Stephen Robinson met with the media at Cormack Park on Friday morning ahead of our game against Hibernian.
RedTV subscribers can watch the press conference now.
Back at home
“It’s a big game. A huge game, of course. Glad to be back at home. A sell-out crowd, which is an absolute testament to the fans and the feeling just to get right behind everybody. So, we’re looking forward to it.”
Learning from the last month
“As I say, we learned a lot of stuff last week in terms of I’ve been in now three and a half, four weeks. So, I’m starting to get a real feel of what’s needed and obviously results are the first and foremost thing and we’ll pick the team accordingly.
“When you’ve been watching a club from a distance, my focus was on another club for three quarters of the season. You inherit a situation that nobody wants, nobody. I certainly didn’t want to come to Aberdeen in this situation. The players don’t want the situation. The fans certainly don’t want the situation.
“So you come in and you see things, as I say, from a distance, but when you’re close up you get to see personalities, you get to see what people’s attributes actually are, who can handle pressure, who can play in big games because that’s what they are between now and the end of the season.
“I feel I’m more versed to pick the team than I was when I first walked through the door.”
The challenge ahead
“It’s one of them, yeah (biggest challenge of managerial career). I did come into similar situations at Motherwell. We were, I think we were second bottom of the league. I came in September when we were three points off, I think it was the 11th or 10th. So, I’ve inherited situations very, very similar, but certainly it’s a challenge. There is no two ways about it. It’s a huge challenge and it’s one that we’re right up for.
“I’ll use every bit of experience that I’ve got, at all the league games I’ve had to try and give the boys confidence. The key to this at the moment is, when you’re in this situation, human nature, you’re not very confident. When things aren’t going well and you’re not winning and everyone’s on your case, then it’s very, very difficult to be positive.
“So it is my job’s this week to be positive for the players, to try and get them to believe in what they have. Not so long ago, at the end of last season, they were lifting a cup, and you have to try and remind people that there is good players there and you have to get that belief within the team.”
Being together as a squad
“Small little tweaks since I’ve come in to try and get people to speak. We’ve got 16 different nationalities at this football club, which is incredible, and everyone’s got different cultures and different ideas and it’s just to try and get people together a little bit more.
“To put the social area into one place instead of being in three different places. So when I say social, they sit and they have a coffee, they speak to each other, they get to know each other.
“So we’re hoping that’ll help. When you’re in the trenches you need to know a little bit about each other and try and fight your way out of it.
“There are certainly not factions. When you come from different cultures, of course you gravitate towards people you have a little bit more in common with. So, it’s trying to get everyone together.
“And as I said, when things aren’t going well, if you actually know a little bit about each other, speak to each other outside of football, then you’ve got a real desire to help each other and we’re just trying to create that, trying to create that atmosphere.
“It’s the same at every club I’ve been to. You try and do that, usually in a pre-season. You don’t have a lot of time to do that here. We’re trying to fast-track that very quickly.
“First and foremost, I tell them not to read anything. They’re young men, if they’re anything like my kids, they read everything. I’m an old man now so I know not to listen to stuff and ignore it, but people read things, of course.”
Togetherness at Pittodrie
“And I’ve alluded to this many times in my interviews. Aberdeen have got a huge advantage over everybody else. We’ve got a huge fanbase. A lot of the fans won’t be happy with what they’ve seen this season. None of the players are happy with it, I can assure you.
“And we’re all trying to do the same thing, to make sure we stay in this division. And we can use that energy, that power, and we have to give that back to them.
“We can scrutinise everything at the end of the season. Now is not the time to scrutinise it. Now is the time to be together. Now is the time to use the massive advantage that we have in the fanbase, and we be behind each other.
“If we go one nil up or one nil down, that stays the same. And as I say, we scrutinise everything at the end of the season and that’s where I will make changes.
“But right now it’s a togetherness that will get us through the situation. And there is more than Aberdeen in a relegation fight. People would enjoy it because it’s not meant to be the teams of Aberdeen’s size down the bottom. That adds to it. But with the size of the football club, we have to stick together, ignore the outside noise and try to get everyone together for Saturday and the remaining five games after that.
“Certainly not, there are no excuses whatsoever.”
Team News
“We’re waiting on Dennis (Geiger), he’ll have a late test, he’s still quite doubtful.
“Mats (Knoester) hasn’t joined in full training yet, but he will do Monday. He could possibly be available for the second game after the split if everything goes well.
