Dons v Diet Huns

[maverick sheep]

Fraser Fyvie could return for Aberdeen against Hearts at Pittodrie after being on the bench against Inverness.

 

Striker Mohamed Chalali is a doubt with an ankle injury while Peter Pawlett serves the second of a two-game ban.

 

Hearts defender Jamie Hamill is a major doubt with an ankle injury. Ryan Stevenson will be missing due to a self-imposed absence.

 

Eggert Jonsson is again likely to sit out after agreeing to move to Wolves in the January transfer window.

 

Aberdeen manager Craig Brown: "The fighting qualities are there, there is no doubt about that.

 

"We have come back from two goals down in some recent games and if the Inverness game had lasted longer we would at least have got a draw."

Hearts midfielder Scott Robinson: "Going up to Aberdeen, to Pittodrie, it's a hard place to go and they will be right up for it.

 

"They need every point they can get right now and it should be a good game.

 

"The more games I play, the more I enjoy it and the more I feel comfortable in the team.

 

"Every game I play I'm getting a bit more confidence."

[Jute]

In/Oot: oot

Pre match: Work

Match: Flat listening to radio

Post match: Flat

Prediction: 1-2 Hearts and at least 1 of those involved in the Alan Hansen sports challange to be refused entry to the game.

Attendance: 11,000

[manc_don]

In/Oot: oot

Pre match: bus

Match: hopefully in flat listening to radio

Post match: Flat

Prediction: 1-3 Hearts.

Attendance: 10,251

[maverick sheep]

EVEN amidst a player cull, Hearts’ squad remains the want of many an SPL manager. Therefore, it is with serious envy that Craig Brown welcomes this evening’s guests to Pittodrie.

 

Aberdeen’s player budget is maxed out, yet Brown can only dream about the depth of quality available to Paulo Sergio. Ambitions of toppling Hearts and re-establishing Aberdeen as Scotland’s third force remain on the back burner as the former Scotland manager juggles his resources.

 

More than 60 players were registered to Hearts before enforced financial cuts started earlier this month. Even with Eggert Jonsson, Calum Elliot and Janos Balogh gone, plus Ryan Stevenson unavailable, Riccarton remains a hive of talent, according to Brown.

 

The Dons have midfielder Peter Pawlett suspended tonight, plus strikers Mohamed Chalali and Josh Magennis injured. There will be a late decision on whether Fraser Fyvie is fit enough to start, but the absence of alternatives might force Brown to gamble on the youngster.

 

In contrast, Sergio has the luxury of rotating his squad and is preparing changes to the team which beat Motherwell at Tynecastle on Christmas Eve. Darren Barr and Andy Driver have been restricted to little game time this season and await an opportunity, whilst John Sutton may also return.

 

Brown admits the range of options available to Hearts is something all Scottish managers, even Ally McCoist and Neil Lennon, admire. “We know Hearts have a far bigger squad than probably every team in the SPL, maybe even including the Old Firm,” he said. “They have a big group of good, quality guys, so we realise this is a difficult home fixture. I’ve got great admiration for the Hearts playing staff. There are some excellent players there.

 

“I don’t know Paulo very well at all but I’ve found him to be a real gentlemanly guy and someone worthy of respect. Although they’ve had their troubles, it’s helpful when you have enough good players.

 

“Ryan Stevenson, for example, is seemingly in dispute but I knew him from Ayr United because I used to live in Ayr. I’d like to have taken him to Motherwell when I was there but he went to Hearts. He will be a real loss to Hearts if he isn’t included. Sutton is a real handful but he hasn’t played much.

 

“He has a tremendous attitude and it’s surprising he isn’t involved if he’s fit. Barr did really well at Falkirk but hasn’t been playing, although I hear he might play tonight. I think everyone looks at the Hearts squad as being a good group of high quality players, more so than most of the SPL clubs. If we are at our strongest we can compete but we don’t have strength in depth at Aberdeen.

 

“Hearts, with the resources they have, should be the third force in the league. We aren’t that far away. We can compete with anyone but we can lose to anyone on any day. That’s our problem. Aberdeen suffer from inconsistency.”

