Superstar Tradesman

All of his or all the Corey series?

I'm reading another Nelson Demille book called The Lion's Game. Love the main character, superb start to it so far. You read this one Big Al?

What's so special about the glass and where the fuck is Enigma?

The Hun implosion can't come quick enough.

I don't subscribe to this tombola shite. It never seems to get mentioned when we win but is always dragged out when we loose. Stuart Duff - anyone complaining he was thrown into his first game for months? No, thought not.

What exactly is the point in having that much money sitting in the bank if we have loans to pay off? We're sure as fuck not going to go out and spend that sort of money on players. £50k here, £100k there perhaps but millions in the bank when we're in debt. Would we not be better off paying it off so we don't get hammered by interest and keeping say £250k for a rainy day?

Was meaning to post this after the Hearts game but I had the same feeling watching us hump the Tims so I'll post it now. For the first time in a long, long, loooooooong time I feel we have real balance to the squad. When someone is out injured we have suitable replacements. We have goals from all over the park and Saturday showed that we don't need to rely on Miller or the strikers. We have a player who can ping in free kicks with ease. We have pace and wide men to stretch games with Aluko, JVD, Smith and Mackie. Midfielders who are getting forward to cause teams trouble in their box and putting a foot in round the centre of the park to break up play. The defence seems to be settled and we have cover that can interchange when required. Mulgrew (and I'm betting the new lad) also look dangerous going forward. Couple that with the fact that they're all decent players are tied down to decent lengths of contracts. Things are looking rosie red!

Last time he was up for contract negotiations (around about the January window) he was asked the same question which he gave the same answer to. Turned out he wasn't even in the running and it was just a way to bump his pay cheque. No point reading anything into these things and I'm utterly bewildered as to why interviewers bother to ask these questions. Has anyone ever said "yeah I'm speaking with X/Y/Z behind my current employers back" live on air?

If it ain't broke Jimmy. Two more seasons in Europe and a cheeky trip to Hampden to pick up silverware would clear our debt. All of which I'm convinced he could bring us. The board should do everything in their (limited) power to make sure this happens.

What else you reading Hebrew? I've read the Motorcycle Diaries but I heard that there's also some diaries or letters he was sending his parents which were published.

3 weeks off the sauce and counting. Feeling fresh.

Why is nobody giving the tombola the praise it merits? It gets a hard enough time when it looses.

I think lessons will be learned after last season. Two seasons ago we kept the team together (because nobody wanted any of them) and we had a good run in Europe. Last season we cashed in round the January window which basically ended our season (crashed out of the cup and struggled to get into the top 6). As a fan I'd say keep the team together then cash in when summer rolls around. Jimmy (believe it or not some of you!) always manages to replace players who we all thought were better than the current crop. It'll be the accountants who decide though.

Sounds shite. Boooooooooooooo!

And as if by magic, it's working a treat! Cheers Reekie!

Well you could but then it'll be the Setanta broadcast we'll all be watching so you'd be best down the pub or at the game rather than crouched over your laptop.

I believe the equation is: Deek Young + EE Exclusive X "I'll score (>bucket loads)" = Royal Humping.

Phew. Thanks for the reality check there Ajja. I was beginning to get all optimistic over this game against the Tims. I almost forgot that JC is the devil incarnate and that our 5 home wins were all because he rode his luck with the tombola. A decent manager would have yadda, yadda, yadda......

Send it here chief: http://www.aberdeen-cyrenians.org/One-Off.html :thumbsup:

I take it the expats will get to view this game then?

Snowba? Snowba game? Lah-dee-fuckin-dah! Everybody in their right mind knows that Thomson & Petrov were pelted wi SNA - BAZ!

Let's not get silly about this. Duff's not a top earner, nor do we sorely miss him when a game is crying out for someone to inject a spot of magic to turn a game. Aluko's shown what's possible with a little bit of cash and speculation in the transfer market. With Smith's wages freed up then we could easily find someone a lot more reliable and from what I saw at the Hearts game, I'd say JVD could easily fill that gap as it is. But I'm fully expecting Smith to walk into a new deal yet there'll be a shroud of mystery why as he hasn't kicked a ball since that 2nd goal against Copenhagen. If someone can actually tell me what Smith's injury is, that would be a start. Until then, I'll be out for 6 to 8 weeks with an inflamed frustrated gland.

Let's just say he is injured. Anyone even know what sort of injury it is? Obviously this question isn't open to the AFC physios.

Exactly. We were told weeks ago that they'd got to the bottom of his injury woes and he should be over his problems. Now he's just disappeared off the radar again.

I don't think it's unprecedented at all. Lovell was given time off 'to get his head sorted' or words to that effect, Whelan was handed a well documented backseat to fix his troubles, Byrne who was injured as often as Smith was given all the time in the world to recover and we were regularly updated on his latest injury. Do we even know what's wrong with Smith (this week)? I'm not demanding answers, taking names or wanting wrongs righted. I just think it'll be outrageous if he gets a new deal with little or no explaination as to what's going on behind the smoke and mirrors. Is he even training or playing with the reserves?