Aberdeen v Inverness

[glasgowdon]

Right then.

 

I wasnae there, not got anywhere to stay in Aberdeen yet, only just got confirmation of a start date in the post yesterday  (3 weeks!!!)

 

However, would we have been any better, more competitive with Nicholson, Lovell, Walker et al?

 

Well???

 

I wouldn't need to be at the game to know that Nicholson could walk back into our team.

 

Same for Aluko.

[manc_don]

Right then.

 

I wasnae there, not got anywhere to stay in Aberdeen yet, only just got confirmation of a start date in the post yesterday  (3 weeks!!!)

 

However, would we have been any better, more competitive with Nicholson, Lovell, Walker et al?

 

Well???

 

As GD said, Aluko and Nicholson would walk into our team, they did last season! I agree wholeheartedly with whats been said with regards to the laziness in finding replacements. We all know they are out there, and we've always known the Jimmy goes for who he knows which is what frustrates the hell out of me. I'm not worried, just yet anyway, but definitely concerned! I just wish Jimmy would see what we can see and most of the world can see.

[TENEMENTFUNSTER]

Right then.

 

I wasnae there, not got anywhere to stay in Aberdeen yet, only just got confirmation of a start date in the post yesterday  (3 weeks!!!)

 

However, would we have been any better, more competitive with Nicholson, Lovell, Walker et al?

 

Well???

 

Yes.

[SuperKev82]

Pretty much BB, yesterday was just awful and yes he has not had much money, yes we have lost our best players every season he's been here but the way the team went about their business, the way the team were set up just beggars belief.

 

Smith isn't/wasn't a winger. Total waste of a good player how Foster can make any claim to being a professional I don't know.

 

No centre half bought to replace Anderson, no right back to replace Hart. It is a mess.

 

It's nae that bad TF shirley!?

 

Foster is a joke at RB that's there is no doubt, play him at right wing or don't play him at all. Other than foster the back wasn't too bad. Mulgrew had a few ropey moments but Seve and Consi weren't as dodgy as the begining of last seasons opener.

 

Totally agree Smith in the hole or upfront are his best positions by far, right wing or left wing he's hopeless.

 

There was absolutely no drive from midfield at all- McDonald was pretty anomymous to say the least.

 

It's only one game though and these things will improve as long as JC gives it a chance to do so.

[TENEMENTFUNSTER]

Aye it is Kev. Truly awful rudimentary mistakes.

 

The defence were poor, we lost 2 goals against Inverness FFS and Langfield, useless cunt.

 

One of those goals came from a Tokeley cross!! I mean FFS, that is a joke.

 

McDonald looked like a daft wee boy lost, DeVisscher was worse than a man down, diabolical.

 

Plus points? Kerr did what I expected, neat and tidy, worked pretty hard, Seve played ok in midfield and Mulgrew can play a bit.

[manc_don]

Quite a shocking attendance yesterday for our season opener. Would have thought we have got more than 12K for a game against the sneck. Back on topic though, we should not be losing to the likes of ICT at HOME. On their patch is fair enough because its a difficult place to go, but at Pittodrie, not acceptable. JC, get it sorted and fast.

[Sweetchuck]

Okay, time for my contribution.

 

I've deliberately waited until I calmed down a bit, in order to make this post in as cool, calm and collected a manner as is possible following yesterday's horror-show. Bear with me; I have a few points to make about yesterday before getting to the crux of my argument.

 

Yesterday's Match

On the plus side, Mulgrew looks a real player. He was left badly exposed by Jamie Smith's laziness and lack of positioning at ICT's first, but other than that, he looked assured, strong and a good header and passer of the ball. Lee Miller was as problematic as usual, and Darren Mackie ran around as much as usual (albeit also missing as many glorious opportunities as usual).

 

And that's it.

