thestooge

It was never a red. It was barely a foul. Typical officials making themselves the centre of attention. I think Tubilay has it spot on above.

It's been noticeable just how much we're now looking at adding depth and quality to our youth side. We've got the Man City youth Joe Nuttall on trial now but we've obviously added the loon from Germany, Culjak as well as Cem Felek too, and we've had numerous other guys in from bigger clubs in the last year as well. Obviously, it remains to be seen if this approach will pay off but it is good to see the net being cast far and wide.

The recent chopping and changing in goal makes me think McInnes is very unsure of either keeper. He doesn't strike me as the sort to dick about waiting to see if things will come good so I can see him forcing a change sooner rather than later. Robson has really won me over in recent weeks but if he does hang up his boots, or fancies a management role, we'll need to replace his experience. Don Cowie and Chris Burke are both international players with bags of Championship experience who may be tempted by a competitive SPL side playing European football. I doubt either will be as universally appreciated as Robson or Hartley were on their arrival but I think both have something to offer. With the youth side performing so well, you have to think one or two of them will progress so I don't immediately see a replacement for Low being a big deal. Will Logan definitely be here next season? Is Murray ready to step up to make that slot his own? On Jack, I still think it all depends on where the firm offers come from. If he's got genuine opportunities in Italy and Seria A, he'd have to grasp it. If it's sides in the middle of the Championship, he'll be mindful of the experiences of Rooney and Reynolds as well as numerous others currently on our books.

It appears to be some form of positive progress. It'll no doubt not go far enough for some but it's a start and if they can make it work, it can grow from there. It's good that they've accepted the improvement generated in atmosphere by the loons in the RDU in recent weeks. An olive branch at least?

A very good signing for them and a good move for Nicky at this stage in his career. I wish him all the best and appreciate his service. He's in a very select group of players who'll leave with the best wishes of virtually our whole support.

A dominant performance from us without any real stellar performances. Flood and Taylor my top Dons, with honourable mention to Robson for his dead ball delivery. Rooney could have had a couple more. McLean was energetic and desperate to get involved but his touch let him down and his enthusiasm impacted on his composure. Cifci cheated constantly. Diving any time a challenge looked close and recklessly throwing himself into challenges. He's a mink, plain and simple. Robson was shafted by the officials. He had his arms up to hold off the challenging player. It was a soft foul and a farcical red.

Every fucking week officials seem to make monumental fuck ups. These cunts get paid more than half the players in the league but manage to all too regularly get the big calls wrong. These things dinna even out. Even if they did, it's nae an excuse for near constant incompetence. Surely something needs to change.

Me. He wins.

I feel for Low. He's a good loon. He'll get a good job elsewhere though and it's probably best for him to move and establish himself as a first team regular. Shug, Masson and Robertson are at a real make or break stage. I hope they all prove me wrong but I'm not convinced any of them will find clubs in the top flight.

Any one of four for me. Jack, Hayes, McGinn and Rooney are all very tight. Had it been decided at Christmas, I'd have gone with Jack and Hayes but both their form has dropped a little in my opinion. McGinn has contributed massively with goals and assists and he's got to be in with a shout. Rooney gets my vote now though. Scoring against every league opponent is a massive achievement and he's contributed so much to the side in his workrate as well as his goals. Genuine contenders all over the park though.

I've defended our keepers more than I'd like too. I think they do get a rough time and, as a pair, they're the best first pick and back up we've had in a long time, but if we want to progress, we need better quality. That will likely need to come at a price though. We've committed a lot of players to new deals so I can't see a huge amount of change. I expect Smith and Shankland to get more game time next year, Smith at the expense of Pawlett and Shanks perhaps still from the bench but with greater regularity. I think we were over generous to Goodwillie. I'd have liked us to look elsewhere. Driver doesn't look like he'll earn an extended stay. Shinnie coming in is huge though, even if harsh on big Andy.

If we hadn't spunked our cash on another year for Goodwillie, I'd have suggested Scott McDonald could provided some vital leadership and experience. Not sure how many others will agree mind, he's nae a likeable chap as an opponent, but he was still a standout in the game against us recently.

Even if we could source them, I canna see any with the Aberdeen/shire connection that Ando and Robson have that adds value to their experience and likely makes them more affordable. Super Kev maybe? If we can't retain Logan, he'd be a worthwhile alternative.

He's my biggest Dons hero. He's only a year older than me which does make me pretty sad but fuck it, the boy has been a standout for us for years. Gutted he had such a disrupted season as last year he finally got his reward for his loyalty and ability with his League Cup medal. The experience of both him and Robson will be near impossible to replace.

Very enjoyable game of football. As I said in the separate Robson thread, I thought he was immense, comfortably the best player on the park tonight. Thought we were much better than the weekend, Brown made us a little more settled but there were still numerous slack moments from both Reynolds and Taylor. Flood was much improved tonight too. McGinn was a handful and Mclean looked like he had a point to prove when he replaced the disappointing Pawlett. Quite a few tough tackle son and from Shinnie. Good to see. He was ICT's top player I my opinion too and he's a superb signing for us. How long til 2nd is mathematically secured?

