Aberdeen's Greatest

[BobbyBiscuit]

For the Retro Day on 28 November v Ross County:

 

http://www.afc.co.uk/mobile/news/6974.php

 

To mark the occasion all adult tickets have been reduced to the symbolic price of £19.03 as we welcome Ross County to Pittodrie.

 

Tickets for the match can be purchased online at afc.co.uk/eTickets

 

We want you to get involved by turning back the clock and looking out an Aberdeen shirt from your 'retro' era and wearing it to the match!

 

Win hospitality by naming your Greatest Ever XI!

 

Ahead of Retro Day we also want The Red Army to select their greatest ever Aberdeen team.

 

The greatest ever Aberdeen team as selected by The Red Army will then feature on a piece of artwork within Pittodrie on Retro Day!

 

Select your greatest goalkeeper, four defenders, four midfielders, two strikers and a manager by completing the survey.

 

Pick your greatest ever XI NOW!

[rocket_scientist]

Leighton

Boel - Miller - McLeish - Robertson

Strachan - Buchan - Simpson - Graham

Harper - Black

 

I know it's a lopsided team in some ways and I should have put Martin in beside Willie but I couldn't write Miller without McLeish.

 

Subs: Clark, Kennedy, Hermiston, Bett (actually, Jim instead of MB who goes back to replace McLeish), Weir, Forrest, Archibald, Hewitt

 

Bound to have forgotten some obvious but no Charlie Nick for me unfortunately. Not including Zoltan Varga either. And no Peter Hetherston nor Paul Bernard unsurprisingly. That's my first draft. Will have another go later.

 

 

Draft 2 and final XI:

 

Leighton

Boel - Buchan - Miller - Robertson

Strachan - Bett - Simpson - Weir

Harper - Black

 

Subs: Clark, Kennedy, Hermiston, McLeish, Forrest, Graham, Archibald, Hewitt, Charlie Nick

 

What an awesome team, both for players and balance.

 

The strongest, indisputable pick is Davie Robertson at LB even though WM best I've ever seen. He has quality competition at CB whereas nobody ever came close to Davie for LB.

 

Oh look, fuck all from not just this century but for over 20 years, since the chairman inveigled his way in.

 

Manager: Eddie Turnbill. Fuck that weegie thief.*

 

* after reading King Joey. Plus his unauthorised biography. Plus what I know from good sources at St Mirren. Plus when he tried it on re Rock of Gibraltar. Plus his son's agency at Man U.

 

Calderwood and Langfield close but no cigarillo.

 

[manc_don]

Calderwood and Langfield close but no cigarillo.

 

You must be mellowing in your age, Rocket! 

 

Hard to really disagree with the second draft, although not becoming a fan until the mid 90's it's hard for me to honestly comment.

[tlg1903]

In some ways its a little easier not having been around for the glory days.

 

Kjaer

 

McKimmie

Mcleish (my first game he played, went Motherwell not long after)

Anderson

Shinnie

 

Grant

Connor

Heikinnen

 

Zerouali

Shearer

Jess

 

Bench

Leighton

Considine

Logan

Bisconti

Rooney

Richardson

Mcginn

 

Manager DM

 

Fair few current day players in there but that's hardly surprising given this the best team we have had in 25 years.  I did consider booth over rooney but his injury record kept him out. Could also make arguments for Nicholson, Seve and Arnie

[BobbyBiscuit]

I went for:

 

                    Leighton

 

McKimmie  McLeish  Miller    Robertson

 

Mason      Grant          Bett      Weir

 

              Gillhaus      Nicholas

 

If I were to pick subs: Snelders, Anderson, Simpson, Jess, Shearer

 

manager has to be Alex Ferguson.

 

And for the avoidance of doubt, the Robertson mentioned above is Judas, not Ian 

 

Tried to balance the team and effectively have three tried and trusted partnerships through the spine of the team.  Unfortunately when I started going to the games properly Simmy was past his best.

[Jute]

I would go for following

 

Snelders

 

McKimmie McLeish Miller Robertson

 

Mason Strachen Bett Wier

 

Gilhaus Black

 

Subs: Leighton Shinnie Irvine Grant Jess Shearer Nicholas C

 

Manager: Alex Ferguson

 

 

[rocket_scientist]

Mason, Jess and particularly Gilhaus are notable omissions from my bench, which was my bad.

 

I reckon McKimmie will be the most popular choice for RB and quite rightly, he was class and consistently so. My own selection Henning Boel may have been sentimentally chosen rather than comparatively, that team being my first recollections although Stewart Kennedy adds great competition.

 

The demographic influences the personal choices of course but as I predicted with draft 1, I knew I would forget some greats. Still happy with my XI though.

[Superstar Tradesman]

No shouts for Robbie Winters in goal?

 

Surprised by that.

