Is Jimmy Calderwood The Right Man?

Jimmy Calderwood will be hoping that making the UEFA Group Stages will get some of the unappreciative Red Army off his back. Despite year on year improvement under his reign, Calderwood still has to convince some of the Pittodrie faithful that he`s the best man for the job.

Poor cup runs don`t help but it might be the fact that the current team can fluctuate so dramatically in performances which can range from disasterous to genuinely superb as we witnessed against Rangers on the last day of last season.

The club is certainly going in the right direction but after the highs against Dnipro, some supporters wouldn`t even bet that their heroes can dispose of lowly St Mirren tomorrow and that is possibly just the reason why Jimmy hasn`t been fully embraced in the north east.

The fans want to see fast, flowing football and some look to the likes of Hibs who sold all their best players during the summer but can still produce excellent passages of play, the likes of which most Dons fans wont have witnessed since the declining team which Alex Smith inherited.

So what is it with Calderwood? Is it because he`s Glaswegian but isn`t Alex Ferguson?

Are his teams boring but surely it`s results that count and Rangers and Celtic have gained plenty of plaudits, as have the national team, for results they earned in matches where they began with only one striker on the field.

Are his team selections and substitutions not the way forward? Sure, he sacrifices a defender for an attacker when he`s chasing a game. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn`t but beating his previous years league placing perhaps shows he gets more times right than wrong.

All these options and many more are maybe only just some of the reasons why Calderwood isn`t as revered in the Granite City as some think he should be. Some of those who back him include the guys who`ve been coached daily by him and therefore best placed to judge.

Michael Hart had his say on the boss and gave JC a glowing report, ‘The manager fills you with confidence, he certainly works for me,’ he said to Reds Online.

‘He’s also stuck by me when I’ve had some awful games, even the ones he gave me a right roasting after.

‘I’m glad I’ve started to repay him and hope I can keep it going.’

‘When the manager came in we were a shadow of the great Dons side that did so well in Europe all those years ago.

‘We were struggling at the bottom end of he league and in danger of being relegated, year in, year out.

‘The manager has sorted that and restored a bit of respect, even though the bulk of our squad is still quite young.

‘We’ve done a bit better every year, making the top six every time and qualified for Europe.

‘Now he has taken Aberdeen into the UEFA Cup group stages for the first time.

‘Managers should be judged by their results and it’s clear he has been great for Aberdeen.

‘Sometimes fans are hard to please but, the European result should be enough to make them all get behind the manager.’

So Mikey is firmly behind the boss but if you`re not Jimmy`s biggest fan then please take a second to tell us why on the Vital Aberdeen poll.