mizer

Going on yesterdays performance most top 6 teams will be wanting to finish above Rangers, even Rangers reserves (Boyd et al) would want to finish above the first team.

http://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/Article.aspx/773222

ZANDER Diamond today declared himself fit and ready to return to active duty with the Dons.

 

Diamond, who had been sidelined by a foot injury, strolled through his comeback match as Aberdeen beat Highland League side Inverurie Locos 2-0 in a friendly at Harlaw Park.

 

There was a fresh scare when the 23-year-old appeared to suffer another knock during the first half that left him limping badly.

 

But Diamond insists he is ready to take his place in the Dons side to face Inverness Caley Thistle at Pittodrie on Saturday in their SPL opener.

 

Diamond said: “I’m fit, feel great and I’m desperate to play against Inverness.

 

“There was a bit of a panic on the bench when I got a knock, but I knew it was nothing serious and just ran it off.

 

“I have no injuries whatsoever, which isn’t something I’ve been able to say too often in recent times.â€

 

Mark Kerr, Derek Young and Stuart Duff also came through the game at Inverurie unscathed to leave the Dons with a full squad to pick from.

 

Diamond, who was replaced after an hour, hopes he did enough to convince manager Jimmy Calderwood to include him against Inverness.

 

He even gave up his day off today to come into Pittodrie to do extra training to top up his fitness.

 

Diamond said: “I knew the Inverurie game was my last chance to prove my fitness ahead of the start of the season.

 

“I’m delighted with the way things went.

 

“Now I have to hope I did enough to get back into the gaffer’s plans.

 

“I decided to train today instead of resting like most of the other lads because I want to get my fitness levels up.

 

“We also have training on Thursday and Friday, so I’m confident I will be up to speed by the weekend.â€

 

The Dons fielded a mixture of experienced and youth players at Inverurie but Diamond believes it was the perfect way to conclude their build-up to the new campaign.

 

“The Peterhead game apart, things have gone well,†he said.

 

“There is a good spirit in the camp.

 

“The new lads have settled in very quickly and we are now eager to get going.â€

 

Diamond’s target now is to help the Dons get back into Europe.

 

“I won’t be happy unless we finish at least third in the SPL,†he said.

 

“That would guarantee a return to Europe, which is what I want the most.

 

“It’s going to be agony looking on while other clubs are playing in the UEFA Cup this year.

 

“I don’t want to be going through that again.â€

Since my first 3 choices of Annan, Stranraer and Ross County have been knocked out, I too favour a trip to St Johnstone. Possibly Alloa.

Still one nil, pretty poor game apparently according to my source.

Kicked off at 7.45.

Paton has made it 1nil to the dons

Still 0-0

team: 1 Bateman 2 Ross 3 S Smith 4 Kerr 5 Diamond 6 Crawford 7 Pawlett 8 Stewart 9 Young 10 Paton 11 Duff

subs 12 Clark 14 McRobbie 15 Carroll 16 Gallacher 17 Megginson 18 Bolger 19 Cassidy 20 Bain

A little birdie told me he's already on the lookout for new clubs.

A little birdie told me he has been putting in some more effort in training .

Thats a fail by about 2 hours and 40 mins min 

Mackie needs to take the albatross off from around his neck and get his eagle eye in and score some early goals this season.

Tickets have been selling at a fast rate over course of today and the last update around an hour ago was that less than 500 remain.

 

Bearing in mind the ground capacity of 2300 it now looks certain that the game will be a sell out, which was as anticipated.

 

The last remaining tickets will now go on general sale at the ground at 6pm tonight. 

Glad jute never persuaded me to drive up otherwise we may have nae got in.

If Deano says he is good enough, thats good enough for me. Saw him play against hearts on Sunday, battered the Hearts defenders and was unlucky he had two goals ruled off for offside.

Sven isnt really much of a Belgian name is it?

folk on MAD were saying this is because AFC couldn't get the required medical staff in. I.e. he's going to have a very stringent medical to ensure his knee will hold, personally, should this not be done with any player anyway?

Yes 

Was in the paper this morning that he is flying up tomorrow to have a medical and that it is expected he will go straight into the squad

http://www.goal.com/en-us/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=805001

The SPL may not kick-off as planned next weekend, as strike action by referees looms on the horizon.

 

The Scottish Referees’ Association have not yet finalised a financial agreement for the forthcoming season, which is due to begin this Saturday with Rangers visiting Falkirk.

 

Scottish clubs and officials are understood to have discussed proposals on a new pay structure throughout the summer, however, no final arrangement has yet been met.

 

The Evening Telegraph reports that Scottish referees are eager to have their match fees increased to £1000, which would represent a sharp pay rise from last season’s biggest fee - £575.

 

A meeting this week in Grangemouth brokered no deal, and there is a chance of a so-called ‘no pay-no-play’ scenario arising.

 

According to the Telegraph, both the SPL and the SFA were unaware of the ultimatum when the referees’ decision was taken, but talks are understood to be ongoing.

 

However, if the £425 pay increase fails to materialise, then strike action could become a reality.

http://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/Article.aspx/768290

ABERDEEN’S front men are ready to match the 30-goal target set for them by manager Jimmy Calderwood.

 

That’s the verdict of reserve team coach Sandy Clark after spending the last month sharpening up their front-men for the big SPL kick-off.

 

Calderwood wants his four main strikers to deliver at least 30 goals between them to bolster Aberdeen’s chances of qualifying for Europe.