 

The downsides? Well, most notably, MacDonald and Kerr were absolutely appalling. The former was simply anonymous; the latter totally profligate in his distribution and utterly unconvincing in his attempts to win the ball back. A protector of the back four? If I ever hear this again, I'll die laughing there and then in front of the person who is stupid enough to say it. He was simply dreadful - like Chris Clark, but without any passing ability or the ability to distinguish between a red shirt and a blue one.

 

Foster was terrible. Yes; he tries, but he's simply nowhere near good enough to be playing in the SPL, and particularly not in an SPL defence.

 

Smith looked disinterested, and I find it incredible that people are saying that we should lay off him. This guy takes more in wages than any other player at Pittodrie. Why should we not expect him to produce a performance which goes some way to reflecting that on a regular basis? He is rapidly developing a Hemdani complex whereby he'll give it his best for the big games, but will barely bother his arse for anything he deems less important.

 

De Visscher was pish. Still looks unfit, still looks too slow, still looks unable to add anything whatsoever to our team. To take time to adapt to the SPL is one thing, but to still be overweight after 12 months in Scotland and two attempts at JC's famous pre-season training regime is unforgivable.

 

Tactically, I'd like to know what on earth JC was thinking. ICT arguably have the biggest back four in the SPL, and yet we spent the whole time playing to their strengths, sending long ball after long ball forward to Smith or Maguire against Ross Tokeley. Nothing in that performance gave any indication whatsoever that we are going to make any attempt to play nicer football this season. I saw nothing yesterday which gave me any sense of hope that this year's football will be more entertaining than last year's. Long balls, unenthusiastic ambles down the wing followed by crosses straight over the byline, soul-less and spineless midfielders who shirk every possible challenge, and a goalkeeper who can't kick.

 

On that note, can I just ask: HOW CAN YOU ENJOY A CAREER AS A PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALLER IF YOU CANNOT CONSISTENTLY KICK A BALL? We're not asking Langfield to play pass of the century every time he receives the ball to feet; just that he kick it as hard and as far away from himself as possible. How can a player make a career out of football if he's incapable of kicking the ball properly on a regular basis? Jesus fucking wept. The number of times that Langfield has put us under pressure or conceded a goal due to his inability to carry out the most fundamental skill involved in playing football would be absolutely hilarious if it weren't so tragic. It staggers me that we are wasting thousands of pounds a year on a player who can't even be coached to kick a fucking ball properly. If that's not an indictment of our training methods, then I don't know what is.

This season is going to bear witness to yet more of JC's primitive, grindhouse mentality, which may have worked wonders for Millwall in the 1960s but it's not going to wash up here in the current day. Again, this is a guy who constantly claims to be schooled in the Dutch school of football. Yet another example of his mouth writing a cheque which his talent fails spectacularly to cash.

 

General Conclusions

So, what does this point to? In a nutshell, I think that it's becoming increasingly apparent for us all that it's time the club began looking for someone else to take over from JC. I'm not saying that he should go now, but we need to be aware that we will not progress any further under him, and should see what options are available for next summer. He has done very, very well - and I do mean this - to get us to where we now find ourselves: consistent top six finishes and back in the hunt for Europe on a regular basis. I really struggle to see how he can move us on from here though. In fact, I can't even see us maintaining what we now have. If it hadn't been for a flukey goal against Falkirk in the final minute, we would have been back to the ignominy of finishing in the bottom six. That's how thin the line between failure and success (or what JC keeps trying to tell us was success) was for us last year. We got lucky last season, but we were far from being good enough to secure a top six place easily.

 

We are hitting a brick wall in major games not as a result of ability, but rather because of mentality. We have more than enough in our ranks to see off the likes of ICT (yesterday, burden of expectation at start of new season), Dundee Utd (burden of expectation of semi-final) and Queen of the South (again, semi-final expectations). We are better than these teams in terms of the players we have in our ranks. However, we have a major issue when it comes to confidence and motivation, and that stems from the manager's handling of the squad and the tactics according to which they are supposed to play.

