baggy89

Best Aberdeen Player of the Decade: Jess Best homegrown player: Anderson Best signing: Jimmy Calderwood Best goalkeeper: Peter Kjaer Best defender: Russell Anderson Best midfielder: Roberto Bisconti Best forward: Arlid Stavrum Best manager: Calderwood Pick an XI from the decade: -------------------Kjaer------------------- McNaughton-Anderson-Diamond- Mulgrew Nicholson- --Bisconti---Heikinnen-Aluko ----------------------Jess-------------- ---------Stavrum----------------------- Game of the Decade: Aberdeen 2 v Bayern Munich 2 Biggest single disappointment of the decade: Pele Best opposition player of the decade: Larsson

Doont panic, reslutz lick theez r 2 be xpctd afta tha mes Calderbafoncloun lefd us in!!! It uz a trazishonal seesun onwurdz n upwurdz

Agreed!

I agree with the bit in bold. But... Punching above our weight in what sense? In the sense that Jimmy had a poor squad of players motivated to play above their abilities? or a Poor squad of players organised to get results? or a bit of both? As for the whether we deserved our European place last season, I paraphrase Mr Wenger "We compete over 38 games in a season". As for Calderwood managing Dundee Utd, I'd be surprised if it happened, but if it did it would not sit comfortably with me. While Levein's teams have nearly always beaten Jimmy's in one off games they cannot compete over a season. At United he would be inheriting a tidy group of young(ish) players capable of improving as a unit, something Calderwood proved he was capable of here. There is no argueing withthe fact that in SPL terms Calderwood is one of the most successful Scottish managers of recent times. It might not be pretty, it may come with embarassing losses at times but it is successful (in non-OF SPL terms).

Maybe that's the trick, we need to find a mercenary like Stavrum who (I would say) considered himself permanently in the shop window. Then again I remember the abuse Stavrum used to get for being lazy and constantly offside.

At the minute we're not scoring. While Mackie may not be a very good player, he has in the past proved himself to be good for a goal every two games, approximately (regardless of the sitters he misses). If he can get his confidence back and with the specialist coaching McGhee should be able to provide, I see no reason why he cannot achieve that again. At the end of the day we have no money so the management should be making the best of the resources at their disposal.

Your probably right Bobby, I was having a bit of a rant and probably more than slightly weighted it to try and stir up a bit of debate. Like you say the below-par performances could be due to any number of factors, but in the last year (and I'm talking about Chelsea here) we've seen the power senior players can have if they do not get on with a new manager. I'm not suggesting that this is a factor with us just that it might be. We've seen what McGhee has said in the papers about opposition teams this season, did he say something derogatory about our players last season? Is there a grudge being held? It is difficult to judge at this point in the season, I'm not calling for McGhee's head. As you say I haven't touched on players abilities and ages nor have I touched on how many games the "dross that needs to be moved on" played in a team that finished fourth. McGhee has to be given time and by that I mean till the end of his contract at least. I want to believe that he can turn us into a "force". You asked "where do you see us in 5 years time?" Maybe a more pertinent question would have been "Where do you see us in a years time?" In the last few years we have not been very successful in retaining senior players whose contract are due for renewal, add into that my perceived unhappiness of a few others. Where will be if we finish bottom 6 this season and then have to attract players to replace (worse case scenario) Kerr, McDonald, Miller, Mulgrew, Langfield, Diamond and Aluko? Especially players who will help bring on the youngsters. As far as I can see the SPL decreases in quality slightly year on year, the trick seems to be to keep a squad assembled for as long as possible and have a decent motivational man manager. The evidence so far does not point to McGhee being that man, however if he can build his own squad, who knows? Fuck I'm depressing today. Not enough work to do obviously .