I really enjoyed that tonight. Really good entertainment even if it could have done with another goal or two. Robson was head and shoulders above everyone else for me. Even in the fading embers of his career, when he's at the top of his game, hes a joy to watch. We've not seen a huge amount from him this season but he proved his worth tonight with a display that showcased his technical skill, ranging of passing, physicality, experience and ability to control and influence a team. Shame we didn't get him a decade ago.

He's been the victim of racial abuse while playing for Dartford. The culprit has been banned from Fitba for 3 years and got some community service. Brown has taken the opportunity to bad mouth Aberdeen, saying no action has been taken here following a similar incident several years ago. I don't recall any media coverage of this at the time, which is quiet surprising given Brown's willingness to open his yap to the press as well as his constant self promotion on social media. As much as I disliked Brown, I thought he was dreadful, out of condition and that he had a terrible attitude with a vastly inflated opinion of his own ability, I am disappointed that he endured that kind of shite here. http://www.kentonline.co.uk/dartford/sport/browns-abuser-found-guilty-34586/

Ha, aye, I'm only 33. Still hope.

Line Up? I'd go: Brown Logan Taylor Reynolds Considine Jack McLean Pawlett McGinn Hayes Rooney They're going to be well up for it. We need to get back on track. Really need to see a bit more fight and tenacity from the team and I'm hoping being benched at the weekend gives Pawlett and McGinn the motivation to put in big performances.

Only 48 years old, still got a few seasons left... http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/apr/05/kazuyoshi-miura-48-japan-oldest-goal-scorer

Agree with you on your second point, JC was unquestionably a gobshite with an inflated opinion of his own work. He's not alone in that though. I disagree with the comment above though. These two elements, money and youth, are always brought up around JC. I dinna think they are fair. First, on money, JC had both OF spending considerably more than us. He also had Hearts spending more than us. Hibs and United maybe didn't quite have the same operational budget as us, but it was tighter than it is now. Despite a much tighter financial climate, JC maintained our league position and we finished above those sides closest to us financially regularly. We're now in a position where we're comfortably outspending the remainder of the league outwith Celtic so, despite being perfectly happy with McInnes, I think it's also important to remember that his resources should make finishing 2nd almost an expectation. On youth, when JC came in, we also overhauled an under performing youth set up. It wasn't JC's fault that there wasn't a huge amount of talent coming through. It's not like he was overlooking good players who have gone on to better things. We only really started to see the fruits of our improved youth network after he left. We're also now in a position where folks are starting to talk about youth talent being stifled but again that comes down to the quality in the starting 11. By the time JC had brought in the likes of Smith, Nicholson, Severin and Miller, there was less opportunity for youngsters, who argably weren't up to scratch anyway, to break through.

Very sad to hear the former Raith Chairman has passed away. He was one of the good guys and a strong voice during the Oldco/Newco shenanigans. RIP http://www.raithrovers.net/

Was just reading the BBC report. They have us dominant in terms of possession (55%-45%, I think) with considerably more shots at goal and on target. Are we in need of a little perspective over just how poor a performance we had? We're still one of only two sides to concede less than a goal a game, yet folk are now calling for Reynolds to be dropped/rested as well as the perennial keeper crisis. Kenny McLean is also now getting stick despite, to my eye, a fairly promising start in a side that has shifted systems frequently since his arrival. I'm looking forward to Wed night. They'll be up for it and we should all but secure 2nd will a win and hopefully a dominant performance. I assume we'll see McGinn and Pawlett back in the starting 11, rested and with a point to prove. A win on Wed and everything is hunky dory again.

There's a couple of things I'd stress first. The pitch was awful. It's cut up to fuck. Playing a passing game on it is near impossible. It's impacted on our performances at home in the last month or so. Add in the rain and a bobbly pitch has also become a slick one. We didn't alter our plan to the conditions. We kept in one the deck and the conditions made a short passing game very difficult. Thistle pressed us hard too so there were so many errors made that we looking embarrassingly bad compared to the types of performances we've become used to this season. The referee cost us the points though. I'm maybe being harsh but the 50/50 with Hayes through on goal looked fair to me and I'm confident Jonny would have finished had he been given the opportunity. We've been shafted time and again by refs this season. If it balances out over the course of the season, we're due some serious good fortune. I think we've also got to remember how far we've come. It used to be that "a bad day at the office" resulted in a sizeable defeat to rivals on a fraction of our budget. We're now in a position where I canna even remember the last time we lost at home. That said, we were poor yesterday. We didn't capitalise on early pressure. We didn't try to have a pop from distance until the dying embers of the game, despite the slippery conditions clearly causing both keepers problems. We didn't really show a fighting spirit. Although I was glad Shankland got a chance, it caused us to change our shape to accommodate him. I don't think McInnes has been hugely successful when he's done this this season. When he's experimented, we've invariably had to revert to more familiar systems, often before half time. We looked much better when McGinn and Pawlett replaced Flood and Shankand. It was a disappointing performance but conditions and officials, as well as team selection, tactics, both our own and Thistle's, conspired against us. Credit to Partick and the bulk of the responsibility to McInnes.

I'm djing at a mod/psych/beat night at the Blue Lamp in May.