 

In addition to the coaching and motivational problems, we have an increasingly prominent problem of squad deficiencies as each year goes by. We lost key players like Russell Anderson, Michael Hart, Barry Nicholson and - albeit to a far lesser extent - Chris Clark last season. Not one of those has been adequately replaced on the basis of yesterday and pre-season. Mark Kerr was abominably bad yesterday: I struggle to remember one single pass whicch went to a team-mate. MacDonald was anonymous. Foster was woeful and Considine simply isn't good enough yet, and indeed may never be. Maguire was appalling and looks so out of place in the SPL that I actually find myself laughing out loud in anticipation of yet another cross straight into the upper rows of the Merkland Stand/RDU after his usual mincing run down the wing.

 

We desperately need another centre half, right back, creative midfielder and (possibly; time will tell with Wright) more natural predator than Mackie/Miller/Maguire. None of these is asking too much, yet still JC continues his pursuit of strikers with mediocre goalscoring records and journeymen central midfielders instead of addressing the gaping holes in our squad. This again suggests that he is either incapable of seeing the wood from the trees, or that he refuses to accept that his signing policy is flawed. Either that, or he refuses to curtail his six-week holidays to Mallorca in order to actually get out there and get some fucking players signed.

 

I have never liked JC as a character, but was only too happy to put that aside in order for him to do a job at AFC. However, when the arrogance, selfishness and abrogation of blame which is inherent in his nature begins to interfere with his job, it's entirely proper that his character be brought into question. If he was capable of accepting responsibility for when things go wrong, if he was capable of not victimising/bullying individual players, if he was capable of admitting a mistake in the transfer market instead of making the same mistakes time and again, this wouldn't be a problem. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

 

I now seriously regret renewing my season ticket and tacitly endorsing JC's brand of football. Congratulations to those who had the bottle to follow through with their convictions and sacrifice their regular attendance at Pittodrie for the greater good of showing those in power at Pittodrie that what we are seeing is simply nowhere near good enough. I'll be joining you next year.

[TENEMENTFUNSTER]

Completely agree although strangely I didn't think Kerr was bad.

 

Mind you, I was a bit fucked.

[BobbyBiscuit]

Chris Clark could pass a ball? 

 

Good post Sweetchuck, and can't really disagree with any of your points. I think the most telling thing is that as you point out the players we have are generally better than most of the other sides in our league. A fair few of them of course are pretty grim, but the crux of it is that JC should be putting a side out there that performs a hell of a lot better than it generally does. His lack of responsibility on this front is frankly astonishing, and I think more fans would afford him more time if he occassionally took responsibility.  Hate to say it, but I fear for us this season, and the worst thing is we can't say the writing hasn't been on the wall.

[Sweetchuck]

Completely agree although strangely I didn't think Kerr was bad.

 

I was stunned by how bad he was. His tackling was shite, and his use of the ball was astoundingly poor: constantly into touch or straight to a blue shirt. If it wasn't for Foster, I'd have had him down as the worst player on the pitch.

 

He was disappointing in pre-season, but I thought he (and the rest of them, mind you) would up the ante when the competitive matches kicked in.

 

Chris Clark could pass a ball? 

 

Not really, but he would still manage to put Mark Kerr to shame in that respect.

 

I think the most telling thing is that as you point out the players we have are generally better than most of the other sides in our league. A fair few of them of course are pretty grim, but the crux of it is that JC should be putting a side out there that performs a hell of a lot better than it generally does. His lack of responsibility on this front is frankly astonishing, and I think more fans would afford him more time if he occassionally took responsibility.  Hate to say it, but I fear for us this season, and the worst thing is we can't say the writing hasn't been on the wall.

 

We are gradually losing the players who made us a stand-out in JC's first season and replacing them with also-rans from other SPL clubs. Nevertheless, for the time being - and certainly this was the case for both semi-finals last season - we are still (ostensibly) more talented than most other teams in the league, and certainly more so than ICT.

