RicoS321

Hope the announcer mentions it at the game and the crowd sing happy birthday.

The point of Europe is to make it as hard as possible for the big teams to fuck it up by allowing them 87 defeats before ejection.

Yep, who is our ref on Sunday. I think he's vastly improved, which I may regret saying. Well that was an all round average display in difficult conditions on a plastic pitch, but they did well to get the aggregate win all things considered. Ojo and Ramirez were poor tonight, and the lack of striker sub becomes an issue. Things move through JET in a way that they don't at all through Jenks, who I thought was poor. That area of the pitch becomes a concern outwith the starting 11 and I'm surprised that McGinn wasn't given some minutes tonight as I felt that he could have added a bit of composure where Hedges was a little bit 100mph. Brown and Ferguson excellent in midfield again, and I think we'll see Gallagher step in for McRorie (unfortunately I think it might be at the expense of Ramsay with McRorie at right back). Hayes will struggle to keep his position ahead of McKenzie who did well when he came on. We're through though which is fantastic and the Icelandic team should be of similar quality to Hacken. I'm still unsure as to how we'll look against SPFL opposition, so Sunday will be intriguing. First thoughts are still that we're lacking in depth up front, and hopefully the new recruitment guy has downloaded the files from his Burnley PC and got a few gems to share. Someone fast to stretch the game in the second half would have been ideal, with Ramirez putting in a tiring shift.

Fucking statues. I don't think the world needs more statues. What about Chris Anderson, Dick Donald, Teddy Scott, Miller, McLeish, Considine etc? AFC is more than a series of individuals. Statues are for losers. Like the queen.

Probably, but the coaching staff should always make the decision. I personally think that in lieu of pre-season the additional games form a vital part of the fitness regime. If Brown is forming part of our best eleven then he needs to start this one given the lack of games. Take him off at 70 minutes.

Bit harsh on Hedges. Easily the fittest player in our squad last season and was only a freak accident that put him out. He's not exactly pawlett, Wright or Devlin (RIP? I assume he's dead?).

I love Hedges, it was Panda that shoved that upstart McLennan into the team.

I suppose a lot will depend on whether they want to get a few more minutes in their legs or not. I'd agree that Brown will need rested, bit maybe not this early where match sharpness is key. I'm thinking Gallagher might be the only change (maybe Jenks for Ojo), and it'll be interesting to see if McRorie is shifted to right back at the expense of Ramsay, which would be a shame (for both really, as McRorie was excellent in the first leg).

Jet was head and shoulders above Ramirez last night, he was excellent. I don't remember him giving the ball away once from a position that would have caused us trouble, although he didn't track his man at one point (which I think eventually led to their goal) but he was unexpectedly covering Hedges and wasn't prepared. The times he did give the ball away were when he was trying to make something happen, which is completely acceptable. We were very guilty of not trying things under McInnes for fear of giving it away. Many of the chances we created through jet last night would have been a sideways pass last season. I was unconvinced by Ramirez last night, but he certainly does have the potential to be a Rooney. His movement needs to improve a bit, but given he's on a new continent with a completely different game it'll maybe take time. He's about the size, stature and pace of Rooney anyway. Jet being there will be a huge benefit to him.

What's the view of the UK approach from your neck of the woods? Any suggestions that they're playing with fire and risking people in the rest of the world, or is it not getting much airtime?

I agree about fullbacks. I wouldn't say centre half is a priority. Considine, Gallagher, Devlin and McRorie is enough for the time being. If we could only get one or two players in I'd be looking at a striker and a winger, with a fast striker a priority. Ramirez looked a bit tired around 70 minutes last night (before his goal) and we could have been doing with fresh legs. Jet also looked tired, but was playing slightly deeper so could have been replaced by jenks in theory. Other than McGinn, there wasn't an option to replace. If we're continuing with two up front then we need an option to take off the bench as the number one priority. That said, I don't think we'll be restricted to one or two signings so a centre half would be my third choice. Another priority is to move on some players. If Ojo is ahead of McGeouch then I'd like to see McGeouch moved on, similarly one of McLennan and Kennedy. Our bench looked a little busy last night. Filled with senior players.

Just back. That was top drawer. Some excellent attacking play. Jet and Ferguson were excellent. Considine and McRorie a good partnership, they didn't have a lot of support at times. Ojo did okay, but shouldn't be playing out there, he doesn't offer anything and will get found out against better opposition. Unsure of Ramirez, could go either way, but he'll be good with the fans if he turns out to be good. Some hit fae McLennan. Fantastic to be back, so much better than the tele.

