RicoS321

We haven't earned the luck in this campaign. If we're going to do it, it has to be all our own doing now. The Slovak draw was a bit unfortunate like. Assuming they lose against England (although they are gash at the minute), then that could have allowed us to go into the final game with a 4 point gap (again, assuming we beat Slovakia, which is our only option at present). However, it would also have allowed us to draw against Slovakia at home and still have a chance of qualifying. It's that sort of position that Scotland fuck it up in (call it Alex Smith syndrome). When everyone knows that you need to win, but a draw wouldn't be the end, is when we inevitably get the draw and go into the final game in the wrong state of mind and end up losing, and glorious failure ensues. Ironically, Strachan's earlier incompetence has left us in the best possible position for Scotland to be in. We just need to go out and really take it to Slovakia* and go all out for the win. If we win that, then the confidence will be sky high for the final game, against a team who will likely already be out with nothing to play for, there for the taking. *I'm taking for grant(Hanley)ed that we'll tank Malta.

Hemmin. There's a thread for this... Nice site.

Decent half. Hope yer watching nips. A couple more required to get the confidence going. Impressed with Phillips, and wondering - as always - why he hasn't been in the team more often. Forrest living up to my earlier comments unfortunately.

That was said when be Croatia under Strachan, and then when we did well against both Germany and Poland. It's easy for a manager to get a team up for an England game and doesn't really reflect general performance. There's been nothing in the other qualifying games to suggest he has any fucking idea. As for James fucking Forrest. 17 atrocious caps for Scotland to date, we're basically trying to play him into some sort of international form - like what happened with Maloney, who only turned good after being dropped for a while and very late in his career. Fraser and Burke much better options. Should be an easy win though, they were gash over here.

Can't say I'd ever heard of him! Interesting to know how these things work, was he someone Deek had an eye on, or just the backup for our better options? I'm assuming he wasn't one of our first choices, given it's a loan from a league one team (although Logan was too wasn't he, or were they championship?). Anyway, whether he's a success or not is neither here nor there I suppose, it's just great that we've got a manager who is seeing what we're all the seeing. He's sorted out the key roles of striker, wide areas, midfield and defence and let those players go that needed to be ditched. There were plenty on here that might have been happy keeping Storey or Stockley despite them not being good enough, but Deek made the right call at the right time, making sure they were replaced before ditching them. Overall, it's been a pretty decent summer. Not all of our signings are going to make it (I'm going to take a punt on Maynard not making it past Jan and GMS and Arneson not being here next season), but it would be very difficult to expect them all to fit the bill. The good thing is he's given himself a high chance of success by targeting key areas of the pitch and building a squad capable of having a few options for each of those positions. Obviously, he's been greatly assisted by the rise of Wright, which has taken a lot of the pressure off. Hopefully that'll be added to with some good minutes for both Ross and Harvie who look like they might be the next youngsters to come through. Good stuff Deek, a decent season ahead hopefully.

Reynolds might not be good enough (in you and others' opinion) but when you look around the league there are very few better options. McInnes' best signings have been guys who are known SPL quantities and unfortunately there really aren't that many good centre halves out there who would really improve on Reynolds. We're then left with taking a punt on some down-Souther which can be incredibly risky, especially so late in the window if the scouting hasn't been done. I suspect McInnes will have had one or two in mind but hasn't been able to land one and doesn't think taking a punt on someone he hasn't done the research on isn't a good idea. It has to be weighed up with affecting the morale of others in the squad too and that's not worth it unless it's someone he's sure of. We don't want another Stockley/Storey/Maynard rotting our bench for no good reason. Folks mentioned Davis at County and Heneghan at Well, but neither are particularly inspiring and neither are particularly good ball playing centre halves either. I'd be inclined to stick with Reynolds over either of those two. We need a good upgrade. Reynolds is the weak link in our team probably, but we have to remember that we're way ahead of the teams below us and being a weak link in our team doesn't make average centre backs in other sides any better.

That's a fairly unbiased view point.... Just joking. Interesting read. I disagree with the bit in bold. It's not progressive in the slightest (obviously the training ground is). Like any out of town facility (B&Q, Asda, IKEA etc), it's entirely unsustainable and lacks basic connectivity. That's not progressive. Obviously a modern stadium is progress over the existing one, but nobody is arguing otherwise. Also, whether they just turned up in Westhill last year or are long term residents, the fact it was green belt land once is entirely irrelevant. It's an established community of a number of decades that hasn't had to contend with a stadium before. Most of their complaints above, as you say, are utter bollocks but I can understand why folk may feel aggrieved by unexpected building works on their front doorstep. Whether we like it or not, people's entire wealth in 21st century is built into their assets (hooses), and if they feel that something like this could seriously damage that wealth then it must be pretty shite for them. It is green belt land, and so it's right that folk weren't expecting anything to be built there when they purchased their properties. They're also correct that more houses will get built in the surrounding area as a result of the stadium, this devaluing their properties further perhaps. The evidence of that is clear in the Loirston project, which was effectively used as a stalking horse for a thousand hooses after planning was granted (no prizes for guessing who benefited). I don't believe these things are issues, but I can see why folk think they are, and I don't think it's entirely fair to judge people for going to extreme and irrational measures to protect what in many cases will be their greatest store of wealth. But good on ye for attending. I agree with you in the main that their arguments are weak at best, stupid at worst. I don't believe there's anything you've mentioned in there that is of any concern for AFC. I think it'll sail through, and I don't think NKS will get near the funds required to challenge it.

