Reekie_Red

Simple answer to this is: Back then, we were running on a POSITIVE bank balance, we were the SECOND biggest club in Scotland (cos Celtic were in absolute turmoil until around 1994/95, but most Celtic fans don't know this cos most Celtic fans didn't become Celtic fans until Fergus McCann took the helm), and we were one of the biggest draws for any player cos we were in the hunt for titles, were regularly in Europe, and cup finals were a bit of a common thing. Now, all we can hope for in the way of big signings is the hope that someone who ONCE was a big name decides to come to Aberdeen to see himself through to retirement. Someone of the caliber of Barthez, for example, would probably say yes to a year with the Dons in his twilight years. But back in the day we were capable of getting players in who had a reputation and who were also NOT past their best.

True about Hearts, in a way. But then, when Burley left, Hearts' dramatic slide began. This in itself is proof to me that, if you have players with the ability, then the right manager will get you the results you require. JC had a squad last season who, in the final game, showed what they can do. It wasn't Rangers who were off the ball, it was Aberdeen who were that bit better than their rivals. Problem is, JC keeps pissing around with his continental tactics, playing players out of position to accomodate his mates, and generally fucking up the easy games. If he took the same approach to every game as he took to the final six games, there definitely wouldn't have been a 20-odd point gap between us and the Old Firm. Might've even got that gap down to single-figures.

24. To people standing at the top of Section Y - the Pittodrie pitch is the most unique in that there is no corner at the junction of the Merkland and Main Stands. 25. If Aberdeen have to raise their game, they will win 26. If Aberdeen are favourites, they will lose

Hey mate. Both sets of Transformers are awesome ... especially the Decepticons. Therefore, if the Old Firm are gonna be anything, they'll be Go-Bots

Dunno. Probably something to do with the fact that we drew 2-2 in the home leg?!

Commonly known in sporting terms as the "Ian Durrant Manoeuvre": Make the most out of a situation so that, in case said player can possibly recover quicker, any chances of a quick recovery are eliminated by unnoticed actions from said player's management team, physios and doctors. Said player and respective club can then spend a lifetime harking on to apparent guilty club/player for the rest of their lives about how they wrecked the prospects of "Scotland's brightest talent"

Still think I'm the only person who thought Billio was a bloody good player who just wasn't given the time of day by Ebbe. Still mind his performance against Motherwell at Fir Park. Absolutely immense when he came on. Still probably the most wicked and powerful shot I've ever seen in my life. Just about split the Fir Park goalposts in half.

Fucked knee? Probably still recovering from his initiation into The Stone Cutters ... err I mean his medical before signing for Rangers.

I heard this was McNamara's reasons for quitting the Dons too!

If only Mackie was SPL-quality, he would've scored that goal But he's not an SPL-quality striker! Maybe if we ditched him for the first time in TEN YEARS we would have space for a striker who actually knows how to score goals ... no I don't mean off the back of his head when a keeper accidentally throws the ball against him Basically, my point is, Lovell IS a top-quality striker. Mackie is a good sprinter who just so happens to ping the ball off his feet in whichever direction he hopes. Sometimes the ball comes off his feet and hits the net. Mostly, though, it ends up in the RDU. But the sad matter of fact is, Mackie has been getting a wage from Aberdeen since July 1998 but has only scored 53 goals in that time for us in all competitions (excluding friendlies). I'm sorry, but less than a 6-goal average across all seasons is not a statistic that any striker should be proud of. Maybe a midfielder can get away with this sort of statistic. But a striker? The boy just turned 28 this month. If he hasn't peaked yet, then it's time to cast him off. In my view, it was time to cast him off about six years ago. But the Pro-Mackie Brigade will no doubt shoot me down for saying this. A fully fit Lovell playing next to a fully fit Miller would, in my view, be the most potent strikeforce in Scotland. Crazy idea ... what about a cheeky look at Naismith. Ever since I saw him tear us apart against Killie three years ago, I've been highly impressed with him. Cheeky as fuck. Dirty as fuck. Complete gadgie! But a bloody lethal striker. Do Rangers even know he's on their books? If not Naismith, then maybe Boyd! Both these players have more talent in their left toe than Mackie has in his entire body.

That's the worrying thing. Aberdeen ALWAYS seem to have one real nightmare result every season. If it's not being beaten 7-0 by the tims, it's being beaten 6-0 by Livi on our own patch. This season we got horsed by United in the cup. I thought to myself "okay, that's got to be our nightmare result out of the way. At least it happened in the pish cup, and not the bigger cup with the bigger spoils". How wrong was I? Why can't we weed out these shit results that make us the laughing stock of Scotland for seven days?

