Herald: Aberdeen ignominy now par for the course

[mizer]

http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/aberdeen-ignominy-now-par-for-the-course-1.1125210?77083

 

frank gilfeather

 

22 Sep 2011

 

CRAIG BROWN'S date with a small section of the Aberdeen supporters yesterday could not have come at a worse time.

 

Had he been facing the wrath of the rank and file foot soldiers of the Red Army in a local pub rather than enjoying – perhaps not the most appropriate word to use at such a difficult moment – the company of a gathering of the well-heeled fans on a corporate golf day at Gleneagles, then the mood would have been decidedly different. A quick scan of various internet messageboards would have told him that.

 

Emotive descriptions of their team’s lethargic performance and ignominious exit from the Scottish Communities League Cup ranged from “the club’s a total shambles” to one reference to previous cup capitulations to lower leagues sides. The penalty-kicks defeat to East Fife on Tuesday, was, according to this particular poster, a further embarrassment with which he could not come to terms.

 

But while much speculation will surround the future of Brown –Aberdeen’s seventh manager, not including a trio of caretakers, since Willie Miller was jettisoned 14 years ago – the endemic failure of Stewart Milne, the chairman, to arrest a decade-and-a-half of decline since his appointment to the Pittodrie board edges into the spotlight.

 

In the intervening years, assorted pay offs have contributed to the mountain of debt which, depending on who is to be believed, sits at anything between £7m and £10m. Some reckon it is considerably higher, though the real figure will remain unclear until the annual meeting later in the year.

 

Brown and Archie Knox were seen as the saviours of Aberdeen after being lured from Motherwell when Mark McGhee’s reign ended with yet another large cheque being issued. And it is at Fir Park this weekend that Brown will attempt to stem the growing pressure on him.

 

At a wind-swept and rain-soaked Gleneagles yesterday, he attested that while there was bitter disappointment, there was no need for despondency. You could almost hear the collective response to that statement from Aberdeen fans: “Come here and we’ll gie you nae despondency.”

 

This week, Milne’s company made 60 employees redundant. Now there will be questions over what efficiencies can be made at a club where, due to a dwindling fan base and a dramatic drop in the need for corporate facilities, income has plummeted. And what of the proposed £38m stadium planned for the southern edge of the city? Why build a ground to accommodate 21,000 when fewer than 4000 were there to witness Tuesday’s debacle?

 

This is how the project is supposed to pan out: Pittodrie, already with planning permission for around 400 apartments and town houses, is sold for, say, £15m; the Stewart Milne Group purchases Allan Park, the home of Cove Rangers, where more housing will be built; and the Highland League club will flit to land not far from the new home of Aberdeen, all in time for the beginning of season 2013-14.

 

Until then, Brown will be invited to carry on regardless of the paucity of his squad. However, a continuation of anything resembling the sub-standard showing on Tuesday and, indeed, of the form that has brought them only one win and a measly four goals in eight Clydesdale Bank Premier League games this season, might just prompt the need for Aberdeen to part company with yet another manager.

[Kowalski]

GLENEAGLES?!?!?!?!?!

 

CUNTS WERE ON THE FUCKIN GOLF COURSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

 

I'm afraid that's par for the course with the Dons.

[Superstar Tradesman]

Good article that, Frankie boy's obviously been doing his homework on the old interweb.

 

At least now the fact that Milne is a fucking waste of space is being made public instead of being banded about websites.

[tlg1903]

Good article that, Frankie boy's obviously been doing his homework on the old interweb.

 

At least now the fact that Milne is a fucking waste of space is being made public instead of being banded about websites.

 

Aye Gilfeather has really caught the mood alright.  mind you a blind deaf and dumb mute could probably catch the mood..............  be waiting a while for some journo's to pick up on it then

[BobbyBiscuit]

Good article that, Frankie boy's obviously been doing his homework on the old interweb.

 

At least now the fact that Milne is a fucking waste of space is being made public instead of being banded about websites.

 

aye, and if he keeps it up he'll probably get banned from Pittodrie... not so good for a free-lancer.

[Superstar Tradesman]

Self-imposed bans from Pittodrie are the done thing these days.  Why should Frankie be any different?

 

 

[BobbyBiscuit]

Self-imposed bans from Pittodrie are the done thing these days.  Why should Frankie be any different?

 

True but most don't make their living from going there.

[Kowalski]

aye, and if he keeps it up he'll probably get banned from Pittodrie... not so good for a free-lancer.

 

To be fair though, I don't think he's got long left.