“He’s a fit boy. That would be a big boost.”
Quality of players not showing at times
“When that happens a lot of that is down to confidence. We have got talented boys here. We have to have players in the team that complement them.
“I thought the second half performance last week, the players on the pitch complemented each other. We have what we have. We can’t change that right now.
“We have to pick the best team that are going to fight and scrap our way out of this. Hopefully we’ll add a bit of magic along the way in terms of someone winning the game for us or scoring a wonder goal.
“We have that within the squad, but they have to play within the system. They have to fight. They have to battle. They have to do the basics very, very well."
Set plays and being organised
“In terms of set plays, we’ve conceded way too many. We lost the game last week on two set plays.
“As poor as we were in the first half, we lost the game on set plays. That is vital, you see why set play coaches are coming in, Hearts have scored the most in the league, so that tells you how important they are.
“You can be as organised as you want, but you have to go and head the ball. You have to have that desire. We’ve got boys missing that may do that, so the boys available have to step up. They want to step up, they want that responsibility."
In it together
“What I’ve found this week is nobody’s gone hiding. Nobody’s looking for excuses. We all know it hasn’t been good enough.
“We all know nobody chose this, and now it’s about fighting and scrapping our way out of it. And I believe every single person, staff and player, is up for that.
“We’re all in this together. And I said the biggest part of Aberdeen Football Club, the advantage that we have over all the rest of the teams that are down in this situation, is the fanbase. You know, we have that, and if we can get that energy from the fans.
“And as I’ve said, there’ll be certain things they’re not happy with, certain people that are in the team that they’re not happy with, certain decisions during the game. When people give the ball away, they won’t be happy with. But if they can keep that until the end of the season, then we’ll scrutinise the whole thing and we’ll change lots of things.
“But right now, we need everyone to believe, everyone to be together. No matter what their individual opinions are, it’s about a togetherness that’ll get us out of the situation.”
Wanting to succeed
“Every time you take the pitch, there’s a chance for a positive result, and I don’t ever go into a game believing anything different. We will go in with positivity, we’ve trained with a positivity, and there has been a good atmosphere.
“The players are desperate to do well, and people have to remember that. We don’t choose to make mistakes in life.
“They’re desperate to make up for the season that we’ve had so far, and end the season on a high. You can’t ask for more support, we’re getting a full house tomorrow. We’re going to have a real, real good backing and we must get everybody behind us.
“The players want that, the staff want that, and there’s nobody pulling in a different direction.”
Dealing with pressure and having confidence
“I’ve been in the game a long time. I played for many, many years and managed for a long time now. And you have players that are very good in training sometimes that just can’t replicate that under pressure.
“And I don’t have a lot to go on. I had three games, two games before the St Mirren game, to go on. The previous 16, 17 before that weren’t particularly good in terms of the end product, results.
“So all I have to go on is training at times. And as I said, I’m probably more equipped now after this period to pick the team and know what gets us out of trouble than I was when I first walked in the door.
“You have to put your faith in people and hope that they step up.
“Confidence is absolutely everything. You know, they’ve all got talent. They wouldn’t be professional footballers. I see it every day. There’s talent in this group.
“But you have to be able to replicate that on the pitch in front of 18, 19,000 people. You have to stand up and be brave and be counted.
“And that’s difficult. That is difficult. If you go to work every day and somebody tells you you’re not very good, you would certainly lose confidence.
“And that’s probably what’s been happening. You know, the players have been ridiculed from pillar to post. And some will say it is justified, but certainly in these last six games, that doesn’t help. We need everybody together.
“We need them to really believe in themselves, which is my job to do. We’re trying to do that. When they step onto that grass, if we can get everybody pushing them in the right direction, confidence will show that there is ability in this team.”
Hibernian
“Winning is everything. It doesn’t matter how we play. I don’t care how we play. That’ll be for next season. As I say, we’ll scrutinise everything and change lots of things. But right now, right here and now, it’s about winning football matches between now and the end of the season.
“Hibs are a very good side. I think David Gray has done a great job. I think they’ve recruited particularly well.
“They’ve got a real Scottish, UK blend in their team, with some boys that have the icing on the cake that can cause a lot of damage.
“So we have to be right at the top of our game.
“Between now and the end of the season, these six games, we cannot afford to be 90% of ourselves. We must be 100%.
“We have to be the best version of ourselves, and that’s my message to the players. Be the best version of yourself, go and believe.
“And I believe they’re determined to do that.”
