Aberdeen v The Victims

[BobbyBiscuit]

From the team selection being announced I knew we wouldn't win this. From watching the first 2 minutes i knew we'd lose without a fight.

 

An absolutely disgraceful performance and the buck stops with McInnes. Overthought it again and lost again. He should be asked to explain today to the board and then the fans. That was abysmal.

 

No heart, spirit or fight. 

 

Funny thing was that today on our way to the pub, we saw Ian Cameron out walking his dogs.  Thought he was a decent player but he was pea-hearted and that let him down, ultimately. Well, Cameron has a bigger heart than Kenny McLean who I think is the biggest shitebag I've ever seen play professional football.  A sorry excuse of a centre midfielder, should be released in January.

[LA-Don]

Ok, being controversial, I don't agree with the criticism of Jack and McLean. We're so poor in central mid because we're asking players to perform a role that they cannot perform well - while I'm certainly not saying these players are like for like it's like Fergie asking for Strachan and Weir to play center mid. I'd suggest Jack or McLean would be better with a Simpson/Cooper type next to them. Ideally McLean at attacking mid with Cooper AND Simpson types behind them, that's his position. DM hasn't solved this position in the transfer market and it's gotten worse with the losses of Flood and Robson. As a result he's hurting the careers of these two guys insisting they do jobs they aren't qualified to do. They're set up for failure and the abuse they get from fans is a result of this which certainly doesn't help the situation.

[rocket_scientist]

I don't think it's controversial to disagree. You make a good point. Neither Jack nor McLean are hard enough and any skills that they do have aren't being allowed to come out because they are easily bullied.

 

I fully understand the criticism of the vast majority of our players today though. They were appalling. But as many are saying, including you, the buck stops with the manager. He is having an adverse effect on Ryan Jack, no question. He's also making an utter cunt of Shinnie and also of Considine, two players I particularly feel sorry for.

 

McLean is a conundrum. His first few months were tremendous. Then he went off the boil for an unfeasibly long period and yet performed well in his last three games, before being pretty anonymous today.

 

It's a fucking shambles and as soon as we saw Ash Taylor in the starting line up, that was terrible. It's not even fair to Taylor as he wasn't as culpable as O'Connor today for example but he's NOT BEEN PLAYING. Changing a settled and natural back four which had obviously been working very well indeed was unforgivable, a symptom of a manager who hasn't got a fucking clue what he's doing and never displays the confidence in his own team to have a go. A coward in other words, a mister-play-it-safe-to avoid-personal-criticism and getting it tragically wrong the vast majority of times, especially in the bigger games.

[Reidzer 1314]

That was an absolute shambles, not sure if Aberdeen though they were turning up to a kick about session as they certainly never turned up to play in a cup final!

 

The team selection was questionable and the tactics were all over the place, I mean where was Shinnie playing, central mid, the wing, upfront?!? Taylor back in the line up?!? Surely it would have been better to put Shinnie in at left back and put Considine into the centre??? Tactically we were an absolute shambles, there is no easy way to put it.

 

Once again rather than getting stuck in to Celtic, we backed off, gave all the time in the world to play football and got punished for it. Why on earth we continue to show them so much respect is beyond me, there are not a team of in-humans!

 

Jack and McLean bossed about in the midfield yet again, cant fault McLean too much as he shouldn't be in there with  Jack, hes far better suited playing off the striker and if McInnes want to keep him as a starter then thats where he needs to be. The gap in our central midfield once again was exploted, too many times did Scott Brown get the ball and was allowed to stroll his was into our half. The only player I saw go through him was O'Connor, maybe he should be playing in midfield!

 

Rooney was spending more time drifting out to the wing and trying to flick balls on to absolutely nobody. Hayes who should have been on the wing was AWOL. Maddison had a few good touches, tried to get the crowd going but he gets brushed off the ball too easily and sometimes he just tried that one touch too many when he should pass the ball off instead.

 

End of the day, the players did not take to that pitch yesterday like they were in a cup final and thats what really disappoints me. If we had turned up, played well but simply lost to a better side then that would be easier to take but when you dont even turn up and just roll over with minimal effort then that pisses me off.

[BigAl]

 

Cold light of day, clear head now.

Team sselection wrong, tactics wrong, wrong to give too much respect to them.

Not going to single out individuals as we win as a team and lose as a team.

They scored their goals at all the right times for them/

Poor start from us, just starting to get a foothold in the game and we concede. Bobby will give you that McLean shat the tackle by the way. Should have just halved the man...end of.

 

Potentially get in at half time we still have a slight chance if we can regroup. .... Bang 2-0 and game over this side of h/t.

 

Start ok in second half, getting a bit more of the ball and just about to make a change when it becomes 3-0.

 

Fans deserved better, really hurts to see little kids in tears at half time.

