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It would be good for him to go back to Sweden and his family. Normally I'm glad when we punt a manager that isn't performing, but I feel strangely bereft at Jimmy leaving. I really wanted it to work out for him, especially after the way he started. It's partly his fault it didn't happen, and partly the players.

Our attacks are remarkably similar to my wife aimlessly circling a half-empty car park trying to find a parking space she’s happy with.

Lycka till Jimmy, hejdå

You wouldn't have expected anything else but class from him. When he first was appointed I was renewing my dna membership and the people in the office were so impressed by him, saying he's just a lovely guy, a real gentleman...maybe not what you need as manager? Really sad it didn't work out for him.

Disagree, think he's actually played very well in spells, but has been woefully mismanaged. He's been over played (compare his minutes to Graeme Shinnie), he's been constantly shuttled into different positions, and has had little to no chance to development any sort of partnership with anyone.

The holidays are over. Sober up.

By all accounts, the players liked him, but thought he was too soft on those who stepped out of line, and ultimately that loses you a bit of respect in the dressing room. Yesterday raised alarm bells. It's been poor for a while, but I kinda still felt he was slowly getting his head around things, but it was such a calamity at Falkirk that it was hard to make a case for him beyond the weekend. But I'm glad he left before I started to get so rattled by performances I began to dislike him. A throughly decent man who led us to the Scottish Cup, but hopefully we've made the right decision.

Lots of clubs will be watching him, not just on these shores. A person would have to be a real dumb, bitter person not to be commending the job he has done at Motherwell. He has won nothing, before some smart c*nt points it out, but the way he has consistently got players to respond and perform to his system has been very impressive up until now. Getting Paul McGinn to perform for them the way he has done this season, is impressive enough, but he has done this with the whole squad, exactly what a manager should be doing. We keep deluding ourselves we are going to buy our way to a good team. As much as the boy at Motherwell has been impressive, it is still a no from me, as I just have a feeling we would take what looks like a silk purse of a manager (at the moment), and turn it into a pigs ear.

Thelin is out and about in Prague tonight meeting the fans Seriously a top guy

Obviously I couldn't give a fuck about the English pish, but agree with this. You can see how well McInnes is doing with the recruitment largely taken away from him. The problem is that if every other club has a team of analysts doing the recruitment then they're likely to see a better return over time - probably. You're also not going to get a good manager who'll want to spend days trawling data too. There's a ceiling to it, and we reached that with McInnes, who was spread far too thin with us. The sporting director is just the guy that pins together the recruitment, the sports science, youth team and the manager. He makes sure that the high level goals are being met and everything is staying in balance. Clearly what happened in the summer should never happen under a competent sporting director. He'd have questioned the recruitment of too many similar players, the lack of athletic midfielder, as well as insisting on space for youth. He holds all departments to account.

So now we've said bye to Thelin Who next for our dear Aberdeen? A foreign unknown? Or one of our own? A puzzle for Lutz Pfannenstein

Seemed like a genuinely nice guy and in no way have the same feelings towards him as Robson or Goodwin but Jimmy's time was well and truly up. Lets make no mistakes about his time with us, he got off to an incredible start, albeit very fortunate in several of those games, but when Celtic pumped us 6-0 in the Semi then the wheels well and truly came off and we never recovered, instead we fumbled through the next 14 months with minimal highs and serious lows with the one notable exception being the cup final win in May which will never be forgotten. It's not unreasonable to state that you'd be hard pressed to name 5 games that we actually played entertaining, attacking football for more than brief spells and for a manager that we had for 80 games then that is a damning indictment of his time with us. I can only hope that Lutz has his man already lined up to take advantage of this Jan window as a vast majority of the current squad have proved time and time again that they have been a waste of a wage. We need serious recruitment just to ensure we get European football next year through our league placings and that should be the sole aim this season for whoever comes into the hotseat although another Scottish Cup victory would be very welcome also.

Class from Thelin there - “Today my time as manager at Aberdeen comes to an end. It is with great respect for this historic Club that I accept this decision. “Results ultimately decide the tenure of this profession, and as such I take my share of responsibility. “I believe wholly in the work that was done; however, football doesn’t always allow time for belief to become results. I would like to thank the players for their commitment and effort during my time as their coach, and the staff who worked every day with loyalty and pride. “I would also like to thank the supporters. Your passion for your team never waivers, even in disappointment. “Aberdeen will forever be a part of my journey, and it has been an honour to lead this great Club and share that memorable day together at Hampden. “I leave wishing success to everyone involved both on and off the pitch.”

