No surprise that Mulgrew has joined his old team, except that they should know his failings having had him on their books before and having seen him last season. Probably he's going there to make up the numbers and his wages will hardly strain the Parkhead budget.
Now there's more incentive than ever for Mark McGhee to bring in the right new forward because there'll be at least one gaping hole in an old firm defence in the new season.
Shame about Grassi going elsewhere, though, he wasn't the most cultured player on the books but he played like he meant it and had wanted to be in Aberdeen. The lure of his own country was too strong, however, and that's another replacement that the gaffer needs to find. Step up the pace plaese!
Thursday 1 July 2010
Right on Sheffield!
Congrats to Sheffield United for turning down the chance to sign Charlie Mulgrew on the basis that he is asking for too much money. Whether it was him or his agent is immaterial, the days of players putting football clubs on the brink of financial oblivion are over. It's time for clubs to put their finances back in the black and for players to wise up.
For years, the power has lain with players and agents, with the pressure on clubs to fling inappropriate piles of cash at them for the right to put them on the filed of play for one or two seasons before they were off to tout themselves to another, possibly richer, more likely dafter football club. What many, if not most, of these players gave in return was often precious little. They thought that they were the greatest thing and didn't have to do much more than train and run about a bit on a Saturday. In many cases, there was little sign of caring about their team or their club and precious little return for salaries that would finance cabinet ministers. Now they are starting to find out that their jobs are at risk.
In the face of rising costs and diminishing incomes, clubs all over the UK are cutting back their playing staff and holding off signing players till wage demands get more sensible. Wage levels in the English Premiership(!) remain lunatic but even there there are clubs that are in a cold sweat over their debt levels.
Hopefully we will now see a trend that will bring players back close to the communities they are supposed to play for instead of in their remote glitzy/tacky ivory tower lifestyles. If they start to show clubs loyalty and play like they mean it, then crowds will come back and football will once more be the people's game.
As for Mister Mulgrew, we'd have liked to remember him fondly after his time at Pittodrie, but his behaviour on leaving has hardly been endearing. May he vanish into obscurity with his occasionally cultured left foot and his feeble defending.
Friday 25 June 2010
Up for the Magnificent Cup
At last the Dons are back into the competition that they have won more often than any other club in the northeast - the Aberdeenshire Cup. On particular director had been pushing for this to happen for some time and now it is a refreshing reality.
There are benefits all round, the AFC under-19s get to participate in a quality competition against (usually) very physical sides which will help their experience and toughen them up. They'll play all of their games away from Pittodrie so they are getting out and about in the Shire so supporters will have more chance to see them. The home sides will benefit from decent gates and a wee financial boost. Most of all, the trophy - one of the oldest and most magnificent in the world of football - could end up back at Pittodrie which it has so often graced in the past, taking pride of place for supporters to see when they come in for a stadium tour.
Wednesday 23 June 2010
Well, it's a bit quiet now!
The grass is growing and being mown and looking lovely, so that's something ready for the new season. As everybody has now seen, the pre-season tour and training camp is all sorted out, shame we couldn't get a decent friendly at Pittodrie though. Mind you a wee trip to Germany would be welcome if at all possible. Newly promoted Kaiserslautern should make attractive opposition and give the Dons a good hard match ahead of the not so attractive Hamilton coming to open the season on the 14th.
The real silence is on the player recruitment front. With Willie Miller on holiday and end date for players' current contracts not quite upon us, sod all is happening which is frustrating all round and not helpful for season ticket sales.
Players have too much power nowadays and their ability to hold up transfer deals in case better offers come along should be stomped on somehow by the authorities. Not that you can ever expect much help from the SFA, UEFA or FIFA unless your club is in the fat cat category.
One thing's for sure, the claptrap coming from Kevin Drinkel about Mulgrew is nothing but a negotiating stance. No way is good-time Charlie coming back for pre-season with us.
We need to see action on the signings front pretty quickly now or players will be arriving too late for a decent pre-season and after last season's farcial start and tiresome dithering we can't afford that again. Any player who arrives in camp too late for the start of training should be on double shifts till he catches up.
The real silence is on the player recruitment front. With Willie Miller on holiday and end date for players' current contracts not quite upon us, sod all is happening which is frustrating all round and not helpful for season ticket sales.
Players have too much power nowadays and their ability to hold up transfer deals in case better offers come along should be stomped on somehow by the authorities. Not that you can ever expect much help from the SFA, UEFA or FIFA unless your club is in the fat cat category.
One thing's for sure, the claptrap coming from Kevin Drinkel about Mulgrew is nothing but a negotiating stance. No way is good-time Charlie coming back for pre-season with us.
We need to see action on the signings front pretty quickly now or players will be arriving too late for a decent pre-season and after last season's farcial start and tiresome dithering we can't afford that again. Any player who arrives in camp too late for the start of training should be on double shifts till he catches up.
Friday 4 June 2010
Not So Quiet on the Pittodrie Front
Football may go to sleep for a few weeks in early summer (ignoring the World Cup which is already so hyped to death it has become a drag) but plenty stirs inside Pittodrie.
Now's the time for all kinds of maintenance work to be done, stepping up the rate of seat replacement, getting new carpets down, painting, electrics, structural stuff. Then there's the high energy work to do on restoring the pitch to full glory after the ravages of the past horrendous winter.
Coaches are hard at work at their desks planning for pre-season outings and new training routines and how best to settle in newly signed youngsters. The Youth Development effort never stops and over the summer the rate of scouting youth tournaments reaches a peak. At the senior level, the phone lines are buzzing as the work of procuring new players carries on.
In the gym the cacophonous blare of music pounds the eardrums as the most conscientious players work at their fitness levels ahead of what is sure to be a gruelling pre-season of rigorous training and preparatory friendly matches. The gaffer wants them to hit the ground running this time so they really need to get the work in early.
Commercial staff are working hard to renew business with corporate supporters and find new clients, whilst the ticket office is steadily turning out new season tickets for early birds. Phones ring, callers call.
Yup, its all go at every level of AFC, though to read the papers (do many people still do this?) it could be assumed that nothing is happening.
Now's the time for all kinds of maintenance work to be done, stepping up the rate of seat replacement, getting new carpets down, painting, electrics, structural stuff. Then there's the high energy work to do on restoring the pitch to full glory after the ravages of the past horrendous winter.
Coaches are hard at work at their desks planning for pre-season outings and new training routines and how best to settle in newly signed youngsters. The Youth Development effort never stops and over the summer the rate of scouting youth tournaments reaches a peak. At the senior level, the phone lines are buzzing as the work of procuring new players carries on.
In the gym the cacophonous blare of music pounds the eardrums as the most conscientious players work at their fitness levels ahead of what is sure to be a gruelling pre-season of rigorous training and preparatory friendly matches. The gaffer wants them to hit the ground running this time so they really need to get the work in early.
Commercial staff are working hard to renew business with corporate supporters and find new clients, whilst the ticket office is steadily turning out new season tickets for early birds. Phones ring, callers call.
Yup, its all go at every level of AFC, though to read the papers (do many people still do this?) it could be assumed that nothing is happening.
Saturday 22 May 2010
Let's hope it won't be too big a hurdle for McArdle
There's something appealing about a relatively unknown player signing up with the Dons. In the case of "Big Rory", only the most anoraky members of the Red Army are likely to have heard of him at all as the chances of anybody in the northeast following Rochdale are mighty slim (well, there's probably at least one, because of Gracie Fields if nothing else). He won't be unknown to the manager, of course, because he'll have been scouted by Craig Robertson and one or other of the management team before a signing move was made.
Now we have to wait out the summer to see Rory take the field for Aberdeen and to discover what he's all about. He came over well on his Red TV interview, and the fact that he believes he'll thrive playing in front of bigger crowds is encouraging. Hope he can, hope he'll be a man who will roll up the sleeves and get stuck in and hope that he settles into Pittodrie and makes a positive impact in the dressing room, along with the other new signings yet to come.
Four our part, if he keeps his part of the fitba contract, the Dons' fans will be happy to keep their and welcome him into the special place that is AFC.
