Azteca1903 Posted August 17, 2009 Report Posted August 17, 2009 Can't find the article on their website, but Graham Spiers (comfortably the best journo in Scotland) painted a bleak picture in his column today. It covers nothing that we don't already know, but perhaps suggests that our fears are entirely justified. Selected bits: This is an Aberdeen FC, who, to those outwith the Scottish north-east who remain longstanding admirers of the club, seem in a poor state of health. Yes, McGhee talks a good game at times, and yes, his critics will argue that, in some of this stark analysis, he is merely getting his excuses in early. But that cynicism can be taken only so far. The blunt truth is that McGhee faces one heck of a task in trying to make Aberdeen half-decent, and his dire comments about the dilution of quality of the Scottish game outside the Old Firm should not go unheeded. If this analysis is true, a top-six SPL finish for Aberdeen will be a decent feat by McGhee this season. Nae good like Quote
Kowalski Posted August 17, 2009 Report Posted August 17, 2009 If we don't finish in the top 4 or win a cup then it was pointless wasting £600,000 replacing the management team. Quote
CtS Posted August 17, 2009 Report Posted August 17, 2009 Reading between the lines I think he's trying to say Jimmy Calderwood has left us in a terrible state, the fat, orange, clueless clown. Quote
Tyrant Posted August 17, 2009 Report Posted August 17, 2009 Reading between the lines I think he's trying to say Jimmy Calderwood has left us in a terrible state, the fat, orange, clueless clown. Quote
Ptayles Posted August 17, 2009 Report Posted August 17, 2009 Reading between the lines I think he's trying to say Jimmy Calderwood has left us in a terrible state, the fat, orange, clueless clown. You cant lay all the blame on him....(Even though i was chuffed to have seen the back of him).The clubs been in turmoil for years. If anything caldo steadied the ship...i would rather have us grinding 1-0 wins than play free flowing attacking football and gettin horsd every week Quote
Ajja Posted August 17, 2009 Report Posted August 17, 2009 Speaking to a Motherwell season ticket holder the other night, he reckoned it took McGhee a good few games to get his shit in order at Fir Park. Where are those straws when you are lookin' for a clutch ? Quote
Edinburghdon Posted August 17, 2009 Report Posted August 17, 2009 Speaking to a Motherwell season ticket holder the other night, he reckoned it took McGhee a good few games to get his shit in order at Fir Park. Where are those straws when you are lookin' for a clutch ? Clutch away... Quote
CtS Posted August 17, 2009 Report Posted August 17, 2009 You cant lay all the blame on him....(Even though i was chuffed to have seen the back of him).The clubs been in turmoil for years. If anything caldo steadied the ship...i would rather have us grinding 1-0 wins than play free flowing attacking football and gettin horsd every week Good point, I never thought of that. JMCBASUGHEW come back and stop us getting horsed every week. Quote
DerBomber Posted August 18, 2009 Report Posted August 18, 2009 Reading between the lines I think he's trying to say Jimmy Calderwood has left us in a terrible state, the fat, orange, clueless clown. Incorrect in my opinion. Calderwood left us in a half decent state. Europe for a start and also a half decent side. He came and stopped us being a laughing stock, except from the cups. However as always a new manager needs to get his ideas across and Mcghee needs to be given time. I just think grahame spiers is a prick who seems slightly upset that someone who would have given him good copy about the glasgow teams has now left. Quote
Roccovellhung Posted August 18, 2009 Report Posted August 18, 2009 If we don't finish in the top 4 or win a cup then it was pointless wasting £600,000 replacing the management team. Yip, we could've kept Calderwood for 1 more year, ground oot another top 4 finish, had another embarrassing cup exit to lower league opponents and then and let him go for peanuts at the end of the season. Really hope MM can sort this oot, and soon - really nae sure I could stomach a return to relegation battles and OF humpings Quote
Azteca1903 Posted August 18, 2009 Author Report Posted August 18, 2009 Incorrect in my opinion. Calderwood left us in a half decent state. Europe for a start and also a half decent side. He came and stopped us being a laughing stock, except from the cups. However as always a new manager needs to get his ideas across and Mcghee needs to be given time. I just think grahame spiers is a prick who seems slightly upset that someone who would have given him good copy about the glasgow teams has now left. Interestingly, Spiers was one of the few centrally-based journalists who was giving Calderwood fairly harsh criticism towards the tail end of last season. Quote
Reekie_Red Posted August 19, 2009 Report Posted August 19, 2009 I'm in agreement with you there, Azteca. Spiers, if anything, writes favourably towards the east-coast teams. He writes very fairly, in particular, about Aberdeen and Dundee Utd. I've never read an unjust harsh word from him about us. Yes he says some harsh stuff, but it is always justified ... unlike Keevins and Traynor who just just spurt garbage about us for the sake of pissing us off. Quote
Ajja Posted August 19, 2009 Report Posted August 19, 2009 Yip, we could've kept Calderwood for 1 more year, ground oot another top 4 finish, had another embarrassing cup exit to lower league opponents and then and let him go for peanuts at the end of the season. Really hope MM can sort this oot, and soon - really nae sure I could stomach a return to relegation battles and OF humpings Thats not going to happen as there are too many poorer sides in the league than us. I'm still sure we will be looking back at the last month and laughing by Christmas. It is just going to take some time to get this squad to play the way he wants them to and that will involve weeding out some real slackers who were just as guilty under JC as they are now. I really hope that he is going to give Paton and Pawlett a run because some of the current 1st team are so sure they just have to turn up to be picked. Quote
Sharpie Posted August 19, 2009 Report Posted August 19, 2009 Thats not going to happen as there are too many poorer sides in the league than us. I'm sure that is what most people were saying when things started to go awry under Willie Miller all those years back... Quote
