I'm half in agreement with this article. I say half because, whilst clear wastes of space like Mackie really are still here after nine years ... and STILL punting the ball over the crossbar from point-blank range ... I think we need to be fair on this Dons team.
Half of them haven't played together before, whereas ICT are a very settled side with little squad movement over the summer. This was the first full competitive match many of these players have played together. Yes they are all professional footballers (with the exception of Mackie who is not a footballer!!), but it takes a few games for the players to start understanding and learning how each other tends to play and who tends to stray into what areas of the park. Our immense back line of two years ago, for example, included Anderson, Diamond and Hart. That's three players who have come through the ranks of Aberdeen FC. They've played in the same team for years. They have played and trained alongside each other for many many years.
Kerr & McDonald met about a month ago! My verdict on the new team will wait until we've played the first month of fixtures. Then I think they will have few excuses. Mackie, however, ran out of excuses years ago.