RicoS321

I agree, but I've kind of already consigned myself to the fact that they're favourites and it's a game that they will likely win. The most annoying part is that there's nothing particularly jammy or cheatery about their run. It's not like when Smith shitfested them to a final in 2008, they've played some really good teams and deserved to beat them. If it wasn't for who they are, and how they got to their current position, I'd say that they deserve... I can't bring myself to say it. In case of any doubt I might just have raised, I really hope that they lose. With Jack and Wright getting injured. Their fans to get taught a lesson by the Portuguese authorities.

The population of Seville?

You're right, I can't deny that if we were better in midfield and forward there would be less defending and less pressure. That's why I've said so in every reply. You're initial point was that you think that Bates and Gallagher would be a fine pairing for next season (that's the point I've been arguing against until now for avoidance of doubt). I'm saying that there are fundamental issues with that pairing that would suggest otherwise; and lots of them. Putting better midfielders (which I've suggested we might struggle to get better than Ferguson, Brown, McRorie and Barron) might paper over a few cracks. If we get a good front line, we might even score more than we concede. The evidence is fairly overwhelming that they've been terrible as a partnership though, you're definitely the one with the controversial opinion here, in case you're in any doubt! Lastly, I doubt anyone would accuse me, ever, of not digging deeper to make a point!

What about the other 30?

Three windows I'd say. If there's no sign of progress at the start of the season after next then let him go. You're right, one season isn't enough, but we should know past January if we're getting a good return on our signings and then another dig at it in the summer. I've got a feeling we'll keep Kennedy, and he'll be Goodwin's Ojo type project (and maybe a little bit of pragmatism). I'd still like to see Campbell here, because he just seems to have so much unfulfilled potential, and not in a Craig Storie kind of way, he actually looks like he could be very good.

Okay. You're probably in a minority of one who believes that there is nothing wrong with the pairing of Bates and Gallagher. I'm not for a minute suggesting that others haven't collaborated in our downfall (I specifically said otherwise), and I was purely using Considine and the percentages as an illustrative example - I thought that was fairly obvious. I think I've been fairly diplomatic about it, if you sat near me and heard the abuse that the pair get at pittodrie you'd think I was being too conservative! "Bring back Ifil and Bus" was shouted at one point. That's the level people see these two at, and it's not surprising given our worst finish in 18 years. I think the biggest problem for fans in the ground is that they're just so passive whilst they're fucking things up. It's certainly the worst pairing we've had since McGhee was here. Diamond and Ifil perhaps?

Considine, McGeouch, Ojo and Ruth on their way. Jenks and Montgomery return to parent clubs. No mention of anyone still in contract yet.

Yep, he did, that's why I added the bit about sticking with it. What I mean is that he'll pick a system and stick with it. He'll likely have learned that 3 at the back can have its weaknesses in the SPFL, and I think he'll not try it again for a while (unfortunately).

You're maybe thinking McNaughton? Considine is definitely left footed.

It's not that it's hard, it's just that it makes them 10-20% (or whatever) weaker as a player because they're playing on their weaker side (just like any professional sports player, like a boxer). Very few players in world football are equally comfortable on both sides. It's like playing a player only 80% fit. Is an 80% Bates really worth it? The evidence says no. It all depends on how the player plays the game though. Bates wants to come forward with the ball every time, and he does it on his strong side. McRorie was exactly the same and he was even worse when he played left centre (credit to Glass who spotted it and switched Gallagher there). Considine played right centre back for a while alongside McKenna and was absolutely fine because he could just come out with his body shape reversed on his wrong foot because he was going to take the conservative option of the short pass or the chip down the line (the percentage game) anyway. Watch Considine play against the Huns down at Ibrox at right centre half against Morelos and you wouldn't have known he was on his wrong side because 95% of his game was unaffected.The aggressive marking, strength in the air and strong tackling. He already knows not to let the player down the line as he's getting beaten for pace regardless of which side! I would have said that Gallagher is similar in that regard and should have been the one to switch sides. The reason he didn't was because when Bates joined the club he had to play alongside McRorie who was fucking honking on his wrong foot. When Gallagher came back in, nobody saw fit to change it. There'd have been very little affect on Gallagher's game on his wrong foot. It's not specific to Aberdeen either, clubs all over the world do exactly the same thing. Far bigger and better than Aberdeen. It's not sad in any way either, football is about the fine margins. If there's anything that weakens your team you fix it, unless the player is already 20% better than everyone else! There's probably not too many players playing on their weak side in top level football, who's strengths rely on ball play. I'd prefer a 3 too, I'm not sure Goodwin will though. I think he's like McInnes in that regard and has his preferred style and won't change unless forced (and then he'll stick with that change long after its stopped working!). I'd expect a 4-2-3-1, but maybe not. That said, you'd likely be changing at the expense of McRorie too, as I don't see him playing right wing back, and if we've not got a good replacement for Ferguson then we're screwed either way! I'd rather have McRorie in a back three and just ditch Gallagher. Other than a short spell in his career, he's not been good enough to merit changing the team around. Good as he was for Scotland, he doesn't add that much for a club side aiming to dominate possession and attack from the back. We're explaining the deficiencies of this season, not next. Barron, Ferguson and Brown (the Brown of earlier this season) would probably all have started next season had they still been available. We've had a reasonably strong midfield two most of the season. Even McRorie will do a good job in there without troubling his own defence. I agree with you though when you move further forward. The shit stems from that attacking midfield (non existent for us, as you have mentioned on countless occasions!) onwards. The defence is being asked to not make a mistake for longer and longer in games because we've got zero creativity. They're then taking positional risks and dicking about on the ball causing the errors. I would say that most of our individual errors have stemmed from within the defence itself (Bates prominently) as opposed to from midfield, but a big portion of that is because they're trying to get involved in areas where they don't need to because of deficiencies further forward. That didn't happen often under McInnes because we were solid at the back first before risking anything further forward, hence our excellent clean sheet record (and boring 1-0 game management wins!).

