Dundee vs Aberdeen

[Kowalski]

http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/sport/Dundee-1--1-Aberdeen.5494322.jp

 

Dundee 1 - 1 Aberdeen: Dons must up their game

 

Published Date: 26 July 2009

By Moira Gordon at Dens Park

 

WHILE their hosts were bursting at the seams with a bountiful cast of newcomers, Aberdeen are still a side waiting for reinforcements.

 

Having landed the manager that the fans craved in Mark McGhee, they are still wondering which fresh playing personnel will arrive. While Scott Severin and Lee Mair have moved on, the 21-year-old Benin international Reda Johnson is expected to be the first new signing, a back-up keeper the second. The deal to bring central defender Johnson in from French club Amiens is in the final stages of completion while it is hoped the unnamed goalkeeper will arrive early in the week. The number of those expected to follow is likely to be limited.

 

Which means these are the guys McGhee will have to work with as he seeks to find a free-flowing style of football from back to front and combine that with winning results. Starting at Pittodrie on Thursday. This match was a bit of a knockabout affair, honing methods taught on training pitches, the typical pre-season finding of feet, played at a tempo which will need to be lifted in a few days' time. Because Thursday's match is the foundation Aberdeen will be hoping to build their season from. The Europa Cup qualifying tie represents the start of competitive business and opponents Sigma Olomouch will be a sterner conundrum than Dundee and there were times when they found that one pesky enough to decipher.

 

Trying out the 4-3-3 formation McGhee favoured at Motherwell, Aberdeen got off to a belter of a start. Pace is the one thing the Pittodrie boss says the current squad has in abundance, so it was fitting that they were so quick off the mark. Only 13 seconds had elapsed when Stuart Duff played in Sone Aluko and he slotted the ball beyond Rab Douglas.

 

If it was a bright start, it was also a bit of a false dawn. The game didn't exactly fizz into a frenzy. As is so often the case at such an embryonic stage of the season the play struggled to find any kind of urgency and a European tie seemed a million miles away.

 

Dundee played their way back into it, putting the Aberdeen defence under pressure in the 21st minute. Andrew Considine could not get the ball cleared and having obstructed all-comers as he sought a lifetime to clear from the edge of his own box was eventually penalised, the referee awarding an indirect free-kick on the perimeter of the 18-yard box. Richie Hart touched it into the path of Eric Paton and he drilled it low into the bottom corner.

 

Aberdeen had the opportunity to move ahead again a couple of minutes before half-time when Lee Miller was brought down in the box. But the striker's penalty was poor and Douglas saved.

 

The second half started with Dundee manager Jocky Scott demonstrating the strength and depth he now has after a summer of transfer activity. He made nine changes, leaving just Eddie Malone and Hart from the starting line-up, and it allowed for a little bit of history with the Young brothers lining up against each other for the first time. Derek had begun the match for Aberdeen and was marshalling the same midfield area as his brother Darren after the interval. Dundee later switched Hart for Mickael Antoine Courier, while Aberdeen also shuffled things around. Darren Mackie got to stretch his legs, while Faoroese defender Rogvi Holme was also given an outing along with youngsters Sammy Stewart and Scott Ross.

 

The changes gave the home side greater impetus and what little goalmouth action that came along after the break was courtesy of the First Division side. Craig Forsyth, cutting in from wide left of the Dundee midfield, bore down on Jamie Langfield's goal but the keeper was out to cut the angle and block the shot.

 

It is a warning for the rest of the First Division and adds credence to the Dens Park side's status as one of the early favourites for promotion. But it is also a gentle warning for Aberdeen. They have bigger things to focus on this week and will have to raise their play accordingly.

 

Dundee: Douglas, Paton, Malone, McHale, McKeown, Benedictus, Hart, Kerr, McMenamin, Desley, Harkins.

 

Aberdeen: Langfield, Mullgrew, Duff, McDonald, Diamond, Considine, Young, Kerr, Miller, Paton, Aluko.