Wednesday 19 May 2010
A Pilgrim Pops up to Pontificate
So it is the season to be Jim Cummings, we haven't heard from him in a while and once we do, has he actually got anything to say? Is this the same Jim Cummings who was going to turn AFC around when he climbed into the boardroom with promises of an immediate investment - half a million wasn't it? Very laudable for a man with only about 20,000 shares, but he only stuck around six months before undermining his own position and bailing out again.
After that, somewhere along the line, oor Jim picked up enough shares to give him a 13% stake in the Pittodrie Club, but did the P&J ask him where he got them or what he actually paid for them? Did they ask him if his buying so many shares helped AFC in any shape or form?
There are plenty of other points arising from the interview, not least over the questions that the paper claims it put to the club, like whose questions were they in the first place? But let's focus in on the BIG idea - to run Aberdeen FC on the Barcelona model.
Certainly, Barca runs by way of a system where the fans get a vote on some things, but the truth is that nobody gets on their board who isn't a millionaire because they have to put up a huge amount of money to be there. That works fine with a mega supporter base because there will always be a small proportion of wealthy people who want to swan around at the top end of football. Unfortunately although there's potential for big numbers of supporters in the northeast, Aberdeen FC has not benefited from it since the 1950's when there was little else to do on a Saturday and they could get crowds up to 40,000.
Even when Fergie was running a team that was sweeping all before it, the average gate struggled to stay at high levels. Crowds were as big as they could be for games against the Old Firm or Dundee United, but often fell short for the matches against lesser opposition - a factor that played a big part in Fergie deciding to move on.
When people got the chance to put some money into the club in the mid nineties, only a couple of thousand did so and that hardly reflects a desire by most Aberdonians to invest in AFC. One of the excuses at the time was that people weren't prepared to "give money to the Donalds". Later there was a rights issue but many of the then shareholders didn't take it up. Maybe this was prudent, maybe it wasn't, but it further illustrates that trying to get supporters to put more than their ticket money into the football club could be a tall order.
The number of shareholder grew by something like 500 when the Supporters Trust ran a membership scheme where people joining were given a single share in the club. Come time to renew their membership of the Trust? Most of these people didn't stick with it.
And so it goes, there is just no evidence to suggest that supporters would really buy into a Barcelona type scheme. And if they would, are there really enough around to make it work.
Last but by no means least, how many football clubs are debt free, as we'd like the Dons to be? Look around Europe or simply south of the border and you'll see mountains of debt approaching the levels that got Greece into trouble. In Scotland many clubs are on the brink of an abyss. Now's not the time to be hammering Aberdeen FC, now's the time to be helping it and not by high profile pontificating.
After that, somewhere along the line, oor Jim picked up enough shares to give him a 13% stake in the Pittodrie Club, but did the P&J ask him where he got them or what he actually paid for them? Did they ask him if his buying so many shares helped AFC in any shape or form?
There are plenty of other points arising from the interview, not least over the questions that the paper claims it put to the club, like whose questions were they in the first place? But let's focus in on the BIG idea - to run Aberdeen FC on the Barcelona model.
Certainly, Barca runs by way of a system where the fans get a vote on some things, but the truth is that nobody gets on their board who isn't a millionaire because they have to put up a huge amount of money to be there. That works fine with a mega supporter base because there will always be a small proportion of wealthy people who want to swan around at the top end of football. Unfortunately although there's potential for big numbers of supporters in the northeast, Aberdeen FC has not benefited from it since the 1950's when there was little else to do on a Saturday and they could get crowds up to 40,000.
Even when Fergie was running a team that was sweeping all before it, the average gate struggled to stay at high levels. Crowds were as big as they could be for games against the Old Firm or Dundee United, but often fell short for the matches against lesser opposition - a factor that played a big part in Fergie deciding to move on.
When people got the chance to put some money into the club in the mid nineties, only a couple of thousand did so and that hardly reflects a desire by most Aberdonians to invest in AFC. One of the excuses at the time was that people weren't prepared to "give money to the Donalds". Later there was a rights issue but many of the then shareholders didn't take it up. Maybe this was prudent, maybe it wasn't, but it further illustrates that trying to get supporters to put more than their ticket money into the football club could be a tall order.
The number of shareholder grew by something like 500 when the Supporters Trust ran a membership scheme where people joining were given a single share in the club. Come time to renew their membership of the Trust? Most of these people didn't stick with it.
And so it goes, there is just no evidence to suggest that supporters would really buy into a Barcelona type scheme. And if they would, are there really enough around to make it work.
Last but by no means least, how many football clubs are debt free, as we'd like the Dons to be? Look around Europe or simply south of the border and you'll see mountains of debt approaching the levels that got Greece into trouble. In Scotland many clubs are on the brink of an abyss. Now's not the time to be hammering Aberdeen FC, now's the time to be helping it and not by high profile pontificating.
Monday 17 May 2010
Closed Season Reds
Well we can't call it blues, can we? Don't you just hate the closed season? It can't have got off to a worse start (a bit like our season gone by) with having to put up with the aftermath of the Arabs having won the Cup! Gads, they'll be on about it for years. The only good part of that story is that the trophy didn't go to either of the Old Farm, but this was next worst. It would have been good to see Derek Adams picking this one up with Ross County, he is a man the Red Army should monitor closely along with any other young but up and coming managers - you never know....
On to the summer then - We hear that the Dons' pre-season plans are taking shape with up to seven matches in process of being arranged ahead of the big kick-off in August. There'll be three games in Scotland before they go off to a training camp in England where they will play three teams in the vicinity. Then it'll be back to Pittodrie for a home match against English Premiership opposition. All names to be revealed very soon.
The transfer market is deadly dull just now, but players and managers are probably mostly on holiday so it will likely be a couple of weeks before we hear of much to our advantage. At least loads of the young Dons have been fixed up so there is some continuity of the promising brigade, some of whom we should see featuring a bit more next season. What they desperately need, though, is the experienced pros who will carry the club till the young lads are not so young and much more experienced. Bring it on.
On to the summer then - We hear that the Dons' pre-season plans are taking shape with up to seven matches in process of being arranged ahead of the big kick-off in August. There'll be three games in Scotland before they go off to a training camp in England where they will play three teams in the vicinity. Then it'll be back to Pittodrie for a home match against English Premiership opposition. All names to be revealed very soon.
The transfer market is deadly dull just now, but players and managers are probably mostly on holiday so it will likely be a couple of weeks before we hear of much to our advantage. At least loads of the young Dons have been fixed up so there is some continuity of the promising brigade, some of whom we should see featuring a bit more next season. What they desperately need, though, is the experienced pros who will carry the club till the young lads are not so young and much more experienced. Bring it on.
Wednesday 12 May 2010
Get it sorted Dingus
One full season down and already getting prepared for another one, Mark McGhee has not gathered the (red) army of admirers that he would have hoped for. Wherever he has managed in the past, the pattern seems to have been one of early success in his opening season followed by a backslip in form the next one. Here at Aberdeen we have suffered seeing a terrible first season for the gaffer and must hope that he is going to reverse the pattern of the past by soaring next time round.
One factor is certain, he laboured under the millstone of Jimmy Calderwood's legacy this season and had a real shock when he discovered how difficult things had become. Season 2010/2011, though, will not provide that explanation. The coming season will see a team radically restructured from this and that team will very definitely be Mark McGhee's. The microscope will be out as people monitor the new signings, hopefully not just the same old faces that have roamed the SPL in recent years, but some really new ones, shrewdly scouted and recruited, who will freshen things up.
In his favour, there are a lot of new kids breaking through via the youth development system and unlike Calderwood, he is not afraid to give them a chance. That policy needs to be followed with care for fear of burning out young talent, but if he can husband the process of giving these lads the experience that they need, it should be very productive. The best thing about youngsters coming through is their energy and enthusiasm which can add greatly to the entertainment available when they play.
What will the benchmarks of serious progress be? McGhee needs to get his team into the upper reaches of the league quickly and keep it there, competing at the very least for a European place and striving for the highest possible finish. The other big one is progress in the cups, the fans crave a trip to Hampden and that achievement would go down a treat. All of those embarrassing results of the past few years must be cast aside. Not only would it uplift the Red Army, but it would do tremendous good to the club's coffers which have clearly been under severe pressure thanks to the economic slump and the drop-off in gates because of the state of our team in particular and the SPL in general.
