Performance

“There is a lot of pride with the performance from us.

“Our form has been really good in the last six or seven games. We have only lost one goal during all the post-split games, and it was an untidy goal against Rangers on Tuesday night. I thought we had to defend well today as you would expect.

“There is a lot of satisfaction which comes after the doubt from some. The players have had that hanging over them all season because we had not beaten Celtic or Rangers. People said we could not win the bigger games, but it was the matches against the Old Firm teams where we let ourselves down. Hibs only beat us once, Hearts have only beaten us once.

“I felt the way the post-split fixtures played out, I thought we would have to win against Rangers or Celtic to get second spot. We have played well to a point in terms of being far more competitive against Rangers and I thought we were competitive from the first minute today. I thought we tried to get the balance right. I did not want us to burn ourselves out with the three games in the space of a week and against the best teams in the league. We tried to get the balance right of when to go and pick our fights and when to press high but also keep the energy that allowed us to see the game out. I thought the players deserve so much credit at the end for their performance today and for their effort and resolve.

Motivation

“The motivation to do well was clear from everyone of them.

“It was aimed at us – Hibs players saying we did not have the mentality or we maybe feared them. The Rangers players saying they were the second best team or Celtic players saying Hibs were the second best team. Whatever it was, whatever motivation we needed at times, it all played a part today and it showed in our performance.

“There is nothing better than looking after your own business.

“We were well aware it was 3-0 to Hibs, the bench were quick to tell me that. Jim the kitman and Paul Sheerin were less quick to tell me that it was 3-3 and then 5-4. The momentum was with Rangers so we knew we would probably have to go and win the game and we spoke about that at half time. We did not want any of the players thinking a draw would be good enough. We felt at half time it was a game we would have to go and win.

“We went in front and then Celtic changed their shape. We changed our shape to play against that. Yes their were blocks as the game became stretched out and Lewis made a couple of great saves but no one could deny us that today.

“I loved my team today. Absolutely loved them. It shows what we are capable of. I hope everyone can see what I saw today. it was a brilliant team performance.

“I know people might look at the game and ask if Celtic really wanted to go and win that game today – of course they did. They threw everything at it. When you see the teamlines, it was a strong Celtic team and their bench was littered with game changers. Brendan threw them all on. There is no doubt Celtic wanted to win that today. Thankfully we wanted to win it a little bit more.

Dean Campbell

“I needed to put on another midfielder.

“When Brendan goes 3-1-3-3 he makes it more of a running game and gets an extra body in the middle of the park. We needed to go to a diamond and use Mackay-Steven as an outlay. I did not want to open up the channels to allow Forrest to get too much so Gary had a job to do defensively. We needed a midfielder and the only one available was Dean Campbell. Dean is a boy who I have such a high regard for. He has only just turned 17 but he is going to be a brilliant Aberdeen player. He showed that today. To play against Celtic when it is a technical game on a good surface and there is space, he can cope with those types of games all day long. He is probably the biggest Aberdeen supporter at the club, as big as any supporter in the Aberdeen end. It was special for him seeing his dad and his uncle in the crowd. A special moment for him and it is good to see that. I think we need that core of Aberdeen supporters within our team. It helps us get a little more out of the players.

Shay

“Shay Logan will get fined so that starts the kitty off for next year. I think the Celtic players took offense to his celebrations but I honestly don’t know (what happened). I thought he was brilliant as well. He was outstanding. His decision making with players running onto him was very good. He tackled like a tiger and won the majority of his one v ones. It is just disappointing it has ended up like that.

70 points again

“There was a lot of noises when Hearts came back into the league. The same when Rangers came back in. I think we ended up 19 points clear of Hearts that season and last year we dealt with Rangers again by about 10 points. I would love £30 or 40 million. I don’t have that, and it is hard to compete with that if Celtic keep doing their job well and they are doing their job well. We have got 73 points. For us to break the 70 point barrier for four seasons in a row, no one has really done that for a long time. That consistency is really pleasing. We can only look after ourselves. I expect Hibs to improve. I expect Hearts to go again and you would expect Rangers to improve each year if they make good decisions. If they get the funds and use them wisely then they should be 10-15 points clear of Aberdeen and Hibs. The fact we have done our job well gives us a lot of satisfaction. We have not had too many highs. We have ground out wins, our consistency was great, so the players deserved to get a high today.
“I think we have only lost one or two games less than Celtic. For us to break 80 points we would probably need more money. That is a fact. The team that wins the league has to be above that.

The summer

“Obviously there is going to be a big turnaround in players again this summer. The players who played today and the ones who will be here after the summer, I am sure that win helps because that was a strong Celtic team. That is a very good Celtic team. It is good for the confidence of the players. It also means I stop getting asked about Aberdeen not winning here… although instead I will probably be told Aberdeen have only won here once in 20 odd games! At least we have won, and we will remember that, and we will enjoy it and we should enjoy it.

“I am so pleased for so many people connected to the club, particularly my players.

“I think the manager head to head thing can get over played. I think the tactical thing can get over played. Individual performances normally decide big games and I thought individually we had a lot of good players.

“I take satisfaction from seeing my players carry out and deliver a performance like we did today.

“It is now about trying to get the best players we can in over the summer. I have known for a while what I need to do. Prior to today’s game, I have been really energised by the fact we are closer to the window. I have dealing with what we need to deal with. I need to give my players a chance to be more competitive. The biggest thing is trying to get some good players in to help them and get a better balance.”