[TENEMENTFUNSTER]

The idea that anyone wants McGhee to fail is simply bollocks and frankly I'm surprised at the way BB has kinda fell into a similar type of polarising argument here, up until now struck me as a fairly rational and rounded poster. But yet again here we are having a really meaningless discussion with folk hell bent upon rubbishing Calderwood. Fair enough. But there were idiots wanting the geezer shifted with both unnecessary haste and took undue pleasure in his removal. Fucking trumpets to a "man" whatever your opinions on Calderwood's record.

 

He has gone. But when any kind of critical measure of what McGhee is doing thus far is posted, some folk are jumping on it.

 

Yes, he is just in. No he is not the messiah. I'm excited about next season but I am also more than mindful about the level of commitment likely to be shown by McGhee and a little peturbed by the planned formation likely to be used, fairly legitimate concerns. Does that mean I even give a cold shite about saying "I told you so" to any cunt? If that's what you take from it then fine, you are an idiot if you do. 

[TENEMENTFUNSTER]

lets face it though if mcghee does fail then people will just blame calderwood.

 

wait a minute that has already started.

 

Probably the daftest thing to surface thus far but some certainly seem to be heading that way, yes.

[TENEMENTFUNSTER]

That's Jimmys fault as well.

 

It wiz that big boy whit ran away thit dun it mister.

[El Padre™]

Probably the daftest thing to surface thus far but some certainly seem to be heading that way, yes.

 

That's Jimmys fault as well.

[Tyrant]

The people who were against the change are not knee jerk reactionaries they are rational thinkers who saw that it might not have been the best thing long term. They weren't arguing for JC they were arguing against a bunch of idiots who weren't really looking at the big picture because they just hated Jimmy.

 

I want the best for Aberdeen and i won't be saying I told you so. It's more likely I will be arguing against fickle fans who are more than likely to turn against Mcghee if it doesn't work out for him. These will be the same idiots with their photoshopped post it notes that wanted rid of Jimmy.

 

I am pretty sure that those who were rational about the whole thing will remain rational throughout Mcghee's tenure.

 

 

 

Correct. FJ in decent post shocker.

[glasgow sheep]

Regardless of who is manager we still have essentially the same team as last year, minus Seve.

So unsurprisingly we still have the same problems.

I wasn't there on Saturday but from what I have read it sounds like we looked good passing it about early on but then suffered from a lack of goal scoring opportunities or the ability to take a shot when offered one.  This has been a problem for some time and will take more than a week or two in Austria to sort out. 

 

We also seem to have a lack of belief, so that when the passing game doesn't result in goals we revert to lumping the ball forward aimlessly thus putting extra pressure on our thread bare defence.

 

Thirdly, as TF repeatedly points out, we have a squad full of fucking stupidly thick individuals, so unsurprisingly it will take them a while to adjust to any new ideas or tactics.

 

We have had terrible pre-seasons for as long as I can remember.  I have never seen a pre-season friendly that has done anything other than bore and depress me.

Some times the terrible pre-season is followed by a good season, sometimes not.

 

Equally our signing policy doesn't seem to have changed in years, namely announce our targets, fail miserably to get anywhere near them, then scramble around for a cut price French third division player.

 

I suspect the UEFA Cup will be too soon for us, and would have been regardless.

However we need to be up to speed for the opening day as the tims seem to be getting in to the scoring habit and our defence was exposed too often last season to not feel a little nervous at the prospect of facing them.  After that, however, we have the chance for a decent wee run, but yet again, how many times have we said that before.

 

I'm looking forward to this season, however I do so with a degree of trepidation, partly caused by the feeling that whatever happens too many idiots will be continuing to argue the ludicrous JMG/JIG debate with reference to our performance this year.

[El Padre™]

Regardless of who is manager we still have essentially the same team as last year, minus Seve.

So unsurprisingly we still have the same problems.

I wasn't there on Saturday but from what I have read it sounds like we looked good passing it about early on but then suffered from a lack of goal scoring opportunities or the ability to take a shot when offered one. 

 

This was the main problem GS, we passed, and then we passed some more and then after that we passed some more. No cutting edge, just lots and lots and lots of passing that goes nowhere. 10 passes to do something that could have been achieved in three or four, and thats why we had very few chances, there was no desire to actually attack.

 

If Mcghee thinks that an entertaining brand of football he's off his nut.

[Tyrant]

Let's not forget.. Dundee had home advantage!!!!111!1!!!1!