Panda

Davey Cormack here suggesting we're "very, very close" to signing two defenders with 2/3 more players targeted too.

Polvara I thought was okay. He actually looked like the player we expected Stewart to be. Not a bruising defender by any stretch, but got it clear, passed it out well, made some decent blocks. Morris - he's quick, and Charlton gave him loads of room to work in. But he didn't do anything I wouldn't expect anyone else given that space to do. Defensively was really poor. We've got rid of Matty Kennedy who was average, but a better player than Morris. Mackenzie - he needs a good CB next to him, in much the same way Scales improved when he had McDonald and Pollock there. Maybe with Rubezic and McDonald then Mackenzie can just concentrate on his own game. But today him, Stewart and Devlin at times were swapping positions and it was hard to work out who was playing where and who was was meant to be picking who up.

Oddly, I paid by PayPal and they only charged me £1. Thought he gave the ball away far too often, was ponderous in possession and got caught out.

Second half was really poor. Sokler, it's too early to judge obviously, but not impressed on that showing. Or Dadia too. Ryan Duncan didn't look comfortable at LWB and who is this imposter who has replaced Connor Barron? At least when we had close to our strongest XI out we looked relatively okay, although I'd expect Livingston to be a step up on Charlton.

Miovski, hit the post.

Well, encouraging half considering it's 3-0 and we've missed a penalty, at least two sitters, and their keeper (ex-Ross County) made a stunning save too. But Charlton don't look up to much and yet they've still got a lot of joy down our right where Morris - when he's tracked back - has been turned inside out. He's done some good things going forward to be fair to him. Shinnie has been a stand out. Polvara playing okay. Miovski's missed a few chances but he's causing them all sorts of problems (and he did score).

Reckon my gran could play in England's League One, farmer's league, etc etc.

Looks like it is Polvara on the right of defence, Devlin RWB, Morris more advanced. Nice having a manager who recognises when things need changed.

Well I was hoping we wouldn't repeat last week's mistake.

Dadia on bench. Interested to see where Polvara plays, if it's in defence or midfield. I imagine it's in defence with Mackenzie & Milne, which means Devlin can go RWB and Morris is more advanced?

Didn't realise Michael Hector was at Charlton... Charlton centre-back Michael Hector looked back with fondness on his loan spell at Aberdeen, ahead of Saturday’s pre-season fixture against the Scottish side and explained how it helped him become the leader he is now at the Addicks. Hector spent the first half of the 2013/14 season on loan with the Dons and remains highly popular with the Aberdeen faithful ten years later. “For my liking, it was too short. I wanted to play for the whole season, but it was out of my hands,” said Hector, whose loan deal was not extended by his parent club Reading when it expired in January 2014. “I look at back at it with great memories. For me, it was one of my most important loans for my career and the time I had there was fantastic. “It’s a lovely club, a good family club, and I enjoyed every minute I was there.” Hector unfortunately missed out on Aberdeen’s Scottish League Cup victory later that season but still made the trip up to Scotland for the final to witness their triumph in person. “It was tough, I went in the changing room before the game to wish all the boys all the best,” Hector said. “It was a great day for the club, but personally I would have loved to be on the pitch and play a part, but it wasn’t to be.” The 31-year-old played alongside current Aberdeen manager Barry Robson during his loan spell and stated that he follows the example Robson set as a more experienced player. “He was a good guy, down to Earth, had a lot of time for the younger players. He helped me through my game, with what I needed to improve and was just really easy to talk to, really approachable. “And that’s what I try and do now in my stage of my career with the young players, try and be as approachable as possible, let them in and let them get to know you as a person.” Hector expressed his gratitude to Aberdeen for enabling him to develop as a footballer and was full of praise for former Dons manager Derek McInnes. “I owe a lot to Derek McInnes for trusting me and for playing me when I was so young, centre-back is a tough position to play at such a young age,” he said. “The chats we had were so honest and for me looking back, I was very lucky to play for a manager like him. “The time I had there was fantastic, and they were very good to my family…they looked after me really well.” Hector said that he is looking forward to a catch-up with some familiar faces at full-time on Saturday afternoon, as the Addicks take on their Scottish Premiership opposition for final pre-season match.

I actually worked out with my scientific calculations that we'd get 83 points, which would be potentially league winning territory, but I'll take off 10 so as to not set expectations too high. But we will win the league, probably on 93 points. Who needs Danilo and Kyogo when you've got new dugouts, a scoreboard and upgraded hospitality?