Scrub all that, we’re gonna go down there now and wipe the fuckin floor with those hun bastards…

My theory is that Cormack wants the whole back room structure sorted; coaching, academy. Basically a whole DNA - pathway to first team, pathway for coaches to step up too. This whole "three year project" is more about Thelin leaving a legacy on the club, an imprint. That's why he has backed Thelin a hell of a lot more than Glass, Goodwin or Robson because they weren't offering that. And I think results wise, Thelin winning the cup and banking £6m+ from Europe, that was probably ahead of schedule - the club likely were aiming for that in his second or third season. It would also explain why Thelin doesn't feel the need to throw in Bilalovic and Kjartansson. I think he's quite happy to develop these guys and have the next manager enjoy the fruits of his labour. Like I said, just a theory. If he gets sacked next week, someone delete this.

The droopy eyed, dog botherer, is apparently out fir up to 8 weeks and misses the game on Sunday. The hun are blaming Shinnie for it. Diddums! So, Tuesday night wasn't all bad.

AFC - "A blight in the North"

Probably the most ridiculous thing I've ever read.

Going to jump to the defense of Dave Cormack here. Few out there blaming him for yet another bad hire/quick sacking. The club were not in a great financial shape when he joined the club, no training facility, a failing stadium, and other than Mcinnes (which coincided with significant financial issues in Scottish football and all of our league opponents except Celtic being relegated, and obviously rangers dying), we’ve arguably had 2 somewhat successful managers in smith/scott and calderwood since fergie. The rest have been poor. since Willie was manager (could argue he was successful I suppose) we’ve had (not including interim) - Aitken - 2 years 9 months Alex miller - 13 months Heggarty - 5 months (may have been intern) ebbe - 3 years 4 months (nearly relegated) Paterson - 1 yr 5 months Calderwood - 4 yrs 11 months mcghee - 1 yr 5 months brown - 2 yrs 4 months mcinnes - 7 yrs 11 months Glass - 11 months goodwin - 11 months robson - 1 yr Thelin - 1 yr 7 months Since cormack took over the game day experience seems to be excellent (based on what I see on red tv), the team are more connected with the fans (maybe a Thelin thing), and in current modern football he’s given managers time then pulled the plug when it’s not worked out. He’s made significant investment with the training ground, and we now have a director of football. He’s invested in the playing staff. Look at the sackings of Martin and now Nancy, cormack hasn’t been that heartless. I don’t particularly understand the hiring of glass, and while Goodwin, Robson, and even warnock weren’t my preferred choice,s, I understood the logic. He’s also been strategic in the firings, giving time to qualify for Europe and assess squads. Many wanted Robson as manager, an inside man and fans favorite, an he was willing to hire internally and give him a chance. curious to know what potential owners out there would come to Aberdeen and give more and do a better job. Rangers and Celtic appear a mess behind the scenes, I dont think we have it too badly and should maybe appreciate what we do have. Not an easy job finding quality owners and successful managers.

"AFC - the gory years"

I know I'm drifting off topic here, but I did suggest once on the auld place that a book about the last 25 years of the AFC (2000 - 2025) would be an interesting, if difficult read. The glory years have been written about by many authors over the years, a book which focuses on the less good times needs to be written.

The drones online are calling for the boy fae Motherwell to be appointed. 20-odd games into his first season??? No the fuck thanks.

Pretty niche furniture criteria for a football messageboard

I’m not sure outsourcing a “strategic review” to a consulting company and then hiring someone affiliated/linked to the consulting company to lead the “transformational changes” is a particularly smart move either. Never works in business, can’t see it working in football. Can absolutely see Cormack being seduced by a well-recycled slide deck giving it “yes a helicopter view deep dive that’s exactly what we need” while everyone else is smiling through gritted teeth.

Crumbling stadium is on Milne. He deliberately let it rot for years. The council have led us a merry dance on the new ground too. Training facilities are good, not their fault they are not being used to any great effect. They only exist because of Cormack. He deserves a slagging for the naming thing though. He’s backed his manager 100% financially. Given him everything and more he could expect. I can’t criticise him for that. The football side is an ongoing shambles though and he has to take the blame for that too. Its nowhere near good enough…

Happy New Year, wishing you all good health & happiness in 2026. I'm going to be a grandma in May

I think that’s harsh. Glass was a strange hire, but I understand Goodwin and Robson, even warnock. Thelin was a successful manager with European experience, I understood that too. It just hasn’t worked out. It’s not like we overlooked a ton of perfect candidates. It’s a very dry well and you need luck.

