a painful reminder to manager Mark McGhee of the harsh realities of life in what is proving to be a difficult second season in charge.

To make matters worse rumours persist that Chris Porter will also be heading south next month, but there were a few glimmers of hope in the debuts of Slovakia international Maros Klimpl and young Steven Saunders, who came off the bench after Quinn's dismissal.

Desperate as their overall display was, McGhee found solace in the fact it was better than the previous weekend against Hibs and said: "We competed every bit as well as Aberdeen and we put as much in to the game, but it felt like the first goal would win it. We looked less likely to score, so we ended up losing, but it was a lot better performance."