 

Like I said, JC did a great job early on, but by virtue of his character flaws, he's now knocking down all that he built up, and alienating a huge number of the fans and several players as a result.

[minijc]

Funster, why the sudden change of heart?  It's only one game in to the season.

[Guest swaddon]

Was speaking to a mate last night about the not replacing Anderson and Hart, and we both said that there seems to be a sort of lazy attitude about looking for replacements. The whole "Foster at right back" thing just smacked of JC saying "ach, he'll do" when it became apparent that the temporary replacement for Hart wasn't going to turn into a permanent one.  The same can be said of sticking Considine in every week with Diamond after Russell left, or moving Severin back to centre half.

 

And, JC says on a regular basis that he's had to contend with losing his best players - Heikkinen, McNaughton, Anderson, Hart - but, surely the fact that we even got Heikkinen in the first place shows that players of the desired quality are out there if you are willing to do a fair bit of digging?  I may be wrong, but a lot of the time it just seems that he really can't be fucked with scouring Europe for a real find. A theory surely borne out by how often he goes back to previous targets?

 

The problems at Aberdeen are so plain to see, but the management cannot see them. Why did we waste money on a new striker when we have a few options already, yet the defence is still in need of attention? Foster is not a right back and Severin is not a defender. JC can moan until he's white in the face that he's got no money, etc, but with a scouting operation and youth policy like ours, we've no chance of picking up more decent cheap players.

 

I know it's very early days and we shouldn't be pressing the panic button just yet, but if no more good new players arrive between now and the end of the month, then we're fucked.

[mizer]

Was I surprised when I heard the score and fulltime result at the wedding I was at yesterday? No, the reason? All the problems stated from the match yesterday have been evident during pre-season. Namely the lack of creativity and the lack of attacking attitude from the new signings.

[boboisared]

The problems at Aberdeen are so plain to see, but the management cannot see them. Why did we waste money on a new striker when we have a few options already, yet the defence is still in need of attention? Foster is not a right back and Severin is not a defender. JC can moan until he's white in the face that he's got no money, etc, but with a scouting operation and youth policy like ours, we've no chance of picking up more decent cheap players.

 

I know it's very early days and we shouldn't be pressing the panic button just yet, but if no more good new players arrive between now and the end of the month, then we're fucked.

Nothing could ever make that happen.

[mizer]

Just realised we are bottom of the table.........

 

1  Inverness CT  1  2  3

2 Hearts 1 1 3

3 Celtic 1 1 3

4 Kilmarnock 1 1 3

5 Rangers 1 1 3

6 Dundee Utd 0 0 0

7 Hamilton 0 0 0

8 Motherwell 1 -1 0

9 Falkirk 1 -1 0

10 Hibernian 1 -1 0

11 St Mirren 1 -1 0

12 Aberdeen 1 -2 0

 

Things can only get better  ..................I hope 

[Edinburghdon]

Just realised we are bottom of the table.........

 

1  Inverness CT  1  2  3

2 Hearts 1 1 3

3 Celtic 1 1 3

4 Kilmarnock 1 1 3

5 Rangers 1 1 3

6 Dundee Utd 0 0 0

7 Hamilton 0 0 0

8 Motherwell 1 -1 0

9 Falkirk 1 -1 0

10 Hibernian 1 -1 0

11 St Mirren 1 -1 0

12 Aberdeen 1 -2 0

 

Things can only get better  ..................I hope 

 

Didnt i mention that on the phone yesterday? was certainly ranting about it outside the broadhill after the match, much to the amusement of the bouncer!

[jmo]

Went from top to bottom after one game. Doubt that happens often.

 

As for the attendance, it wasn't great, but better than I expected on a very rainy Saturday, still during prime holiday time against a team that finished in the bottom 6 last season.

[mizer]

Jimmy Calderwood: Even Wayne Rooney would struggle to score for us

 

GUTTED Jimmy Calderwood admits even Wayne Rooney would struggle to score in his side when the service is so bad.