Really good half. Great to be at a game of fitba, good atmosphere, the spreading of the crowd works a treat. Ferguson, JET and Ramsay looking good, Hedges and Considine as always. Fantastic.

Go Great Britain, wooooo.

You could be right Panda, but match sharpness is very much a thing. Even if it only gives them a slight advantage, it might be the difference between them going through or not. Depending on how good jenks is, your lineup looks decent. I'm not sure McKenzie is going to be good enough at left back, so Hayes there is a good option.

Think so. He was red carded in their last European fixture, so think it just carries forward. Assuming that's why Considine and McRorie have been the preferred pairing in pre season too.

I also have zero idea how he might lineup. ..….....................Lewis.............. Gurrrrr... McRorie... Considine... McKenzie .............. Brown.........Ojo......................... ..... McGinn...... Ferguson..... Hedges..... ......................... Ramirez......................... Is my guess (not my preferred).

1-0 the dons. Late winner from Considine. Me to miss the goal having been thrown out for having my mask under my nose.

I'm just looking forward to being there. Sellout crowd too.

Keiran Ngwenya pens a new deal to keep him here forever.

That's a worryingly poor understanding of the term "evidence". There was no evidence that they deliberately broke rules laid out by their manager because they didn't give a toss. That's just a fact. Your opinion is that they didn't give a toss, thus broke rules. That isn't backed up by the manager who defended them and the players who apologised. It's nonsense, blatantly. A handful, again, enough to get us to third and many plaudits. The point being that they had broken the rules before this point but - despite this new found disrespect for the manager and his rule - went on to respect him again and perform well. I'm aware of the record since October as it was - correctly - the reason McInnes was sacked. The only argument here is that you're suggesting a shambles and a transition, whereas I'm suggesting something far less. In fact, the biggest shambles has occurred after McInnes' departure in the time it has taken to hire a DoF and the time it took to get rid of the recruitment guy and get in the new one (TBC), alongside the preventing of signings in the January window. As I've stated on previous posts, my issue here is with the club rather than Glass, and I think describing as a shambles is disingenuous and labelling as McInnes' shambles worse.

Too soon to start the Vienna thread?

The massively loaded part of the statement that said that they couldn't give a toss about breaking the rules their manager put in place. It's unevidenced nonsense. I think you're ignoring the numerous games (although significantly in the minority) where we played fairly well last season, including the game where we tanked hibs and the point at which we were comfortable in third and many people were raving about our style of play. Guys like Considine, Hayes, McGinn, Lewis (I'd argue Taylor too) have proven over numerous seasons that they can work hard and roll their sleeves up (I'm not talking about ability, but workrate and attitude) and McInnes' teams ground out results when playing terribly a huge number of times. Poor signings the deeper you go down the squad and the injuries that resulted in having to play these guys was clearly a big issue. Altogether, I still don't see Glass' job as significantly different to that which we'd task any manager in the close season (including McInnes every year). Not having made signings in January is probably the biggest problem Glass will face, alongside not having the recruitment specialist in place, which leaves us a window behind where we would expect to be. That should definitely buy him a season of leeway, hopefully two.

Sorry, you stated that they "had games cancelled because players couldn't give a toss about breaking rules their manager put in place", which I think is incredibly unfair - and inaccurate. There's a vast difference between a team lacking in confidence and struggling for motivation and a bunch of guys that are taking the piss and making a fool of their manager. The former is an example of what was happening last season (hence the shout in the St Mirren game I expect), the latter was the regular dicking about that we saw under Calderwood of which there is zero indication occurred under McInnes. Glass has been left with very few players who wouldn't give their all when confident and motivated as was evidenced when most dons fans were describing some of the best football they'd seen with Watkins, Wright and Hedges running things. Unfortunately McInnes ran out of ideas on how to make that happen after all three of those players got injured or were removed from history, and wasn't given the backing in January to have another crack at it (rightly, I think). Guys like Considine, Hayes, McGinn, Lewis etc. don't deserve to have their professionalism questioned, all players and teams go through bad spells.

Christ, how many round have we got? That list is made up of teams that would be painted on McInnes' glass ceiling. Will be interesting to see if Glass' glass ceiling is similar. Edit: I've booked flights to all 7 countries just to make sure I don't miss out. Also, Plzen and PAOK are seeded in the next next round and draw is at 1pm