Please used 'Copy and Paste' instead of 'Quote' Rules: 1. One name per points tally for the season, first come first served! 2. Only allowed to change prediction until closure of January transfer window as along as it is to an empty tally. 114 100 90 80 79 78 77 76 75 74 73 - Panda 72 - Elgindon 71 70 69 - BigAl 68 - KWT15 67 - Nellie 66 - MBT 65 - Manc 64 - Tyrant 63 - Stewart 62 - OxfordDon 61 - Wee Toon Red 60 59 58 57 56 55 54 53 - Tom_Widdows 52 51 50 49 48 47 46 45 44 43 42 41 40 39 38 37 36 35 34 33 32 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20

A loan from the Old Firm is fine if there's a chance it might be made into a permanent deal, and he improves the team. Ryan Christie did a (mostly) fine job and we tried to sign him, we were scuppered at the 11th hour I believe. Liam Scales post-Goodwin was a big part in us reaching Europe and there's a chance he might sign if we can agree a price with Celtic. Adam Montgomery was a bit shit. But had he been good we probably would have tried to sign him. Rocco Vata - apparently a cracking player. I'd rather have him than Shayden Morris. Think the rumour has already been rubbished though.

I'm not suggesting we give teams more than they give us, I'm saying the whole cutting away supports across the board is rubbish.

I'm very much for big away supports, no matter who it is. This whole cutting away supports thing is total shite.

I would be very surprised if Rangers or Celtic were who they were referring to. Rangers aren't going to give us a bigger allocation than they give to Celtic, and even if they did then we'd have to take a 2500 allocation apparently which we probably wouldn't sell as it's an away fixture many avoid. Would imagine it's Hearts and Hibs. We're not going to let Hearts have 1500 tickets here if they're giving us 600 there.

Also noticed on the sky sports video from Pittodrie today that they're upgrading the dugouts.

Thing is we don't know what Dadia has been signed as. A RB, a RWB, or to play right of a back three. I tend to think if Robson gets all his signings in, that formation yesterday would be different. Teklic (I know he's not signing, I'm just picking a player he targeted) wouldn't have played RWB I don't think. And, you may be right about getting Sokler, Miovski and Duk into the same team. Was never gonna happen yesterday because Miovski not fit enough for 90 minutes yet (and neither is Duk probably), but who knows. A 5-2-3 maybe.

So looking at how we're shaping up. Robson says he's hoping for two defenders and two midfielders. I'd hazard a guess that a RM is on the shopping list since that's what Teklic would have been, while yesterday showed a central midfielder with an attacking edge is needed. Then a LCB, and I'm kinda presuming Rubezic is a done deal as everything seems to suggest it is. Duncan was playing LWB / LM when he came on yesterday, so looks like he may be the one pushing Hayes for a place there. Besuijen didn't feature at all yesterday which - unless he's injured or not fit - doesn't bode well for him, especially if another two midfielders come in. We need eight (I think) home grown players in the European squad, four of which need to be trained by the club. So Bavidge, Marshall, Duncan, Barron, Mackenzie, Milne, Ritchie, Devlin, Doohan, Shinnie - that's 10, so maybe Marshall and Milne go out on loan? You kinda feel Mackenzie would benefit from a loan, but because he's a left footed defender he's probably going to play a lot. Especially if Scales comes back on loan. Below graphic in case we opt for four at the back, which would suit Dadia and Devlin you imagine.

First half they passed it through us all too easily and the defending wasn't great. Second half we definitely improved defensively, while Clarkson and Duk got more involved, but don't think we had a single shot on target. We should have had a penalty for the foul on Duk which would have given us something, but doesn't take away from the above. The improvements really came from Preston making a number of subs and sending on a lot of young players, yet at no stage did we ever control the match. Disappointing. But hopefully a few changes, more signings and a better showing against Charlton next week.

2-0 down in the first 20 minutes. Two good finishes to be fair, but unmarked for both. Early observations... Duk playing on the right rather than the left. Devlin playing centre of the back three. Probably because of the lack of experience there. During the pre-match handshakes, it was noticeable how much bigger the Preston team are, and they're using the physicality to try and bully our centre midfield. Our game plan is to get it to Clarkson who punts it long looking for Sokler to run onto it.

So he is. Tbf I did think we looked a bit light up front

Ramsay on the bench. Freddie Woodman - once on loan at us - starts. Ben Woodburn (ex-Hearts), Ali McCann (ex-St Johnstone) and Liam Lindsay (ex-Partick) also start.

Not seen the Preston team yet so dunno if Calvin Ramsay is starting. Game is being streamed by Preston. £5 which is pretty good value.