BobbyBiscuit

Do you think it will be two up front? I personally think that Mackie will be shunted out to the wing and Nicholson moves in one to help Walker and Seve. Try to use the pace of Mackie & Aluko down the wings.

Langfield Maybury Diamond Considine Mair Nicholson Walker Severin Aluko Mackie Miller Not too happy with Mair being in there, but there you go...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/scotland/article3360201.ece Twenty-five years almost to the week since arguably Pittodrie’s greatest night, it is a pleasure to be reacquainted with Doug Rougvie. Once the great wild goose of Aberdeen’s defence, Rougvie played in the epic 1983 Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-final against Bayern Munich, when Alex Ferguson’s men twice came from behind to beat the Bayern of Klaus Augenthaler and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge 3-2 on a memorable night. Tomorrow, in that nice way in which football tends to forge perfect milestones, Aberdeen face Bayern Munich again in the last 32 of the Uefa Cup. It is a prospect, to be blunt, which turns Rougvie’s already fierce face into a grimace. The defender was an unusual character in Ferguson’s great Aberdeen team of the 1980s: such a mimic and crowd-pleaser on the field, and yet, in his own way quite shy off it. Few can forget the sight of Rougvie on the pitch, with his strapping, seemingly rubbery legs scything down anyone who moved in front of him. He was a hero with Aberdeen but then something of an antihero later with Chelsea, with whom Big Doug contributed his fair share of minor calamities. Does he hold out much hope for Jimmy Calderwood’s team tomorrow night? Like most of us, not really. “I fear for the Dons this time, I really do,†Rougvie, now back in Aberdeen working in the engineering sector, says. “I pick my games to go to these days, but I was there on Sunday for the Celtic match and it was painful to see the way the team was pulled apart [in the 5-1 defeat]. “There’s a lot of unhappiness around the club these days and you could see it on Sunday with the way the fans made for the exits long before full-time. It’s like pulling teeth watching Aberdeen play these days. But I’ll be at Pittodrie on Thursday and I’ll be cheering them on.†Back in 1983 the menacing and ogreish Rougvie, snarling in his tight-fitting shorts, was assigned to mark Karl Del’Haye, a small, nippy winger who proceeded to torture him for much of the game. Rougvie stuck to his task as only he could – beaveringly – but he was eventually switched by Ferguson from left-back to right-back to bash Hans Pflügler, a big Bayern forward who had been wreaking havoc. Amid it all, Aberdeen heroically clawed their way back, first from 1-0 down and then 2-1 down to win 3-2 on the night. They had drawn 0-0 two weeks earlier in Bavaria. “That was the best match I ever played in at Pittodrie, for excitement, for atmosphere, for everything,†Rougvie says. “Don’t forget that, even though we knew we had a good team, we were still the underdogs... major underdogs. But Fergie told us that we would beat Bayern Munich and we believed him. The truth is that we had more adventurous players than them - guys like Gordon Strachan, Peter Weir, Mark McGhee and Eric Black. We had real match-winners in our team which, I’m sorry to say, Aberdeen lack today.†Rougvie’s testimony on the taut, driven figure of Ferguson has always been interesting. Intriguingly in football, the greatest managers were rarely loved by their players, and Ferguson at Aberdeen was no different: respected, yes, but not held in any great affection by his players. Ferguson was, though, obsessive in his approach. The most famous moment of that 3-2 win at Pittodrie was the fabricated “mix-up†at the free kick between Strachan and John McMaster, where the two feigned to kick the ball at the same time. For a split-second the Pittodrie crowd actually groaned before Strachan quickly swivelled, as rehearsed on the training pitch, and despatched the ball to Alex McLeish, who headed home for 2-2. Just like today, Aberdeen back then trained at Seaton Park, a public park which can often have stray dogs streaking across it, and back in ’83 Ferguson was highly suspicious in the build-up to the Bayern second-leg. “He thought Bayern would have spies out watching us,†Rougvie recalls. “We were practising that free kick routine just days before the game but, even if an old man strolled past with his dog, Fergie would say, ‘Right lads, stop it, hold it there.’ He said, ‘They’ll have spies watching us, so be careful.’ Fergie was many things and he was certainly wary.†Aberdeen, of course, went on to lift the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1983, but just one year later the team would start to break up, with Rougvie, McGhee and Strachan commencing the exodus. They all, to various degrees, had fall-outs with their austere manager. “I went to Chelsea in 1984, basically, to get myself a fair wage,†Rougvie says. “Some of us were being paid sweetie-wrappers at Pittodrie, because Fergie wanted to run things on a shoe-string. I gave up a lot to leave – Aberdeen were playing in the European Cup the following season and I knew I’d miss out. But I had to leave, and I’m sorry to say, my biggest reason for leaving was the club’s manager.†Rougvie will be back at Pittodrie tomorrow night, still bearing that fearsome look, which the current Dons could do with on the field. - Bayern Munich will be without four of their stars for the first leg of their Uefa Cup tie with Aberdeen tomorrow. The German league leaders will be missing Franck RÃbery (hamstring), Daniel van Buyten (flu), and Mark van Bommel and Willy Sagnol (both knee). With Oliver Kahn, the captain, sitting out trip to Pittodrie, the reserve goalkeeper, Michael Rensing, is also a doubt with a back injury.

