Ajja

Regardless...

I agree with you on that score Bilbo, some peoples views can swing significantly depending on which direction they are looking from. It seems the need to be proved right is clouding the need to be sensible and realistic. I think as a support, we need to move away from this jousting about where we have been and focus on some real analysis around where we are right now and how we might move forward. Like I said above, it isn't going to change overnight and if we don't give MM time to get it right we will be back to the knee jerk pressure that saw us binning managers at a furious rate. The landscape has changed markedly and patience is essential.

Sorry, you are correct. Still, he is out for the season with them, regardless.

I'm still willing to give MM the benefit of my support on this season despite a slow start. Its easy to point to a lack of any real progress and to start sharpening the knives at this early stage but there is a lot of work to be done and its not going to happen in 7 games. The two positives for me are: 1. Defence. It might be clutching a bit to point to 4 clean sheets in a row but its very good progress on the first 3 games of the season and we would all have bitten hands off for that after the Celtic game. As McGhee has said, building from the back is a tried and tested route to success. I seem to remember it being a feature of JC's reign, the only problem being that we never really built on that foundation. I personally feel MM is more likely to do so. With a solid defence, not leaking goals every week we have a better chance of building confidence through the side. Its easy to suggest that when we come up against a better side than in recent weeks we will be found out but until it happens then we should give them the benefit of the doubt. For most, that seems to be an illusive trait, much easier to jump on the managers and the teams back before it has even happened. 2. Youth. We have been screaming for this for years and finally we have both a pool of talent and a management team who not only talk about it as the core strength but are actively blooding players. We all know that young players seldom possess consistency and will blow hot and cold. We have to accept that performances from a team with youth players involved will suffer these ups and downs. When it works (see Hamilton) then it will be successful, when it doesn't it will be ugly (see Falkirk). However, th eonly way to get the consistency is to persevere. Again, patience is not a trait on display in this thread. Much easier to offer knee jerk, angst ridden reactions. Its not easy supporting this team but you have to be willing to be patient. Most of us ran out of it with Calderwood but we should avoid expecting immediate changes as a result. It will take time to get things working and periods where tangible results are not obvious does not mean that there is not progress being made. Dillusional ? Possibly. Naive ? Maybe. Realistic ? Certainly. Lets try to be patient and give up on the opening of wrists for now ?

I hear Toronto are after a striker to replace Jamie Smith after he got crocked about 3 secs into his debut.

A guy who knew how to wear a tan with style. RIP.

Comfortable win for the Dons in this one. Dundee won't score against us so it should be easy enough. 2-0 us.

Is it too early to ask Whoopie Goldberg if she has heard from him yet ?

Does McGhee not have a bit of history when it comes to picking fights? While I applaud him taking a tough stance on players doing as they please I hope he hasn't chosen to bloody the nose of our most talented first team player. Bit fucking AAAARRGGGHHHHH on this one. Last thing we need when we are trying to settle into a new set up.

Its going to end in tears! http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/aberdeen/8252280.stm

I suspect this might have been the deal clincher

Like I said, we/he is under the spotlight. The media love a good car crash story and we are doing our best to provide one. He could certainly drink a large cup of shut the fuck up at times but the hysteria just builds behind silence on here as much as it does around chat. If we assume he will suffer the same reactionary, unrealistic, irrational response from the fanbase whatever he does then I'd rather hear honesty. Thats all I'm saying.......ya prick.

Its always tough juggling the Socialist hat with the football fan hat...

Rather than seeing this as excuses or lack of ambition why can't it be under promise and over deliver ? I think he is just trying to lower expectations to take some pressure off his squad which is currently under the spotlight due to the media circling around our financial difficulties. There is a time to talk up your performance and opportunity and there is a time to keep a lid on expectation. Any decent manager of people knows this. Now is certainly not the time for McGhee to be blowing trumpets. McGhee is being crucified because he is coming out and being up front and honest about the circumstances he finds himself in, I find it quite refreshing.

Correct. I think we all agree that we could laugh for weeks if irresponsible teams like Hearts went to the wall but at the end of the day it does nothing to support the game in Scotland and there are ordinary people doing ordinary jobs at HMFC who deserve to have their future guarded by legislative controls.

Was that the year our turnover would have been inflated unrealistically by a European run and some cash coming in for players though ?

Indeed, we will never be able to compete with bigger clubs, that is clear but there are clubs in England who have smaller turnovers than us who can outstrip us in wages by some distance. This ruling would restrict that somewhat were it to be applied across other footballing authorities.

I think prudence to ensure survival is the primary objective here. I would expect that notions of quality improvement may be someway down the line. His point appears to me to be 'lets make sure that the clubs are there tomorrow and then we can concentrate on them being better'. None of it is earth shatteringly brilliant but it is a sensible business approach to a difficult time. The problem is (as you correctly point out) retaining quality and if the rest of the footballing world is going to continue being out of line with this philosophy then it will reduce the product on display in Scotland. As long as Championship/League 1 teams in England who have similar or smaller turnovers to ours can pay 3x the wages then we are going to get bent even further and harder over the desk. If Smith puts this into practice then we have to hope Platini does the same and then the playing field will be levelled significantly. That can only be good for Scottish football.

If there is one difficulty I have with our transfer dealings in the last few months its this. I suspect McGhee has just been shopping too high up the ladder. I fully agree with his sentiment that he is not going to bring in low level players form England/France/Holland etc just to build numbers and the club are to be applauded for saying that they would rather make way for youth players to develop experience. However, the reason he was not able to get those few extra signings in is that he has shopped in the wrong places. Calderwood was given the slack to make these deals but McGhee will not so we have to hope he can do something with the young players that Calderwood couldn't. I'm still reasonably confident this will happen and I am almost glad the transfer window is closed so he can get on with delivering without distraction.

Listening to McGhee today he was clearly frustrated by two things: 1. He cannot get the players in he would like to due to financial constraints 2. Fans/media/all other critics are not getting the message that there is no money to spend Its a simple message. Granted it gets clouded by press speculation and some inconsistent commentary from the club. However, with only a modicum of brain space you should be able to work it out for yourself. It makes perfect sense to me that we tried to sign a host of players but at the end of the day if they are not going to ADD VALUE to our squad I am delighted we are not signing them. Its comical to hear our support react to the varying phases of our transfer dealings at times. 1. Club announces a player we are looking at - flurry of comments ripping his stats to bits, endless expert opinions about how he is not the type of player we need, claiming he is no better than the shite we already have etc etc etc. 2. Club announce we missed out on a player - suddenly he was the greatest thing to grace a football field in the French 3rd tier and we were incompetent fools to have lost out on him. 3. Club announce the player is signing - flurry of excitement because we signed a player, endless comments building him up to levels of unrealistic expectation.

Not on a 5pm deadline, no.

I'd say thats about the toughest draw we could have got. SPL wannabees looking to prove themselves. At least we are unlikely to take them for granted and will take a big support. What does Dens take in the away end ?

Tommy Wright is the answer.......to giving him a kick up his hole at least

Surely a pair of concrete slippers and a river would sort that out. No need for delicate contracts negotiations.