1st – 7th Feb 2021
The eternal cycle of emotions that is sport cannot be summed up better than comparing Aberdeen FC and the Scotland National Rugby Team’s respective weeks.
–Aberdeen Lose 2-0 To Hibs To Pile More Misery On McInnes: Reaction
–Scotland Beat England At Twickenham In Their Opening Round Of Six Nations 2021: Match Report
In the red corner (makes sense to give that to Aberdeen) was the bedraggled and beaten-up warrior Aberdeen FC, stumbling towards the finish line of a season that has gone off the rails.
There is real concern Dons manager Derek McInne will be told to clear his desk this week – a desk set in an office McInnes has well and truly made his own being Aberdeen’s third longest serving manager after holding the reins at Pittodrie for the last eight years.
It has been a dismal start to 2021 for Aberdeen with one win in eight and six points from a possible twenty-four.
The stat that really makes it clear how bad things have got is that in 2021 the Dons have stuck the ball into their own net as many times as the oppositions’.
In the blue corner, with a ll the razz-ma-tazz of a young Muhammih Ali preparing for his first heavyweight championship fight against Sonny Liston, the Scotland National Rugby Team made history on Saturday beating England for the first time at Twickenham in 38 years.
It wasn’t just that Scotland beat England in England, overcoming what many had described as impossible odds of the Scots taking anything let alone the Calcutta Cup back to Edinburgh, it was the manner in which Scotland won.
As the game wore on all the spectator could think was England will come back now, but the English onslaught didn’t materialise. Scotland dominated and absolutely deserved their victory.
Bundesliga also has the theme of Heaven and Hell.
–Bayern Break More Records As They Take A Ten Point Lead In Bundesliga: Match Report
Bayern Munich are in Heaven having recording their fifth straight victory in the league against Herta Berlin on Friday night whilst Borussia Dortmund put on another poor showing losing 2-1 to Freiburg.
Bayern will be in the tropical climes of Dubai this week competing in the Club World Championships searching for their sixth trophy in a season – a feat last achieved by the great Barcelona side of 2009.
Borussia Dortmund will remain in the Ruhr, in the wintery conditions of West Germany, trying to work out what is going so wrong in a side that has some of the best attacking talent in Europe.
Dortmund are in real danger now of putting their Champions League future on the line. The BlackYellows are four points off the ECL spots in Bundesliga having won just one in five.
Other sports: David Law makes first cut, spare a thought for Olivier Ntcham and Brady is the GOAT
Congratulations to Aberdeen’s David Law who made his first cut in only the third tournament of the PGA European Tour at the Saudi International this week.
Special praise also has to be reserved for P&J columnist Stephen Gallacher who shot a stunning 62 in his opening round to finish 8 under. Would you believe that wasn’t enough for Gallacher to make the top of the leaderboard, with England’s David Horsey shooting 9 under in his opening round.
Spare a thought for Olivier Ntcham. The Frenchman’s season must be one of hardest to endure in recent sporting history.
Not only was Ntcham part of this season’s Celtic side that are failing so dismally in their 10IAR aspirations, the midfielder finally gets out the sinking ship that is Celtic Park and joins French giants Marseille. All good? No. Soon as Ntcham touches down on the French Riviera his new coach, the temperamental Andre Villas-Boas, resigns in protest at the player’s signing. Awkward introduction in the dressing room for Ntcham.
Last word goes to Tom Brady, officially the GOAT of American Football. Last night Brady won his seventh Super Bowl at the age of 42 leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 31-9 win over Pat Mahomes’ Kansa City Chiefs.
I’ve always been a little sceptical about the near perfect American poster-boy but after this achievement I hold my hands up and admit Brady is the perfect American poster-boy.
Harry Jamshid Reporter Sports Pages 