 

That erratic form manifested itself in the Highlands at the weekend as Inverness capitalised on weak Aberdeen defending to plunder a 2-1 home win.

 

Meanwhile, Hearts dispensed with Motherwell with a thoroughly professional display and arrive in the north east on the back of two successive home wins, scoring six goals and conceding none in the process. Out of the two clubs, they appear to be the one in form despite ongoing wage problems. They will also be mindful of a 3-0 victory over Aberdeen at Tynecastle back in August.

 

“Hearts got the breaks against us earlier this season. We hit the bar before they scored and played well for half an hour. Then they got a couple of soft goals from our point of view,” said Brown. “That game at Tynecastle was the most goals we’ve conceded in a game. We’ve played the Old Firm and Motherwell – the three top teams – and they didn’t score against us the way Hearts did. I was very disappointed with the defending there and I felt a 3-0 result wasn’t right. We conceded two terrible goals on Saturday, unforgivable goals from corner kicks. That’s unusual for us although I have to say Inverness are not a bad side. We are very inconsistent at the moment. We can be good and then we can be indifferent.”

 

Brown’s remedy for the inconsistency is simple: keep everyone fit and avoid needless suspensions. “Consistent selection with give you consistency of performance. We haven’t had that for one reason or another,” he continued. “We’ve got Peter Pawlett suspended at the moment. He’s one of our three [scotland] Under-21 internationals who have all had red cards this season. They’ve all been the softest dismissals imaginable.

 

“Pawlett got two yellows against Hibs, both very soft. Fraser Fyvie was sent off for dissent to a linesman against St Mirren, and Ryan Jack got two yellows against Celtic. These boys are as good as any young players in the country but inexperience and some very harsh decisions has cost us because they’ve been unavailable.

 

“We’ve never managed to get the same team out in consecutive matches and that’s been frustrating.”

 

One shining light for Brown is the form of striker Scott Vernon. The 28-year-old has scored eight times in 19 appearances for Aberdeen this season and is, by some clear distance, the club’s top goalscorer.

 

“Vernon scored 16 goals last year in a struggling team and he’s got eight this year. He’s a good finisher with a good attitude,” explained Brown. “Rory Fallon only has a couple of goals so far, although he’s played well and been a threat. Darren Mackie is our other striker and he always seems to do well against Hearts.”

[manc_don]

thanks for highlighting that

[BigAl]

thanks for highlighting that

 

so that'll be Mackie upfront with Vernon tonight then

[Superstar Tradesman]

I'm back in the Granite City today and I think I might give this game a miss. 

[dave_min]

I'm back in the Granite City today and I think I might give this game a miss. 

 

http://www.boxofficeaberdeen.com/prod-productions_details.asp?VenueID=285&pid=3860

 

 

I'm still undecided about what to do tonight.

[Superstar Tradesman]

Ooooft, good call.

 

That's my evening's entertainment sorted then.

 

Thanks for that Dave. 

[Azteca1903]

In/Oot: In

Pre match: Work

Match: Main

Post match: Pub

Prediction: 3-1 Dons

Attendance: 9k

[manc_don]

Team news:

 

Team: Brown, Foster, Mawene, Considine, Milsom, Vernon, Mackie, Arnason, Fallon, Osbourne, Jack

 

Subs Gonzalez, McArdle, Clark, Robertson, Magennis, Megginson, Grimmer

 

That a 3-4-3 or Mackie included as a "midfielder" too?

[BigAl]

Team news:

 

Team: Brown, Foster, Mawene, Considine, Milsom, Vernon, Mackie, Arnason, Fallon, Osbourne, Jack

 

Subs Gonzalez, McArdle, Clark, Robertson, Magennis, Megginson, Grimmer

 

That a 3-4-3 or Mackie included as a "midfielder" too?

