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.