Ajja

http://www.dafc.info/forum/read.php?f=1&i=816873&t=816873 This thread on the pars site makes you weep for the poor bastards. They have themsleves beaten already because we have sold 6000 tickets . They are paranoid that Dons fans will invade their end. Wouldn't it be shocking if loads of us signed up to their forum and said we had bought tickets for their end and 'would it be safe'

I read somewhere on their site that they would be opening up other areas if demand was there. I'm fucked if I know what the hell they are talking about when they mention the East North Norrie Wing. Great news that we have sold all our tickets. I assume they must be selling theirs well also if they have claimed back the stand they were giving us. Hopefully we will see the good old days of Dons fans in the home end

Except on a QF day out in Dunfermline I have to admit that I almost relish the summer months without football. I can switch my mind to family time doing fun stuff with the kids and lounging around in the sun. I don't have to wake up every Saturday wondering how the fuck I can orchestrate my day to make sure that I am beside the radio and PC to endure 3 hours of mental torture. I don't have to wonder how the wife will react when I realise there are 3 Saturday's in a row when I will be out the door at 8:30am and back in at 8:30pm without any ability to string a sentence together.

I'm not proposing blind faith, I'm merely saying that without the inside knowledge of how our youth players are performing in all aspects of their development and without much in the way of compelling evidence to suggest a path of failure so far we should try to trust the management on this issue. If things take a serious change then I am right behind you on calling for change in the team. Just be wary of hanging your hat on the idea that with fresh young blood comes any guarantee of success. Lets also not forget that Young is not actually getting much of a game in the 1st team either so its difficult to argue he is ahead of the youth as the current first team set up are doing an acceptable job in the current climate. He is just a very cheap gap filler at a time when we have to be prudent with our budgets.

It worries me a great deal and I am not trying to argue that its acceptable that we do not appear willing to run a conveyor belt of youth players through to first team level. In fact if you look back over history you would find me arguing a similar issue. However, my real worry is that we do not actually have enough of these guys who are deemed good enough to come through as opposed to making the simple leap that Calderwood is making a conscious decision to restrict their talents in favour of SPL journeymen. This may be the case but we make the assumption lightly in my opinion. The finer detail of my point is that we can only presume to know the reasons why we are not seeing youth players given opportunity. Its easy to say its JC not being willing but we don't know enough about it to make that assertion in my mind. I'm much more in favour of looking at what we do know to shape opinion and what we do know is that the list of youth players who have gone out the back of the factory door having failed to live up to their billing is reasonably long. The other list....the starlets, the jewels, those nuggets of gold who will light up Pittodrie...thats not a long list. Now you can go as far as to say that JC/the club management in general have failed to bring these players on if you want to strip it right back. However, to draw the conclusion that this is all about Calderwood strangling talent seems to be based on nothing other than some idylic dream that taking a punt on some young guys in place of a squad set up that has us challenging for the best we can hope for this season (3rd and a cup win) will somehow reap greater rewards. Its too easy to have authority without responsibility. As fans we can draw assertions based on romance, we can make demands based on ideology we can scream for change just for the sake of it because we don't have to deliver anything other than our undying support for the club. The club manager(s) are positioned differently and they have much more information at hand and much more to lose if they get it wrong. I've lost myself now

He can manage our b-team in division 3.

I used to give Anderson stick because of his bowl cut.

Bottom line is that we have to trust that JC is not bringing in young players because they are not ready or not good enough. I agree with you that there is always hype surrounding young players. As fans we all want to believe that our young players are going to provide the solution to our frustrations. Its so much easier to believe in the unknown than the known and we get so caught up in this notion that it seems like such a clear view. Why can't JC see it ? The answer is because he actually works with these guys and sees what they are capable of, how they approach their training, their game planning and their fellow players, how they deal with pressure and how they respond to criticism. We see none of this, we just see dreams of what might be. As I said earlier, lets hear the evidence from those who shout for it to suggest that our current young players should be given extended runs in the team ? Lets see the list of young players who have been stifled at Aberdeen only to escape and set the footballing world alight ? Fair enough we see bad games from the current first team but while we challenge for 3rd and a cup QF is this reason to tear up the script ?

I'm not entirley sure what the argument here is about. Are you holding up Ross County as an example of how a team from a similar region who did not change status are flourishing more than a team that did ? or are you suggesting that Ross County have actually benefited from a loss of support for the Inverness merger ? Just because there are clearly massive emotive issues and as many layers of complexity as you wish to build into the idea of merging clubs doesn't make it pointless. I agree that its not immediately obvious who gets merged and who doesn't but you are deflecting the argument away from the simple principal that there are too many clubs in Scottish football who are trying to take a piece of a small pie. I actually agree with Jute in terms of the pyramid system, letting clubs find their natural level is a similar route to the 'survival of the fittest' idea I would support.

All very true however I'm not entirely convinced that we have inside knowledge of the management teams decision making criteria where youth is concerned. While I agree that it would be good to see young players getting a chance there is almost no evidence to suggest that JC has made the wrong decisions about other youth players he has chosen to keep out of the first team set up. If Young is 'ahead of youth players' in the queue then its because he doesn't think they are ready for the first team. I'd be interested to hear what examples you cite to support the notion that these decisions are incorrect.