Should Mr McGhee get his planning and preparation right and assemble the kind of team that he knows we need, he can not only help resurrect the Dons, but breathe some life back into a moribund SPL. This is a tall order, but if you get anywhere near delivering it, despite all the difficulties in the way, you will gain a tremendous level of admiration amongst the Aberdeen support and restore the huge reputation that you rightly earned as a player.
Monday 10 May 2010
Yup, call us biased, but we like it
Well the red one anyhow, the black and white is somehow reminiscent of Dundee United from the sixties and that is really not something we want to recall. The red and white, though, now that is a cool design - both modern but with a tip of the hat back to the seventies round collar that graced the shirt that won us the Cup when Eddie Turnbull was boss and Joe Harper was still a boy.
The changes in strips have become more and more frequent with the passing decades, but this is hardly surprising when you consider how much players (and managers) wages have soared in the past twenty years. Clubs need to find income from as many sources as possible and provided that it is available for the start of the summer, there's nothing better than sporting a brand new Aberdeen top on some far flung shore.
Thankfully the AFC output isn't as prolific as some of the English and a couple of the Scottish clubs. There comes a point where it is no longer making ends meet so much as raking in enough to overpay players so as to snuff out any threat of competition from elsewhere. Oh yeah, and to satisfy the "global brand" that some of them think they have.
Don't ask about shorts or socks, this Blog isn't in the market for discussing such fripperies. Must get round to having a go at footwear sometime, there are people that really need to be knocked into line on colour selections.
Saturday 8 May 2010
Get on with it!
Thank goodness season 2009/10 is over at last. What a miserable experience it has been for supporters, manager, staff, players - everybody (except the west coast press who have loved it). Now we have to go on standby to see what happens in the transfer market.
The usual form with players nowadays is that they will wait till five to midnight on the last day of the transfer window to see where their best offer is coming from. Most of them are too dumb to realise, even if they cared, that their playing the market that way does serious damage to clubs and the game in general. Fans don't want to buy season tickets until they know who is coming to their club, or at least see one or two signings to set the ball rolling. The consequence is that cash flow gets screwed and clubs, already under pressure from their banks (mainly Lloyd's in Scotland) have to struggle to cope with the gap ans that could mean that they have to cut back on budgets and offer players even less in the way of wages and/or signing-on fees.
Waiting till the transfer deadline can also mean that players miss out on pre-season training and won't be properly prepared to play for whoever they do sign on with. Next consequence? Teams can start understrength, fans get pissed off early and don't go as much as they might have done, if at all. That leaves clubs wrestling with a worsening financial position that the players don't care about because they "never think about the financial side." This of course is a lie because football players are very wrapped up in how much they can squeeze from the game. The traditional response to this attitude is that nobody can blame the players for trying to earn as much as possible, but this is a smoke screen. Footballers already operate outwith the normal realms of employment in a little fantasy world of their own where they take responsibility for nothing. It almost puts them on a par with bankers except that they are damaging the football industry rather than the global economy.
Aberdeen seem to suffer from players attitudes more than some other clubs because the are "so far away" from the central belt or for players from south of the border they are in the back of beyond, so hard to get to. Again this is nonsense as Aberdeen is served by a busy international airport and whilst the A90 could be better it will still get you into the central belt in a couple of hours. Of course, if players were really committing themselves to doing a job for Aberdeen FC they would be coming to live in the northeast within easy reach of their place of work instead of their favourite supermarket or night club in Weegieland.
The same applies to managers and coaches. Sure they might have a nice house somewhere else and their families might well be settled wherever that is, but if they are true professionals and truly want to do a good job for Aberdeen, then they should be setting players the example and setting up home in the City.
The usual form with players nowadays is that they will wait till five to midnight on the last day of the transfer window to see where their best offer is coming from. Most of them are too dumb to realise, even if they cared, that their playing the market that way does serious damage to clubs and the game in general. Fans don't want to buy season tickets until they know who is coming to their club, or at least see one or two signings to set the ball rolling. The consequence is that cash flow gets screwed and clubs, already under pressure from their banks (mainly Lloyd's in Scotland) have to struggle to cope with the gap ans that could mean that they have to cut back on budgets and offer players even less in the way of wages and/or signing-on fees.
Waiting till the transfer deadline can also mean that players miss out on pre-season training and won't be properly prepared to play for whoever they do sign on with. Next consequence? Teams can start understrength, fans get pissed off early and don't go as much as they might have done, if at all. That leaves clubs wrestling with a worsening financial position that the players don't care about because they "never think about the financial side." This of course is a lie because football players are very wrapped up in how much they can squeeze from the game. The traditional response to this attitude is that nobody can blame the players for trying to earn as much as possible, but this is a smoke screen. Footballers already operate outwith the normal realms of employment in a little fantasy world of their own where they take responsibility for nothing. It almost puts them on a par with bankers except that they are damaging the football industry rather than the global economy.
Aberdeen seem to suffer from players attitudes more than some other clubs because the are "so far away" from the central belt or for players from south of the border they are in the back of beyond, so hard to get to. Again this is nonsense as Aberdeen is served by a busy international airport and whilst the A90 could be better it will still get you into the central belt in a couple of hours. Of course, if players were really committing themselves to doing a job for Aberdeen FC they would be coming to live in the northeast within easy reach of their place of work instead of their favourite supermarket or night club in Weegieland.
The same applies to managers and coaches. Sure they might have a nice house somewhere else and their families might well be settled wherever that is, but if they are true professionals and truly want to do a good job for Aberdeen, then they should be setting players the example and setting up home in the City.
Friday 7 May 2010
Getting the Act Together
The last two games and results have been as hard to bear as any we have suffered this season. There are different reasons for that but the underlying reasons are the same. Saturday against Hamilton with their half busload of supporters was just about the worst game on record - it certainly felt that way at the time, with the players failing to turn up individually or as a team. Against Kilmarnock, they looked miles better in the first half but the same old defensive failings hit us hard in the second and as in so many games this season, once the team hit a little adversity they were incapable of fighting back.
They didn't really crumble in either game, the first because they hadn't gelled in the first place and in the second they just couldn't find the nous to do anything about the setbacks.
The entire support is alive with theories of why it has all gone wrong this season, many of which will be close to the mark and many that will be utter tosh. This blog has a view and doubtless it won't be shared by everybody, but it is going into the ether anyhow:
First -The team and squad that was shaped by Jimmy Calderwood was okay up to a point, it was able to grind out enough results to get us into the top six (usually late in the season so that home crowds were falling away which cost the club valuable income). The football, though, was mostly very, very boring. Of course there were games that were exceptions and they can be acknowledged and remembered with some pleasure, but there were not loads of them.
Second - Because that same squad was plodding along without ever being in danger of relegation or of challenging for more than a European place, the players slipped into a massive comfort zone. They had an easy life with the certainty of a steady training regime with few extra sessions and loads of opportunity for a comprehensive social life that now they find hard to break away from. In other words they had it easy.
Third - Because of the above, the players were stagnating, never a good thing in a football club with ambitions to do so much better.
Fourth - When Mark McGhee took over he had completely different ideas about training, quality of football and ambition. He saw that there had to be a massive repair job done and set about doing it as quickly as possible. The trouble was that many of the players, enough to upset the plans for change, could not and would not adapt to a more demanding regime. That underlines the lack of true professionalism in their heads. People can draw their own conclusions about which players were the worst offenders, but we have to trust the manager to weed them out and bring in men who will conform to the work ethic that will be demanded of them.
Football careers are short but very well paid. If a player wants to get the best out of his time in the game he should be prepared to train and practice hard and to a large extent abandon a social life outside of his team-mates. Within the group they need to socialise to a degree for team building reasons, but other than that a quiet night out with the wife or girlfriend should be enough. We don't need to see players dancing on tables at Private Eyes of a night-time or whooping it up at city centre night clubs. There will be plenty time for all that when they stop playing, but if they are at all serious about having a successful career at the top levels of football they should be prepared to do whatever is necessary to achieve the ambition.
