Calderwood in the Scotland on Sunday

[dave_min]

Most of the 80's and 90's were terrible. The play off v. Dunfermline under Aitken was probably the low point after over a decade of incompetent managerial appointments by this current chairman. I missed fitba on a Saturday so I came back but under no illusion of what it would be like, given what my mates were saying and what I was hearing in match commentaries and what I was reading in the papers.

 

I am not bitter. As I said, I never rated the cunt and never warmed to him and I'm delighted he's gone and he's now our history. Your impression that I have a chip on my shoulder is wrong. I'm become intrigued why you, and others (mostly on DT it would appear), are so vociferous in his defence though? Do you rate him as a manager and were grateful for our performances and results under him?

 

[Guest rocket debris]

Oops, 90's and 00's.

[Guest rocket debris]

In terms of re-establishing our position at the correct end of the table, when put into context of the previous 10 years, he was a success on the pitch. The league performances plateaued however, and following poor cup performances he was justifiably removed. Whether this makes him a good manager or not is a matter of opinion , but to deny his achivements with us, whilst citing a 'loser mentality', seems a little churlish.

Fair enough. He was the best of an atrocious bunch served up under Milne's chairmanship. It might be a little churlish but I'm sure there's worse things in China.

[BobbyBiscuit]

Fair enough. He was the best of an atrocious bunch served up under Milne's chairmanship. It might be a little churlish but I'm sure there's worse things in China.

 

All fair enough, I'd hate to hear what you said about Steve Paterson though...

 

You know you don't have to like the guy to appreciate what he did for us.  Anyone on this site would tell you I grew tired of the guy way before he got sacked, it doesn't mean I can't appreciate what he did for us.  Things aren't always black and white.

[Guest rocket debris]

All fair enough, I'd hate to hear what you said about Steve Paterson though...

 

You know you don't have to like the guy to appreciate what he did for us.  Anyone on this site would tell you I grew tired of the guy way before he got sacked, it doesn't mean I can't appreciate what he did for us.  Things aren't always black and white.

I'm not aware that I said anything unfair on here about JC but Pele was a peer crater with obvious problems, a different kettle of onions.

[Guest rocket debris]

The statistical probability of mostly weegies on any AFC webchatspeaksite is remote although I am impressed that you have actual residential addresses logged though. As for the non existent "jiggers", I agreed with your assesment of their imposed and imagined creation.

 

Your thinking that the ship had been steadied in years 4 and 5 and that it was acceptable to continue with him does not accord with my own. To say that McGhee is "a similar type of manager" makes no sense to me neither in football terms nor on a personal level. He may prove to be as bad as JC but I sincerely hope not and don't think he will. The lack of support from the board is a worry, however.

 

The compensation paid to our former manager and his entourage was a travesty in that there was no need to give the extended contract in the first place. He was never in demand then or now and had he been, it would have been perfect for AFC to take the fresh opportunity to move on. It is arguable that the folly of the contract extension perhaps should have cost Willie Miller his job. To raise this as a reason for suggesting the maintainence of the status quo is insane, particularly with the regard to the financial position at the club and the scale and import of March next year.

 

If I ever listen to morons, I can assure you that it is unwittingly and that I try not to be influenced by them. I reckon I do not a bad job at finding truths out for myself. Rather than insinuating that my outlook is flawed for reason of undue moronic influence, there is one quirk and strangeness which is slightly charming that I'm sure you might acknowledge. Unlike the vast majority of Aberdeen fans that I meet in the real world, there is a anxiousness and vociferousness to defend JC's record on here consistently. That, I simply don't get and conjecture that mere differentiation is somewhere near the core of this source. It's as if in a debating chamber such as this, it is frowned upon to have an alternative view. Testing the climate - by any means including sensationalism and provocation - is actually a proven method of determining the integrity, idiocy or otherwise of the debating culture. My own reasearch is inconclusive as yet.

 

[Reekie_Red]

I'd tend to agree with the notion that JC did steady the ship. Under Alex Miller, Heggarty, Skovdahl and Paterson, Aberdeen FC was gradually weakened and weakened and weakened as a whole. I'm of the belief that JC brought back stability, brought back an element of pride, and actually made clubs fear Aberdeen once again. There were times in the late 90s/early 2000s when some clubs loved playing Aberdeen as it was a surefire 3-points.

 

Under JC, we became a lot tougher to beat and restored the idea of us being a "massive" club, as so many players seem to put it.

[Guest rocket debris]

I'd tend to agree with the notion that JC did steady the ship.