 

Caldo said: "The service in to the strikers has to be better. You need quality and pace. When it's not there even Wayne Rooney would struggle to score.

[Edinburghdon]

Well it's just as well he signed tommy wright instead of rooney then isnt it!

 

Just where does he think these things up?

[Sam_b]

Hello folks, long time listener first time caller...

 

Forgive me to deviate from all the constant negativity..or not as the case may be. There was one mannie in front of me on Saturday who went made with delusion during the game ('that Calderwood reminds me of Bertie Vogts...') so I don't want to suffer a relapse.

 

Yes, Saturday was poor, yet i'm sure we've all seen the dons play much worse at the start of a season (the ra sellick incident of six or so years back to name one example). And the point is that we're never good on our first game of the season. You'd hope that a regular weekly game against SPL opposition will remedy this soon, and there were a few positives on show. Mulgrew's got a half decent left foot on him and can take a corner. After the last twenty minutes or so of the first half Mackie coming on for the second was a good move and changed the pace of the game completely. Though in saying that you couldn't get much worse than JdV, desperately poor. There were a couple of good plays, some good chances, but as usual the final ball is disappointing: faffing or passing to a marked player where there's someone open on the wing, or just not enough forseight in delivery or stretegy. Hopefully these things can be ironed out as God forbid we're atrocious when resorting to the long ball from halfway down the pitch.

 

 

So fa's up for a trip to Murderwell next weekend? Get your inoculations in the now 

 

[mizer]

 

So fa's up for a trip to Murderwell next weekend? Get your inoculations in the now 

 

 

Me, but Im going to drink enough so that I can numb the pain of watching us play 

[Edinburghdon]

Me, but Im going to drink enough so that I can numb the pain of watching us play 

 

16 jagerbombs please!

[capitalsharpie]

Was I surprised when I heard the score and fulltime result at the wedding I was at yesterday? No, the reason? All the problems stated from the match yesterday have been evident during pre-season. Namely the lack of creativity and the lack of attacking attitude from the new signings.

 

The cracks in the squad were being shown after the Unt semi.  NONE of the players we have brought in are better the ones that have moved on.  We might be the only team in Europe to gain European football and NOT benefit from that cash advantage in terms of the squad.  We have regressed to a shocking degree.  The analysis of our signing policy is spot on. Lazy and predictable.  The one thing the fans were crying out for was an interesting signing to show  this supposed cash is being made to work a bit hadrer and to energise and excite the fans for the new season.

 

With one or two exceptions were slowly being turned into a bunch of hammer throwers.

[CtS]

There were a couple of good plays, some good chances, but as usual the final ball is disappointing

 

Most worrying thing for me was during the first half when Maguire made his single contribution to the proceedings, he broke down the left and got past Phil McGuire, fired across a usefull looking ball, but not one Aberdeen midfielder was even close to the eighteen yard box.  Shocking lack of effort / desire / natural instinct.  In stark contrast, the second ICT goal came from a veteran midfielder who burst a gut to run sixty yards chasing a lost cause.  You get out of games what you put into them, and even a team of relatively unskilled cloggers can pick up good results if they're prepared to put in the fucking effort.

 

You have been picked to play for Aberdeen football club, now get out there and prove you deserve the fucking privilege.

 

Any player, regardless of the level they're playing at, should instinctively give 100% effort and commitment.

 

[OrlandoDon]

Until we sign two more defenders we're going to struggle this year. We don't have a right back and a dominant centre half to partner Zander. Seve and Kerr in centre mid with McDonald on the right, JDV isn't good enough.

 

The midfield will struggle IMHO because we don't have the confidence to push forward as a result of us being pish at the back. As posted earlier, none of the signings have really improved us and the problems from last year haven't been rectified. Will be interesting to see what happens and if we'll actually fix the defensive problems before the window closes. While many don't want Steven Pressley he'd bring organization, leadership, passion, and a determined mentality which we clearly lack.