This message is especially important for all the young Dons who are now pushing towards first team places. They have grown up with the club so should, in theory, have much a much stronger feeling for it than guys who are brought in for a couple of seasons on their way elsewhere. These youngsters need to be developing a strong work ethic, learning respect and discipline. If they don't show the necessary dedication at seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, most of them won't make it in the game. The world of football does not owe them a living, they need to earn it and they will earn it best by mastering their trade and playing the kind of football that people want to see. Not much to ask - is it?
They didn't really crumble in either game, the first because they hadn't gelled in the first place and in the second they just couldn't find the nous to do anything about the setbacks.
The entire support is alive with theories of why it has all gone wrong this season, many of which will be close to the mark and many that will be utter tosh. This blog has a view and doubtless it won't be shared by everybody, but it is going into the ether anyhow:
First -The team and squad that was shaped by Jimmy Calderwood was okay up to a point, it was able to grind out enough results to get us into the top six (usually late in the season so that home crowds were falling away which cost the club valuable income). The football, though, was mostly very, very boring. Of course there were games that were exceptions and they can be acknowledged and remembered with some pleasure, but there were not loads of them.
Second - Because that same squad was plodding along without ever being in danger of relegation or of challenging for more than a European place, the players slipped into a massive comfort zone. They had an easy life with the certainty of a steady training regime with few extra sessions and loads of opportunity for a comprehensive social life that now they find hard to break away from. In other words they had it easy.
Third - Because of the above, the players were stagnating, never a good thing in a football club with ambitions to do so much better.
Fourth - When Mark McGhee took over he had completely different ideas about training, quality of football and ambition. He saw that there had to be a massive repair job done and set about doing it as quickly as possible. The trouble was that many of the players, enough to upset the plans for change, could not and would not adapt to a more demanding regime. That underlines the lack of true professionalism in their heads. People can draw their own conclusions about which players were the worst offenders, but we have to trust the manager to weed them out and bring in men who will conform to the work ethic that will be demanded of them.
Football careers are short but very well paid. If a player wants to get the best out of his time in the game he should be prepared to train and practice hard and to a large extent abandon a social life outside of his team-mates. Within the group they need to socialise to a degree for team building reasons, but other than that a quiet night out with the wife or girlfriend should be enough. We don't need to see players dancing on tables at Private Eyes of a night-time or whooping it up at city centre night clubs. There will be plenty time for all that when they stop playing, but if they are at all serious about having a successful career at the top levels of football they should be prepared to do whatever is necessary to achieve the ambition.
This message is especially important for all the young Dons who are now pushing towards first team places. They have grown up with the club so should, in theory, have much a much stronger feeling for it than guys who are brought in for a couple of seasons on their way elsewhere. These youngsters need to be developing a strong work ethic, learning respect and discipline. If they don't show the necessary dedication at seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, most of them won't make it in the game. The world of football does not owe them a living, they need to earn it and they will earn it best by mastering their trade and playing the kind of football that people want to see. Not much to ask - is it?
Monday 3 May 2010
Dear Mark
Thirty years ago today a large part of the Easter Road pitch was beginning a journey up the road to the northeast of our great country to be lovingly planted in pots or gardens hither and yon. The cause of that migration was the team that you played in that very day, a team that owed much of its success and certainly the success to come, to lion-hearted youngsters who had been developed at Pittodrie either from youth or after being signed at a young age from other clubs. The other string to the bow was a posse of experienced players who cared about their club and helped the younger lads to become the players that they were.
Like that pitch, many of the thousands of Dons fans who were there that day are no longer with us. Some have gone to the terracing in the sky and some have stopped coming to Pittodrie because they cannot bear to watch the performances that the current players have been serving up. There are players at the club just now who clearly don’t give a shit about it, but they were Jimmy Calderwood’s mistakes and most of them won’t be with us next season.
Nobody expects you to win a championship these days, although it would be nice to at least be having a go. That doesn’t mean that it is not possible, but it would take a long time to build a side to do it, a side based on our own kids and some choice signings that you might bring in to do the on field coaching and mentoring that is desperately needed.
You come across as a very passionate man; it must frustrate the hell out of you that so many of your players are not showing even a fraction of that passion. You will certainly know how frustrated the supporters are with what they have had to watch for much of this season. You must know that what we all want to see first and foremost is a team that is out there really trying to do something worthwhile for Aberdeen FC and for the fans.
We have been reading how you have a comprehensive list of players on your radar who you believe will make a difference. Please, please, please try to bring in the right kind of guys; men who care about their jobs, about the game and who can grow to care about Aberdeen if they don’t already. If the supporters see that happening, see honest endeavour week after week, then they will respond and help you see the job through. We all know that you are faced with a mammoth rebuilding task, so few will expect world beaters right away, but hey - create the right environment and maybe some of these bright upcoming kids in the youth system will save you that search in a couple of years’ time.
Dear Stewart,
See above and then consider this: You are evidently the only man around the northeast able to help Mark with his task. You are right to preach that our club should function within its own means, as should all other clubs in senior football. But we are in an exceptional time. The team urgently needs to be reinforced with some good, strong characters that will carry it through the rebuilding process until we have enough quality youngsters flowing into the squad to make signing much less necessary and who might well bring in much needed revenue in transfer fees. You need to help the manager now so that he can produce a team that will build the excitement of the northeast public and take us all on the journey to the new stadium. It doesn’t need to be megabucks, just enough to secure an extra player or two who will make all the difference without breaking the wage structure. Don’t let our club fall for the sake of the price of a new house.
Like that pitch, many of the thousands of Dons fans who were there that day are no longer with us. Some have gone to the terracing in the sky and some have stopped coming to Pittodrie because they cannot bear to watch the performances that the current players have been serving up. There are players at the club just now who clearly don’t give a shit about it, but they were Jimmy Calderwood’s mistakes and most of them won’t be with us next season.
Nobody expects you to win a championship these days, although it would be nice to at least be having a go. That doesn’t mean that it is not possible, but it would take a long time to build a side to do it, a side based on our own kids and some choice signings that you might bring in to do the on field coaching and mentoring that is desperately needed.
You come across as a very passionate man; it must frustrate the hell out of you that so many of your players are not showing even a fraction of that passion. You will certainly know how frustrated the supporters are with what they have had to watch for much of this season. You must know that what we all want to see first and foremost is a team that is out there really trying to do something worthwhile for Aberdeen FC and for the fans.
We have been reading how you have a comprehensive list of players on your radar who you believe will make a difference. Please, please, please try to bring in the right kind of guys; men who care about their jobs, about the game and who can grow to care about Aberdeen if they don’t already. If the supporters see that happening, see honest endeavour week after week, then they will respond and help you see the job through. We all know that you are faced with a mammoth rebuilding task, so few will expect world beaters right away, but hey - create the right environment and maybe some of these bright upcoming kids in the youth system will save you that search in a couple of years’ time.
Dear Stewart,
See above and then consider this: You are evidently the only man around the northeast able to help Mark with his task. You are right to preach that our club should function within its own means, as should all other clubs in senior football. But we are in an exceptional time. The team urgently needs to be reinforced with some good, strong characters that will carry it through the rebuilding process until we have enough quality youngsters flowing into the squad to make signing much less necessary and who might well bring in much needed revenue in transfer fees. You need to help the manager now so that he can produce a team that will build the excitement of the northeast public and take us all on the journey to the new stadium. It doesn’t need to be megabucks, just enough to secure an extra player or two who will make all the difference without breaking the wage structure. Don’t let our club fall for the sake of the price of a new house.
Sunday 2 May 2010
Ghost Football
The Aberdeen team that played at Pittodrie yesterday was a mere shadow of a football team, a spectre that was barely there in spirit, let alone body. The way that they lost goals to Hamilton, they might as well have been chasing shadows too for all the effect that they had.
There were honourable exceptions, as you might expect, not least Duff and Young who battled away, and the three subs who came on looked like the had the energy to contribute something but it needs a whole team to be up for it to achieve anything. Collectively the team was rank, with one of the worst offenders being Mulgrew, who somehow avoided stick whilst Mark Kerr - who never hid, was always involved and always made himself available for a pass, was mercilessly hounded.
Yes, Kerr misplaced passes through the game, something he really shouldn't do and needs to work on wherever he plays next season, but he did not deserve the barracking that he got for much of the second half. What player is going to improve his performance if he gets pelters from his own fans?