I hate to join the conspiracy theorists but these injuries for Zander are conveniently coming one after the other, and I'm beginning to get the feeling there is more too it. Especially when you add in the lack of form from almost all our senior players. I keep reading about this season being a transitional season, but I'm not sure I agree. I read that the squad is weaker, I'm not sure I agree with that either. Everything in McGhee's record in management suggests that his first season is the best, well if this is the best we're fucked. Just for comparison differences in squads: Squad 08/09 (that played) Squad 09/10(that have played so far) Jeffery DeVischer Jonathan Crawford Jared Hodgkiss Frazer Fyvie Jamie Smith Davide Grassi Lee Mair Jerel Ifil Scott Severin Mitchell Megginson Javan Vidal Maurice Ross (Wtf was I talking about) Sammy Stewart Bertie Bossu Obviously we have Nelson for Bertie and Sammy is still on the books, although like Megginson this season only made one sub appearance. Jerel is a straight swap for (last seasons) Severin, Fyvie must have already played as many as Jamie Smith did last term. Davide Grassi is straight swap for Lee Mair, Crawford for Hodgkiss, Pawlett has already played as many games this season as his and DeVischers totals for last. and Javan didn't come till January. We have used one less player this term so far than we did the whole of last season, obviously this doesn't take into account the awful run of injuries and suspensions we've had. It was said many times that McGhee was going to be a sideways step and so far everything points to this. I fail to see how getting rid of Mackie, Duff and Young but retaining the rest is going to solve anything. Performances would suggest that senior players are not comfortable/happy under McGhee and that is surely not going to help progress the young ones. Anyway off on a tangent there and hopefully we're just a couple weeks late for our usual December January surge. Otherwise I can't wait for our bottom six winners trophy parade down Union Street in May .

Never really put any thought into it Dave, devolved immigration laws isn't something that comes up in everyday life, for me anyway. It was a mythical review in Scottish football anyway. Pretty sure lower leagues in England there is not "the played in whatever percentage of internationals rule". There always seems to be a couple floating about who've never played for their country in League 1, 2 and the connie.

You have slightly misunderstood me, I think, by cherry picked youth talent from the cream of Europe what I meant was all the youth of the like of Man U, Arsenal, etc. As I understand it that it is the Belgians relaxed Work permit policy that allows them to bring the players from Africa and South America and get them playing in the EU along with many of their own EU players being sent there on loan. Wasn't aware that the immigration law wasn't devolved but why are we, in the SPL, subject to the strictest rules (like the EPL) but lower leagues in England and Scotland are not?

The one potential advantage of the OF falling to the same level as the rest of us, that I can see, is that it may prompt a much needed overhaul of the Scottish game in general. This may be fantasy time but surely at some point somewhere there has to be a lightbulb come on in a "powerbrokers" head that says "You know what? Chasing the riches in England is futile if we haven't honestly got the resources to create an exciting package". There does seem to be a renewed emphasis on youth production in Scottish football hopefully that can be maintained but it will need the OF to stop being so fucking greedy. It is modern culture to want things NOW, whether that be reflected in average household debt, the internet or success on the football field. We are a small nation and need to stop fucking each other over in pursuit of this. While I didn't agree with Keith Wyness' plans for Scottish football, he did have a point and it is a point that I can see most Scottish clubs moving too. Interestingly in Ajja's post about us moving down rankings in European football he mentioned it was Belgium who were to replace us. Correct me if I'm wrong but do a lot of the top European Leagues have "feeder" teams in Belgium? Could this be the explanation for the resurgence of the game in this country? Perhaps within my mythical review of Scottish football the Scottish Executive could look into the laws governing work permits and the like. Surely to have cherry picked youth talent sent from the cream of Europe playing alongside our own youth will improve them as players and increase their exposure to scouts from the big leagues.

Booooo! Can I have my survey back then?

This is what I'm talking about when I say now is sad time to be supporting a club with little or no money to spend. The lure of the "Greatest" leagues in the world the television coverage of "minority" sports means that your average person can think of a lot of other activities to partake other than go to the football. Although the support and club histories cannot be compared, in the last 11 years Cheltenham have been to three "cup finals" (FA Trophy, and two League 2 play-off Finals) all of which they have won. With Cheltenham taking circa 20000 fans to each. This has done nothing to increase average attendances for league games, however. I'm not sure what the answer is, Aberdeen fans can look inwards and blame the general malaise down Pittodire Street and point to the mediocrity that Jimmy accepted. As a supporter of another shite team in another shite backwater league I can asure you the malaise is not just in Aberdeen but probably in everyboard room in the country. The only "success" I see in the English lower leagues is from clubs spending outwith their means. I'm not so sure Jimmy maybe wasn't just a realist, then again realism is not a word that sits comforatbly with football fans.

Whisper when you say this but I seem to remember the likes of Darren Mackie, Stephen Payne, John Stewart, Scott Muirhead, Scott Morrison and Ryan Esson. Being talked up by Aberdeen fans as players with potential. Wasn't it Scott Michie who broke all kinds of scoring records at youth and reserve level and big things were expected when he broke through (I may be thinking of someone else here). Kev McNaughton hardly helped service the debt with his big transfer and before that we had Phil McGuire, the Young brothers. I really hope, like you say, this lot do achieve their potential but Aberdeen's recent history is littered with players not reaching their potential and/or Aberdeen not receiving the full "potential" transfer fee's for these players.