 

Collectively NOT individually management and team let us down

 

Says it all when there were more fouls committed against one of our players (Maddison) than we as a team committed in a full 90 minutes. That is a damning statistic and really says it all

 

Has a team lost a national final 3-0 in recent times and never even had a yellow card against them.

 

Massive game at the weekend for us now

[Nips_and_Tatties]

well Shinnie is our new striker it seems.

How fecking far up the park does he need to be?hes a left back DM.

 

I'll say it again...Rooney is a waste of a whole 90 minutes.

Stockley should be on all day long with burns playing off him.

 

McGinn as quiet as can be should've been on too.was DM saying that he gets caught missing v Celtic?

 

was OConnors worst game for us I think.he gave 2 of the goals away at least, maybe all of them.

 

Shockingly disappointing performance from us.

 

I felt far far worse when we went out of Europe the same way.

 

DM u need a far better team talk.

 

When a player scores a great goal like rogics, that's fine, but to let Forrest just wander past 3 players is pathetic.especially at 1-0 down.

 

Feel for,the supporters who made it.

 

Maddison is still feckin ace though.

 

Jack is a pathetic captain.

 

I think we should get Storie back in the midfield.hes interested at least and a bit of a hard man.

 

 

 

I find it funny when dons fans hate the national set up and moan about it being corrupt and Strachan who I don't like, is sh*te and picks the wrong team.

yet we have our,own manager takin the piss nearly every week out of us and the SPFL set up to let Celtic teams win.

 

 

 

 

[manc_don]

Another thing which I've read a lot on facebook posts elsewhere is that "football lost, money won".  This is a piss poor pathetic argument.  Squad value and resources means everything over the course of a league campaign, but is completely irrelevant in a cup competition.  It's a sad acceptance of the situation trying to make themselves feel better.  It was purely down to our players failing to realise they were in a cup final and tactics yesterday. Celtic wanted it, fuck all to do with money, and fair play to them. Pricks.

[RicoS321]

Aye, it's pretty much all been said. I actually thought McLean had a decent game, moved the ball quickly and well, switching play a lot and bringing Maddison into the game with time and space. However, he was part of an unbalanced midfield who didn't know where either player was going to be and often had to react to them getting the ball after it was too late - he was left chasing the game (at the goal especially, I thought he was correct to assume his defenders could handle the threat and not bring down the man). I thought Shinnie was our worst midfielder today. Annoyingly, as everyone has pointed out, the answer was available to us in the previous few games, with McLean and Jack performing well recently, there was simply no need to upset the balance.

 

Two of our goals wouldn't have been conceded if Considine was at left centre half. O'Connor was terrible, as he has been in that side of the defence previously. He can't play with the ball on his left side, it's a massive weakness in his game and it was obvious the last time he played there (against the huns I think, after Taylor went off?). He ushered Forrest onto his (O'Connor's) wrong side for the second and couldn't get back in to block the shot and then gave away a penalty attempting to go for it with his wrong foot. It just wouldn't have happened with Considine or even Reynolds there. He also got caught on the ball a few times because he was coming out of defence with the ball on his wrong foot and he didn't have the strength to be able to pass it out with his left so he kept having to turn back, it was horrible to watch.

 

So, aye, as everyone else has pointed out, McInnes made a total cunt of it. Basic errors in team selection that led to basic errors on the pitch. There is no shame in losing 3-0 to a good confident Celtic side, there is a shame in losing 3-0 when specifically setting your team up to not lose. As soon as you do that, it rubs off on the players and they play like they can't win. Furthermore, playing Hayes up front for more than 20 minutes in the first half totally knackered him. It's Rooney's job, and one he's fit enough and good enough to do. Hayes should have been roasting thon shite left back all day long. McInnes better not get it wrong against der Hun. 

[baggy89]

We set up to absorb and counter.

Did it against sevco and got away with it.

Wrong tactics yesterday and same wrong tactics were used against sevco.

We have the players to counter.

We don't have the players to sit in.

Especially when the opposition have players who can foul with impunity.

This team should be pressing as high up the pitch as possible.

At a guess McInnes has us playing this way as we probably lost the title last season against teams that sat in and we failed to break down.

That said, 3-0 flattered Celtic. 3 errors from us 3 goals from them.

January we need a at least one player that improves the defensive aspect of the midfield.

Rooney was a waste of a shirt although if Maddison had played him in immediately prior to the tims first goal, instead of taking the shot, I'm sure he would have been a hero today. Such is the life of a striker.

[Goldie03]

The globes had a great time in pub before the game - fab to catch up with everyone

 

Our flag display was awesome - loved it - pity the players couldn't match the effort from the fans

 

Team selection was awful  - I blame McInnes for tinkering with the defence when there was no fucking need 

 

It was always gonna be a hard game to win but to play so pitifully was particularly disappointing

 

 

[irnbru1903]

 

We could not really complained if the score was bigger than 3 nil to be honest. It scares me to think how bad it could have been if they had played well. We put nothing into the game we got nothing out. Not that I really care about what the neutral thinks but we must have been woeful to watch on the tv. We were dire and if not for the fans at the start we would have contributed fuck all to the spectacle.