Kerr is the most prominent example this season, but loads of our players have been subjected to baying from a fair few people in the crowd. What makes people think that they will get players to play better or to care for the club and the shirt if they are under the cosh of abuse all the time? Do people think that the manager and coaches can't see it when a player is screwing up or under performing? Do they not think that these might be the best ones to do something constructive about it? Aren't they the ones paid to sort it?
Here's a wee story about a hugely successful Dons' player of the past who got the negative treatment: Back in November 1970 Davy Robb said: "I've always gone on the field to give 100% effort - but the crowds have never given me the same measure of support. It doesn't worry me now, but we often speak in the dressing-room about how the spectators tend to single me out for criticism." Lucky for us that the Brush didn't let it get him down, because he went on to give tremendous service to the Dons, scoring 96 goals in the process including the winner in the 1976 League Cup Final. Imagine if he had decided to ply his trade elsewhere because of the duffers who gave him stick.
This has been a lousy season with some lousy performances flecked with great football here and there and of course we don't want to go through that again, but surely there is more chance of a stronger team if people get behind them. Criticise by all means, constructively though - why try to tear apart that which you love? Maybe the boo brigade on the terraces were ghosts too, ghosts like to boo.
There were honourable exceptions, as you might expect, not least Duff and Young who battled away, and the three subs who came on looked like the had the energy to contribute something but it needs a whole team to be up for it to achieve anything. Collectively the team was rank, with one of the worst offenders being Mulgrew, who somehow avoided stick whilst Mark Kerr - who never hid, was always involved and always made himself available for a pass, was mercilessly hounded.
Yes, Kerr misplaced passes through the game, something he really shouldn't do and needs to work on wherever he plays next season, but he did not deserve the barracking that he got for much of the second half. What player is going to improve his performance if he gets pelters from his own fans?
Kerr is the most prominent example this season, but loads of our players have been subjected to baying from a fair few people in the crowd. What makes people think that they will get players to play better or to care for the club and the shirt if they are under the cosh of abuse all the time? Do people think that the manager and coaches can't see it when a player is screwing up or under performing? Do they not think that these might be the best ones to do something constructive about it? Aren't they the ones paid to sort it?
Here's a wee story about a hugely successful Dons' player of the past who got the negative treatment: Back in November 1970 Davy Robb said: "I've always gone on the field to give 100% effort - but the crowds have never given me the same measure of support. It doesn't worry me now, but we often speak in the dressing-room about how the spectators tend to single me out for criticism." Lucky for us that the Brush didn't let it get him down, because he went on to give tremendous service to the Dons, scoring 96 goals in the process including the winner in the 1976 League Cup Final. Imagine if he had decided to ply his trade elsewhere because of the duffers who gave him stick.
This has been a lousy season with some lousy performances flecked with great football here and there and of course we don't want to go through that again, but surely there is more chance of a stronger team if people get behind them. Criticise by all means, constructively though - why try to tear apart that which you love? Maybe the boo brigade on the terraces were ghosts too, ghosts like to boo.
Wednesday 28 April 2010
Build me a Stadium and Build it me NOW!
At long last there are signs of publicity about the mooted new stadium. The AFC website has a new section with assorted bits of gen that will help to inform people of what is going on and it’ll be exciting watching developments as they get rolled out.
Amazingly there seems to be a somewhat pointless rumbling amongst the chattering classes that the idea of relocating is a bad thing. How can this be? Only a few years ago there was a lot of effort put in by the club over the possibility of building a new stadium out at Bellfield near Kingswells and hardly a peep came from supporters against the idea. Now, long after the council sponsored (but did not pay for) a feasibility study into the proposed site and Kings Links, we have a minor spate of negativity - did any of these people submit comments to the study?
Could it be that these same naysayers are the ones who seek to find a contrary point of view over anything that Aberdeen FC tries to do? You bet!
Given the choice, nobody, not fans, not the board, not the club’s staff or anyone else would want to move from the traditional home of football. But look at the location of Pittodrie; there just isn’t room. It sits right on the street at two sides and close to another street on a third. The council has had the area zoned for housing for years and has wanted the club out of there for just as long. No planners would allow reconstruction where the crowd would have to pour out onto the highway like happens now. UEFA demands for stadium standards would force things into the design that just couldn't fit into the land available and modern day spectator expectations would not accept it if a reconstruction left them with cramped concourses and a low capacity ground.
Reading between the lines, it seems pretty clear that the Club would have preferred a better site than what has been tabled, but what choice was there? How many pieces of land are available anywhere in the city that would be big enough to house a modern stadium with car parks and training ground nearby? Answer: precious few, if any.
A new place is a huge opportunity, it isn't one that comes around in most supporters’ lifetime but we are getting it. Why not embrace the idea and get excited about it? Sure there will doubtless be problems along the way, but if the planning process goes well, we will end up with something wonderful. A place with atmosphere that is capable of generating more income beyond match days and that won’t cost a fortune to maintain for years to come. And let’s not forget that we can take some of Pittodrie with us - the granite façade from the Merkland end for starters, not to mention the thousands of memories and stories that go with the old place.
Nostalgia and history belong to the supporter and to the players from the past; the club has to continually look forward. The people who run it have to make sure that there is still something there to run in ten, twenty, fifty years time. That’s where the revamping of the youth development system was so important (something we are beginning to see coming to fruition). A brand new stadium with a team built largely on our own home-developed players will be a fantastic thing, a chance for a rebirth of the club we love. It is almost like regeneration on Doctor Who, only better. Embrace it and let’s get the thing done by everybody working together - the sooner the better.
Amazingly there seems to be a somewhat pointless rumbling amongst the chattering classes that the idea of relocating is a bad thing. How can this be? Only a few years ago there was a lot of effort put in by the club over the possibility of building a new stadium out at Bellfield near Kingswells and hardly a peep came from supporters against the idea. Now, long after the council sponsored (but did not pay for) a feasibility study into the proposed site and Kings Links, we have a minor spate of negativity - did any of these people submit comments to the study?
Could it be that these same naysayers are the ones who seek to find a contrary point of view over anything that Aberdeen FC tries to do? You bet!
Given the choice, nobody, not fans, not the board, not the club’s staff or anyone else would want to move from the traditional home of football. But look at the location of Pittodrie; there just isn’t room. It sits right on the street at two sides and close to another street on a third. The council has had the area zoned for housing for years and has wanted the club out of there for just as long. No planners would allow reconstruction where the crowd would have to pour out onto the highway like happens now. UEFA demands for stadium standards would force things into the design that just couldn't fit into the land available and modern day spectator expectations would not accept it if a reconstruction left them with cramped concourses and a low capacity ground.
Reading between the lines, it seems pretty clear that the Club would have preferred a better site than what has been tabled, but what choice was there? How many pieces of land are available anywhere in the city that would be big enough to house a modern stadium with car parks and training ground nearby? Answer: precious few, if any.
A new place is a huge opportunity, it isn't one that comes around in most supporters’ lifetime but we are getting it. Why not embrace the idea and get excited about it? Sure there will doubtless be problems along the way, but if the planning process goes well, we will end up with something wonderful. A place with atmosphere that is capable of generating more income beyond match days and that won’t cost a fortune to maintain for years to come. And let’s not forget that we can take some of Pittodrie with us - the granite façade from the Merkland end for starters, not to mention the thousands of memories and stories that go with the old place.
Nostalgia and history belong to the supporter and to the players from the past; the club has to continually look forward. The people who run it have to make sure that there is still something there to run in ten, twenty, fifty years time. That’s where the revamping of the youth development system was so important (something we are beginning to see coming to fruition). A brand new stadium with a team built largely on our own home-developed players will be a fantastic thing, a chance for a rebirth of the club we love. It is almost like regeneration on Doctor Who, only better. Embrace it and let’s get the thing done by everybody working together - the sooner the better.
