Dons - Apollon Limassol - Thursday - 745

[RicoS321]

In regards to moving the ball quickly and very well, you can say that of the majority, if not all teams playing in this round if you gave them time and space. We couldn't keep up the first half pace and they came into the game. But where did they move the ball quickly and very well? I recall Lewis having one save (high ball above his head) and another mini goalmouth scramble but I didn't think they caused us a great deal of trouble. We kept them infront of the back 4 and they had very few shooting and scoring chances. I thought Siroki caused us more trouble at Pittodrie and I was more nervous of us going to Bosnia than I am of us going to Cyprus. Of all the teams we're played in the 3rd round these guys are the weakest and we have a great chance of progressing.

 

Siroki caused us problems because we were way off the pace and it was our first game. Apollon were controlling the game the entire second half up until they got their man sent off, and I think we may have gone on to lose another if it'd been 11v11 for the full 90. They were working their way closer and it wasn't a surprise when they got their goal (McInnes unfortunate that he couldn't make the change in time). Agreed, they didn't exactly batter our goal with shots, but they certainly showed enough to see that they're better than anyone (bar the Tims) we'll face in the SPL and that they're good enough to beat us if we're not careful over there. I suspect we'll see a back 3 (or two with O'Connor in front) and maybe even McLean as the striker over there. It'll need 90 minutes of putting them under constant pressure and putting them off their game to keep them from scoring. We'll beat them though, as they didn't like it up them on the break.

[Garlogie_Granite]

What an incredible game, what an incredible winner, what an incredible captain, as we all knew he should have been when the hun was still here. Better late than never

 

 

On a borrowed phone so can't see other comments, but thought our fans were shit tonight! It was like a morgue at times.

..nonsense, atmosphere was superb last night.

[Nips_and_Tatties]

Can't criticise any players tonight.

 

Everyone played really well.

 

Awesome team.

 

I'd even go to say we are far better organised and more threatening than ever before.

 

We just need one of our strikers to hit form really.

 

Great result should've been more.

 

Hoping we can score 1 next week.

 

COYR

[LA-Don]

Can't criticise any players tonight.

 

Everyone played really well.

 

Awesome team.

 

I'd even go to say we are far better organised and more threatening than ever before.

 

We just need one of our strikers to hit form really.

 

Great result should've been more.

 

Hoping we can score 1 next week.

 

COYR

 

I'll disagree with some of this for now but I certainly think the potential is there. I think we look a very organized team defensively and I thought that during the game. Other than their goal and a dodgy corner we looked relatively structured. Seeing Arnie out there certainly helps us too - he oozes class, plus I didn't realize how much of a big fucker he is, won everything in the air which will be more important in the SPL. He'll score more than Taylor I predict, plus certainly make fewer mistakes.

 

Considine's lack of pace is a concern and even red tv commented that he relied a bit on Hayes helping him out. Yesterday showed that GMS will do the same thing.

 

Think we look much better in center midfield. Shinnie is outstanding, you'll see another post by me on him soon. I said before, and was criticized by some, that Jack was overrated and we're better without him. McLean is going unnoticed but he got the 'Hockey assists' (sorry!) on both goals in Bosnia and is doing a job.

 

Our tactics are to isolate 1v1 wide and GMS and Stewart are getting there. Both aren't fit enough yet but are improving and gaining confidence but we're not there attackwize yet. Stewart came too deep as the game went on because he was struggling to get up and down. He needs to be getting the ball in the attacking third and beating his man to shoot/assist. He was gassed so sat deep but this will come. We lost the ball too much 1v1 and there's little fluid passing with our attacking 4 - partly due to new players and understanding. However, a huge part of the is the link play of our forward and we're seeing little/none of that, my dig at the lack of a good center forward again.

 

Still, I love your optimism and I'm there too. Future is bright!!!

 

 

[SeeBass]

I think Maynard is maybe a bit 'starstruck' with the club he has joined.  Believe he'll come good given a proper chance.  Absolutely loved seeing Arnie back in said red jersey.  When are we going to execute this 'Viking Thunderclap' for him at set-piece opportunities???  Had £22 on Christie Anytime Goal (11/5) and got our money back for Rooney not playing with one losing a fiver on some 3-1 win. 

 

Having come up via a four hour taxi/train journey and being quite affected with our Mam passing away four years ago I now look on each game individually and can actually put things into perspective a lot better.  Very proud of my team last night and the word we used to describe one's display to a friend of mine was;

 

"Mature."

 

Don't think we're that far off from doing something special in Europe.  My favourite part of the evening actually happened to be the support Apollon Limassol got off their fans before during and after the ninety minutes.  Really put us to shame.  Spoke with another friend and in my opinion the thing which was most impressive about above spectacle was that if you didn't know the score you'd not really know if Apollon were winning 5-0 or losing 25-0!!  Best away European following I've seen. 

[OxfordDon]

Highlights of the match for us poor unfortunates that couldnae get to see it:

 

[A llad insane]

Pretty good performance last night, very good in parts.  The Cypriots were decent & we will have to be up for it, for the 2nd leg in searing heat, can see us scoring over there though.

    Great to see Pittodrie packed again.

Top dons for me, O'Connor,Shinnie, G.M.S & Christie.  Few things a bit concerning , AOC & M.R as a c.b pairing for me doesnt work & we will get found out  & we need a striker ,as i dont think Maynard looks like real deal.

 

Some of Christies touches last night were sublime, G.M.S & Stewart will both be good for us, when they get up to speed. So much to look forward to this season 

[rocket_scientist]

A team from... wait for it... Cyprus, hold us to 2-1?

 

And you loser cunts are seeing positives?

 

How fucking bad has Scottish football sunk?

 

AFC were meant to be the second best team in the country?