Some fucked up fees going on there. Marvin Johnson was a decent player for Motherwell, but he wisnae even as good as O'Halloran at Saints at the time and certainly couldn't touch Hayes. £3M is fucking nuts and shows the value in including clauses in the contract for pretty much anyone. The market down there is just a different planet and you could get lucky with a player that just fits in down there without causing much of a problem in the SPL. As for McLeod. A bit meh, but it would rile the huns, so'd be worth it from that point of view. Decent player for them, but nothing spectacular. I mind him being an attacking midfielder though, which means we'd be fairly loaded in that role (cover for Christie against the Tims I suppose). If he's free, then why nae, but it strikes me as agent chat to get the guy a move. Think a fullback, left sided defender are probably priorities unless we're moving Shinnie to left back, in which case we need someone in his aggressive mould to replace him. Moult would be good like, but surely with May already signed that'd leave us with a very restless bench with 3 very good strikers vying for one position (and Maynard doing whatever Maynard's do).

Apologies, I was agreeing with you, nae accusing you!

Thank fuck. Good luck loon.

Aye, that's very true. Doesn't mean it's nae worth discussing on a fitba forum though. That'd rule out a lot of topics. Nor does it mean you have to "get behind it", which seems to be the prescription of most.

So was allowing a newly formed Rangers straight back into the top flight. So was allowing the 11-1 vote to be maintained. Why people put so much trust in our board to make the correct decision, I'm unsure.

That's right, forgot about that. Used to them just being pash. Good stuff.

I agree, which is why I'm not making that argument. I'm saying that Tom's design, with little effort, exceeds that of the dons by 1,000. I see absolutely no reason why that couldn't reach 17K with the same effort as was granted to Loirston or Kingsford. I've asked a couple of pertinent questions regarding planning and design. Questions that should have been fielded by the club. @Garlogie they've given a figure of 12K, which is blatantly a lie, with no evidence to back it up. The last thing that it could be called is honest. It's completely lacking in transparency. @Manc I mentioned the wave form for the Mainer, because I suggested it would be curved (inward at the ends) also, that would surely eliminate a lot of seat kills. Depending on where that could start, and given it ends at the RDS, you'd be talking about 1/3rd of the main stand (including RDS corner) being at RDS height. That'd add a fair chunk of seats, similar to that of the upper deck, circa 2K. Again, the main point is that the club have not fielded these questions. They've not provided their drawings, calculations, options, investigations, considerations or configurations for us to analyse make suggestions and ask questions. They didn't approach the renovation of Pittodrie with the attitude of trying to eek out every last seat and maximise the capacity, they produced a document that gave the lowest possible capacity to back up a decision they had already made - to move.