Monday 26 April 2010
Shepherd Spying
An insider at the underground headquarters of sleazy fanzine The Red Final informs us that the 94th edition of the well known scandal rag and outrage outlet will be on sale at Saturday's game against Kilmarnock. It is amazing that in this electronic age that TRF manages to keep going, especially as they seem incapable of maintaining their website. All a bit arse about face, really.The same spy has gleaned a fact of minor interest to statos and Dons' fans alike: two of the clubs being relegated form the English League Division Two this season have a player in common. Darlington were the club who conned Jimmy Calderwood into signing Tommy Wright for Aberdeen and Grimsby are the club that took the same player off our hands this season. Hard to believe that Calderwood paid out £100k from a tight budget to secure such a disruptive dumpling so no surprise that there are mutterings in the corridors of TRF Towers and Pittdodrie that it is a shame he didn't move to Kilmarnock to join his old boss. Shame for Grimsby, like.
Saturday 24 April 2010
Sunshine Football
A warm April's day was just the job for viewing a game of football at Perth's tidy wee stadium. Given the option, I'd switch to a summer schedule right now and banish the worst days of sitting freezing on the terraces to somewhere over the rainbow.
Today's game may not have meant too much but the players of both teams dug in and made it worth the watching, with the Dandies completely dominating the first half and St Johnstone having the better of the second.
But for our season long failing in finding the net often enough, we would have won this game. There were some seriously good chances in that first forty-five and some clinical finishing would have done the job. Even a two goal lead at half-time would have done it for us because the defence was standing up well to whatever Saints threw at them and a tad more alertness at the equalising free kick would have kept them out at the death as well.
The officials weren't too bad, although the standside linesman must have basketball in his soul as he didn't seem to think that there was anything wrong with players handling the ball. This Blog will seldom pick out players for special praise, but the much maligned Ifil was a standout for us today with Grassi doing a good job too. The Italian may be a bit too laid back for the tates of many Scottish fans, but he is strong in the air and in the tackle and seldom wastes a forward pass. Will he be with us next season though?
Just a wee rant, while you are here, on the attainment of safety in the league (or indeed other key stages of the competition where some team can’t be caught); the expression commonly used is that so and so is “mathematically safe” or until it is “mathematically impossible” to catch somebody. This is bollocks - the key word needed is “arithmetically” - if you add or subtract points you are using simple arithmetic, there is no “mathematics” involved - no algebra, no geometry nor even quantum mechanics. It is simple arithmetic! But hey, what can we expect from a sport where people use expressions such as “it’s a gimme” when they mean “given”? Footballers don’t need to conform to type and portray themselves as semi-literate; some of them are actually quite bright.
Today's game may not have meant too much but the players of both teams dug in and made it worth the watching, with the Dandies completely dominating the first half and St Johnstone having the better of the second.
But for our season long failing in finding the net often enough, we would have won this game. There were some seriously good chances in that first forty-five and some clinical finishing would have done the job. Even a two goal lead at half-time would have done it for us because the defence was standing up well to whatever Saints threw at them and a tad more alertness at the equalising free kick would have kept them out at the death as well.
The officials weren't too bad, although the standside linesman must have basketball in his soul as he didn't seem to think that there was anything wrong with players handling the ball. This Blog will seldom pick out players for special praise, but the much maligned Ifil was a standout for us today with Grassi doing a good job too. The Italian may be a bit too laid back for the tates of many Scottish fans, but he is strong in the air and in the tackle and seldom wastes a forward pass. Will he be with us next season though?
Just a wee rant, while you are here, on the attainment of safety in the league (or indeed other key stages of the competition where some team can’t be caught); the expression commonly used is that so and so is “mathematically safe” or until it is “mathematically impossible” to catch somebody. This is bollocks - the key word needed is “arithmetically” - if you add or subtract points you are using simple arithmetic, there is no “mathematics” involved - no algebra, no geometry nor even quantum mechanics. It is simple arithmetic! But hey, what can we expect from a sport where people use expressions such as “it’s a gimme” when they mean “given”? Footballers don’t need to conform to type and portray themselves as semi-literate; some of them are actually quite bright.
Friday 23 April 2010
Rebuild the Bridge a Step at a Time
Even in a season where we have had to put up with seeing weakened sides taking the field, tomorrow’s game at St Johnstone will see the Dandies squad down to the bone. The positive side of this is that a good few home grown youngsters will be involved on the bench and maybe in the team. The downside is that the Saints have been having a decent season and will be slavering at the target of 7th place in the SPL.
The Dons will have to face up to the challenge and battle to get us the three points, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t have a go. With nothing much to lose but plenty to gain in terms of repairing a bit of the damage done this season, they should be all out to do their best to give the travelling support something to shout about.
The pelters that the players and the Club have taken this season is understandable because nobody wants to see their team losing as often as has happened, but it is weird to have witnessed a much worse season in 1999/2000 under Skovdahl and recall that a significant chunk of the crowd were happily chanting the manager’s name and forgiving the fact that we were actually relegated. Only Falkirk’s slum-like ground saved Aberdeen from facing the drop into Division 1 - a division notoriously hard to get out of. Who knows where we might have been now if we had gone down. Did anybody think that dear old uncle Ebbe would have guided us back to the top league anytime soon?
This season we have had a miserable time, but the majority of defeats were by the odd goal and quite often they could have ended with an odd goal victory. A lot of the games were actually quite good to watch but results are everything and now we need to see the side recreating itself for a much better performance next season. With the financial state of Scottish football in general, that improvement is going to have to come in part from the youngsters that have featured this season and a few who might yet. When the manager is looking to sign new, more experienced players, let’s hope that he’ll be seeking to bring in men who will do a job for us not only in strengthening the team but in bringing on the younger players who will play such an important part of our future.
The Dons will have to face up to the challenge and battle to get us the three points, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t have a go. With nothing much to lose but plenty to gain in terms of repairing a bit of the damage done this season, they should be all out to do their best to give the travelling support something to shout about.
The pelters that the players and the Club have taken this season is understandable because nobody wants to see their team losing as often as has happened, but it is weird to have witnessed a much worse season in 1999/2000 under Skovdahl and recall that a significant chunk of the crowd were happily chanting the manager’s name and forgiving the fact that we were actually relegated. Only Falkirk’s slum-like ground saved Aberdeen from facing the drop into Division 1 - a division notoriously hard to get out of. Who knows where we might have been now if we had gone down. Did anybody think that dear old uncle Ebbe would have guided us back to the top league anytime soon?
This season we have had a miserable time, but the majority of defeats were by the odd goal and quite often they could have ended with an odd goal victory. A lot of the games were actually quite good to watch but results are everything and now we need to see the side recreating itself for a much better performance next season. With the financial state of Scottish football in general, that improvement is going to have to come in part from the youngsters that have featured this season and a few who might yet. When the manager is looking to sign new, more experienced players, let’s hope that he’ll be seeking to bring in men who will do a job for us not only in strengthening the team but in bringing on the younger players who will play such an important part of our future.
Wednesday 21 April 2010
Ever Gutted a Whale?
Guys from the AFC Heritage Trust were tidying a cupboard at Pittodrie today, making space for storage, when they came across a mean looking Faroese knife in a splendid wooden scabbard. It had a small brass plate on it inscribed "KI Klaksvik 1957". Presumably it was a souvenir of a friendly match played by the Dons against this Faroe Islands team. A team, co-incidentally that has never suffered relegation from their top league.
There is no immediately available record of Aberdeen playing Klaksvik, although they have from time to time sent a side up there for a summer visit, so some dedicated soul will have to get into the library and check through papers form the time.
Meanwhile the knife is tucked away safely under lock and key at an unknown location. All in a day's work for volunteers at AFC. On Friday they are going to seek out evidence of Tiddles the fabled Pittodrie cat, a creature rumoured to have gone for more than one spin with the first team kit in the laundry.
There is no immediately available record of Aberdeen playing Klaksvik, although they have from time to time sent a side up there for a summer visit, so some dedicated soul will have to get into the library and check through papers form the time.
Meanwhile the knife is tucked away safely under lock and key at an unknown location. All in a day's work for volunteers at AFC. On Friday they are going to seek out evidence of Tiddles the fabled Pittodrie cat, a creature rumoured to have gone for more than one spin with the first team kit in the laundry.
Saturday 17 April 2010
Phew
Today's game was all about the result and little else. Had the Dandies failed to win, or worse, lost, they would have slithered closer to the relegation battle. Thankfully they scored early and their goal was barely troubled by Falkirk. We would all have liked to see them push up and attack more towards the end of the game, but they were probably right to focus on clearing their lines and letting the clock run down.