 

 

[RicoS321]

Fit's wrong with Cyprus like? Got a few decent teams in their league. Scottish fitba has been shite for years, we have no right to beat teams from Cyprus.

[rocket_scientist]

Fit's wrong with Cyprus like? Got a few decent teams in their league. Scottish fitba has been shite for years, we have no right to beat teams from Cyprus.

 

Nothing wrong with Cyprus. It's a country of less than a million people and a popular holiday destination.

 

I just thought the obvious might be obvious.

[LA-Don]

A team from... wait for it... Cyprus, hold us to 2-1?

 

And you loser cunts are seeing positives?

 

How fucking bad has Scottish football sunk?

 

AFC were meant to be the second best team in the country?

 

Scottish football is considered shite and we're a diddy league to most. Long gone are the days where we have the right to assume we're better than anyone. I don't think you can even look at the league they come from any more and judge because it comes down to the funding/bank roll of the club. Apollon are rated (I think I heard) 40 spots higher than us in the UEFA rankings. Your opinion is certainly one way to look at it but we beat a Cypriot team with only two Cypriot players. The other 9 of the starting 11 consisted of 2 Portuguese, 2 Brazilians, 2 Spaniards, and 1 French, Argentinian, and Croat. All come from countries much more highly regarded in football than us Scots. We didn't play our best by any means but it was a good result in my eyes and one to be happy with.

[SeeBass]

I think they're actually sixty one places above us.  Them 134th we're 195th.

[rocket_scientist]

Scottish football is considered shite and we're a diddy league to most. Long gone are the days where we have the right to assume we're better than anyone. I don't think you can even look at the league they come from any more and judge because it comes down to the funding/bank roll of the club. Apollon are rated (I think I heard) 40 spots higher than us in the UEFA rankings. Your opinion is certainly one way to look at it but we beat a Cypriot team with only two Cypriot players. The other 9 of the starting 11 consisted of 2 Portuguese, 2 Brazilians, 2 Spaniards, and 1 French, Argentinian, and Croat. All come from countries much more highly regarded in football than us Scots. We didn't play our best by any means but it was a good result in my eyes and one to be happy with.

 

You miss the point. The whole point.

 

Don't disregard history. It's not a bad place to learn from.

 

When Cyprus becomes the higher benchmark than Scotland, shit has gone down.

 

Meantime, some ignorant fuckers get excited about the shenanigans at Ibrox and fail to see what Stewart Milne is all about. You're a bunch of fucking idiots.

[LA-Don]

You miss the point. The whole point.

 

Don't disregard history. It's not a bad place to learn from.

 

When Cyprus becomes the higher benchmark than Scotland, shit has gone down.

 

Meantime, some ignorant fuckers get excited about the shenanigans at Ibrox and fail to see what Stewart Milne is all about. You're a bunch of fucking idiots.

 

I'm still missing the point I think, I don't get what you're saying. Perhaps I am a fucking idiot. My point is that the nationality of a team means little in this day and age. Cyprus isn't the bench mark, no clue what you're meaning there. They had 2 Cypriots, they're not, in a sense, a Cypriot team. Just like Arsenal for a while were English without a single Englishman in the lineup. Football is all about money and nationality of a club team means fuck all now. They were a team of Europeans and South Americans most likely earning more than us and ranked above us. Paper talk meant we weren't meant to win.

 

Scottish football is a joke, Milne nearly fucked our club out of existence, and it was a dramatic summer. Money rules football and most have more than us. But this summer were appeared to loosen the strings a little and performances give hope. We're still in Europe and yesterdays win gives many optimism. That's not a bad thing.

[Nips_and_Tatties]

A team from... wait for it... Cyprus, hold us to 2-1?

 

And you loser cunts are seeing positives?

 

How fucking bad has Scottish football sunk?

 

AFC were meant to be the second best team in the country?

 

Shut up ya miserable prick.

 

That Cypriot team has managed to get to the group stages so they're obviously not a team we should expect to beat.

 

Exciting times for AFC. No need for any gloom.

 

Great result and lots of positiveness for most of us.

 

 

By the way, Jamaica has a population of 2.8 mill. Care to comment on their size and how other nations far bigger should have faster athletes?

[rocket_scientist]

Deflection. How come naebody seen it?

 

McInnes is a spastic. He never seen it either.

[RicoS321]

You miss the point. The whole point.

 

Don't disregard history. It's not a bad place to learn from.

 

When Cyprus becomes the higher benchmark than Scotland, shit has gone down.

 

Meantime, some ignorant fuckers get excited about the shenanigans at Ibrox and fail to see what Stewart Milne is all about. You're a bunch of fucking idiots.

 

If you don't see the connection between the shenanigans at Ibrox and the demise of Scottish fitba, then that's because - as you admit - you haven't followed it. Don't disregard history, as you say. I'm with you on the Milne thing.

 

In terms of Cyprus, they've been ahead of us for years. This isn't something new. We've had years to get used to it, and so it's no longer the argument as we are we are today. It's no different to understanding that we can't pay higher than championship teams anymore. I accepted that years ago and adjusted my expectations then.

[rocket_scientist]

If you don't see the connection between the shenanigans at Ibrox and the demise of Scottish fitba, then that's because - as you admit - you haven't followed it. Don't disregard history, as you say. I'm with you on the Milne thing.

 

In terms of Cyprus, they've been ahead of us for years. This isn't something new. We've had years to get used to it, and so it's no longer the argument as we are we are today. It's no different to understanding that we can't pay higher than championship teams anymore. I accepted that years ago and adjusted my expectations then.

 

Fans accepting mediocrity and expecting nothing better is exactly what the exploiters want.

 

I should have said "exploited" rather than "fucking idiots".