Worth a look?

I wish I had your confidence. I don't think you're completely right about the "shit ahead of them", but I do agree that the lack of scoring has heaped extra pressure on the defence to get everything right, and their lack of confidence has led to a spiralling mess. It's more than that though. The defence was so much better in the first half yesterday with a recognised left centre half and Bates on his right foot. Considine did something I expected Gallagher to be really good at (and something both Taylor and McKenna were great at too), in that he attacked everything and defended on the front foot. He was aggressive and in the face of the attacker, who hated it. That brought us further up the pitch, and Polvara was able to pick up the inevitable loose balls that the attacker was pressured into giving away. It was genuinely night and day. When Gallagher came on, we defended deeper and waited on the second balls. Bates became shakey again on his wrong side, culminating on his atrocious attempt at a challenge resulting in his booking. I'm mystified why Gallagher wasn't taken on as left centre half in a direct replacement, but perhaps it's not as obvious an issue when you're looking side on to the game. From behind the goals, you could see the difference between Bates' first half body position and his second half one, where his body becomes flat to the play, the ball in between his feet ready to switch to his good side at the first opportunity (hence an extra touch every time), rather than comfortably strolling out with it on his right foot as was the case in the first half. I'd go as far as to say that Bates looked decent in that first half, which is the first time I could say that since Goodwin arrived. This isn't an advert for Andy Considine, just that an aggressive left sided centre half is an absolute priority (I have a feeling it might be Joe Shug, which I'd be happy with). The pairing of Gallagher and Bates has without question failed in my mind, and it goes deeper than confidence. Personally, I wouldn't like to see someone like Gallagher sitting on our bench for a whole season, as I think (probably harshly) that he's the type that would happily pick up a wage, but if it's the pragmatic thing to do with the turnover in the summer then fair enough. It would be an absolute mistake to have those two as first choice centre backs next season (although I realise that you're not actually suggesting that). I think that if we have Gallagher on the bench, we'll actually need another cover for left centre half too, which adds further to the recruitment process.

He's had a bad start. However, no manager should be having to get rid of more than ten players in a window, that's entirely the fault of the previous two managers. One of Glass' biggest problems was that he didn't do a clear out. Instead he pretended he'd turned shite players into passable ones (Ojo), when the evidence didn't really back it up. Ojo, Kennedy, Devlin, McLennan, McGeouch should all have been binned in the summer or January. It would have given a bit of breathing space in the squad and perhaps allowed a couple more signings in too. Instead he kept all those players and also brought in a shit tonne of crap to spread on top (recruitment was way worse than McInnes' worst, which is impressive). McInnes left Glass a rebuilding job which he never really undertook and now Goodwin has a bigger one. That is a failure at club level in my opinion and should never have been allowed to happen. There is no way Goodwin is turning it around in the summer. In reality, a manager is only a small part of the whole and the impact he'll be able to have is negligible beyond the recruitment.

I don't think there was a shove, it's a still photo too so no idea about his body moving, I was merely offering an explanation. I believe that what happened was that the ref gave the penalty for handball. On speaking to the linesman, he overturns it because the linesman says it hasn't hit his hand it's hit his head. Now, obviously the linesman has that completely wrong, but it's the only explanation that would disallow the pen, but also result in no free kick. However, the dons should at the very least have been challenging the drop ball, as had the ball deflected off the player's head then it would have just as likely landed at one of our player's feet. The referee clearly screwed up in his handling of it after the linesman had made his airse of it.

