Aberdeen v Motherwell

[tom_widdows]

Gotta love inconsistency 

 

Win today and we'd only have been 8 points behind unite with 2 games in hand.

Instead its 11 points with 2 games in hand 

[CtS]

It's hard to be critical after Mark McGhee had them produce such a good result on Wednesday.

 

 

But Jimmy's dross really let us down today.

[jmo]

Aberdeen genuinely played well on Wednesday I thought. I know it's been an inconsistent season, but that inconsistent? Seems a little extreme. Hearts were poor on Wednesday, but I didn't think they were that bad, better than Killie were last Saturday I thought.

 

[dave_min]

What an utter, utter disgrace

[El Padre™]

Probably our worst performance since queen of the south, absolutely awful.

[manc_don]

Probably our worst performance since queen of the south, absolutely awful.

 

That bad?!? Its so infuriating at how consistently inconsistent we are this season. I mean, 3-0 against Motherwell. At home ffs.

[Kowalski]

> >

 

I'm not afraid to admit I left at 3-0.  No way was I sitting there freezing my balls off watching such an inept performance.

 

The defence was terrible - particularly Grassi who was utterly abysmal, and Ifil.  But even Foster was very poor.

 

We played 4-4-2, but with no width.  Why? 

Although Grassi was shocking, half the time he had nobody to pass to.  In the first half Fyvie was left midfield but never got up the flank - I can only assume this was the tactics? 

 

Fucking abysmal anyway.  Play like that against Raith and we'll get knocked out, no question.

[Rebus30]

I was sorely tempted to leave after the 3rd goal too, but I didn't.  Wish I had done.  What a waste of a Saturday afternoon!!  :hammer:

[tsr]

Shocking result, hopefully put right on Tuesday.

[19afc03]

Aberdeen manager Mark McGhee:

 

"We seemed to start well enough. We lost the goal and suddenly it all went wrong. It ended up being a poor performance.

 

"To go from the heights of Wednesday night (when we beat Hearts 3-0) to the second half today, I can't explain it.

 

"It's one we've got to put behind us.

 

"We are a lot better than we were in the second half."

 

 

Is that it? .... what a crock!!

[tsr]

What about the comments on the official site? He asked the players to explain it and said they as a group shrugged their shoulders.

 

Nice one.

[Stewart]

Mark McGhee said: "There was a lack of energy and cohesion in the team. We were all to blame. I don't know if it was because of a lack of energy after Wednesday night.

 

If you look at Mark Kerr, he was immense on Wednesday but looked lacking in energy today. You have to wonder why that is.

 

"Maybe the game came too quickly for them. I am baffled. I asked the players after the game and they just shrugged and couldn't give me a reason for the performance.

 

"We started off OK and I wasn't too alarmed but after we conceded the goal we deteriorated.

 

"We tried to change it about at half-time but we didn't get the chance because they scored almost straight away. The game got away from us and after that we never looked like a team that had the energy to get back into it.''

 

McGhee also praised the performance of Motherwell's Jim O'Brien, a transfer target for the Dons.

 

"Jim had the energy today. On Wednesday night you would maybe be looking at our team and wondering where Jim would fit in. That is important to remember. But Jim was very good today, although that didn't surprise me.''

 

Craig Brown said: "The one thing I would say is that things are going for us at the moment. There will come a time when things don't go for us.

 

"We have to keep calm and keep our feet on the ground and not get carried away because we have kept four clean sheets in a row and won here. We were fortunate here."

 

Brown credited Aberdeen boss Mark McGhee, the former Well manager, as one of the reasons behind the win.

 

He explained: "I have to give Mark McGhee credit as the guys that played so well for me were Mark McGhee men. They were experienced guys that were marginalised before Archie and I came here - guys like Stephen Craigan, Steven Hammell and Keith Lasley. Mark had them all in a team that finished third in the league. It is paradoxical but I'm crediting Mark for the success we had today.

 

"They are all great pros who speak so highly of him. The previous management was determined to go with youth. The youth were on the bench today and they are good young players but they were asked to do a lot after starting the season so well. They dipped and went eight games without a win so we brought the Mark McGhee boys back in.''

[19afc03]

MM comments on the official site are pish .... i really do feel short changed by AFC at this moment in time.

[Ajja]

Classic example, yet again, of our players getting too carried away with themselves after a great win. The Hearts game was the best I've seen us play since Copenhagen and a huge result. We have all been guilty of getting overly excited about it but the players have to remain professional and didn't. They went into that game the same way as they did after beating Rangers, like the job was done before the game started and the result is a thumping by an average side as it was against Celtic. Really disappointed.

