A DEAD W-EIGHT; Lifeless Dons slump to a record low as ruthless Czechs kill off Euro dream.

Byline: Gary Ralston

SIGMA OLOMOUC 3

ABERDEEN 0

Sigma win 8-1 on aggregate

EMBARRASSMENT was piled upon humiliation last night as Aberdeen were casually swatted out of Europe.

The Dons suffered the heaviest aggregate defeat of any Scottish side since Rangers went down 12-4 to Eintracht Frankfurt 49 years ago.

In fairness to the Light Blues, that horror defeat came in the semi-final of the European Cup. This was a preliminary round of a Europa League competition and Sigma won't be anywhere near the final when it kicks off in Hamburg in May.

Mark McGhee was a history maker with the Dons when they triumphed in the Cup Winners Cup in 1983 and now he's re-written the club record books for all the wrong reasons after little more than a month in charge.

He was looking to see a glimmer of hope for the new SPL season in his side's display, but witnessed only capitulation again and while superior fitness was a valid excuse after the first leg it was much less a reason for another trouncing this time around.

Shock

The Dons conceded three goals in the first half and the manner of their defeat would have been even worse had it not been for Jamie Langfield, who saved a second half penalty and repeatedly kept the Czechs at bay.

This result will do untold damage to McGhee's reputation among the Pittodrie fans and surely his failure to provoke a positive reaction after the first-leg must be a cause of great concern, even this early in his reign.

Olomouc keeper Petr Drobisz was troubled only once early on and thereafter was given little to do.

Ultimately, Bobby Ewing reaching for the Head and Shoulders in the shower still remains the greatest comeback of the modern era as the Dons' dreams of a fightback were ducked in a cold, cold bath of reality.

Aberdeen and Dallas may share common interests in the oil industry, but unfortunately the similarities end there. Not even Sue Ellen on the sauce could have hallucinated about Mark McGhee's side overturning a 5-1 deficit, although their failure to go out with even a fight was still an enormous shock.

The popular refrain of Aberdeen fans is Stand Free. This morning it's Stand Down. Europe is over and on this evidence you wouldn't bet a Czech crown on the Dons returning to this level any time soon.

McGhee dared to dream the impossible in the run up to this game and spoke about taking a two goal half-time lead and putting the frighteners on Olomouc.

The futility of that reasoning was to become apparent within the first 15 minutes at the Andruv Stadion as it was Olomouc who added two further goals to their aggregate lead.

Score at least seven in reply? Aberdeen had as much chance as a chef taking the lid of a bubbling pot of stew and asking the carrot to steer clear of the onion.

The dodgy Dons defence served the opener on a plate after only five minutes when Andrew Considine and Stuart Duff were caught in a pickle trying to deal with a header through the guts of the team.

Striker Jakub Petr sensed their apprehension and although Langfield knocked his bundled effort off the post, Tomas Janotka ran in to fire the loose ball into the net.

Considine looked a bag of nerves and his night got worse in 13 minutes when he stuck out a clumsy left foot and tripped Janotka in the box.

Sigma skipper Marek Kascak beat Langfield from the spot and icy fingers of fear began to make their way up and down the spine as we all began to fear the worst.

McGhee was looking at this game as a barometer of greater match sharpness but there were few signs of Aberdeen as an attacking force, except for a five minute spell after Olomouc opened the scoring.

A Chris Maguire shot from the edge of the box was beaten away by Drobisz, while the luckless Considine screwed an effort across the face of goal after sneaking around the back to connect with a Sone Aluko cross.

It was impossible not to feel for the band of 300 travelling fans, some of whom had been subjected to a tear gas attack in an Irish bar in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Thankfully, no-one was injured but this was also sob-inducing stuff just a week after McGhee admitted his side's first-leg performance left him feeling like he could cry.

Nipped

Olomouc underlined their superiority on the stroke of half-time withathird as Michal Hubnik nipped in front of Richard Foster to accept a raking diagonal pass before rounding Langfield and slotting home.

It almost got worse two minutes into the second half when Langfield tripped Petr in the box then heaved a sigh of relief when German whistler MichaelWeiner only flashed a yellow.

Langfield atoned for that rare slip when he threw himself to his left to palm away the spot kick from sub Michal Ordos.

Aberdeen were a spent force in the second half and their self-confidence plummeted as they failed to mount a single attack of note.

Olomouc could easily have added to their tally but Langfield made several super stops.

McGhee stood in the technical area trying desperately to inspire his team as the home side wound down by taking the chance to field several fringe players from the bench.

The PA announcer told the crowd every time a player was subbed that he was being removed from the "playground".

It was an apt phrase as the spanking handed out over these last seven days clearly showed McGhee's side couldn't mix it with the big boys.

CAPTION(S):

A WORD IN YOUR EAR: Dons boss Mark McGhee and Chris Maguire