Its not the Saab is it ?

Surely they don't need to. They write to you if you win with a cheque. I've won 3x£10 and 1x£100 although not for around 12 months now. I'm sure thy put you into a syndicate for the national lottery as well do they not ? I'm happy to pay the £13 a quarter regardless if I win or not. I reckon I'm probably paying Derek Youngs wages in his new contract.

While I don't disagree with alot of what you are saying...I do You haven't taken any account of the idea that teams manage risk associated with failure by playing very defensive football. The threat of relegation may provide spurts of excitement in the final throws of a league but for 95% of the season it provides safe, unattractive football. While an extended league clearly means there will be some games with no meaning, a 10 team league doesn't eradicate this problem. the meaningless fixture problem also only exists for a short period at the end of the season, unlike the 95% of the time a risk avoidance strategy does.

By the reactions to pictures of girls on this forum, as many as there are guys ?

Cheap squad player using up very little resource at the club. Get over it guys. There are bigger things to get upset about surely ?

I'm pretty clear that merging teams is very unlikely to happen as it would be too painful in the short term for too many people. However, I believe this is a myopic viewpoint and in the long term it would bring stronger, better supported clubs to our league set up. It might take generational change to solve the problem but it would happen, as ntbear say, Inverness is a good example of a work in progress. Realistically, we either bin a bunch of teams to the lower leagues in a darwinian style cull (akin to throwing dead weight off a sinking ship) or we rally together and organise for a more sensible geographical representation in our leagues. I believe that both systems would eventually deliver, providing less teams in the top leagues but they would be stronger teams offering a more competitive set up and then a better product.

I'm off out into the garden to chop some wood with my glass axe. Wish me luck

The idea that a bigger league with teams 'having nothing to play for' will bring a better product may be a little counter intuitive but I think it is the only sensible way forward. I get the argument about less home games but surely we have moved beyond the old debate that all other clubs are so dependant on the revenue of the OF visits that they will never allow change to occur ? With live TV dominating most teams home games with the OF these days the crowds are dwindling, is this revenue really make or break for SPL clubs ? There has to be a breaking point where clubs realise that by hanging onto these relics of past discussion they are strangling the game by restricting its ability to adapt to a different environment ? I would think there is almost consensus now for an expanded league set up. Personally I would not only support an expanded top league but I'd be tempted by a two league set up with 16-18 in each and the other clubs could consolidate. I mean some of the areas that are represented in the football league is ridiculous. Dunfermline & Cowdenbeath ? I mean for fuck sake why can't we just have West Fife Minks UTD ? We just can't support the number of teams we have playing in top leagues......now that is something that's never gonna happen.

The problem is that while increasing the 'risk' of relegation by having two up two down and play off type ideas in place seems to be the way to force teams to jazz up their football its exactly the thing that brings the stale and mundane football to the fore. With finances the way they are, teams are increasingly playing 'safety snooker' football to ensure they don't get caught at the trap door. Surely a bigger league set up removes familiarity as teams play each other less and brings a sense of security that means teams can invest and theoretically play a better brand of football safe in the knowledge that relegation into the wildernesses of Scottish football is less of a risk ??

I think it goes deeper than that. Its part of our calvanist humanism that as a nation we are generally very cynical, self-deprecating individuals who sneer and scoff at anyone trying to display any over exhuberence or enthusiasm that might in some way convey excessive enjoyment. Put simply we are just a bunch of miserable cunts.

We might find it hard to crack Helen and Hamilton are sure to beat us....don't they always ? That said we should be looking for 9 points without doubt. I'm never certain of anything where Aberdeen are concerned (other than saying I'm certain we will win the cup this season before any smart arse copies that post!)

To many people get personally involved in what these guys are doing. They are just a bunch of fans trying to enjoy themselves. We all have our ways of doing this and we are all guilty of doing it without thinking every second about the impact on others. Some fan groups do it by getting wasted and bouncing about in pubs or trains singing all manner of shit in front of joe public. Some choose to grafitti on billboards ( ) others sing idiotic songs about mattresses and people mums. A large amount of football fans behaviour is going to offend someone or at the very least inconvenience a few folk. If you go to the football expecting consideration, goodwill and general positive sentiment from your fellow supporters then I would politely suggest you take up watching snooker or chess.

After 21/02/09 (UTD game) Defence 10 Midfield 11 Strikers 20 Considine 1 Diamond 4 Mulgrew 4 Vidal 1 MacDonald 5 Young 1 Aluko 3 Duff 1 Severin 1 Maguire 3 Mackie 6 Miller 10 Wright 1 Non-strikers 21 goals Strikers 20 goals Non-strikers back on top. 10 goals from defence looks pretty good, almost as many as from the midfield

I can't see the Dunfermline boss putting a copy of your holiday rota on the dressing room wall before the game so it should be OK

Your expectations are too high. You are living in the memories of past glories and need to be more realistic at what can be achieved with limited resource.