We're On A Hiding

Feb 24 2008 Gavin Berry

Nicholl Warns Dons Stars To Show They've Got The Bottle

JIMMY NICHOLL has warned his Aberdeen players there's no hiding place as they bid to rescue their campaign.

The Dons assistant manager wants the team to rediscover the self-confidence and mental toughness that catapulted them into third place last season.

And if the Ulsterman thinks anyone doesn't have the bottle for a battle they could pay the ultimate price with their place in the side.

Nicholl knows his players are in danger of tossing away last term's good work by failing to even make the top six.

Now the UEFA Cup campaign is over after Thursday's defeat by Bayern Munich, reality is staring them in the face and the signs aren't good.

In a season plagued by individual errors, Nicholl admits he can accept honest mistakes.

But one thing he won't stand for is players not taking responsibility.

And that was a test he always passed as a kid at Manchester United.

Nic said: "I keep saying it takes more than ability to make it as a player. You need to have something in your character and make-up.

"When I broke into the United team I didn't learn anything under Tommy Docherty other than to look after myself and sort out my game. If you did that you stayed in the team.

"I was having a bad time at first but can't remember any one-to-one talks. It was just a case of 'you're going in, make sure you're ready'. You made your own mistakes and away you went.

"We all love being cheered by 50,000 but can you handle being booed? That was a test for me because I was getting booed regularly.

"Stadiums had fences in those days and one United punter was pushing his face so hard against it that he had lines on his face. And he was shouting: 'You Irish b******'.

"But I kept playing and didn't know why I was still being picked. Then something happened in one game - I delivered a cross for a goal.

"The next Monday, Docherty asked if I enjoyed the game - it was the first he had spoken to me.

"I told him I thought he would have left me out for eight or nine games because of my mistakes.

"But he said something that has stuck with me. He said: 'As long as you're getting 1,000 kicks of the ball son I don't care if you make 999 mistakes'. He'd rather that than I got 10 kicks and hid.

"Tommy said I never once walked into a position where I couldn't receive the ball. If I had done that I would have been dropped. That's one of the things I look for now in our players.

"If I see people doing that I tell them they're weak as p*** and can't handle it. Once they walk into a position where they can't receive a ball you know they've gone.

"Mistakes don't bother us as long as they're honest ones but the same mistake is unforgivable. If you want to get to the top you have to watch your players for that.

"If we're critical of players it's because they've made the same mistake over and over again. As a kid I was getting wound up because I thought I was having a bad time but in Docherty's eyes I wasn't.

"And after eight or nine games he said I had come through it.

"Sometimes players don't take criticism the way it's meant. We want them to do well for themselves, the team and the club.

"Players are sometimes sensitive to criticism - it's a different breed.

"I hope players don't look at me and just say: 'He's telling me another Manchester United story'.

"I hate talking to players like that so I say: 'Thismanager did this to me when I was young'. I don't tell them the club."

With the glamour of Bayern out the way Nicholl hopes his players hit the ground running now they're back down to earth.

And he wants them to show their character with an SPL victory at struggling Kilmarnock today.

The Dons lost their last league game 3-1 at Hibs after throwing away a first-half lead and Nicholl won't accept more slack play.

He said: "If we don't get a grip we're going to find ourselves struggling to make the top six.

"You only get what you deserve out of this game.

"People turn round and say you deserve luck but you have to work hard for that.

"Something will just fall into place, the penny will drop and the lads will kick on. If they don't then they're going to miss out.

"It will get to the stage where every game will be like a cup final just to get into the top six and that's disappointing. We're not being greedy and saying: 'You finished third, you MUST do it again'.

"We just want them to show the belief they had last year.

"When we beat Rangers to go third and clinch a European place we thought that was it and we would kick on.

"Our boys aren't a confident lot but they've made progress every year. I can't see any reason why they shouldn't be confident.

"If you're not confident in yourself and as a team it shows in results and performances. That's what's happening and we can't put our finger on it.

"The players are at an age where you think they can ditch any feelings from the past and have the belief to kick on.

"But it hasn't happened and it's not just our young ones. There has been inconsistency throughout our team and it's only the European run that has kept us going.

"They got a lift on UEFA Cup nights but after it all came to a halt on Thursday we have to screw the head on and get back to where we were. The reason for the position we're in is individual mistakes.

"It doesn't matter what's the formation or personnel, if you make mistakes you're going to suffer.

"If a player makes an error and it costs a goal it happens. But if it happens a second and third time then you don't play - simple.

"It's a reluctance to do the simple things at times.

"For some reason we think we should pass the ball out of defence at all times.

"If you keep conceding goals by doing that it's just bad play."