Kris Boyd is fearing the worst for Hampden on Saturday.
Last week he watched Aberdeen lose 4-0 a Ibrox then 5-1 at Pittodrie in a dress rehearsal for the Scottish Cup Final.
There are no prizes for guessing which result distressed him most.
Watching a shadow Celtic side winning 5-1 at Pittodrie was a painful experience, fuelled more so by the attitude that Aberdeen fans have for the Sky Sports pundit. The feelings are mutual.
Back in October Boyd suffered at Pittodrie as the Dons beat Phil Clement’s side to go nine points clear in second place.
Next up for Jimmy Thelin’s side was a trip to Hampden against Scotland’s most successful club, Aberdeen were hammered 6-0 and have yet to recover.
They finished the SPFL season with four defeats on the bounce, slipping down to fifth place behind Hibs and Dundee United.
Only an Aberdeen win at Hampden can spare Boyd from the horrors of a sixth Celtic treble in nine seasons, a period that covers his decision to concentrate on media work.
That prospect doesn’t fill him with joy as he explained to readers of The Sun:
JUST wait, Aberdeen’s players will soon be telling anyone who’ll listen that they’re ready to put up a fight against Celtic in the Scottish Cup final.
No they won’t.
At Hampden on Saturday afternoon, Jimmy Thelin’s Dons will be lambs to the slaughter.
They’ll vow to show some backbone but I’m sorry, for as long as anyone can remember they’ve been spineless when it’s come to this fixture.
Take a look at the stats if you don’t believe me.
It’s now 30 games since they last beat Celtic and 17 of those matches were at Pittodrie.
Is he hurting? Is he at John Brown levels of paranoia?
If you’re a Dons fan and you think that’s acceptable, then good luck to you.
But if I was a season-ticket holder up there, I’d be asking some serious questions as to how it’s come to this.
Those supporters are a fickle bunch. They don’t like it when anyone from outside the city dares to criticise them.
They seem to take it as some personal slight, especially when it’s coming from me!
Even though the stadium wasn’t full on Wednesday night — and it definitely wasn’t after 85 minutes — it was telling how the players didn’t do a lap of honour after their final home game of the season.
If everything was rosy in the garden, surely the fans would have thanked them for their efforts and given their team a rousing send-off for Hampden.
We’re talking about one of Scottish football’s proudest clubs, for me, the fourth biggest in the country behind Rangers, Celtic and Hearts.
So how come it’s become the norm for Aberdeen to roll over like they do?
Boyd seems to have overlooked the fact that Aberdeen knocked Queens Park out of the Scottish Cup, back in February the Spiders ended Boyd’s interest in that competition.
With the Dons his only hope of preventing another Celtic treble Boyd is bracing himself for another treble and a summer of misery waiting on the American fakeover to finally kick in at Ibrox.
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