RicoS321

Hibs do what Hibs do.

We're not crying out for one, but no way McKenzie is playing every week for us. He played well against Livingston, defensively, but does nothing coming forward with the ball and is slow to get it under control. Scales is a far better all round footballer and I think he could go on to be very good. If we get the option to sign then we should go for it, a loan would be a terrible decision as this is definitely the season that'll make or break him as a player. Ideally we'd get him in time for Europe, and it certainly shouldn't prohibit us from being on the lookout for a midfielder and a winger and number ten.

A honking opener against a brutal side. Positives were that the defence played well, Rubezic looks good and so does Devlin. Negatives are that we're probably a worse side than last season. Morris isn't good enough, but it was clear that there's nobody to replace him at wing back. Hopefully Devlin moves forward as Macdonald returns, moving Rubezic right. I'm guessing Dadia is pish before he wasn't trusted today (moving Devlin forward). Polvara was decent but doesn't balance the midfield in the way that Ramadani does. I'd definitely push Clarkson forward if we're continuing with him. Moving Polvara to right midfield was a very poor decision. To only make one sub in that game is ridiculous. Sokler needs to be coming on for Miovski or Duk, just throwing on all the strikers is idiotic. It's almost like he's afraid to take either of those two off, again very reminiscent of McInnes (Rooney and McGinn). Duk was poor. Anyway, honking pitch and a spoiled game.

Robson been to the McInnes school of substitutes. How on earth is he watching this without making a change?

Agreed, but in his defence, their back three is sitting deep and if he gets beyond the wing back the defender is always there. He's not received a pass in front of him yet (until Polvara just now!).

Yep, the unwatered plastic pitch is a fucking scam. They seem to have loaded it with double the volume of rubber pellets too, making sure the ball can't move along the ground. The number of passes that have held up from both teams on what should be a true running pitch is a joke. We're not getting battered about though, a Robson side definitely harder than a Goodwin one. Rubezic looks good, and Devlin and Shinnie also playing well. Miovski is putting in a shift too. Polvara good on the ball, but he's not mobile enough for the role and Clarkson appears to be struggling with the pitch. Morris getting the ball too deep to have any impact.

Polvara has a great touch and can spread the ball well, I'm definitely not criticising him. I'm just pointing out that if Robson tries to play him the way he utilised Ramadani then he's hanging the lad out to dry. I don't think he will, Polvara will either be part of a two with Shinnie or in front of them. I'd hope the former. Edit: I guess it's a similar situation that Ramadani was in at the beginning of last season. Goodwin kept playing him on his own in front of the defence, and he clearly wasn't good enough to play there, before Robson recognised that Clarkson could easily manage that role.

Back three of Devlin, Rubezic and McKenzie I would think. Morris and Hayes in the wings. Be interesting to see where Polvara plays. If Clarkson is deep then Polvara better have improved significantly from last season, as there's no way he does a high press - he doesn't have the engine of Ramadani (is nothing like him as a player). I'd hope it's Shinnie and Polvara with Clarkson pressing high. It's not a great side, maybe even worse than the one that finished last season, but if Duk and Miovski are on their game then we should have enough.

As long as fifteen minutes until the tims get their first penalty of the season. Conspiracy.

Shinnie played in a 4-2-3-1 for us for years under McInnes and wasn't stifled. This would be no different, he'd still get up and down but just wouldn't be pressing high as often. Only one of those defenders has a left foot. If we're not getting Scales (and if I were Rodgers, I'd probably dick about for another 10 days before deciding), we definitely need a left sided centre back. Macdonald will play central with Rubezic right of him and Dadia, Polvara and McKenzie providing cover and Williams going back to Liverpool at Christmas with a few sub appearances if he's lucky. Stewart will be shot into the sun. Milne will be in charge of making up the Scottish youth product numbers until January.

Looks about right. I'd probably change up the midfield and have Barron and Shinnie sitting with Clarkson in front. Barron can't play that box to box midfield role that Ramadani and Shinnie did since Robson came in, which allows Clarkson to sit and pass. Similarly, Clarkson couldn't do it I'm reverse. Barron was at his best either playing the number six (where he's worse than Clarkson, obviously) or as part of a two (which Shinnie can do obviously). Clarkson is best space either side of him either in a number six or number ten role, so I'd push him in front of the two with the remit of pushing far up field and shooting lots. I think it would be very unfair to expect Barron (or Polvara) to play the Ramadani role, but I trust Robson to understand the requirements, he was very quick to spot the midfield deficiencies originally and was quick to move Clarkson to his best position. McKenzie is cover at best, we'll definitely be getting a replacement there. I like his attitude, but I don't think he's ever going to make it for us. We'll certainly need him tomorrow and probably a few more times this year and we should easily be able to accommodate him if the rest of the defence is fit, which might be the biggest issue tomorrow.

There's bound to be somewhere in the world where shite footballers are a delicacy.

Don't think it's too early to say that we should be looking for at least £11M for him.

Aye, BBC into full "throwing him under the bus" mode, putting up the second story which is just, essentially, another piece of gossip. They've legitimised the Sun's approach to reporting, essentially, which is unforgivable. They're going to get away with it, unfortunately, because the guy is clearly a seedy weirdo. I don't think that's how the licence fee works. Unless you think we should be able to dictate what a news presenter, for example, spends their money on?

All this thread has confirmed is that Panda has poor taste in fitba kits.

It actually sounds much more malicious than that. The Sun were contacted by the "victim" prior to the release of their story, to inform them that it was bollocks, but they published the story anyway. Following up with attacks on the BBC. Classic tabloid cuntery it seems.

It's an intriguing one, in a gossipy sort of way. The police have said that there's nothing to investigate, which suggests that the victim* was 18+. Thus a consenting adult sharing videos in return for money in much the same way as only fans works. Is it significantly different to watching porn? Personalised porn? It's not a great look, but probably not the massive story that it's been made into. Similar to Gordon Bennett at the Dons all those years ago. Caught and fired, move on. *are they a greater victim of the presenter, or their dealer? Edit: to add, the press aren't revealing the person for fear of litigation, which suggests it's either someone very high profile or someone so low profile that the guessing game is worth more to the tabloids than the true story.

What the fuck is that cat sitting on? Some sort of asbestos lip? A gutter with no downpipe? We need answers.

The best we could have hoped for would have been to chain him outside Cormack park, forcing him to sign an unprecedented eight year contract.

The Burnley away game was peak Lewis for me, he was just amazing. That season he was impossible to get past in a one on one situation. Hope he gets a good gig elsewhere and finds his form again. Still got plenty years left in him.

A true Dons fan would ensure that his club received a small percentage of a sell on fee regardless of their own personal circumstances and safety. I'm beginning to wonder if Anderson really is a fan at all.

Aye, mainly to prevent someone like Hibs signing him though.

Sending him out on loan to a flyover probably wasn't the best move either.

Hopefully. The fewer players that plot a successful path after leaving our youth setup without playing a first team game, the better. Of course, there are plenty of personal reasons why he might want, or need, to move on, that we're not party to so it's not a criticism of his decision. From an Aberdeen perspective, it's best that he tails off into significance in the same way as someone like Grimmer (whilst still having a great career).