Nobody would dispute this but just because the previous was so appalling doesn't mean that he was the right man for the position going forward. Judging and comparing him to the absolute dross that Milne gave us previously is not as valid as considering where we could have been given the resources and potential and with some focus and desire. The ambition itself of the club has been compromised as a result of years and years of shite and mediocrity.

 

 

Under JC, we became a lot tougher to beat and restored the idea of us being a "massive" club, as so many players seem to put it.

I haven't seen this player commitment that you talk of, neither have I ever felt that we were performing anywhere near an acceptable level that we could consider AFC a big club, let alone "massive". On the contrary, our bigger names such as Severin and Lee Miller got off with murder, such was the inconsistency of their application. Ironically and unfortunately, the only player who put in week in week out was Mackie, and with the limitations that he has this wasn't going to make a huge difference. Gary Mac and Mark Kerr are other Calderwood acquisitions who we also never know whether this week they will be trying or whether they will be invisible. The drinking culture that Calderwood did not discourage was sympomatic of a non-professional culture which manifested itself all too often in sloppy, inconsistent efforts.

 

[Guest rocket debris]

It could equally be said that there is an anxiousness and vociferousness to denigrate  Calderwood's record as well as his character.

True but who really gives a fuck if he's getting slagged? Look at him. Listen to him. He's a waste of space. If he wasn't so thick and hadn't put us through so much bullshit, then I might have had sympathy but I couldn't give a fuck about him and I'm glad he's history. His record is a matter of fact.

 

 

I don't think anyone on any site was particularly happy with the way things were but it seemed to descend into he's fat, he's orange, he's a weegie, he's a fat orange weegie, he's a clueless fat orange weegie.

 

that's not really debate now is it? It's just bitterness like "You ain't from around here are you boy?"

 

Perhaps even fishing village mentality.

Agree. At least this JMG'er had the decency to articulate why I wanted him gone. Some of it was occasionally hilarious though.

 

 

I do find it amusing that the arguments that were used against the JMG mob are now being used by the MIGgers aka fucking muppets.

Don't tell me you are inventing a new division for AFC fans aka MIGgers? Who are these people? I've never seen them. On the contrary, there are some major morons on the hat that have been slagging McGhee from day one.

[Kowalski]

My god you would think that my view was a wildly minority one. What did I say?

 

Am I allowed not to like him? Are you forgetting his continuous blaming of the players in his first two years until Aberdeen Journals kicked that out of him? Have you forgotten the infuriating tombola and tactics that failed more often than not? What about his insulting references to the fans and the North east? Did you not hear him say that we didn't support the team enough, that we are cowardly "keyboard warriors" and that we all had unrealistic expectations?

 

When you listen to him, does your instinct not inform you that he is a blustering charlatan? Do you not understand that he will never get a job with a club with an average crowd of five figures? Are his comments in two of today's papers not evidence of bitterness towards us and a complete ignorance of why he's no longer at Aberdeen? I thought that it might be pretty obvious that his own notion of self worth was off the plant with regard to unrealistic.

 

But my purpose was not to come on here and reveal the obvious about him. I merely added an actual quote from the paper. Then, incredulously to me, 4 posters thought that he had a point. I disagreed and now you take a strop. What does puzzle me is that a number of you won't hear any criticism of the man despite the evidence to the contrary. That's fine but accept that different people have different views and in my experience the majority of Aberdeen fans were delighted to see the back of him. He's history, and now that he has emerged as a competing manager in the SPL then I'm sure we'd all like to see him off with a defeat next week.

 

Equally puzzling is what anyone finds to like within the man. Is it symapthy for who he is, do you genuinely rate him or is it just taking an alternative stand for the sake of it?

 

Meh.

It's what happens on the pitch that counts.

[manc_don]

Rocket, i don't even think we need to 'make up' a new group for the MIGers as there are clearly people, not necessarily on this site, who back him to the hilt and seem to think he is the dogs Bollocks. I don't think anyone can dispute that the board cannot afford to give him the backing they, and we want them to. This is because of their short sightedness at the peak time of jc's tenure. This has lead to a dramatic slump of form on and off the pitch and thus culminated in sacking jc when the club could not afford to do so. However, thats beside the point. The summer is when there are decent players available and Mcghee wasted most of it tracking players we were never going to sign. Sound familiar? I hope Mcghee, and i know everyone here does too, turns it around and becomes successful. The warning signs are there though, we should not be losing to st midden. Mcghee and the team need to buck up their ideas. We went for a manager that finished below us, and so far we can see why.