Panda

Of the three that are back fit, Mitov is the only one who realistically might start. McGrath an option maybe off the bench. Jensen or Devlin? I think he'll stick with Jensen. Gueye or a more mobile forward like Sokler or Dabbagh? I think Gueye starts because if Thelin expects Hearts to stick to their diamond formation, then there's a good chance to pepper their box early with crosses, which you want him on the end of. Shinnie still at left back? He's an extra five metres to cover on that pitch. I would be tempted to start Mackenzie (if available) and put Shinnie into midfield. If it goes 120 minutes I do worry our options are limited subs wise in the middle with Nilsen out. However, as above, if Hearts play a diamond we'll get space out wide, and I think we'll work on Shinnie, Palaversa and Clarkson all putting crosses into the box. Okkels or Morris? I think right back is a weak spot for Hearts and you want Keskinen targeting them there, so Morris on the right allows Keskinen to play on the left. Aberdeen to race onto a 2-0 lead, then barely kick the ball for the last half an hour, but this time just about hold on.

That's fine though. Hibs have done the right thing; increased the tickets available to Hibs fans, but are still setting out fair allocations of just under 1,500 for the away team. It's the normalising of away allocations of 600 and 800 that's the issue. It's not a healthy thing for Scottish football.

Wee hing I put together with Julia and Keith to get you in the mood for Saturday.

Gong by the away crowds on AFC heritage website when it's sold out, the full allocation appears to be just under 1,700, and Hibs are saying they have been given just 792 tickets, so that's a significant drop. Don't think it's a good road to be going down when Aberdeen usually travel well and therefore any tit-for-tat would affect our away support. Hearts away - usually one of the better away days - is now basically a closed shop unless you're on 400+ loyalty points (and there are always plenty of empty seats in the home end). Be a shame if Easter Road became the same. We appear to be inspired by Hearts with a few things we do, namely Dave Cormack wanting a smaller stadium because it drives up season ticket sales and increases demand, like what happened with Hearts pre-the new main stand. I don't think any club should ever, in any circumstance or any lifetime, aspire to be like Hearts.

We have cut Hibs ticket allocation for this one, selling tickets in Section R to home fans. If Hibs have got the same allocation as Motherwell, that will be only 700-800 tickets. I'm a bit on the fence with this one. I can see the merit in increasing the number of tickets for home fans, especially if there'll be empty seats in the away end. It makes sense for the likes of the recent game with Motherwell. However, I like to see big away supports, it plays a part in the atmosphere, and already we're starting to see difficulties in getting to Hearts away and, to a lesser extent, Dundee United away. Hibs generally give Aberdeen a large allocation at Easter Road so if we're targeting any club it shouldn't be them. If this game was at Easter Road we'd likely still be looking at half that south stand which is around 1800 tickets. This decision seems very Hearts-esque by us. Noted that we haven't cut Celtic's allocation, although we likely won't sell out that one anyway.

Hibs home St Mirren away Rangers away (lunchtime kick-off) Celtic home (midweek) Dundee United away (lunchtime) Not good really. Back-to-back Old Firm games then away to Dundee United. Have to beat Hibs at home and win at St Mirren.

Dons fan won a tournament in Augusta this weekend.

Early thoughts. Hopefully Tobers fit for this. Dorrington not a bad player but his second half v Rangers shows he still has a lot to learn. I'd like to see Sokler start ahead of Gueye, his pace would suit the big Hampden pitch more.

A word for Graeme Shinnie. In all the opposition's faces at the end. Souttar, Diomande, Raskin (who, along with Curtis, appeared to get involved with a fan at the goal), and Barry Ferguson. Didn't take a step back from any of them. He was also arguably man of the match. I was despairing on this very forum not that long ago at suggestions from some his legs had gone or that he was no longer a leader. My fucking captain.

Subs: I think what Thelin wanted to do was get Shinnie into midfield because we weren't aggressive enough. He didn't have many other options (if he wanted Shinnie in midfield) because Mackenzie wasn't in the squad, so Devlin in and Jensen to left-back was the obvious move. I've read the argument for Polvara, but he doesn't scrap the way Shinnie does. It should have been just one of Sokler or Dabbagh going on, but both. Had Morris and/or Keskinen ran their race? I think both still had another 20 minutes in them at least. But, meh. A lot of criticism going Thelin's way for the second half, some of which is merited, but you also have to credit him for another very good first half performance against them. Remember when we used to be crying out for our team to have a go v the Old Firm at home? He had us on the front foot and was seconds away from 6 points from 9 v Rangers. Play like we did in the first half at Hampden, we'll be miles better than Hearts. Play like we did in the second half and, well, let's hope we don't.

Dorrington had a really poor second half. I don't know if he's necessarily to blame for the equaliser, but he gave Rangers constant encouragement that they could get something. It's one thing I've felt all season with Aberdeen though is that we rarely look comfortable with a lead.

Still no Mitov or Tobers. Think we can add Nilsen to the long term injuries. Don't think Rangers will make too many changes, if Barry Ferguson wants the job full-time then losing to Aberdeen then Bilbao isn't going to improve his chances. Can't see many changes from us either. Likely between Gueye, Dabbagh and Sokler for a spot next to Nisbet.