This season in the league we have scored 20 goals in 19 games, the joint third lowest tally, which is truly abysmal! We also have conceded 23 goals in those 19 games which puts us in 6th spot for that stat. We are horrendous to watch, there doesn't appear to be any patterns of play, we're slow, ponderous, boring and so far removed from an "exciting" brand of football it's unreal. Some more stats that showcase the reality of what AFC supporters have to endure is that from the 19 league games played this season we have only scored 7 goals in the first half. Those 7 goals came in 4 matches so in 15 out of the 19 league games we haven't scored in the first half, this hardly indicates we are a team that presses early on to get an early goal and overwhelm the opposition. It's also 4 league games from 19 played in which we have managed to score more than 1 goal (Killie, St Mirren, Dundee X2) and in only one game we have managed to come back from a losing margin to win the game (Killie 2-1) and one game where we got a draw from a losing position (St Mirren 3-3) so in 11 games where we have conceded first we have only managed to pick up 4 points. In total we have managed to find the net in 12 out of 19 league games which again underlines just how hopeless we have been up front and we have conceded in 13 of those 19 games so our defence isn't really any better. I don't think it's a strong stretch of the imagination to look at our performances, points accrued, goals scored & conceded since Jimmy came in and foresee more of the same with the added bonus of the tombola getting rolled out on an almost game by game basis. We all wanted Jimmy to be the ONE but in reality he is just another ONE in the long list of ONES that have massively failed. Thanks for the Scottish Cup Jimmy but this is a results, and to a lesser extent performances, based business and with the exception of May 25 you have been no better than Glass, Robson, Goodwin etc.

He wasn't rejected as such, more that Barry Robson went on such a good run of results the club opted to give it to him full-time. There's an argument that the club should have been looking at the bigger picture and should have appointed Thelin regardless. However, that's a tough argument to make when football fans generally look at results. Example - Wilfried Nancy's current results at Celtic compared to the interim Martin O'Neill.

If theres one thing I’ve learned over the years, it’s that we shouldn’t hire managers from Motherwell

As it stands we're currently dropping back into the bottom six, which let's be honest is where this team belongs.

No that’s not me. I live even closer than him. This is how close I am.

Glad I posted that...

Now it actually is Xmas Day Merry Xmas to ALL our members. Stand Free Wherever You May Be

Even better than that, it was 35 years

If the last 18 months, which included an enthralling unbeaten run at the start of last season and a first scottish cup win since 19-fucking-90 just seven months ago is “painful”, then what word are we using for the 24-odd years that came before?! It’s been a weird 18 months, at times a frustrating 18 months, but attendances are up, the connection between the club and fans feels stronger than ever and - I repeat - we’ve won the Scottish Cup for the first time in 25 years. I’m certainly not feeling any pain.

I think he probably deserves at least the January transfer window, and it'll be the first with a sporting director. And if you're giving him that, then you're essentially giving him until April, unless the form becomes terrible again. I do have my doubts now. Some really poor decision making coming from Thelin; namely I don't think he's used the squad well enough this season, and I think the tactics are wrong. But I have not lost faith with him the same way I did with Goodwin and Robson. We're in December, we no longer have the European games, and there's still a lot to play for - third is still very much there, and should we be any less confident about winning the cup than we were at this stage last season? So I'm still backing him for now, but a bit pissed off with him.

To understand the change to this format, you have to understand what they're trying to get to. The final goal is a European league(s). This gets everyone used to the idea by creating the format first, and then slowly increasing the number of games you play within the format. It doesn't make sense now, but in a couple of years, you'll maybe have 8 games in Europe rather than 6. Then 10. The closer you get to the final format, the less pronounced are the differences in fixtures but, paradoxically, the effects become more visible (team X played exactly the same fixtures as team Y, bar one fixture which they lost and finished three points behind them, missing "promotion"). At that point, the calls are then switched to shouting for a full round of fixtures for everyone rather than questioning the tournament itself. It's basically using the sunk cost fallacy to get what you want. Governments, businesses and football cunts do it all the time. The most obvious example is VAR. Your goal is to remove all refereeing errors from football, so you introduce a shite system. You then slowly chip away at each type of decision until you get what you want. At a certain point, people stop questioning the existence of the system itself and they are the ones saying "well we've got this system, why aren't we using it for throw-ins?". Aided and abetted by morons in the media who have discussions about "how we can make VAR better", rather than "how can we organise to get rid of VAR", not realising that the former discussion doesn't mean impartiality, you've already agreed with Thatcher's TINA (there is no alternative). It's not just football. Every single town and city on the planet is setup in the most ridiculous fashion to accommodate car travel, for example. We must bail out banks, and so on. We don't have a say. We all know that the correct answer is to rip it up and go back to knockout tournaments, unseeded. We all know that what makes European football magical is its scarcity.