Tom, a few questions regarding yer design. First, to clarify, you're at 13K including the Merkland being raised a couple of rows? In other words, you're already doing better than the dons. I've had issue with the 12K figure the whole time, it stinks of us being lied to and I think your diagram adds to this (sorry)! An honest, open stadium consultation - with drawings - would have prevented this. Something similar to your diagram but with a Q&A section where any other suggestions (like mine below) could be rebutted/answered. The fact that we haven't had this strikes me as more deliberate than incompetent. It's shite that we're having to ask you questions like this on a fitba forum. Can I ask why the corner isn't filled in between the South and RDS? I'm assuming that was deliberate, so interesting to hear your reasoning? I'm guessing emergency access/assembly zone of some sort? In which case, is there alternatives that would allow the stand to overhang any pedestrian area (as the stand gets higher it gets deeper)? Given the South Stand in your diagram doesn't jut out significantly, I would have thought that it would be feasible to corner it appropriately to the same depth as the stand. You mention that we'd have to buy at least 6 houses to move the mainer back. I'm struggling to see which ones, do you think you could point them out? Two at most by the looks of google maps, which I think is up to date for that side of the stand. Again, I'm struggling to see why the golf clubs would necessarily be affected too. We're talking a few metres, not right through the entire car park. To avoid the two houses at the Merkland end, would it not be possible to curve the main stand back into the road returning to meet the RDS corner (see my amazing pic)? Thus creating additional seats with the greater span. Also, why does the main stand (and South) have to be the same height it's entire length? I'm assuming it has to be no higher than existing in order not to block out light from the existing houses? In which case, it can surely rise to the height of the RDS over it's length in a waveform (because we're by the fucking sea!) giving double height, or close to double height from around the centre of the stand (or whatever point suits the light trajectory). Again, this would add further seating. Potentially quite a bit I'd have thought. Finally, in terms of the planning decision. Where does light blockage (stadium height) rank in the list of objections? Compared to say building in the green belt? Both are against the rules, but it seems that those rules are flexible enough that if a good case is put forward, then they can be overcome. Is that a correct statement? Thus, what makes building on the green belt at Kingsford so much easier to get through planning than blocking out light in x number of flats at the site of an existing stadium? Assuming that no compulsory purchases are required - which I agree would be a mountain - then are the two not both capable of de-railing the entire thing through legal challenge? In reality, is there anything "more" insurmountable about renovating Pittodrie than Kingsford from a planning perspective? I expect that if we were actually renovating Pittodrie then the club would be suggesting that any planning issues raised are trivial and that folks "need to get behind it" and those objecting are NIMBYS. In other words, there is parity between the two. Both are difficult to get permission for, but neither particularly more difficult than the other, it just so happens that Kingsford is the one we are trying to promote.

Aye, McLennan reminds me of Shankland a few years back. Bigger than most at his age group and at that stage where he can either kick on and be very good or nae make it. He seems to have a bit more mobility though and I reckon he could turn into a decent player. It's a shame we can't get them at a slightly higher level than either of those two, but at least they're close by and will get regular game time. Noticeable that Harvie hasn't gone out again. Hopefully he'll start to push for a place from the bench.

If it's anything like the last Lithuania game then I think you should just stay in bed, safe in the knowledge that the score will still be the same in the morning. Your dreams should consist of: "Scotland win 4-0 as Strachan and McGhee are hit by bus en route to the game".

I'm wondering why neither have been involved in a WYOWYN.

Is it about consultation? Surely if there are genuine restrictions that apply, the CC don't need to check with the public first? For example, my in-laws wanted to build a turbine on their land, which the community council objected to because it was on green belt (it didn't go to committee or public consultation). I applied for a hoose on the same land but on the site of an existing ruin, and it went to public committee because it didn't contravene green belt planning considerations, but was still in an area where they felt the public should have a say (they didnae gie a fuck so it passed). In other words, the mechanisms and rules are in place that enforced that objection. I'm pretty certain that if the entire community had wanted the turbine to be built, the CC would still be entitled/required to object because it contravenes the green belt planning rules (that would be their default position, unless persuaded otherwise)? Otherwise what's the point in those rules? It's then up to the cooncil to justify why they think said rules should be broken on this occasion. Are we/you saying that any application that is being objected to by CC for breaching a specific rule has to go for public consultation? Genuine questions, I'm unsure how the process works.

Dugdale was the 6th permanent leader, been quite a few "acting" as you'd expect. One every 3 years. Probably about the same as the UK tories. I don't get her shite about how great it is she's leaving without controversy and with a stable party. Unfinished would surely be the only description of that?

Yep. It certainly shows where ACC stand on the situation. I think argument is pretty tenuous like. KCC clearly objected on grounds of green belt land, I'm not sure they would need a public consultation. Fantastic work on the drawings Tom, much appreciated. Will follow up with some questions later....

It's okay, he has no mettle.

Maybe he's just nae as good as everyone thought. A couple of great goals aside he wasn't that reliable when he was here first time around. I actually didn't think he'd be McInnes' type of player so was surprised when he signed. Swans about a lot and holds onto the ball for far too long. However, it could just be that O'Connor's had no reason to be dropped yet? I don't think Arneson is going to cover the left side, nor do I think O'Connor will, so I suspect it's either Arneson and O'Connor and there's been no good reason to hook O'Connor.

Possibly, but I suspect it's more to do with the fact that their skint. They're a few months behind on the building works, and it'll be hitting them hard. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect them to have a below-par season whilst all their investment is going into developing the ground. I'd expect them to recover next season, but I think they'll just have to limp through this one. Levein is actually the right person to grind out results with a brutal style of football.

Agreed. He hasn't had a great start, but there's signs there if he can just get his shite together on the pitch. Incidents like these can be one-offs that have little or no affect on his future conduct. We've all been there. To be honest, I think it's great. Fitba wid be shite without stories like these. It's funnier when it happens to other teams' players of course, but it's good to laugh at ourselves occasionally too. Significantly happier with this story than those that accompanied the last young Utd superstar that we signed.