 

That’s something that has happened only twice in the last 10 seasons. But Clark is convinced Lee Miller, Darren Mackie, Chris Maguire and new man Tommy Wright have it in them to give Calderwood what he wants.

 

“It’s a very reasonable target,†said Sandy, who was a top-class striker himself with Hearts, Rangers and West Ham.

 

“All four are capable of delivering their fair share and will get their chance over the course of the campaign.

 

“It is very rare nowadays for one strike pairing to get the luxury of playing together all season.

 

“Injuries and suspensions mean you tend to find the combinations change quite a lot.

 

“But a target of 30 goals means they will need to get about seven or eight each.

 

“It’s not really a lot when you look at it that way, so we will all be disappointed if they stay fit and can’t deliver that total.

 

“Lee was our top scorer last season and I’m sure he will score more than his fair share again.

 

“Darren is fit again and eager to make up for lost time after only getting four last time.

 

“Darren always seems to score the important ones though, and I am certain he will continue that.

 

“Wee Chris is going to be a lot more involved as well and I’m excited by the thought of what he could achieve in the new season.

 

“Tommy will do his bit as well.

 

“I was sent to watch him play and was impressed by his aggression and sheer will to get in about defenders and win the ball.

 

“If we get the ball wide so that it can be delivered into the area the way Tommy likes it, I am certain he will score a good number of goals.â€

 

In the days when Sandy was a player, most Scottish clubs had one striker who was expected to deliver the bulk of that 30-goal target on his own – but he accepts times have changed.

 

“Football has become more squad orientated, so you don’t see many teams sticking with the same strikers all of the time,†he said.

 

“In one of the seasons I played for Hearts, we only used 14 players the whole season.

 

“When you are playing every week it stands to reason that you will have more chance of scoring goals.

 

“But strikers now find their playing time restricted because their club may choose to go with one up or make some other tactical change.

 

“I played with Ally McCoist at Rangers and John Robertson at Hearts, who were among the greatest of what you would class as old fashioned poachers.

 

“They did very little in games at times, but would then pop up with the goals that mattered.

 

“Few clubs can afford the luxury of players like those now.

 

“The strikers have become the first line of defence, so they have to be a lot more mobile and be willing to track back a lot more than some of the great names from the past did.â€

 

Sandy spent extra hours in Holland supervising special shooting drills at their training ground in Delden.

 

He was delighted with the way the players improved the quality of their shooting and movement over the course of 10 days.

 

“They are looking sharp and are now ready to go,†he said.

 

“Strikers are only as good as the delivery they get and that is something we worked on a lot.

 

“Most of our drills involve moving the ball about at pace and firing into the area early for the strikers.

 

“We also incorporate a bit of competition to add a bit more bite to the training.

 

“They take part in various shooting competitions and you would be amazed at how competitive they get at times.

 

“The quality of finishing was exceptional at times. But the strikers now have to prove they can do the same when the real action starts.â€

I too agree its a very reasonable target and you could say a higher target should be set as if you dont aim high mediocrity can set in.

I liked this boy he knew to pour the beers when he saw me coming 

Who can spot brunstane sheep in a rare awake moment?.....

FAIL   A+ for him 

Bollocks...

 

The club releases a statement to some substandard weegie rag to test the water before issuing a statement.

There are a few AFC staff registered on here (can tell by email addresses) so we can safely assume they read the other boards too and have seen that they have to backtrack.

http://www.aberdeen-mad.co.uk/news/loadsngl.asp?cid=ED15&id=400080

Smith Doubtful For Season Opener

Article by Stand Free Ed Monday, 4th August 2008

Woe for Dons as winger picks up fabricated injury in park incident.

 

ABERDEEN have been dealt a made-up blow in advance of their SPL season opener against Inverness Caley Thistle this Saturday.

 

The club has revealed that winger Jamie Smith has picked up a knock while appearing in a televised advert last night.

 

The adverts are beamed live from locations in Aberdeen, and feature injury-prone Smith being knocked back for a game of shootie-in by some overacting kid.

 

It is thought that the repeated live broadcasts - sometimes as often as three or four times a day - took its toll on fragile Smith and the injury occurred as he stepped on a daisy in Aberdeen's Union Terrace Gardens.

 

Dr Scott Booth of the Dons' physio staff said: "It was an accident waiting to happen.

 

"I said to them that it's madness picking Jamie to appear in those adverts. Everyone knows he's made of china.

 

"Of course the boss insists that everyone at the club would kick their granny, but there is no doubt that Jamie would end up worst off."

 

Aberdeen came under fire for spending a large part of their summer transfer budget on a huge cotton wool ball for Smith to be encased in during the close season and between matches next term.

 

The immense bud, costing £275,000, was deemed worth "every penny" of the club's "scant" transfer budget because a fit Jamie Smith "is like a new signing".

 

The club have since had to return the cotton ball after it was discovered to have its own gravitational pull.

Good one Ed, hope you dont mind me posting it up here 

Dont know if there will be anything on him in the first 100 years of the dons book by Jack Webster? Anyone ken?

Probably best if you speak to the official club historian (is it Kevin Stirling?) and anyone got his email address. I remember there was a quiz or something on redweb a while ago with it.

Anyone sorted this yet?

 

Quality.

 

Loved watching the Dons "up close" and having a bit of banter with most of the players 

Mackie, Young, Miller, JDV, Camero, Mair, Considine and Kerr all good lads to talk to. Foster what an arsehole!

The bigger picture.

see thread on the hat

Don't suppose you have a list of email addresses of the other clubs do you?

I will have them sent over to your email just now

Im sure we would be up for that min