wokinginashearerwonderland

Massive schoolboy error. Never buy a pre packed buttery

Across the board, I don't think there are many examples of players who make it back to their best after they slide down a level or two. Most players seem to lose interest once they have been discarded by the big clubs. England could almost field a team of them - guys like Dele Alli, Jayden Sancho, Ross Barkley, Calvin Phillips, Raheem Sterling and the rest.

Hard to know what to expect from this guy. I have read comparisons with Charlie Nic and Hans Gillhaus and would be great if he is anywhere near that level. If you look at the detail, he is 27 and been capped just 14 times by Sweden who are not blessed with a vast array of exciting wide players. He has played the equivalent of about 14 full games in the last two seasons. Certainly has an eye for a goal by the looks of things. Very strange that Bologna would splash out €11M for him then only play him 15 times . Been racking my brain to think of a player who we have signed that was once brilliant and we have rehabilitated back to life but struggling.

Thing is, if the Dons make a habit of having a few young lads in the team then parents will surely encourage their kids to pick us instead of other sides if they can see that the lads will get a genuine chance of breaking through. If a 16 year old goes down to Man City, his chances of breaking through there are like the odds of winning the lottery. City can basically have their pick of the world's best youngsters. We need to actually play these guys though, just sticking them in the first team squad because they are Scottish and signing a load of 24 year old foreigners in the hope of selling one for big money is not the answer.

This was leaked earlier by a member of the backroom staff. Apparently Clarke insisted on Ralston at right back until Naismith assured him that he was sent home injured. Plan is to keep it tight until the last seven minutes then bring on Adams for Dykes.

It’s just a bit frustrating watching us at times isn’t it? You feel like there are just too many times where we do not do ourselves justice and the team performance is not equal to the sum of the parts. We’re not world beaters but my god, we have such an inferiority complex when playing anybody remotely decent. We really should be aspiring to be at the same level as a Denmark, Sweden or Switzerland, surely that is not unrealistic? You watch a team like Wales and they always seem to give any opposition a real tough match despite having a team that on paper that ain’t that great at all. If we are starting a game with the likes of McGinn, McTominay, Robertson, Ferguson, Hickey, Tierney, Gilmour and Christie, why the hell should we feel inferior to what you might call a middle ranking kind of team? Yes, we have a handful of bang average players in there as well but not everyone playing for a Sweden or Denmark is a superstar. I just don’t think we believe in ourselves enough. Setting out with a mentality of “let’s not lose this” is just not very brave and even more so when our central defence and goalie are the weakest parts of the team.

I know it happens loads in the strange world of football but the whole home/away concept is totally bizarre and 100% psychological. I would love to have been in the dressing room to hear exactly how Clarke addressed the players last night. We play Denmark away from home and set out to not lose the game yet we think by playing at home, we are at some sort of advantage, and will play totally differently. The players, by and large will be the same, the surface, the climate and rules are the same, so why are we treating the games any differently? This is not like tennis where you might be better at Wimbledon than in Paris because one surface suits your game better than another. Or in golf where Augusta may suit your game better than a links. The only difference between Hampden and playing away is really that you have the majority of the support. We come off the park last night almost celebrating our point as if it is some kind of moral victory where in actual fact, we have not taken any points off Denmark, we are on both on one point and we have in fact lost ground on Greece. All is really does is put more pressure on the team to win the remainder of the matches. The ex-hun on the BBC last night kind of eluded to it when he asked Brown and McCann, are you happy seeing Scotland sitting in and parking the bus and you have to wonder. The Danes won't be playing the way we did last night when they go to Glasgow. It's almost like we handicap ourselves from the outset. We have the opportunity to win 3 points, 1 point or no points and before a ball is kicked we take the 3 point option out of the equation straight away. I always think in these qualifiers that to get through, you need to win a tough game that perhaps you were not expected to win. If we had been a wee bit braver and come off with a win last night, we would have struck a massive blow to the Danes qualification hopes. If we had been a little more positive but ended up losing the game, it would probably have meant going all out for the win at Hampden which is exactly how we still have to set up anyway so a point has made little difference.

Not bad Rico and lovely graphics too. I'd have Ferguson in for Christie, maybe Bowie in instead of Adams and my Granny in for Gunn but apart from that I'd go with the same. As long as we can stop getting Gunn involved we have a chance.

Pity that Boyd never got more game time. We're so slow to bring players through in this country....and I know you cannot put half a dozen in the team at the same time. The 20 minute bit parts I don't think help anybody. I would contrast what the Dons did with Boyd to what Motherwell did with Lennon Miller. Miller got 60 odd games (proper appearances) and Motherwell got both the benefit of him as a player in their team plus a far greater fee than AFC achieved with Boyd. We neither got a decent fee nor anything added to our team and now we will never know if the lad really had it or not. You would like to think that if he had played a proper run of games that he might have been more inclined to sign a longer deal and if not, would have been sold for more cash. Surely 10 experienced first team players can carry a youngster in the team for a wee while.

Holy fuck, we actually have some players born in this country. In all seriousness, this is a game changer and I think this has actually saved Thelin’s job because the way things were, it was a matter of time before he was heading for the exit door. Nisbet is the closest thing you’ll get to buying guaranteed goals. He’s sure to chalk up 40+ goals in the next three years which makes a huge difference. And yes, he is 33 but Armstrong is a fantastic footballer. Hope he is still up to it physically because a couple of seasons ago he would have been head and shoulders above anything else we had in our team.