 

 

The club as a whole deserve all the flak they are taking for this.

[cupidstunt]

I dont want to discuss this.

 

Only thing to say is were shite.

[OxfordDon]

Christ, this whole thread is only serving to show how vindictive football as a sport can be.  We lost, yes, we were shite, yes, it's disappointing, yes, but some of you sound like you want to go firebomb the players' houses.

 

Calm doon folks and i'll see you at the Scottish cup final 

 

[BigAl]

Christ, this whole thread is only serving to show how vindictive football as a sport can be.  We lost, yes, we were shite, yes, it's disappointing, yes, but some of you sound like you want to go firebomb the players' houses.

 

Calm doon folks and i'll see you at the Scottish cup final 

 

Hope you're right with your last sentence

[1903_Redz]

I'm not really sure how best to express my disappointment but by fuck i'm pissed off at what happened on Sunday!

 

I just don't get why DM fucked with the team the way he did? Why?! Is it because he's shit scared of the dhims?! Fucking pathetic management in my opinion.

 

We'd played two games away from home with a formation / set up he hadn't used all season and it worked well, winning both games comfortably at tricky venues.... then he goes and does that... reverts to shitebag tactics! What the fuck was the point in the experimenting in the two previous games? If they were experiments they worked!!! Just cos it's the dhims why change it?!

 

I wouldn't be surprised if the players inept performance was down to them wondering wtf DM was changing a system that had worked well. He's got a lack of belief in his players obviously and they'll now be lacking belief in him.

 

20 odd thousand Dandies make that journey with belief in their hearts but the most important cunts didn't have it! 

 

Sorry, i thought i had calmed down a bit but i've not. Pissed aff big time!

 

Edit to add: The changes he made was to go back to the line up / formations that failed the two previous times we've played those horrible bastards this season... wtf made him think it was going to work this time?

[Jute]

Edit to add: The changes he made was to go back to the line up / formations that failed the two previous times we've played those horrible bastards this season... wtf made him think it was going to work this time?

 

This is the bit I don't understand. If this was the first time that we had tried this formation then fair enough bad call move on but to go back to a formation that had already resulted in 2 defeats was criminal especially when he changed the team from one that was winning. Team had looked so much more balanced with Shinnie at left back.

[rocket_scientist]

I'm not really sure how best to express my disappointment but by fuck i'm pissed off at what happened on Sunday!

 

I just don't get why DM fucked with the team the way he did? Why?! Is it because he's shit scared of the dhims?! Fucking pathetic management in my opinion.

 

We'd played two games away from home with a formation / set up he hadn't used all season and it worked well, winning both games comfortably at tricky venues.... then he goes and does that... reverts to shitebag tactics! What the fuck was the point in the experimenting in the two previous games? If they were experiments they worked!!! Just cos it's the dhims why change it?!

 

I wouldn't be surprised if the players inept performance was down to them wondering wtf DM was changing a system that had worked well. He's got a lack of belief in his players obviously and they'll now be lacking belief in him.

 

20 odd thousand Dandies make that journey with belief in their hearts but the most important cunts didn't have it! 

 

Sorry, i thought i had calmed down a bit but i've not. Pissed aff big time!

 

Edit to add: The changes he made was to go back to the line up / formations that failed the two previous times we've played those horrible bastards this season... wtf made him think it was going to work this time?

 

That's a different way of looking at it, you calling it an "experiment" v. Patrick and v. ICT. The only thing he did different in those two games was to play Shinnie at LB. I don't see that as the experiment. I see every other game that he pushed Shinnie into midfield as the experiment and it backfired spectacularly on Sunday.

 

You make a great point and you're the first to post it. If many of us were going WTF at the line-up before kick off seeing Ash Taylor in there - which I assumed as 5 at the back with perhaps O'Connor just in front of the back 4, typically cowardly tactics from a manager who hasn't the balls to have a go - then inevitably some (all?) of the players must be wondering what the fuck was going on. What I never imagined was that Ash being recalled meant Shinnie being pushed into midfield, again. This is NOT a sleight at Taylor. He did ok but he's not part of our best CB pairing and him being reintroduced meant Considine was shoved out to a position which he is ok at (but not nearly as good as Shinnie at) and not nearly as strong as he could be if given an extended run at CB next to O'Connor.

 

This begs another question. WTF has happened to Reynolds? His debut season he was player of the year, unanimously I would have thought. He looked class in his first year. What has he been doing in training? What is the manager telling him? What is the culture like at the club where good players can turn mediocre before turning shite? Add a long list to that, not just Mark Reynolds.