[BobbyBiscuit]

That was awful. Started fairly brightly and knocked the ball about well but it all just disappeared. 

 

Davide Grassi. Jesus fuck. That was one of the worst individual performances I've seen in a long time. How did he survive the hook at half time?  Absolutely everyone around us were calling for Diamond to come on for him at half time with Mulgrew moving to left back but he kept him on.  Finally replaced him when it was two goals too late.

 

Fraser Fyvie is totally wasted in a wide midfield berth, we lose out on his creativity when he's not in the middle.  And because he's out wide and comes inside a lot there is no real width to our game.  We pinned their full backs in for the first 20 minutes and were having some success and then all of a sudden we just stopped doing it. Why?

 

I thought Langfield was fucking garbage today as well. Spilled a few and should have come for the cross on the second, terrible decision making.

[Reekie_Red]

Saw it coming. The match previews were painting us as favourites. NEVER EVER paint Aberdeen as favourites for a game ... that's one way to guarantee a loss for the Dons. Those players are guilty of believing their own hype time and time again. I quite often dream about the Dons' score the night before a match. Friday night's dream was a 2-0 loss - so I wasnae far off.

 

i reckon this will be the swift kick up the arse that the team needs - the reality check that proves to the players that they cannot expect to win just by turning up. Next week's games should be better results for us

[Guest rocket debris]

You're battling away, you dominate the opening exchanges, you look for the breakthrough and when the opposition get their first strike on goal, your goalkeeper spills it from out of his hands, a shot he didn't need to dive for, a shot he didn't need to stretch for. 1-0 down. How the fuck can you compete when shit like that happens? He was an utter disgrace and should never play again. Only people who understand fitba understand this so expect most of you won't.

[Kowalski]

You're battling away, you dominate the opening exchanges, you look for the breakthrough and when the opposition get their first strike on goal, your goalkeeper spills it from out of his hands, a shot he didn't need to dive for, a shot he didn't need to stretch for. 1-0 down. How the fuck can you compete when shit like that happens? He was an utter disgrace and should never play again. Only people who understand fitba understand this so expect most of you won't.

 

Terrible fishing.  Grassi takes the blame for the first goal.

[manc_don]

The way our season is going i fully expect us to get pumped midweek, then beat the timothy and the cycle will start all over again. A 'run' of two games :/

[BobbyBiscuit]

Terrible fishing.  Grassi takes the blame for the first goal.

 

He certainly does, but I don't think Langfield covered himself in glory with that one either.  What the fuck he was playing at in the second half I do not know.

 

He has regressed since the departure of Leighton, there's no doubt about that.

[Guest rocket debris]

Terrible fishing.  Grassi takes the blame for the first goal.

You fail to cover yourself in glory once again. There are facts, interpretations, opinions and speculations. That Langfield was worthy of the vast majority of blame for the first is nothing other than fact. Grassi fucked up, the consequence being a good shooting opportunity. Clangers fucked up, the consequence being handing them the first goal on a plate. A ten year old could have done better. It was the perfect height, straight at his hands, he did not need to dive, he did not need to stretch yet he spilled it straight to the one person who was best placed to take advantage. The 3rd was a carbon copy of his inability to catch, pushing it straight out for another gift. 

[Sharpie]

Time to give the other boy a shotty?

[dave_min]

Time to give the other boy a shotty?

 

Possibly.

 

But a much better solution would be to bring back our dedicated goalkeeping coach.

[Guest rocket debris]

If the club wastes money employing a dedicated specialist to coach two or three people in an art that is more instinctive than taught, then how would this influence individual errors that a schoolboy would have been slated for making? To suggest Leighton's departure as an excuse for Langfield's ineptness is folly. It is not even a contributory factor. Leighton did not have a coach. This whole concept is less than 2 decades old and is a ruse for jobs for the boys. Excellence in Keeping Goal can not be taught.

[BobbyBiscuit]

If the club wastes money employing a dedicated specialist to coach two or three people in an art that is more instinctive than taught, then how would this influence individual errors that a schoolboy would have been slated for making? To suggest Leighton's departure as an excuse for Langfield's ineptness is folly. It is not even a contributory factor. Leighton did not have a coach. This whole concept is less than 2 decades old and is a ruse for jobs for the boys. Excellence in Keeping Goal can not be taught.

 

nonsense.  Leighton made huge improvements with most of the keepers he's worked with - Preece, Esson and Langfield. They all benefited from Leighton's input and Preece and Langfield have both admitted as much.