Panda

So at the moment, for the opening league game v Celtic, this could be our line-up. Mjovski can play striker, N10 or winger. I'm simply guessing where he'll play just now as haven't seen him in the red shirt obviously. Looking at that, we still need another centre half as when Scales is missing we have no other LCB and could go into the Celtic game with no back-up. In general the squad still needs a bit more competition for places, especially on the left side. McGrath, Ronan, another striker and another defender and I'd be confident of a decent season. If that's our first XI, and they stay fit (and making a presumption Ramirez stays), then I wouldn't be too upset. Reckon that side is beating Celtic 2-0.

Mjovski medical on Tuesday, Ramadani arriving in Spain on Wednesday. Apparently.

You mean, like what gets published on the BBC pretty much every summer? https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/57666360.amp

Kinda off topic, but it's related to Aberdeen planning to cut capacity to 16,000. Been having a look at the season ticket prices at Hearts, Hibs and ourselves. Hearts have sold 17,500, Hibs 10,000, and us 8,000. What is striking, is how much more expensive Aberdeen's are. Especially when you consider Hearts and Hibs are playing in better stadiums with less seats that have a restricted view. Few examples:- If you sit in the first seven rows at the side of the pitch, even if right on the halfway line, Hearts will discount your ticket down to £315. Aberdeen charge £437. So an extra £122 for an equivalent view. Behind the goals. If high up, Hearts are £360. At Aberdeen, the RDU (now family section) is £437. Platinum in lower deck is £528. So £77 more for what is restricted view in RDU (you struggle to see goal line), or a whopping £168 more for a similar view. In those first seven rows behind the goals at Tynecastle, it's £295. At Pittodrie, £409 at front of RDL or £368 in Merkland. Again, £114 more for RDL and even in our cheapest seats an adult is paying £73 more. (Now, the club will tell you the 'Red Shed' is aimed more at the youths, and fair enough the U18 prices generally are cheaper than Hearts, and there is also a 18-21 price for that stand.). Compare too the corners of the south stand in comparison to near the corner flag at Tynecastle. £360 at Hearts to £409 for Aberdeen. Hibs too are cheaper than Aberdeen, though not as cheap as Hearts. How do Aberdeen justify these prices when the stadium, by their own admission, is not fit for purpose? Likely their market research tells them season ticket sales won't change much depending on prices or how the team is doing, but it's similar too to their European own goal at the beginning of last season when Aberdeen were charging over £30 for one of the qualifiers, while Celtic, Hibs and St Johnstone all charged much lower for the same round. You can't help but feel if Aberdeen limit the capacity of the new ground to 16,000, and crowds go up as a result of the new ground and/or the team doing well, they'll be taking advantage of the lack of availability by pushing the prices right up.

Not necessarily since Gallagher was released to allow that deal to go through.

He played well in a back three doing the simple things - clearing the box with headers, scrambling the ball away. When playing in a back two, given more responsibility, and when poor positioning is more easily punished, he was found out. If we were to use a back three next season (Goodwin has said Aberdeen will be working on both a four and three in pre-season) then he may have been useful, but I suspect we've another centre-half on the way. We still need another left sided LCB otherwise if Scales is injured (or not up to it) then we'll be lopsided again like last season. I don't think the Charles Dunne interest has totally died down yet. And St Mirren have now just signed a reinforcement in defence..

With Gallagher, Ojo and Gurr gone - who is going to be our nominated boo boy? Oh. Never mind.

What I meant to say was let Sparta have Lauritsen, get Ramirez a puppy from the dog shelter to cheer him up, and spend Lauritsen's £300k transfer fee on landing Ronan. THEN we'll be alright.

Goodwin said this afternoon he's not interested in Liam Boyce. Makes sense since this guy is more of a second striker/winger, so with Watkins & Besuijen already on the books, and Kennedy seemingly very much in his plans, paying a fee for Boyce wouldn't make much sense. Just need Tobias Lauritsen & Conor Ronan in now and then, shit, we might actually be in good shape. That'll take some getting used to.

As for Boyce, he's a similar player to Watkins. He's not been playing as an out-and-out striker for them, but cutting inside off the wing. Would be interesting with Watkins and Boyce in the same team for sure.

I won't make a habit of posting my articles on here, but decided to start an Aberdeen blog. Gives me a bit more freedom to write what I like than I get in the day job. Anyway, pored over Anthony Stewart and Liam Scales performances last season, compared them to Gallagher and Bates, put two and two together and got three. https://ullevi83.substack.com/p/do-aberdeens-new-signings-suggest

Point one: We "borrowed" Callum Hendry from St Johnstone. Point two: Celtic are better than us. And they'll be better than us next season, not because we're loa...sorry, borrowing Liam Scales, but because they're about to land £30m+ from the Champions League and can sign whoever they frigging want.

Are those players ready for first team football though? Obviously, like everyone I'd prefer if it was a permanent deal, but if he's a good player then he's better being in our team than on Celtic's bench. We're still after another centre half (Anthony Stewart it seems) so it's not the end of our business yet anyway.

The season starts in two weeks. Get him in on loan, hopefully he has a good season. If we can do a deal in 12 months, great. If not, we've apparently two good centre halves coming through the ranks. Or, after Scales heads the winner v Hearts in the Scottish Cup final to seal a £4m European football bonanza, we can buy better next summer. The whole "developing a player for Celtic", I'm not arsed at the moment. I want us to have a good season after four years of dross. We need a left centre back, we've now got one.

But 500k + 750k in wages is a hell of an outlay for a relatively untested lad.

The issue with buying him permanently is he has three years left on his contract at Celtic worth about £750,000 which he probably expects to get. Not only are Celtic reluctant to sell, we'd need to make Scales one of our highest earners, as well as pay a transfer fee to Celtic.

So McCrorie into midfield then? Made it into the National League team of the season last season (which, to be fair, is the least I'd expect of an Aberdeen signing playing at that level.) General consensus is he's terrific going forward but can't defend. Perfect signing for us.

Right footed centre half? If we're going to sign a right-sided centre half, then his name should be Michael Hector. Edit: To be fair, Wycombe fans rate him highly.

Yeh, I see no reason why Motherwell wouldn't sell us a full international, aged only 30, with 12 months still left on his deal, for 50k.

Noticeable that Christian Ramirez hasn't been at pre-season training...

Does that not conflict with your argument then? You're saying the foreign signings don't work out because they can't adapt to Scotland, then say it's because they probably weren't good enough in the first place. For every foreign player you say wasn't good enough, I could probably name 20 from the U.K. we signed who weren't good enough either. Our current recruitment and scouting model is essentially less than a year old, so comparing it to previous seasons is probably useless anyway.

Think you're confusing Di Rocco with D'Jaffo, who may have been his replacement. Di Rocco I think was a late season loan signing, only played 10 games (scored 3 times though) but I don't think we could get a permanent deal done. Was quick, strong and good in the air. Well worth his place in the side.

Sorry, forgot about Cobian.