 

Edit: Remember 1 point from 6 or 7 games just over a year ago, when we were top of the league? Following a pathetic display at Easter Road? There was some shite being spoken about Taylor's wife and McInnes which I can hardly believe but there was definitely something wrong in the dressing room. A good team - or at least a team getting the most out of themselves and performing good - doesn't suddenly turn shite. The players weren't turning up and playing for the gaffer. Did this happen on Sunday? You may well have nailed it. Derek's nonsensical mistakes aren't just costing us dearly and embarrassingly, it's costing him player respect and ultimately any longevity he may hope for in his pay packet from AFC (because let's face it, being in a job is the height of his aspirations). He may well have lost the dressing room. I don't know how anyone can have respect for him. He clearly doesn't have a clue how to put out the best players in their best positions with the best attitudes with hunger and desire.

[manc_don]

Very sad to read the way mezzanine has been treated by the club.  Thought fan - club relations were supposed to be improving these days? No-one can doubt, he's been a massive part of the club over the past few years, hopefully someone else will be able to forge better ties and keep up his stellar work. Very disappointing if what's he's said about the club is true.

[RicoS321]

Very sad to read the way mezzanine has been treated by the club.  Thought fan - club relations were supposed to be improving these days? No-one can doubt, he's been a massive part of the club over the past few years, hopefully someone else will be able to forge better ties and keep up his stellar work. Very disappointing if what's he's said about the club is true.

 

Fit?

[manc_don]

I spoke with a few folk involved in the display project and family and friends in the weeks leading up to the Final.

Sundays final will be my last involvement with displays and those I spoke to fully understand why .

The club held its AGM on Monday and a shareholder asked Milne ,Yule and Fraser about those behind the display and a vote of thanks was agreed, Im not sure what that means but Milne said they had been in touch with the organisers.

I can assure you now we haven't been thanked by any of them .

So he blatantly lied to a room full of shareholders .

 

They had an opportunity to put some money towards the display as well but we had a deadline to meet to place the order.

We had to go through the Operations department, they were meant to relay info to our chief exec to keep him up to speed as to where we were at with the funds , I received an email at 9 pm on a Saturday night from him asking where we were at despite telling Operations on a daily basis .

They dragged their heels so we had to look elsewhere, the DST lent us £2500 which we paid back .

Production time for 20,000 flags takes time .I asked our chief exec if he would still like to donate something like a bus for volunteers, I never got a reply but the DST did and the club said they couldn't do a bus as they would all be booked .

I called Central coaches , same firm the club use and got a bus straight away , the DST offered to pay half of that which was a lovely gesture .

The club are impossible to deal with , they hate me that's for sure because I stand up to them and won't allow them to treat those giving up their spare time like dirt .

How can I work with a club that contacts Ian Low at Dundee United , or the operations Manager at Inverness Caley and try and talk them into banning us from doing display at their grounds?

When we did a foil display in the Shed at Tannadice I was taken aside and told they (Dufc) would do anything they possibly could to make sure our display was a success, which it was .

Dufc and ICT both couldn't understand why any club wouldn't want their own fans to add as much colour to the games .

The League Cup final at ParkRed for example the club did absolutely nothing to assist us.I had to deal with the SPFL, Celtic,and the police and all were very helpful .

The club were quick to sell framed pictures at £70 a pop in the club shop of the display , I was never offered one .

This display was a huge task and thankfully I had a great team to share the load , some of them will continue Im sure but after witnessing how I'm treated they will probably do future displays away from home .

At Hampden, Motherwell, Celtic,Inverness,Ibrox,Tannadice I have always been made welcome and always get a glowing report of how organised we were .Its just our club that make life extremely difficult to do anything and I've had enough .

We also have a SLO at our club , a role given to someone in the community trust just to appease UEFA , a SLO should be someone that is known to the support and is helpful to the supporters , ours didn't even get in touch leading up to the final , Im not even going to mention his name but another ex cop who nobody within the support knows .Im in regular contact with SLOs at other clubs as well as Supporters direct etc and kept up to date with matters.

It was very humbling for the support to put so much faith in me at the last 2 finals and to donate such an incredible amount was just staggering , I had several sleepless nights leading up to this game but I knew as soon as I knew the materials we would use what I was going to do .

Without the supporters kindness and participation I'd never have been able to do any of them .

Thanks also to those that helped me make it happen , you know who you are

 

Thank you all once again and good luck to those who want to try and add some colour in the future .

 

Time to spend some time with those that are far more important than football, my amazing family .

 

Cheers

 

Mezz

[Elgindon]

 

Well this news is on other forums too. Be interested to hear the clubs point of view.Dont know what problem theyd have with displays or why they couldnt help make it to their benefit(assuming they really dont want displays)