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.