So it was definitely a hand ball. There's maybe a shove on the player, but then no free kick was given and the game was restarted with a drop ball. Mental.

That was fairly terrible, as expected. Good for Considine to get 50 minutes, we were far better with him at the back, more aggressive and a better shape, atrocious decision to let him go. We'd better be ditching Gallagher too, he's way worse. Just the same as always, nothing in attack, limp in midfield and shakey in defence. Our worst season in two decades. A huge turnaround required. Special mention to the weird penalty overturning. What the fuck happened? Why was there a drop ball after?

Exactly this. The expectations for next season should be low. There are no teams in the world getting 100% recruitment success, and were short 6 first team players. That will mean at least ten signings (remember Ferguson was third choice after gleeson and Forrester). Ideally it would be 12+ to get 6 players, but that's not a manageable turnover in a single window. It'll also mean filling out squad with another 4-5 largely unusable players again. I think if we can target 4 low risk good signings then that would be a good start. Add in youngsters returning and a couple of loans and keep a thin squad until January. Obviously, those four signings have to want to come to us and have to be a perfect fit, but if we can get them in early enough then there'll be time towards the end of the window for correcting. We're miles away in reality, it'll be relying on luck and others being crap to get us close to the European spots.

Pish. Bobby Clark would have caught all of those.

Great post. The bit in bold is evidently true. For a player to have scored three goals against the Tims and one against the Hun yet still be treated as "one of them" is just weird. I don't think I've heard a single Lewis Ferguson chant from the dons in his entire time here. Even when he scored that goal against Burnley and the time he was phenomenal against the scum at Hampden and scored the winner. Yet we went collectively weak at the knees when a Celtic fan and legend turned up at our door to play a retirement cameo. Edit: I mean I do get the reasoning. It's because of his sulky face. Jack was never really liked either, and McGinn suffered from it. Cheeky, cheery, broony brooner was just a loveable rogue.

You're not going to get flak, Ferguson isn't exactly a popular player. You could repeat what you said about Ferguson for McRorie (2 years older), yet he was voted player of the season when Ferguson finished top scorer. I can confirm that Ferguson does look more dominant in the flesh than on the telly, having been to all our home games and watched most away games on telly. He covers a lot of ground and does a lot of good running. He's been our best player this season and scored goals against both the scum and dominated several games. However, you're also right! He should be doing much more. His one assist this season speaks for itself. He's tried to do things all himself when he would have been far more effective bringing others into the game (McLean did both in his final year, but in a much better side). The debate for me is whether this was the player's fault or that of his teammates and manager. I'd say both. Ferguson has been let down this season after he didn't get his move. At a time when he should have been the senior player in midfield alongside another similar player, ala Jack and McLean (perhaps McRorie, perhaps another), he was unnecessarily shackled to a more senior player in Brown, who did nothing for his game and would have only served to make him more disillusioned (a criticism of Glass, not Brown). It was a stupid way to develop a player, removing responsibility from him instead of adding it. It went completely against the stated objectives of the club and something a better chairman than Cormack would have spotted. There is obviously an argument to say that it's not all about Ferguson, in which case we can't complain about his performances. There is certainly a question mark over his attitude this season, as those events have resulted in him becoming selfish and putting himself before the team, but it would be harsh to put most of the blame on him for that. There are more experienced players in Gallagher, Bates, Ojo, Ramirez etc that have failed to show any battle when things were tough. Both McLean and Jack had the foundations to thrive in their final seasons, and even then Jack was regularly criticised by the "fit dis he actually see?" crew. The huge worry is the player that we're now left with. We really, really don't need a regressing player on our hands and a stalled season will not see offers flying in from the type of team Ferguson would/should aspire to. We'll correctly get offered significantly less than last year, but I'd like to think the club will cut their losses and take whatever we can. It'll be interesting to see where he goes from here, and if he can recover his game from in the mindset it currently resides. It's a gamble for any club taking him on, but definitely worth it as he could turn his game round relatively quickly and become a great player. Last season he'd have been a good signing for a high end championship team or even lower EPL, this season he'd be better trying the McKenna route and looking at a lower end championship team with aspirations to hit the playoffs. I really hope we're not lumbered with him either way, an unhappy Ferguson seems to leech out to those around him (the opposite also true) and will negatively affect the team. I'm not sure I trust Goodwin to handle that particularly well, amongst all the other shite going on.

You can't reply to a post that doesn't exist.

You'll eat your words when we sail through the playoffs next season.

Also, I'd happily get rid of that entire back four ahead of next season.

It's been a long time in the making too. Very impressive, and high risk given they didn't know that the vote would go in favour of var when they signed Ojo.

It's fucking awful, isn't it? The subs are pointless. Rooney been good for them. He's a beast.