I can't see any significant changes until the club can shift the ever tightening noose round our neck that is the £12 million (and rising) debt. This young team if it matures into what, at this stage there is the merest hint of, it will be broken up to service the debt/fund the move to the new stadium. In an ideal world in 5 years we will be in a state of the art stadium with no debt. Unfortunately if you were to base the next 5 years on the previous 15 under the stewardship of Milne, the club will in all likelihood be £40 million in debt, still playing at Pittodrie, with the white elephant of an unfinished stadium on the outskirts of Aberdeen that the ever dwindling support don't want. I'm not entirely sure where this optimism comes from, from certain parts of the Aberdeen support. Yes we have some youth coming through, we had groups of "exciting" prospects under Ebbe and Pele where are they now? Jimmy generally had a young squad (before any of the usual suspects start this is not JC argument merely a point). I've not been home this season and usually only get to one or two games a season but the stuff on TV looks no better or worse than any performance I've seen over the last 10 years. I'm afraid it's a sad time to be, not just an Aberdeen fan, but probably a fan of any club not in England Spain or Italy's top leagues or in the top two or three of that clubs respective country. The really depressing thing is I'd say we are 5 years behind Hib's at the minute (in terms of training facilities, level of debt, and ability to pay fee's for the right players). I hate to say it but the question crosses my mind more and more nowadays "where would we be now if we had lost on the 6th of May 1995?" I'd hate to have had Relegation and Administration on our history books but something like that would have at the very least stabilised the club, wiped the debt and allowed us to build from a decent base with a galvanised support and staff. We may only be at the same level we are now but we wouldn't owe the bank several million pounds. At the minute we seem to stumble from 5 year plan to 5 year plan, with the support frightened to rock the boat for fear of our "guarantor" walking out and leaving us up the the proverbial. *edit* May ya numptie

Why would you be ridiculed for being correct? Kjaer was Danish No.2 behind the greatest keeper of the modern era otherwise he would have had far more caps and Bryan Gunn has more Scotland Caps than Clangers zero despite being up against two of Scotland's best ever keepers for a starting berth. I'm sure the older posters will be horrified to read Langfield is allegedly a better keeper than the likes of Clarke too. Fuck it Bobby Mimms was twice the keeper Langfield is.

Did it yesterday, like others have said, some interesting ideas. Particularly the internet streaming of matches. Something the English have been trying in International matches, I wonder if it's on the SPL's radar as far as future broadcasting avenues are concerned?

Gael??

I'm assuming you are referring to the bit about you? If so please note that my post is in response to Andrew's "in jokes" comment. You could develop an eating disorder and weigh 4 stone and you'd still be the fat annoying one, it's been a running joke on various incarnations of various AFC message boards since... forever... You'll find I've never got involved in the minijc is a fat cunt banter, I'd be as pleased as the next person (from the internet, who's never met you) for you if you achieve your target weight and can maintain it.

Oh I dunno: You've got a small willie Jaegerdeen runs CtS likes mingers Dave wears girls jeans and has pink hair Fatjim is into necrophilia and spelling Mizer is gay minijc is annoying and fat (Apologies if I've missed anyone out.) If all else fails post a lame pun. This site is certainly, I feel, more accessible than some of the others. If it's a thread on a topic that the majority agree on it's pretty obvious straight away without countless posts of shite and squabbling. If it's something where there is a difference of opinion it's quite easy to join the debate. For the most part things are debated sensibly and without the need for endless shite posts and squabbling. Most folk also don't take a difference of opinion personally and as such threads generally don't turn into personal insults. I liked Bobby Connors post in the thread over on the hat after Fatshaft chucked his rattle, that descirbed this site as a "cult" site. Correctly or incorrectly, I took that in the good sense rather than the bad Home and Away sense. I sincerely hope no one is brain-washing me into killing Irene. I've awlays assumed the Brown option was the don't give a shit option, because brown is the colour of shit??

To be fair at Vale he played in every game he would have been available for. 1 start and 1 sub out of 5 at Blackpool wasn't great, but the same as Sone managed in a similar length of time.

You got blue balls from Iprix?? What was Nacho Novo doing to you??

So, you got a free jaunt to the football, you got merry on the free booze, bought some tickets, got slightly more merry on the free booze, won a prize, got more merry on the free booze, were presented with the prize, got so merry you forgot where you left the prize after you had been presented with it, and now want the club to give you another one or you won't go back on another free trip to the football???

Better.