Utterly pointless stat. Hearts are the designated home team for the semi, and they don't usually allow maroon & red to be worn together (even though they likely wouldn't clash), so safe to say we'll be in either the black & gold, or the granite strip. Aberdeen have - at least as far as I am aware - never won a semi-final at Hampden wearing their away strip. 1994 SC semi: Drew 1-1 with Dundee United at Hampden (conceded last minute). In the replay, this time we were back in the red while United wore their away strip, but we lost 1-0. 1996 SC semi: Lost 2-1 to Hearts (both teams wore away strips). 2008 LC semi: Lost 4-1 to Dundee United (was at Tynecastle rather than Hampden). 2018 SC semi: Lost 3-0 to Motherwell at Hampden wearing a blue kit. So the question is, have we ever won a semi (or final) at Hampden wearing an away strip? It should be said - we have won at least one semi-final in an away strip. In 1947 we beat Hearts at Easter Road in the League Cup semi, while wearing an unusual blue top with white sleeves.

Fair dos. I don't particular fear the boy, it was more that it gives Hearts more options, ie Shankland off the bench. Watched them today, they created a lot but couldn't finish. Hopefully have the same luck in front of goal on the 19th.

I *think* James Wilson's red card today for Hearts rules him out of the semi-final, as it'll be a two-game ban in all competitions for violent conduct.

One change I think; Morris for Okkels, which probably means Keskinen to the left.

Nilsen, Tobers and Mitov still out (although the latter two back training so might be on the bench at least v Rangers). Same team v Motherwell I would think. Maybe Dabbagh for Gueye and Devlin for Jensen if you wanted to freshen it up a little. Interested to see how Palaversa and Clarkson get on when, presumably, they're given less time on the ball.

Oh, there is a lot I'd love to say about these Neil Doncaster interviews. Let's put it this way, Tom English and Michael Stewart - no matter your views on them - are not scared to question anyone on the radio. But when Doncaster is on, [redacted]. You could write something. We're always asking for fan views. We have fan columns. If I said "Rico wants to write 400 words this week on why Doncaster should fuck off" they'll probably say to send it in. You could likely still call yourself Rico (because we had the absurd situation a few weeks ago of Kenny McIntyre talking to "Goggsy" on Sportsound.) You could come on Sportsound too. If I said to McIntyre you fancy phoning in on Saturday night, he would say yes.

Well some would have one game as opposed to four for a start, and there's TV and some sizeable gate receipt money to be had if they land a group with one of the 'big guns' - more often than not at least one of hearts, Hibs and Aberdeen are in it.

Hey, I'm just the messenger, you're not going to blame are you? Oh, you are. DM me your questions and I'll put them to Neil Doncaster in our weekly catch up. You started off saying "the rest of us", then went on to forget about the 30 or so clubs who rely on the income from the League Cup group stages.

The story landing on April Fool's day may have you questioning it, but league reconstruction is on the cards. The Herald are reporting the plan is a 10-team league, but it's only one option being discussed. A 14-team league or even a 16-team league are also on the table. Main driver is to reduce the number of league games due to the increase in European matches (translated: The Old Firm have more European games so want fewer league games). A 10-team league seems pretty backwards. I don't see any realistic way a 16-team league works without there being a big cut in TV revenue (and it would be too big a drop from 38 games to 30 for many as well). An 18-team league playing each other twice isn't being considered AFAIA. Greece have a 14-team league, splits after two rounds of fixtures into a top 6 and bottom 8, then has play-offs. Potentially you could have the team that finishes seventh (to keep the bottom 8 interesting for those not fighting relegation) enter a play-off style system along the lines of the current Scottish Championship one (seventh v fifth, winners of that play fourth for the final European spot). That would reduce the fixtures from 38 to 36 for those that want it, give the bottom eight clubs an extra home game to make up for losing some revenue by not play Aberdeen, add some 'new' teams to the fixture list, and the tv companies get to keep their coveted four Old Firm games.

Like I say, I wouldn't criticise anyone for not going, and the Dons twitter accounts losing the plot over fellow fans choosing not to go are pathetic. Any other country would think 11,000 tickets sold three weeks before the game was an effort worth praising. Hearts have sold out, great. But as someone else put it, if the national stadium was in Peterhead, the Edinburgh and Glasgow clubs wouldn't be so keen to use semi-final ticket sales as some sort of barometer. I was actually at Hampden for both Hearts' semi-final and final in 2012. They had 12,000 for the Scottish Cup semi with Celtic (Aberdeen actually outsold them the day before) and the Celtic end was also far from sold out. Attendance was 36,000, a good 16,000 short of capacity. But I would have argued as loud as anyone else for them to get a 50/50 split for the final no matter who they were playing, so it's sad to see fans (and it's not just Hearts, Hibs seem to be piping up too) about Aberdeen being given a reduced allocation if they reach the final. Some folk are too ignorant to see if the old firm & SFA are allowed - with the support of others - to fuck Aberdeen over, they will do the same to the rest.