RicoS321

Same team as last week? Would like to see McLennan playing advanced again. Kennedy fine out wide, but I thought he was poor when he played near the striker. McLennan just needed a bit of composure and he'd have had a good game against killie, so definitely worth another shot.

I thought it was their paralysis of mind over what to do every twenty years that Scotland qualify for a tournament. I think there was also the argument that folk had better things to do in the summer than watch fitba. Certainly debatable, but could easily be remedied by moving more kick offs to evenings. I'd be all for it, but they'd have to do it properly and sell it as an entire package of changes around levelling up the game, SPFL TV, 16 team league etc etc. Our current thinkers would limply push it out to avoid hearts getting relegated or some shite.

If you've not already done so, dark waters is a must watch. Really good.

I think killie's pitch is decent. I'm pretty certain there's been no link found between artificial surfaces and injury (discounting wearing blades of course, McGhee). There should be no reason for a player to have to avoid them. The biggest issue with these pitches is that you can get really bad ones like Livingston, and you can alter the bounce significantly by not watering etc. Overall, killie's has performed really well over the years, when likes of Hamilton's was atrocious (much improved in recent years). Our climate seems to have changed just enough that we haven't had complete states of grass pitches in the last few years, but for a good few years pittodrie, and many others including Hampden were like playing on a tattie field and it was largely ignored.

Ah, that makes sense, I didn't think I came up with that stat on my own, I must have heard it on the commentary.

Have we lost a game where we've been in front this season? It's a fairly rare thing under McInnes to be fair to him.

Cormack park. Training too hard. You do wonder if they're conditioned and monitored when they're staying behind to do extra free kicks, gym work etc. Cosgrove's poor form hit right around the time we moved there and he went from having really improved his workrate to breathing out his airse after 70 minutes. It'd be interesting to know what the process was moving to Westhill. Westhill is fucking freezing too, and nae a nice cold like by the sea, but that dead cold.

Campbell has done a lot better since getting an actual midfield partner alongside him and might be trusted. McRorie is suspended for the following game, so we'll have to put Campbell there at some point. I thought McRorie's positioning was a little suspect at times at centre half at the weeked, I don't think moving him back and forth works well either. Maybe the 4-4-2 would do the job, I just don't think it suits us in attack and will give McInnes the idea of playing Main and Cosgrove which I think would be brutal. We should just pioneer a 2-5-3 system.

Didn't realise Leigh was out too, we really will be struggling. I agree with McInnes about Taylor, I thought he had an excellent game at the weekend. I think we'll see Logan move in alongside to complete the three, he's still fast enough to cover that area with Ash coming across to win the headers.

Aye, it'll be interesting. A good book on the subject is "Feeding Britain: Our food Problems and How to Fix Them" by Tim Lang. Unfortunately, we haven't done any of the fixing part yet, so it could get interesing. If anyone didn't learn from the pandemic that our just in time food network was a really serious issue then perhaps a No Deal Brexit (I actually think they'll do something this week) will concentrate minds. To be honest, the unintended consequence of Brexit might be that we massively increase our food growing at home, and that would be a good thing. The other likelihood is that we run down the shelves so much that the public soften to the influx of US abomination-diet and a deal is quickly pushed through, but we only have to further privatise the NHS (it won't be sold as that of course) in return. As part of the deal, It'll probably be made illegal for Scotland to hold another referendum.

Fuck. Fit's the prognosis like?

Aye, shree year deal I would think. I find it difficult not to love Yogi like, he's brilliant fun. Relegating Raith is definitely the path to a job in the premiership. It's the managerial equivalent of signing Derek Young from first division Partick Thistle because he's good to have about the place. I hope he keeps them up though, I like County. If he does take them down, it'll end in a massive rant about modern players caring about their haircuts more than football or some accidental racism about our foreign boys not being up for it in the conditions. Welcome back Yogi.

Yogi returns. Fantastic. Long overdue. Hopefully we'll make it shree victories over them this season the next time we play them.

Yep, there's no way Wales manager Ryan Giggs would accept a one footed left pegger in his team.

He did really well for the third goal, but shouting in the Hertz player's face was minky as fuck and likely should have been a booking if the ref had spotted it. Trying to get a player (Naismith) sent off also used to be a booking(as he did in the league cup final a few years back against us when trying to get Jack sent off) but not today. He hid for most of the game, a shadow of the player from even last season.

Good enough for me. Manc, can you remove the goal from Hedges' tally and award it to future dons' centre half Stuart Findlay?

It was on target, not an own goal. I have no problem with a player using his wrong foot if he can get his feet sorted out quick enough. I'd say either chance today was acceptable for a left foot, not so much the one against the tims. It's not something a primary school footballer, exclusively, would do though, it's rife in the modern game at all levels. Weirdly, it seems to be much more of an issue for left than right footers. It's fairly regular to see a left footer with a fantastic technique on their left, with a right that just hangs there. It's like they shape their bodies the wrong way in order to get more action on the ball but struggle to pivot onto their pish foot. Robson was gash on his right, Mulgrew was only latterly at the Tims acceptable on his right. Hedges is actually okay on his right but he just seems to approach the ball with his body already opened up. Would be difficult to coach out now.

Leave him alone, he's ace. He was probably expecting Sam to bury it like he should have. Good to see Cosgrove scoring, he looked nervy when he came on with some poor touches. Although when it mattered, for both the missed chance and the red card his first touch is excellent setting himself up nicely, which isn't something I think we'll often see from Main (who had a decent game today). McLennan was good today, but also just lacked that composure near the goal. Good to see him playing well further up the pitch. A good game for us all round.