Interestingly, Mark chose to use old heads today and it worked. We saw the kind of sleeves up, grafting performance that we should have seen much earlier in the season. Players like Duff and Young had a very good shift with Duff in particular showing a lot of strength, both physically and mentally, especially in dealing with the massive Showunmi.
The other big factor today was that the crowd was right behind the team and didn't descend into booing mistakes, of which there were a few. The players recognised this and responded accordingly. That relationship needs to continue and to get stronger.
Even though most of the younger players didn't get a chance to come on, it was a great experience for them to be on the bench and to see what can be done with sheer hard graft. There are a lot of talented kids at Pittodrie now and they need to be helped by more experienced players. Hopefully they will start to be used a bit more in the last four games so that they can gain a flavour of SPL football ready to put to better use next season. The future is Red and it is youthful.
Technically the Dons are just about safe now, the arithmetic is complicated but it is hard to imagine any of the other bottom six clubs putting together a big enough winning streak to overhaul us and certainly not three of them. The Dons though need to work for more wins, they have bridges to build with the supporters and the sooner they start, the better for Aberdeen and all of us.
Interestingly, Mark chose to use old heads today and it worked. We saw the kind of sleeves up, grafting performance that we should have seen much earlier in the season. Players like Duff and Young had a very good shift with Duff in particular showing a lot of strength, both physically and mentally, especially in dealing with the massive Showunmi.
The other big factor today was that the crowd was right behind the team and didn't descend into booing mistakes, of which there were a few. The players recognised this and responded accordingly. That relationship needs to continue and to get stronger.
Even though most of the younger players didn't get a chance to come on, it was a great experience for them to be on the bench and to see what can be done with sheer hard graft. There are a lot of talented kids at Pittodrie now and they need to be helped by more experienced players. Hopefully they will start to be used a bit more in the last four games so that they can gain a flavour of SPL football ready to put to better use next season. The future is Red and it is youthful.
Technically the Dons are just about safe now, the arithmetic is complicated but it is hard to imagine any of the other bottom six clubs putting together a big enough winning streak to overhaul us and certainly not three of them. The Dons though need to work for more wins, they have bridges to build with the supporters and the sooner they start, the better for Aberdeen and all of us.
Friday 16 April 2010
“Tear down the walls - Storm through the barricades”
With rallying cries coming from all quarters of the Red Army, including one of Aberdeen’s most famous sons - Denis Law - ahead of Saturday’s match against Falkirk, the players should already be taking a tremendous morale boost.
There’s no doubt that come the day Aberdeen’s supporters will be there in numbers and ready to play their part in the way that only the Red Army can. We have so often seen a Pittodrie crowd raising the roof when the chips have been down. Just think back to that night against FC Copenhagen a couple of years ago. We all knew we needed a win and the crowd poured a wall of sound onto the pitch from start to finish. It didn’t need to be orchestrated, it was completely spontaneous and the Dons’ fans demonstrated that they knew what it was all about and look how it turned out.
There is no better example of a wonderful turn around in fortunes that in 1995 when we were actually in a worse position than we are now. From the beginning of April when they suffered a narrow defeat at the hands of Kilmarnock - a game where the team was cheered off the park because they had given the kind of effort that Aberdeen fans look for - the Dons started to put together the results they needed to at least get to a play-off position. This they did with victories over Celtic, Hearts, Dundee United and Saturday’s opponents Falkirk. Then it was on to the play-off matches against Dunfermline which turned into fantastic occasions. The teams that we have to face this time are far from being of the calibre that we were up against back then, so if we up our game we can definitely win through.
To keep that strength boosting atmosphere going when they come out on Saturday, the players need to respond in style. They need to be practically tearing down the dressing room door to get out onto the park and in about the opposition. It doesn’t matter who we are playing, we need to come out and dictate the game and batter down whatever resistance that may be put in front of us. Our players can rediscover their strongest qualities and take us to a win, we all know that they are better than they have shown this season and we all know that with our backing they will get us away from the dark spectre of relegation. This won’t be about silky football; this will be all about desire and a willingness to get stuck in. It’s high time that the love affair between the players and the crowd was reignited.
To put it simply: COME ON YOU REDS
There’s no doubt that come the day Aberdeen’s supporters will be there in numbers and ready to play their part in the way that only the Red Army can. We have so often seen a Pittodrie crowd raising the roof when the chips have been down. Just think back to that night against FC Copenhagen a couple of years ago. We all knew we needed a win and the crowd poured a wall of sound onto the pitch from start to finish. It didn’t need to be orchestrated, it was completely spontaneous and the Dons’ fans demonstrated that they knew what it was all about and look how it turned out.
There is no better example of a wonderful turn around in fortunes that in 1995 when we were actually in a worse position than we are now. From the beginning of April when they suffered a narrow defeat at the hands of Kilmarnock - a game where the team was cheered off the park because they had given the kind of effort that Aberdeen fans look for - the Dons started to put together the results they needed to at least get to a play-off position. This they did with victories over Celtic, Hearts, Dundee United and Saturday’s opponents Falkirk. Then it was on to the play-off matches against Dunfermline which turned into fantastic occasions. The teams that we have to face this time are far from being of the calibre that we were up against back then, so if we up our game we can definitely win through.
To keep that strength boosting atmosphere going when they come out on Saturday, the players need to respond in style. They need to be practically tearing down the dressing room door to get out onto the park and in about the opposition. It doesn’t matter who we are playing, we need to come out and dictate the game and batter down whatever resistance that may be put in front of us. Our players can rediscover their strongest qualities and take us to a win, we all know that they are better than they have shown this season and we all know that with our backing they will get us away from the dark spectre of relegation. This won’t be about silky football; this will be all about desire and a willingness to get stuck in. It’s high time that the love affair between the players and the crowd was reignited.
To put it simply: COME ON YOU REDS
Friday 19 February 2010
Let it Snow
Preparations for Saturday's game down the road against Falkirk weren't helped when Mother Nature dumped her white blanket over the Silver City. Good job the Pittodrie pitch was available. The chaos on the roads around Aberdeen wouldn't have helped either - hope the team bus has good traction on the iced up surfaces.
A welcome visitor at Pittodrie was past player and current chairman of the Former Players' Association. He was in to do an interview for RedTV and the FPs magazine. After the dreaded filming he was spotted in the canteen having a bowl of soup with Chris Gavin and chatting with Mark McGhee and Neil Cooper. Your fly on the wall can't divulge the nature of the banter but some of it would make a coal heaver blush.
The Under-19s had their league match against St. Mirren, due to be played in Paisley this afternoon, postponed due to an "unplayable pitch". Nothing to do with St. Mirren's Youth Cup quarter final due to be played on Sunday then?
Cleaners were hard at work today cleaning up the Richard Donald Suite after a Wednesday night bash for students from Aberdeen Uni. It seems the guests got more than a bit carried away and worked pretty hard at wrecking the joint. The extent of damage done was disgusting - so much for a good education...
A welcome visitor at Pittodrie was past player and current chairman of the Former Players' Association. He was in to do an interview for RedTV and the FPs magazine. After the dreaded filming he was spotted in the canteen having a bowl of soup with Chris Gavin and chatting with Mark McGhee and Neil Cooper. Your fly on the wall can't divulge the nature of the banter but some of it would make a coal heaver blush.
The Under-19s had their league match against St. Mirren, due to be played in Paisley this afternoon, postponed due to an "unplayable pitch". Nothing to do with St. Mirren's Youth Cup quarter final due to be played on Sunday then?
Cleaners were hard at work today cleaning up the Richard Donald Suite after a Wednesday night bash for students from Aberdeen Uni. It seems the guests got more than a bit carried away and worked pretty hard at wrecking the joint. The extent of damage done was disgusting - so much for a good education...
Thursday 18 February 2010
Another day on from Raithgate and, in preparation for the weekend's football, the routine is more or less back to normal. The first team are off, probably nursing battered bodies and bruised egos before a tough training session on Friday and the Falkirk match on Saturday. Despite the bad result midweek, a fair number of the Red Army are picking up tickets for the game - hopefully to back the team to the hilt and hopefully to see the team setting out to repair the damage done on Tuesday.