From the Guardian:

Aye, turned out the Yank had a fractured skull! Knows his stuff does old Kelvin Koogan.

Yeah, can't believe I forgot about that one. That's a classic. also like his from the 1985 FA Cup Final when Mark Hughes puts the ball through to Norman Whiteside who scores the winner: "WHITESIDE...ONSIDE!" And Barry Davies' classics of: "LEE...INTERESTING...VERY INTERESTING! LOOK AT HIS FACE! JUST LOOK AT HIS FACE!" and: "OOHHH PAT BONNER..." when Bonner dropped the ball into the net against Holland in USA 94.

And get pumped 6-0 in the return leg? We'll lose tonight. 2 or 3 nil.

I was trying to be optimistic for once, as I can't claim to be so for any other time. But thanks Kelt, thanks a lot! Love and kisses BB x

AW FUCKING BOO YOU. COME ON YE REDZZZZZZZZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

David Begg's commentaries remind me of Alisdair Alexanders. His for our winner against the huns in Oct 88: "Woods stays....Nicholas scores!"

Staying on an England theme, I also particularly like Barry Davies' line from England-Argentina in 86 for Maradona's 2nd goal and after ripping into him for handling for his first: "Oh and you have to say that's brilliant!"

Obviously with the Bayern game coming up it throws us back to the famous "Pittodrie Goes Berserk!" line. It's a great line of course, but another of my favourites is from Archie MacPherson in the title decider at Tynie, and he says, as if all one word: "AndThat'sIntoMcKimmieWithAShotAndHe'sScored!" So, what are your favourite lines from commentaries? (Dons or otherwise)

Can't agree at all with that Ajja. Our centre half and captain probably had more skill in him than our "creative" players now. And that's not to mention the difference in skill between Weir, Strachan, McGhee, Black and Hewitt and our wide players and forwards now. I think it's fair to say that perhaps at that time our team was not necessarily renowned for it's skill outwith Strachan, Weir and Bell, and that it was perhaps more recognised for it's grit, determination etc as you say, but to be honest, their skill levels were still vastly superior to the guys nowadays.

I THINK that around that time it the figure was £9m. It's now gone up to around £13m.

And neither do you.

Yeah, it is a big "maybe" though, isn't it? I'd also be willing to wager (and I am a betting man) that even if it was man management, this would only work for so long before it began to have a negative effect.

I couldn't possibly say though whether those guys ever got the sort of crap in the press at Dunfermline as they get here. Can you? And as you say, it appears that some can do no right... begs the question, why continue to pick them then? There are other guys in the squad who could come in instead.

I don't want him saying it every week. What I want is just a modicum of responsibility to be shown on his part. Is that really a lot to ask? I'd have about 100% more respect for him if he did that. In fact, I'd go as far to say that even if he didn't come out and say he got it wrong, but just stopped ripping into the players I'd be a million times happier. We all have our limitations in life, and as far as football goes I am ready to admit our players and manager will perhaps always have greater limitations than we would all want them to have. I can deal with that. But it does not help anyone when he's ripping into the players after every defeat (and some victories too), and you surely can't possibly think that it does?

"Knowing Paul Hartley, he won't have gone in with malice. "Paul was just protecting himself, as Barry should have done in that sort of situation."

My father was a teacher as was my mother. And I can assure you they did take responsibility. Of course you get ones who don't, and ones who go on moaning about the kids and how it's the kids fault they can't be taught properly, but in general they're the bad teachers. JC is not sharing the blame though, is he? The blame is lumped squarely on the shoulders of the players he picks who are carrying (or attempting to) out his orders and he isn't picky about who hears his criticisms of his players either. Another prime example of his piss poor management was him blaming Nicholson for getting himself injured. Bearing in mind this is a guy he says he wants to re-sign for next season, he has now blamed him for getting injured twice (Once with Hartley and once with Roy Keane) when in reality it was the result of bad challenges. Why would Nicholson want to stay and play for a manager who not only doesn't back him up, but publicly chastises him?

at least teachers at school take responsibility for their actions.

so why bother with a manager at all then?

You're right.

What odds you getting on that?

I really just can't get excited about this at all. I thought last Tuesday was bad (and it was, and still is), but I fear that come Friday morning we could be a laughing stock.