The Dons crashed out of the Scottish Cup after a 3-0 battering to Neil Lennnon’s Dunfermline
Aberdeen caretaker boss Peter Leven(Image: SNS Group)
Sickened Peter Leven fears Aberdeen could be dragged into a relegation battle after a humiliating Scottish Cup exit to Dunfermline.
The holders surrendered their trophy after a 3-0 mauling at East End Park and the raging 4,000 travelling support unleashed their fury with constant jeers throughout the night. The managerless Dons are now in a full-blown crisis with their season in tatters – days after their top-six hopes were officially buried.
Livid caretaker Leven didn’t mince his words in a post-match interview with Premier Sports as he blasted his flops.
He said: “Atrocious. I thought we started okay, then we absolutely crumbled after the first goal.
“Furious, can’t defend them anymore, but we’re in trouble. They need to pick it up because as I said, we’re in trouble. It’s unacceptable. I apologise to the fans. It’s not good enough.”
Asked specifically what he meant by ‘in trouble’, Leven said: “Pick up points. We could be getting dragged into that relegation and for a club of Aberdeen, that’s unacceptable.
“The performance today was unacceptable. They picked up every first and second ball. It’s nowhere near good enough.
“None of them could say anything. Everything I gave them there, no-one could come back at me. There wasn’t one pass mark there. At this football club, that’s unacceptable to go out that way.”
And the interim boss hinted he was considering walking away from the Reds after a disastrous run of results.
He said: “Listen, it’s worrying because we’re not picking up points, we’re out the club… so with a performance like that, it’s something that we’ll need to look at next week. Dave’s over just now so we’ll have a chat.”
Leven added: “We’re doing everything we can. We made sure during the week that they have to win the fight first, win the battle.
“And we crumbled after that first goal. Dunfermline were better all over the pitch and I can’t defend them anymore. It’s not good enough.”
Get more Daily Record exclusives by signing up for free to Google’s preferred sources. Click HERE.
Tune in to Hotline Live every Sunday to Thursday and have your say on the biggest issues in Scottish football and listen to Record Sport’s newest podcast, Game On, every Friday for your sporting fix, all in bitesize chunks.
Follow Record Sport on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for all of the up-to-the minute breaking news, video and audio on the SPFL, the Scotland national team and beyond.
You can get all the news you need on our dedicated Rangers and Celtic pages, and sign up to our newsletters to make sure you never miss a beat throughout the season.
We’re also on WhatsApp where we bring all the latest breaking news and transfer gossip directly to you phone. Join our Rangers community here and our Celtic community here.