Fury as Aberdeen implode

What is it with the Scottish Cup? As soon as the authorities starting talking about taking away the automatic UEFA Cup place from the runners-up, as has been done when the winners have already qualified for Europe through the League, than the competition seems determined to throw lambs to the slaughter.

First off Gretna, who lost on penalties to Hearts in the 2006 final, and then were into the UEFA Cup, distracted (their minds were on a promotion push from Division 1) and quickly found out. Then Dunfermline, runners-up last year, went to Europe having been relegated from the SPL, and with the best will in the world, were not well prepared for it. And, come late summer, it's very possible that it will be Queen of the South who take up the mantle of representing Scottish football in Europe.

Yup, Queen of the South are through to their first Scottish Cup final. Congratulations to them - they deserve it - but it has to be said that Aberdeen threw it away. Calamity defending allowed QoS to score 3 times. Aberdeen hauled themselves level each time, but then QoS scored a 4th and Aberdeen had no reply.

Jimmy Calderwood, the Dons manager, is as passionate about the Scottish Cup as anyone, but he's also a brutally honest manager who calls it how he sees it. He was scathing about his team's performance after the game, almost lost for words as he attempted to explain how bad they were. Chick Young, the Beeb's man at Hampden, gave him a route to defend himself by reminding Calderwood that his team created further chances to level the match, but he wouldn't take them.

"We got what we deserved. Losing 4 goals... is a joke. We brought 14,000 people here. We let them down at Tynecastle in the CIS Cup and we've let them down again."

You could hear the man's hurt in his voice, but who knows if it will be enough to repair the damage. Much like Gordon Strachan at Celtic, Calderwood has plenty of critics on the terraces, and this latest blow has opened torrents of abuse across fans' messageboards. The fans have had enough of the "tactical tombola" (endless personnel changes) and reckon plenty of the signings just aren't good enough.

The strange truth is that Calderwood agrees with them, and the one certainty is that there will be a clear-out at Pittodrie this summer. Calderwood has said before that some players just aren't up to the task, and earlier in the season hinted that he might well leave if he doesn't get a big enough budget to rebuild the squad.

He was persuaded to stay, and Director of Football Willie Miller remains supportive in public, but the man who will decide the budget is chairman Stewart Milne, the construction mogul, and there are no guarantees he'll come up with the goods. Milne is seemingly filthy rich, but has so far been reluctant to pump more of his own cash into the side. To be fair, you can see why - the stadium issue remains unclear, the club is millions in the red, and the fans have, on the most part, been staying away. As an investment opportunity, the club hardly looks gilt-edged.

It would be tempting to describe Aberdeen as a sleeping giant, although it's hard to know if they qualify as being a giant anymore. The Alex Ferguson era is a very long time ago now, and it becomes harder and harder imagining Aberdeen ascending to those heights again.

Calderwood might decide he's taken the club as far as he can. Or that decision might be made for him. Either way, it will be a critical summer for AFC.