Guest ally s Posted August 19, 2009 Report Posted August 19, 2009 I'm sure that is what most people were saying when things started to go awry under Willie Miller all those years back... Exactly, that kind of attitude really concerns me. It gives the impression we think we're better than we actually are. Quote
Ajja Posted August 19, 2009 Report Posted August 19, 2009 I'm sure that is what most people were saying when things started to go awry under Willie Miller all those years back... Always a possibility but after watching Sportscene on Monday I thought Hamilton and Falkirk looked very very poor and while the Motherwell v St J was an interestingly open game there was no football being played. I predict a dire season of football Quote
BrownyBrown Posted August 19, 2009 Report Posted August 19, 2009 The departures of key players have really cost us this last few seasons. What we had under JC (primarily in the season that we qualified for Europe for the 1st time) was a core squad that could grind out a drudginly bad 1-0 win or hold the line (just) for a turgid draw. Call it what you want, (shite, unentertaining, etc.) yet somehow effective with the players we had in place. Too many draws cost us however, and what we lacked was up front: creativity and composure in front of goal and we were probably two strikers and a midfielder away from what could have been a clear 3rd force squad... What annoys me is that we failed to capitalise and build on that (or at least maintain) through fear of 'disrupting the wage structure'. Following JCs last season and into McGhee's reign what we have now is a collection of the chaff who remain because there is nowhere else for them to go. These are the players that when we go 1-0 down, instead of rallying and fighting back completely capitulate. Its going to take McGhee some time to suss, and weed them out and to identify suitable replacements. We're in for the long haul. Quote
glasgow sheep Posted August 19, 2009 Report Posted August 19, 2009 Last season was pretty poor, the season before that was saved by our Euro run, but was also pretty miserable from a league point of view. So the "best" team we have had in recent times was the one that got us into europe. Here is the team that qualified for Europe by beating Rangers 2-0 20th May 2007. Jamie Langfield Michael Hart GONE Russell Anderson GONE Zander Diamond Richard Foster Jamie Smith GONE Scott Severin GONE Barry Nicholson GONE Darren Mackie Steve Lovell GONE Lee Miller And there is where the problems lie(both this year and last) Quote
Kowalski Posted August 20, 2009 Report Posted August 20, 2009 Last season was pretty poor, the season before that was saved by our Euro run, but was also pretty miserable from a league point of view. So the "best" team we have had in recent times was the one that got us into europe. Here is the team that qualified for Europe by beating Rangers 2-0 20th May 2007. Jamie Langfield Michael Hart GONE Russell Anderson GONE Zander Diamond Richard Foster Jamie Smith GONE Scott Severin GONE Barry Nicholson GONE Darren Mackie Steve Lovell GONE Lee Miller And there is where the problems lie(both this year and last) There was a team that got us into Europe last season too! Quote
Cowie Posted August 20, 2009 Report Posted August 20, 2009 There was a team that got us into Europe last season too! And if we compare that team to the team of two years ago.... how did that end up?? I'd hazard a guess that the team of 2007 would not have shipped 8 goals over two games. Quote
Madbadteacher Posted August 20, 2009 Report Posted August 20, 2009 Am I the only one here who saw Anderson play badly? And the back line of Hart Diamond Anderson Foster ship 3, 4 or 5 more than once? Tinted glasses guys.... Be as well going back to Clark Boel McMillan Buchan Hermiston !2 Games without a goal! Quote
Reekie_Red Posted August 20, 2009 Report Posted August 20, 2009 OR .... Stillie Buchan, Tzvetanov, Inglis, Woodthorpe [shudder] Quote
BobbyBiscuit Posted August 20, 2009 Report Posted August 20, 2009 Am I the only one here who saw Anderson play badly? And the back line of Hart Diamond Anderson Foster ship 3, 4 or 5 more than once? Tinted glasses guys.... Be as well going back to Clark Boel McMillan Buchan Hermiston !2 Games without a goal! You never see any of those guys play badly? I once saw Zidane have a poor game. True story. Quote
Ajja Posted August 20, 2009 Report Posted August 20, 2009 Last season was pretty poor, the season before that was saved by our Euro run, but was also pretty miserable from a league point of view. So the "best" team we have had in recent times was the one that got us into europe. Here is the team that qualified for Europe by beating Rangers 2-0 20th May 2007. Jamie Langfield Michael Hart GONE Russell Anderson GONE Zander Diamond Richard Foster Jamie Smith GONE Scott Severin GONE Barry Nicholson GONE Darren Mackie Steve Lovell GONE Lee Miller And there is where the problems lie(both this year and last) Seems to me there is little point in drawing these comparisons. While they are correct and highlight the problem we now face there is little sense in hanging on to a situation that is now past. As has been pointed out over and over again by the club, the new manager and many posters on here, we are shopping in a different market now. Our ability to secure and retain personal of that level has diminished to the point where the standard is going to be very very difficult to maintain. Our previous manager was undoubtedly accomplished at talking established players into playing at Pittodrie and I suspect was given a wages budget to match his mouth to an extent. We no longer have the money to do so and so the new manager is going to have to look for a different solution. That is likely to be a combination of fringe players, unknown foreigners and youth. Its going to be difficult but you are comparing apples with bananas in terms of his resources if you believe that our squad of 2007 can be compared to what we should now have. Quote
Madbadteacher Posted August 20, 2009 Report Posted August 20, 2009 You never see any of those guys play badly? I once saw Zidane have a poor game. True story. Yes I saw them play badly, but it's just an example to stop eulogising Anderson! FFS I saw Willie and Alec plat badly. But not every fucking game! Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.