I’m looking forward to the bit when managers realise that playing out from the back is a sack of shit

Fair few holograms in the back line over the last 30 years.

To all those moaning Aberdonian bastards that think he is finished, I have just two words GRAEME SHINNIE

By the way, we have far too many players who look like each other when watching on the telly. Lazetic-Bilalovic. Jensen-Karlsson Milne-Polvara Too many times today I praised/criticised the wrong player. It's another issue Pfannenstiel needs to sort out.

Just back. Decent game, tireless performance and should have got something from it. Some sitters missed and a weak bit of defending. We pressed really high though and matched them all over the park. Going man for man was high risk but good to see. Their goal came from Devlin being high up on his man and tanking back in to cover for Milne who needs to be a bit better with his positioning. Earlier in the season, we'd have had the two defenders deep and probably dealt with it, but we'd have been passing it sideways and allowing them 80 yards of space all over the park. It's a worthwhile trade-off. Thought Aouchiche worked his arse off in there tonight (might have solved our midfield issue?), Armstrong outstanding for an hour and Lobban played like a seasoned pro. Was happy enough with the subs, I think Sunday has to be the priority. Yengi wasn't terrible, Milanovic was. Karlsson ineffective but generally worked hard. Mitov obviously pissed off with the disgusting besmirchment of his abilities on here recently and was top class - anyone questioning him should be flogged. Lazetic should be scoring tonight and has to be disappointed. Nisbet looked possessed when he came on. By a man with extremely heavy feet. His first five passes were hit at quadruple speed. You could see he really wanted to get involved, but everyone else was out on their arse (or Yengi or Milanovic).

I still find it hard to believe, that despite spending a fortune on employing the folk sitting at the top table, at the AGM, that the prick Stewart Milne, still hangs around our club like a bad smell.

While they're munchin' the legs aff amphibians, They wear necklaces made oot o' ingins There'll be be nae Laissez-faire When we kick derriere An' show them the road tae oblivion.

It varies. When I moved to the states I started coaching here, I was god because I had an accent and talked a good game. I had a coaching license, very rare here. I coached how I wanted, where I wanted, any formation, signed any players, created game schedules etc. I did team budget, I did everything. when I ‘retired’ from coaching 2 years ago my last gig was an academy. The club signed the players and I was given players, the club dictated my squad size and make up, I was told formations to play, style to play, my league and tournament was scheduled for me. I had very little say. My top players were quite often taken from my team to play with older/better teams, and I didn’t have a say. It was positional too, when the ball goes to x position he should be doing this etc. I was just the coach implementing their plan. The only job I’ve ever been fired from was a coaching gig, my team were state champions, u16 boys, and the club hired a Director of Coaching, fired me because he didn’t like how I coached (despite behind heavily licensed an more qualified than him), I didn’t follow his Brazilian methods and coach his way. I had Brazilians, English kids, a Scottish kid, a German, and some Central Americans, as well as eastern European Americans. I argued we were a mix of cultures so my style would reflect that. Not what he wanted, an not what many pro teams want. They want you to implement their system. I understand where the game is going, but it certainly takes away creativity and individuality to an extent. Is it easy to play against, maybe, scout maybe, but if you are a well oiled machine you’ll be hard to beat. Arsenal have/had such a passing reputation, that was/is taught at all levels. Most top clubs dictate from the top down, teams at all play the same or similar style, same or similar formations, same positional coaching so that players can move seamlessly from team and age group. Very much how many pro clubs operate. Lobban should join the first team and things shouldn’t be much different and he adapts easily to fit the system. think lutz will go this way, the manager has to fit the club philosophy and identity. I don’t think the club hired well in Thelin or recruitment folks given the lack of Scots and what lutz said, I do believe lutz and cormack want that aggressive passion and Scottish blood in the team and have seem what the lack of that can do. im rambling but think i understand what we are doing. We’re def hiring a coach to implement a system, not giving a manager a lot of power.

Falkirks not the worst place in the Central belt.One of the best supported sides per head of population too(35k),with average crowds of 7.5k at home

English Championship and Premiership games today but yes a day without football has me sitting in the corner mumbling to myself by midday.

Ssshhh the Spoonburners still think it’s raining every home game.

It might have been signed by Fergie. He was known to put R M Donald's signature on a bar bill or two.