Aberdeen admit 'disparity' issue ahead of Hibs as reasons why Dons ace has left Pittodrie detailed
A defeat at home to Hibs on Saturday would put the Dons in relegation trouble going into the Premiership split
Stephen Robinson has addressed the age ‘disparity’ issue currently at Aberdeen, ahead of their Hibs fixture, after midfielder Sivert Heltne Nilsen made the move back to Norway.
Nilsen left for Eliteserien side Haugesund during the international break after spending two years at Pittodrie. Robinson believed it was ‘fair’ to allow the veteran to move back to his homeland as he wasn’t part of his plans for the run-in, however he has also admitted there is now a lack of experience at his new club. At 34, Nilsen was one of the elder statesmen in a relatively young Aberdeen squad.
Hibs have beaten Aberdeen in their previous two meetings so far this season. A third on Saturday would be another hammer blow for the Dons going into the split. Last weekend’s defeat to Robinson’s old side St Mirren means they’re now level on points with the Buddies in 10th and only three ahead of Kilmarnock, who currently occupy the dreaded 11th play-off spot.
Robinson addresses age ‘disparity’
Captain Graeme Shinnie, Stuart Armstrong and Nicky Devlin are now the only experienced heads in an Aberdeen squad tasked with overcoming a relegation battle, with the majority of their other available players below the age of 25. After their 4-1 defeat to Rangers prior to the international break, Robinson expressed that he felt his side had too many ‘prospects’ and not enough player with ‘know-how’ to steer them through their ongoing struggles.
Having only joined the club last month, the Northern Irishman has been unable to bring players in to rectify the issue, however he said it’ll be something he’ll look to address after the season. When asked if he felt there was a lack of experience in his Dons squad, Robinson told P&J: “There’s a little bit of disparity in the squad, of course. That’s not something I can focus on right now. I have to get the best I possibly can out of what’s available. We’ll worry about it in the summer.”
Nilsen offload described as ‘fair’
Since signing from SK Brann in 2024, Nilsen was a steady figure in the middle of the park for Aberdeen, who helped them to Scottish Cup glory last season. However, injuries have hampered his campaign this time around as he’s made only seven Premiership appearances. Robinson believed it was the right thing to let him return to his homeland.
He continued: “Let me first say, Sivert is a great boy. I loved working with him for that short period of time. (But) Sivert hasn’t played a game for… I think he’s started one game in months and months and months, so he wasn’t an integral part of the squad. He got a four-year contract and a coaching offer, which was nearly a seven-year contract.
“He made it very, very clear he wanted to go home. And sometimes you have to be fair in life. And if he wasn’t going to contribute to us staying up in terms of the pitch minutes – and previous suggests he wasn’t going to do that – I think it would have been very, very unfair to say ‘you can stay there and maybe not even be on the bench at stages’. So yes, I believe that was the right decision.”