Aberdeen skipper spoke to the media post match and admitted that the Scottish Cup defeat at Dunfermline was one among the worst moments of his career as the Dons didn’t lay a glove on their opponents.
“It was a disgrace. I don’t really know what to say. Words are useless in these moments. We were a million miles away from what we should be. We let the club down, let the supporters down who followed us and backed us magnificently. Just a disgraceful performance.
“It’s a Scottish Cup quarter-final. We’ve seen what it meant to us last season and to go out the way we did is a disgrace. Horrendous. Right throughout the whole team, it was embarrassing and it’s a real bad night. One of the worst that I’ve had.
“We actually started the game pretty well I thought. We got into some good areas, had a few chances in the first 10 minutes. We were on the front foot. We were getting players in good areas. Stuart had a good chance. We had a couple of other chances.
“But it’s been the story of our whole season that as soon as we lose one goal, we fall apart. It’s just not acceptable. The hunger wasn’t there, the fire wasn’t there, the fight in a Scottish Cup quarter-final to get to Hampden, it wasn’t there.
“That has been the way of the whole season for us. We had a spell in the middle where we won quite a few games. At that point, we were fighting. We won 1-0 away to Kilmarnock, 1-0 away to St Mirren. We showed we can do it, but it’s not been happened anything like often enough the whole season. It’s been miles below par. Tonight topped it off.
“I wish I could put my finger on why, because it’s been wrong for too long. Reaction, lack of character to going a goal behind. You lose a goal in a game, you can still get back in it. But we lose a goal at the back post and from then on, we’re non-existent in the game. A quarter-final, to get to Hamden, that needs to mean so much more to us and we need to do so much more. Right now, it’s painful.
“Our form is really bad, and tonight is rock bottom. It was an awful, awful night. Awful performance. Fair play to Dunfermline, I don’t want to take anything away from them. They were well up for it. They wanted to do the dirty work and they scored good goals so I’m not taking anything away from them.
“But we need to have a real, real, real good look at ourselves. Especially us as players, we need to sort ourselves out. It’s down to the players, us on the pitch. We lose a goal and it’s up to us on the pitch to fight back. We don’t do it. We’re non-existent.
“After the first goal went in, we gave nothing to the game. That’s on us and we can’t escape that by any excuse. We have to take that. Pete and the staff set us up perfectly. They do the work on the training pitch, they do the work off the training pitch. As players, it’s us that’s letting the club down and letting these supporters down. It’s our responsibility. It’s us that needs to show more fight and more grit and more determination.
“The fans travelled in their numbers again. For me, I can only apologise to all the fans. They backed us in their numbers, they sung, they were brilliant and we’ve let them down. They’ve had a tough season and we let them down again tonight. You win the Scottish Cup last year, you get praise. You give performances like tonight, you’re going to get criticism and you need to accept it.”