 

Mackie to be right side of of a 4-4-2 I'd guess

[BigAl]

Fyvie not even fit for as place on the bench

 

Got to say that the bench looks very weak  tonight

[manc_don]

Fyvie not even fit for as place on the bench

 

Got to say that the bench looks very weak  tonight

 

I find myself saying that on a weekly basis. We haven't exactly got a 1st XI brimming with talent but its even more sparce on the bench. I did originally think 4-4-2, but it was Mackie that threw me.

 

Why is this game not on TV? I seem to be able to find a stream for the Hibs-Caley game, but not ours 

[tom_widdows]

 

Why is this game not on TV? I seem to be able to find a stream for the Hibs-Caley game, but not ours 

 

Perhaps its because hearts & aberdeen have the TV coverage rights tied up in their online packages and no one wanted to fork out for the rights to show it anywhere?

[manc_don]

Aye, you're probably right.

 

http://www.donstalk.co.uk/messageboard/chat/

 

Sounds like the wind is pretty horrific.

[Kowalski]

Must have been a terrible night for a game of football but, still, yet another disappointing result 

[Edinburghdon]

What a pishy night, thank god there wasn't any football played!

[manc_don]

What a pishy night, thank god there wasn't any football played!

 

From the comments on Facebook and what I heard on the radio, it sounded like we actually played ok in spells. This not the case then? Apart from failing to score obviously, at least it was a clean sheet and we ended the game with 11 men

[Azteca1903]

From the comments on Facebook and what I heard on the radio, it sounded like we actually played ok in spells. This not the case then? Apart from failing to score obviously, at least it was a clean sheet and we ended the game with 11 men

 

Yeah, we played about as well as we could have hoped to under the conditions. We were certainly the better team and had better chances, but nothing clear cut enough to say we fully deserved the win. Incredibly windy though, and that in terms of creativity we were essentially reduced to Arnason's long throws by the end is no great surprise.

 

Good performances from Osbourne, Foster, Considine and Jack, while I think Arnason grew into the match. Milsom got a deserved sponsors man of the match; he was playing centrally as part of a midfield three and shows what we're missing by shunting him out wide for so long this season.

 

Front three of Vernon, Fallon and Mackie were hugely unthreatening however. The latter two are just far too immobile to play together and Mackie was...Mackie. Going to have to be changed about for the Utd game. I dare say both Vernon and Fallon would fare better if we were getting good service and regular crosses from out wide, but this would require some actual wingers and full-backs.

[manc_don]

Cheers for the match review. It did sound like we tried to play despite the conditions, just wish we'd managed to knick it in the final few minutes.

 

It really does concern me that we have very few wide players (Pawlett aside) and it doesn't look like this is going to change anytime soon You just know we'll end up with another striker and central midfielder.

[Jute]

Cheers for the match review. It did sound like we tried to play despite the conditions, just wish we'd managed to knick it in the final few minutes.

 

It really does concern me that we have very few wide players (Pawlett aside) and it doesn't look like this is going to change anytime soon You just know we'll end up with another striker and central midfielder.

 

Your forgetting the injured central defender we are already chasing.

[TENEMENTFUNSTER]

I was forgetting that improving the team should be the point of a window. 

[glasgow sheep]

Cheers for the match review. It did sound like we tried to play despite the conditions, just wish we'd managed to knick it in the final few minutes.

 

It really does concern me that we have very few wide players (Pawlett aside) and it doesn't look like this is going to change anytime soon You just know we'll end up with another striker and central midfielder.

 

Weather ruined what could have been a decent game, and wasn't actually too shabby especially first half. Having said that we both had one clear chance each and that was about it for goalscoring opportunities: for us a fallon header from a good move that he should really have buried and for them a one-on-one where Brown came out and closed down the lad well.

 

Not much more report other than special mention to the kids at the back left of the the stand for trying to get behind the team and create some atmosphere.  Shame they then resorted to booing Mackie and fighting amongst themselves, with punches being thrown. Clever.

 

Finally why the hell was this game on a Wed night?  Should have been a 3pm KO on one of the bank holidays.  Hearts had a good support up but I reckon afc lost out on another 2-3,000 punters in the home end due to the scheduling and then the weather hardly helped.