Genuinely quick? As opposed to "he said he was quick, but I've seen oil tankers go from 0to60 faster"

If it's an away game, either Hibs or United. If it's at home, Rangers. Rangers at home seems to be the only game that Pittodrie wakes up for. The other two purely cos they're awesome away days.

A pitty. Would've been awesome to honour Windass. He was one of the last legends I remember at Aberdeen. I think only Jess and Anderson have come close since him. But he was immense. I remember the days when we were 1-0 with ten minutes to go, and we could look to the bench and see Deano and Big Dunc sitting there. Both were capable of getting us injury time winners ... and time and time again, they lived up to their mantles of supersubs. ... and those yellow boots!

Therefore, Lovell must surely get a call-up for the England squad for scoring against Bayern. To be perfectly honest, I'm quite happy that no Dons are in the Scotland squad at the moment. Whenever a Dons player makes the Scotland squad in the past 10 or 15 years, they've either done next to fuck-all or have been so bad, it's quite embarassing watching them. Seriously, Anderson was quite shocking the few times I've seen him in a Scotland jersey. McNaughton's cap against Nigeria was only memorable for two runs up the wing which ended up in goal-kicks. I think the last two Aberdeen players I can ever remember doing something decent for Scotland were Robbie Winters scoring against Germany, and Eion Jess scoring against the Czech Republic. ... Talking of priceless Jess goals, I couldnae help myself wi' this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9I_ICPGZ1_o Watch and weep, my fellow reds. Watch and weep ... with misty-eyed joy!

Our squad gets battered and bruised by some of Europe's finest footballers. An extended cup run in both cup competitions sees only Rangers play more games than us. But it still goes almost completely unnoticed that we finish 4th place. The media were creaming themselves when United were switching between 3rd and 4th earlier in the season. Dunno why I'm moaning. The Dons have always been shunned by the media. Who are we to care?

Versatile player? Sold! That's our left-back position filled then

I'm very wary of Foran. He was really keen on signing for the Dons when his contract with Shelbourne was up for renewal. Ebbe went over to watch him play, but he got sent off. He pleaded with Ebbe to give him another chance. So Ebbe went over a second time a few weeks later. Guess what? He got sent off again! I've got no doubt that Foran is a decent midfielder (well, when we were originally looking at him 8 years ago, he was a midfielder). But he's as big a liability as Nigel Pepper or Rachid Belabed. No point in fielding someone when there's a good chance you'll be playing one man down for the remainder of the match.

Better than our left back from a decade ago? Nah, min. Nobody's better than Jamie McAllister

Is that cos we is so close tae the Codonas, min?

I never rated Douglas as a goalie. He had a phenomenal defence infront of him at Celtic ... Boyd, McNamara, Mjallby and Lambert. I think Mark Peat would've been okay with that defence infront of him. He reached his peak many moons ago. Not what we are looking for in terms of a long-term goalkeeping solution. Mind you, I didn't think much of Kjaer when we first announced he was coming to Aberdeen. He turned out to be the third best keeper I've ever seen play for Aberdeen ... only behind Watt and Stillie (ducking for cover, lol)

Just like Robbie Winters ... and pretty much every striker we've had at the club in the past decade

Loved every word of what you were saying there, mate ... right up until you said the above. I'm presuming you've forgotten the match at Ibrox a few seasons ago when we were level-pegging past half-time. Then JC decided that, rather than stick to the 4-4-2 game plan that was working, he'd shift things around to produce another one of his fabulous formations that only he knows how to operate. The dirty huns saw this change happening and saw how uncomfortable our players were with the change, and within the space of about 12 minutes we were 4-0 down. I seem to remember Kevin McNaughton receiving his first ever red card that day too. But that might've been another game at Ibrox.

Cut to the chase and keep Lovell. The boy is a real professional. Has scored some quality goals for us. JC just needs to forget about his "good laugh in the dressing room clique" and give Lovell the regular starting berths that he needs to boost his confidence. A confident Lovell is a potent Lovell. And I'm sure he'd stay at Aberdeen for a fraction of Lee Miller's asking price.

Thankfully, this didn't stop us signing Jamie Smith. Although, I'd still rather have a player with a reputation for playing every single game, rather than playing one absolute blinder and then being out for 2 months with injury. Jamie Smith is phenomenal. But I wish we had him on the park as often as we had the likes of Phil McGuire on the park who, despite not being the most talented footballer, still managed to have something like 70 consecutive starts for the Dons.