Might as well leave this here Dick

This is mindset, and the nature of chairmen in general - having made their money in the way they have (in the main). That's not a criticism, more an observation. However, it is also the nature of having football clubs setup as companies rather than, say, charities or some other bespoke type of entity. Cormack's job of ensuring that AFC returns a profit to its shareholders does not square with that of the promotion of a healthy sporting competition (in the short term). An entire league of competing interests, without a single unifying cause (Scottish football) all run by men with similar views by and large. I disagree that Scottish football has been made a laughing stock by naked greed and corruption, we're just not as good at it as our neighbours to the South. Each and every league is setup in the same way, whether its the English league and the 6/7 teams that want to create a closed door European league, the Spanish with their top two, the French with PSG bought and paid for with dubious funds etc etc. We're not a laughing stock because nobody is watching us. Which is why there's such a huge opportunity in my opinion. It's not just Scotland that's crying out for a healthy sporting competition built on fairness, its all of Europe. If we could create a league that works together for the betterment of the league, where European money is split evenly, funds are not distributed on league placings, wage caps, co-ordinated youth development programs where no child is ever contracted (surely this is a basic human rights issue?) before hitting 16 or playing first team football (whichever comes first) and so on. It would make people sit up and take notice. People down South would tune in to our SPFL internet/TV channel to see things being done differently, with an emphasis on fitba as a sport and railing against players who get paid 5 times the national average wage every single week. It may even get players with a conscience coming here to play that wouldn't normally consider it. To make a league where everyone benefits from the success of the rest would be fantastic. I'd have no problem supporting the scum in Europe if it was something that would better Scottish football, and an ultra competitive league would do wonders for the game. Unfortunately, I suspect most Scottish football fans would disagree. They'd much prefer to blindly follow us to Westhill and beyond to the Atlantic league, picking up the crumbs from the scum-table and benchmarking ourselves uncritically against an ever widening gap.

I thought Anderson looked reasonably accomplished on TV the other night, but he's playing alongside Moffat who is slower than a dead cat. Anderson was making some nice runs and trying to play off a guy who was basically static (he's a hero at Ayr though, as he's a good finisher). It's a pity he couldn't have got a better suited team. Even Raith would have been a better setup for him. Ross' crossing for Raith was fairly pap on the telly too.

Entirely agree. However, I'd add that it gets ignored by our own fans too, and the constant focus on our results against either scum over anything else simply compounds the issue. We are a massive part of the problem.

Nobody stated league record, nobody would ever think in that manner, that's just stupid. Unless it were the case that the huns put out crap teams in the cups, which they don't. The huns have only been alive and in our league for a few years, so there's a very obvious cutoff point. It's not poor in comparison to Motherwell or Killie, that's not true. Motherwell have only beaten Rangers once since they returned to the SPFL, and Killie's record is much the same as ours since the hun returned. It's pretty obvious stuff, the problem is, if you take your dislike of McInnes aside, you're putting unfair targets on him - objectively speaking. I think four points is a reasonable aim, do you think more, and if so show yer workings? For aviodance of doubt, I think four is the minimum target we should be aiming for and he should be cut a bit of slack for not winning every single game against them and that type of thinking is seriously unrealistic and unhelpful for the resasons Tup states.

Come on for fuck sake, show a little bit of objectivity. Why in the world, when we're discussing performances against a team, would you miss out the two cup games where we won (especially when we're discussing St Mirren's cup win)? Other than to make a shite point, and because it inconveniently doesn't suit that which you were trying to make. We're discussing a team here that is odds on favourite to beat us in every single meeting, who have a budget 4 times ours (objectively/factually). We shouldn't expect to beat them in every single game, we shouldn't expect to get the better of them in head to head over a season - that would be entirely unreasonable and completely unfair on the manager. Just as it would be to expect St Johnstone to get the better of us in head to head over a season. That's not to say it won't happen on the odd occasion, and there will likely be one (different) team who manages it each year, just as happens to us. I think a reasonable expectation would be one win at home and a draw in the other remaining fixtures and a free for all in the cups if we get them. Four points per season against a team with the budget disparity would seem about right, just as St Johnstone fans wouldn't grumble about getting four points against us in any one season (I'm not sure why we think we have any right to expect more than St Johnstone fans in that regard). McInnes didn't know his team on game one, which was extremely poor, but the second meeting was a complete write-off that nobody could have been expecting points from. We need at least one win against them this season to be respectable, and I think we've got a good chance of that if we have our best 11 (McGeouch for McRorie) available. We also can't look at our results against the hun objectively without looking at everybody else's. Only two teams have drawn against them this season in Hibs and Livingston, so there isn't a manager out there getting the better of them - Goodwin included (obviously). What we saw last night was a one off shock result, which happens to every team at some point. Why would you take last night's result and say "see, that's how you do it, it's nae difficult" and ignore the other 25 games they've played? It's just ridiculous. Here are our prior seasons' results versus the hun: 19/20 0W 2D 1L (one fixture not fulfilled) 18/19 3W 2D 2L 17/18 0W 1D 3L 16/17 2W 0D 2L So 17/18 season stands out as the one we were poor in, making up for that by finishing above them in the league. For the record, McInnes talks about winning the game in every game we play against them, but for some reason it gets ignored. Similarly against the Tims. Also, when you're using the measure of how a team performs versus what the manager said before the game, you have to include all games where the manager said they were there to win the game but then went on to lose it. Unless we're saying that not one manager has said that they're there to win the game before every Rangers game this season? The arguments just get more and more ridiculous.

Pretty certain McInnes has a better record than most against the Hun. He's done very well against them. The opening game of the season was a shambles, but the last game was to be expected. As we subsequently proved, a dons team missing multiple first team players isn't as good as St Mirren. I like Goodwin, I think he's an intelligent guy with good knowledge of the game. St Mirren have a good first eleven, that'll do well against most teams, and they should finish top six if they can keep them all fit.