[Kowalski]

                    Leighton

 

McKimmie  McLeish  Miller    Robertson

 

Strachan    Simpson  Bett      Weir

 

              Black    McDougall

 

Subs: Snelders, Rougvie, Grant, Mason, Jess, Gillhaus, McGhee

[Madbadteacher]

Leighton

 

Kennedy

Miller

Buchan

Shewan

 

Bett

Strachan

Varga

 

Jarvie

Harper

Gillhaus

 

Subs Clark, McLeish, Simpson, Frunkie, Black, Bell, Boel

 

 

I know a lot will probably question Harper and Jarvie up front, but as a pair they were superb for us, and clearly I've not picked all the most "talented" in a lot of peoples' minds, but that side would be awesome

[BobbyBiscuit]

Leighton

 

Kennedy

Miller

Buchan

Shewan

 

Bett

Strachan

Varga

 

Jarvie

Harper

Gillhaus

 

Subs Clark, McLeish, Simpson, Frunkie, Black, Bell, Boel

 

 

I know a lot will probably question Harper and Jarvie up front, but as a pair they were superb for us, and clearly I've not picked all the most "talented" in a lot of peoples' minds, but that side would be awesome

 

Good mix in there MBT.  Didn't see quite a few of them but by all accounts all the guys you've picked (who I haven't seen) were superb players for the Dons.

 

I would have loved to have seen Martin Buchan play. Watched an ESPN re-run of Scotland v Holland in 78 WC recently and Buchan played. Strolled it. Family friends have been season ticket holders at Old Trafford for 50 years and they still rave about Buchan.

 

I had the pleasure to meet Drew Jarvie a few times and I'm ashamed to say that at that age (11 or so) I didn't fully appreciate what he had actually done for AFC and I spent the whole time asking him what it was like to warm up Theo Snelders before each Dons game.  He kept his patience with me and told me very politely that no matter how hard he hit the ball at Theo he had hit much harder past goalkeepers some years before. Bit of a "riddie" when I checked his record at Aberdeen a couple of years later. Amazing goal scorer for us.

[manc_don]

Bit of a tangent, but linked in that he has been included on a few benches, apparently this video has been going viral.

 

A spoof of the latest John Lewis advert created by Stand-Free.com

 

https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/fp/aberdeen-fc/dons-hero-hewitt-stunned-as-spoof-john-lewis-advert-goes-viral/

[scotfree]

Leighton

 

McKimmie McLeish Miller Robertson

 

Bett Simpson Weir

 

Black Jess Gillhaus

 

Manager- SAF

 

Subs Snelders Anderson Stark Hewitt McDougall

 

 

 

[manc_don]

Results are out:

 

 

On Saturday 28th November we are calling on all Dons fans to help us celebrate all things AFC as we hold our first ever official Retro Day at Pittodrie.

 

To mark the occasion all adult tickets have been reduced to the symbolic price of £19.03 as we welcome Ross County to Pittodrie.

 

Tickets for the match can be purchased online at afc.co.uk/tickets

 

To celebrate our Retro Day theme we asked The Red Army to vote for their greatest ever Aberdeen team and over 1000 fans took part by naming their ultimate Dons XI and manager.

 

Earlier this week we announced that Sir Alex Ferguson was unanimously voted as the man to take charge of the greatest ever Dons team. In terms of the team itself, Jim Leighton has been named in goal with Willie Miller, Stuart Kennedy, Russell Anderson and Alex McLeish set to play in front of him in defence.

 

Today we can reveal the midfielders that have been selected to join Neil Simpson in your side as well as the front two. The first man to be joining 'Simmy' in midfield is another Gothenburg Great who featured in over 70% of your team selections, Gordon Strachan. The current Scotland boss offered a real threat from midfield scoring 90 goals in 292 appearances, a record that most strikers would be proud of.

 

Another creative midfielder who has been handed a place in this side by The Red Army arrived at Pittodrie for a fee of £300,000 in 1985 and went on to prove that he was worth every penny. Jim Bett has earned a place due to his cultured style of play and achieved double-cup winning success during his time in a red shirt.

 

The final place in midfield has been reserved for Eoin Jess, a player who lit up the 90s for most Dons fans. Famed for his creativity and ability on the ball Jess brought a smile to the face of many over two spells at the club and was named in almost half of your team selections.

 

We asked you to name your top two strikers and unsurprisingly Aberdeen's all-time record goalscorer with 199 goals in 300 appearances, Joe Harper, secured a place in the frontline. 'King Joey' will be joined up front by a striker who joined The Dons for a fee of £500,000 in 1992, Duncan Shearer. Shearer was a popular figure thanks to his goalscoring exploits over five seasons at Pittodrie and his committed approach which made life difficult for defences throughout the country

 

http://www.afc.co.uk/news/7081#.VlXnpHbhDcs

[rocket_scientist]

3 x Centre Backs and no left back? 1-5-5?

 

Milne's AFC couldn't even get this right.

 

When they asked for "four defenders" and then they take the four that got the most votes, they end up with shit.

 

That's embarrassing actually. And easily avoided, by asking for Right and Left backs. You can bet that 99% of entries included a RB and LB but because no one LB polled more than the 3 x CB's did, they publish "a team" that looks stupid, not even having the sense to pick the 2 x CB's with the most votes and the one LB that did.

 

I'm pretty sure Milne himself would have had nothing to do with this fuck up. But he's in charge and I would be appalled if I were him. What an amateurish ham-fisted pile of shite.

[RicoS321]

It's our best players, picked in the style of Alex Miller. Most folk had forgotten that Left back was actually a position before Shinnie arrived anyway.

[Tyrant]

It's our best players, picked in the style of Alex Miller. Most folk had forgotten that Left back was actually a position before Shinnie arrived anyway.

 

 

What's a left back?

[BobbyBiscuit]

A mate got me a copy of yesterday's programme and I'm enjoying it but have to say that the picture of the successful 1986 Tennent's Sixes team is a cracker. Brian Mitchell appears to have received more than his team mates did for the win, good luck to him....