The under 19s had a training session this morning and are now engaged in assorted forms for education and skills development ranging from engineering or catering to sports coaching or linguistics. The club and the SFA provide plenty of opportunity for young players to prepare a safety net in case they don't make it as footballers or indeed, in case injury shortens their careers. Today a couple of them were handed certificates after successfully doing some basketball coaching in schools.
The under 19s had a training session this morning and are now engaged in assorted forms for education and skills development ranging from engineering or catering to sports coaching or linguistics. The club and the SFA provide plenty of opportunity for young players to prepare a safety net in case they don't make it as footballers or indeed, in case injury shortens their careers. Today a couple of them were handed certificates after successfully doing some basketball coaching in schools.
Wednesday 17 February 2010
Another Day Another Dollar
Pittodrie is a wee bit like a morgue today, although nobody has actually topped themselves. The worst aspect of the morning was the abusive phone calls that came into reception and the ticket office. This is completely out of order - the staff here are all Dons' fans too and feel defeats just as much as supporters who don't work here. Last night's defeat isn't their fault and they shouldn't have to listen to the bile that has come in.
The gaffer is still seething with fury over what happened and looks even more determined to sort things out. He has inherited problems that were already here and it will take him a while to get things the way he wants them. Very few managers walk into an ideal set-up. Look what happened when Eddie Turnbull arrived at Aberdeen - by the end of his first season he had a mass clearout and set about rebuilding his squad from there, and although he got the team to a Cup Final in '67 it really took him till 1970 to produce a seriously challenging side that could win a cup and very nearly the league.
Mark needs time and loads of effort from all those around him, from the playing and coaching staff up to the board and the supporters as well. Uniting in adversity will make us stronger, the team has to be up and ready for Saturday so whilst Tuesday night can't be forgotten, we must move on and strive for better.
The gaffer is still seething with fury over what happened and looks even more determined to sort things out. He has inherited problems that were already here and it will take him a while to get things the way he wants them. Very few managers walk into an ideal set-up. Look what happened when Eddie Turnbull arrived at Aberdeen - by the end of his first season he had a mass clearout and set about rebuilding his squad from there, and although he got the team to a Cup Final in '67 it really took him till 1970 to produce a seriously challenging side that could win a cup and very nearly the league.
Mark needs time and loads of effort from all those around him, from the playing and coaching staff up to the board and the supporters as well. Uniting in adversity will make us stronger, the team has to be up and ready for Saturday so whilst Tuesday night can't be forgotten, we must move on and strive for better.
Tuesday 16 February 2010
Hate to say it, but we got what we deserved tonight. It was a game for rolling up the sleeves, digging deep and getting round beind the defence. There was only one team did that and it wasn't ours.
Now should be the time for fighting talk, and the manager needs to be searching for a way to lift the players for Saturday, but there are no excuses and nobody will be quick to do anything but slag off the players and likely the board. Fair enough - we all know that this kind of display isn't good enough, especially in a season where the Cup was so important when the league was already looking like a turkey.
The gaffer has no choice to say "onwards and upwards" and I belive that eventually he will achieve something here, but tonight ensured that his budget will be under pressure and keeping players, let alone recruiting new ones will be so much harder.
Now should be the time for fighting talk, and the manager needs to be searching for a way to lift the players for Saturday, but there are no excuses and nobody will be quick to do anything but slag off the players and likely the board. Fair enough - we all know that this kind of display isn't good enough, especially in a season where the Cup was so important when the league was already looking like a turkey.
The gaffer has no choice to say "onwards and upwards" and I belive that eventually he will achieve something here, but tonight ensured that his budget will be under pressure and keeping players, let alone recruiting new ones will be so much harder.
Tidy is as Tidy Does
At long last there are signs of action by messrs Gunn and Mountford, AFC's baby faced football administrators, to clear up the pit known locally as their office. The confidential waste bin is bursting at the seems with unwanted documents and some of the stacks of boxes that seemed permanent fixtures have come down a bit from the ceiling with expectations that the floor might be visible any day now.
The danger is that as the walls become exposed to daylight for the first time in years and people get the chance to approach close enough to the window to see out, it'll be discovered that scrawled pleas for help by past incumbents or maybe even cave painting will appear along with the dried out remains of Gordon Bennet's last sausage supper.
The danger is that as the walls become exposed to daylight for the first time in years and people get the chance to approach close enough to the window to see out, it'll be discovered that scrawled pleas for help by past incumbents or maybe even cave painting will appear along with the dried out remains of Gordon Bennet's last sausage supper.
Ahead of tonight's game against Raith, Pittodrie is a hive of activity - from the Sodexo staff getting the lounges set up for corporate use to the ground staff fixing seats that were daqmaged on Saturday the place is buzzing. During the morning there was a tour of the stadium with Walter showing round a large party of school kids - probably their first time inside the old place.
Also to be seen was a young fan filming all around the place so that she will have material for editing into DVDs that the AFC Heritage Trust will be making from time to time.
The young players came in drookit from a tough morning training session and looked more than ready for a bowl of chicken soup and a plate of chilli with saffron rice. They get well supplied with fruit, yoghurt or milk if they want it - got to keep their strength up, they are growing loons after all.
Willie Miller had a couple of his youth development men in for a chat and a bite of dinner. The coaching network is widespread these days and there's heaps to be done. More on that in a future chapter, it deserves some special attention.
The ticket office is reasonably busy, but we need more fans queuing up for this game, numbers count. The team will be well wound up to get the victory, but their chances will increase if they get the vocal backing tonight, drowning out the Raith fans and intimidating their players. We all know that for the Dons a game against first division should be a walk in the park but let's not take anything for granted. United we stand, so Come On You Reds!
Also to be seen was a young fan filming all around the place so that she will have material for editing into DVDs that the AFC Heritage Trust will be making from time to time.
The young players came in drookit from a tough morning training session and looked more than ready for a bowl of chicken soup and a plate of chilli with saffron rice. They get well supplied with fruit, yoghurt or milk if they want it - got to keep their strength up, they are growing loons after all.
Willie Miller had a couple of his youth development men in for a chat and a bite of dinner. The coaching network is widespread these days and there's heaps to be done. More on that in a future chapter, it deserves some special attention.
The ticket office is reasonably busy, but we need more fans queuing up for this game, numbers count. The team will be well wound up to get the victory, but their chances will increase if they get the vocal backing tonight, drowning out the Raith fans and intimidating their players. We all know that for the Dons a game against first division should be a walk in the park but let's not take anything for granted. United we stand, so Come On You Reds!
Monday 15 February 2010
Snapper on the scene
Well known press photographer Derek Ironside was slumped in Pittodrie's reception after a hard morning's snapping up at the Balgownie training ground. He was recovering from the chill that gets into everybody's bones up there, but a coffee in the canteen soon put him right.
Spotted at Pittodrie today: Rory Duff, well known man bout the chat sites, grabbing a baked potato in the Pittodrie canteen. He was in animated discussion with a cadaverous looking gent who was doing more listening than chatting. Your mole suspects that there are schemes afoot.
With a match coming up tomorrow night, Pittodrie was a hive of activity and the canteen was packed with youth players, management and staff. The Gaffer was looking energised and ready to get on with something. Not too many first team players on view, probably just the ones in for treatment for weekend injuries.
With a match coming up tomorrow night, Pittodrie was a hive of activity and the canteen was packed with youth players, management and staff. The Gaffer was looking energised and ready to get on with something. Not too many first team players on view, probably just the ones in for treatment for weekend injuries.
Pittodrie Insider
Okay, here goes. This is the real deal, a blog by Aberdeen Supporters for Aberdeen Supporters all about stuff that is going on at Pittodrie and all things connected with the Mighty Dons. Actually, this one is a bit of a trial till we get up to speed so don't expect too much too soon. Also, don't expect scandal, lies or innuendo (well, not much). The aim here is to share with people things that they are not too likely to catch on the AFC website or in the papers.
The idea is to be open, honest and informative without giving away stuff that shouldn't be revealed such as how much who earns, or which players are coming and going. There's absolutely no intentions of undermining Mark's efforts or anybody else's.
The idea is to be open, honest and informative without giving away stuff that shouldn't be revealed such as how much who earns, or which players are coming and going. There's absolutely no intentions of undermining Mark's efforts or anybody else's.
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