Real, real shame that. Local boy, awfully highly rated and out of sight before he gets a proper run in our team. Just don’t agree at all with the strategy. Agree with the sentiment on Gueye, Morris, Rubezic and Jensen and they can go to France but you can’t be letting Boyd go yet. This is a massive mistake, just have a hunch this lad will go on to be a superstar.

Their next couple of games will be interesting. If things go badly they could theoretically be 10 points behind Hearts after 5 games.

Shitey competition, shitey teams.........our shitey foreign players......... Sorry but hard to get excited about our Scandinavian select having a tie against Zrinjski Mostar or Noah. It's got the feel of the Intertoto Cup, the tournament no one really wants to be in.

Not in England yet but Mourinho has left Fenerbache. New manager of Man Utd before September is out.

No, it is fans that misunderstand players Rico. A club is a way of life to a fan and some fans have an unreasonable expectation that it is the same for players. Football is just their job. There is no loyalty in the game. The guy was only at Pittodrie for five minutes, yet folk have some unrealistic fantasy that because of that he would never sign for our rivals.

Can't believe folk get so bothered about this. He's not our player any more, he was never a Dons fan, just an employee. His loyalty for us left as soon as he walked out the door as is the case with 99% of our players. Even the great McLeish joined the hunnery after 700 games in a red shirt, it is just a job for these guys trying to get the best opportunities and best money that is out there. The FAR more important point here, is this a permanent move and if so, what is our sell on clause?

Aye, sounds about right in the current climate. Probably why we only scored 48 league goals last season mind. I would revolutionise the whole strategy if I was involved in our coaching set up. I would sign goalies who are good at saving shots rather than good with their feet, holding midfielders that can tackle, wingers who actually cross the ball and strikers that are hungry for goals. It's cutting edge stuff like.

Realistically, never going to happen. We have just signed the guy and he is our main striker at the moment, why are they going to put him out on loan 5 minutes later? Lazetic's goal record is shite so I don't think we can 100% hang our hat on him being the answer. My cynical nature tells me we have only signed this guy because AC Milan paid a few quid for him therefore he "must" have something about him. If you look at his goal record, you are never paying €5M for the lad.

Hmm, well, depends how you interpret it, I guess. I mean, I would be willing to "build" the city a new leisure centre if the council will lend me £20M over 99 years. Would bring in a load of money to the local economy.

It is pie in the sky stuff really. Cormack is of course (as he should do) just fighting his corner but in one breath he dismisses the suggestion that he wants the council to foot the bill then says exactly the opposite by suggesting all the club would contribute is the land that Pittodrie current sits on. Never going to happen. Probably impossible to really ascertain how much money the club brings into the city. You would think that for every supporter who comes in for a game, goes for a couple of pints beforehand and spends a bit of money in the town there are probably another couple who drive in from the surrounding areas, buy a pie and a cola at the ground then disappear away again without setting foot in the city at all. The example he makes with Man Utd is just wrong because they have already stated down there that any new "Old Trafford" won't be funded by the tax payer.

This chart is the sort of thing that gives me the fear about modern day football. It was what people took the piss out of Ian Cathro for at Hearts. I mean, it's great that this lad had 92 shots in the box in the Swedish league but what the hell does that actually mean in terms of whether he is any good and can adapt to the Scottish game? You could probably look at the stats from our game last Monday and make the argument that it was a pretty even game but with the benefit of having actually watched it, there was only one team ever going to win that game. The stats don't tell you if the guy has any hunger, desire, fight, commitment to the cause, nastiness, basic character. He might be great against a low block, fantastic during the transitions and wonderful as an ACM but will he have any fight if we are 2-0 down at Fir Park or will he just be asking to be subbed off? I really hope we are actually watching these boys that we are signing rather than just looking at stats and a couple of youtube clips.

Have to say, this guy really intrigues me and I don't see him as a bluffer or con artist at all in the same way as Romanov etc. The Brighton thing sounds decent, they are a modest club and have managed some good finishes in the EPL (8th last year, 2024 11th, 2023 6th, 2022 9th). Part of me thinks, well the TV money is astronomical down there and with decent management and a well run club, it would be possible to achieve such things. Not like they have gone and won the title or anything but good work nonetheless. But.......then you look at the club he is involved with in Belgium, Union Saint-Gilloise. The average attendance is about 7,000 and he took over in 2018. If you look simply at their transfers in the last few years it is staggering (€61M in player sales this year, €25M last year, €40M the year before). I have heard a lot of people suggest that Scotland is different and that Rangers and Celtic are on a different scale to the clubs in Belgium but if you look at the kind of money Anderlecht, Gent and Club Brugge are spending on players it is very similar. Brugge in particular are bigger spenders than Celtic. Based on what I have read on Bloom, I can honestly see Hearts challenging maybe in 2 or 3 seasons.

Seem to recall there was a point not long post Bosman where everyone was just flooding their squad with anyone that was non Scottish. Almost like we are at that point again. It’s gonna be like spot the Scot shortly in the SPL.

Yay Was that taken just before he asked to be subbed out of training?

Ten million euros. They’re having a laugh, is that all? Worth at least treble that. ….Somebody made an arse of that sell on clause.