RicoS321

It's the best option for our midfield and covers the defence well. It really needs some wing players. Maybe Duk on for Polvara would be good. Don't think McGrath has been that good either. We started well, they worked us out and tightened up and pressed and we've struggled since. Both fullbacks getting up the park for us though, just need people to hit the box a bit quicker and more intelligently.

Good to see us sticking with the line up for a few games anyway. Still think the lack of width is an issue, but needs must to avoid Morris starting.

Yep, we should take him on in the second half when we play towards the RDS and play him further forward. By around 700 metres.

With no rain today, the pitch will be drying out nicely making it a playable surface, so I suspect Levein has been out with the garden hose.

Rooney had Hayes and McGinn and many others who laid things on a plate for him. Even then, Rooney would miss a chance before converting, much the same as Miovski does. In terms of chances missed, they both have excellent records. Miovski's all round game and movement are better. Rooney struggled in games against the Tims and European fixtures, where Bojan has offered something this season with his improvements over the summer.

I think Robson has said he expects a couple of signings in the window. Sounds about right. Don't go overboard, we've got enough dregs in the squad to clear up over the summer and get us in a better place for next season. Besuijen going would be a good start. Ideally we cut our losses on Richardson, Morris and Gueye in the summer and build from there.

Had to jinx it.

What does that mean? Some sort of New Zealand Hun?

Good to see the establishment clubs getting the easy home ties.

You're right. Fuck this Mikey Johnston pish, we should be looking at that O'Riley lad.

If you are an established Hun or Tim then you likely are too good for any other team in the SPFL though, aren't you?

Aye, I'm with you, I don't think that's a thing. Robson, Nicholson, Hartley etc. etc. Can't think of a single player who thought he was too good for the Dons. Scott Brown maybe? Although I don't think so.

Offside in my opinion. Dirty Jambo fucks.

Yep. Sadly the only route is either through the loan system, which worked for us with McRorie, but not with the equivalent Tims, or snapping them up after they've gone down South for a bit and failed. Johnston has already had a loan move to the Portuguese top league, so I expect he'll have multiple options if he's willing to travel.

Yep, same team as last time. Should be an 0-8 win.

I think he'll be above our budget. Scales would be a good comparison. We weren't willing to get close to what the Tims valued him at. Our board seem more keen to spend money on unknowns like Gueye for some reason. I guess that they think the return will be greater. The Scales and Christie scenarios show that the Tims aren't really amenable to a deal either, which is their prerogative, and will force us to pay over the odds. I also suspect that the Hernandez move was a massive mistake that the board maybe learned from. He was way out of our existing price structure (frees and small fees), and I don't think we've come close since despite paying some decent amounts. Edit: also Hernandez and Richardson would very much have got the fans excited if they had been good at actual football. I remember huge excitement around Hernandez until the minute he walked onto the pitch. Duk has got everyone excited too. I think Johnston would too, you're right.

The Tims will be wanting close to seven figures for Johnston. He's contracted until 2026. Undoubtedly a good player, but the only way he'll be coming here is on loan. Hopefully the previous burnings of Christie and Scales will put us off this.

Absolutely. I would expect, and agree with, the five coming out for the Tims. Personnel wise it's not too different, but you'd probably choose one of Barron or Clarkson in order for the same success we saw in some European games. It shouldn't be a five though, it should be more like a three, that's where we saw benefit when it worked, when McKenzie and Devlin played a bit higher and there were two sitting midfielders to cover them sideways. A 3-4-2-1 basically. You could fit Clarkson higher up and Barron sitting, but I think that Polvara suits the high up role as part of a two better. Either way, the key in my opinion is to have the two sitting at all times (unless chasing a game). That brings out the best in our midfielders and allows the most combinations of personnel. Of course that might slightly change if Barron goes, but I still think the personnel that remain suit the two sitting better.

Probably time to review the season's signings again though. Doohan - not let in a single goal. Success Jensen - solid enough signing, a bit underwhelming in all areas. Not nearly as good as Scales or Considine. Jury's out Rubezic - aggressive and has some good qualities. Will be interesting to see if the mistakes can be ironed out with age. Jury's out. Gartenmann - some great games. Suffers when setup is shite. Success Williams - is that his name? Fail Dadia - fail Devlin - success (as he was always going to be, known entity) McGrath - success (when played correctly, as expected) Sokler - He has some fantastic attributes such as pace and movement. Dives around too much and is a bit weak, but those are areas that can be easily improved. Jury's out (probably success) Gueye - fire into the moon - fail Is that everyone? Not including the signings from last season of course. If so, about a third success rate. Maybe 40% if we include Sokler as a success. About the same success rate as McInnes was getting that he was regularly (correctly) chastised for. It does seem this recruitment thing isn't as easy as folk make out.

I don't think we need to fill the Ramadani hole, and a large part of me hopes that we don't. The Ramadani hole is completely of Robson's own making. You simply change setup, as he has maybe now done, and the hole vanishes. Another Ramadani in means reverting to the failed formation and hoping that the new recruit actually is another Ramadani and not another Gueye, Morris etc, etc. I'd look for width. Other than that, risk sticking with what we've got until summer, unless we lose a player.

No chance I'm making it beyond 21. Not with my lifestyle.

Nah. Harvey played a couple of games (sub) under Glass, and maybe one sub under Goodwin in the league cup. Bavidge had already moved ahead of him at that point. Didn't really excite in his brief appearances in the way some young players do, looked a little slow and obviously not physically up to it at that point. That said, Bavidge is also a long way from ready too, but he did score in Aberdeen at the weekend at least.

Aye, 83, that's nae age.

That's a sneaky use of links not being able to show decimals.