Neale Cooper: Aberdeen can beat Celtic to title

Former Aberdeen midfielder Neale Cooper believes the current squad are capable of beating Celtic to the Scottish Premiership title.

Cooper was part of the last Aberdeen team to become champions of Scotland back in 1984/85 and also won the European Cup Winners Cup and Super Cup in 1983 under Sir Alex Ferguson.

Current Dons boss Derek McInnes' and his side host Celtic on Saturday Live on Sky Sports in a top of the table clash that promises to set the tone for the rest of the season.

And Cooper, a regular at Pittodrie, says this is the club's best chance to challenge for years.

Asked if he thought Aberdeen could win the Scottish Premiership, the ex-midfielder said: "Yes, I think so. I really do. Their main competition is obviously Celtic, but I think they're stronger than everyone else."

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The former Hartlepool manager continued; "I've been at every Aberdeen game at home this season, both at Europe and in the league. There's something about the team this year. I thought they were excellent last season but they look even stronger. Without looking too far ahead, I think they have the squad that could do it."

"If he (McInnes) won the league title this season, he would be up there alongside Sir Alex because of what an achievement that would be."

"It’s the first time I’ve seen a manager as popular as Sir Alex was at this point."

Aberdeen go into Saturday's match with Celtic on the back of five straight victories, their best start to a season since the title winning campaign of 1984/85.

Cooper played for Aberdeen between 1979 and 1986, winning 9 major honours during the most decorated period in the club's history. That included a 1984 Scottish Cup final victory over Celtic.

And although Derek McInnes' men lost on all four occasions against the Scottish champions last year, he thinks there are a number of ways to get the better of them.

He said: "They've just got to have a right go at them at home. I think on Saturday they could have a new back 4 playing. To work on a back 4 you have to do it for a while before you go into games and that doesn't seem to be the case this week."

"I would be stressing to them that this is a new back four, which straight away gives an opportunity to go and test them to see what they are made of."

He continued; "I think Aberdeen will cause them problems at set plays. I've looked at Aberdeen's set plays. They've got a big threat in Ash Taylor. Every time the ball goes in that box he looks like he could score because of the size of him. Plus he's very good in the air."

Cooper played under Sir Alex Ferguson during his time at Pittodrie and says the current boss has installed a similar winning mentality to the one he experienced under the club's greatest ever manager.

He said: (under Ferguson) "The only reason we were going to Glasgow Rangers or Celtic, or Greenock Morton was to win. 'We're going there to win and get that into your thick skulls.' That was the way he put it across to us!"

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"There are a lot of similarities to Derek, maybe not throwing things in the changing rooms! But the way Derek sets his team out, Derek changes it very quickly. Sir Alex was like that. If things weren't going right he would change them."

"But he gave us that belief. It was hard to do, going to Parkhead with 50-60,000 screaming for blood. But we seemed to thrive on it."

"Obviously the fans want a win over Celtic as well. But I can guarantee no one wants to win on Saturday more than Derek."

You can watch Aberdeen v Celtic Live on Sky Sports 2 this Saturday from 1200. You can also keep up to date with all things Scottish football by following @ScotlandSky on Twitter.