OrlandoDon

Don't really agree with the 'big laddies' comment. Celtic have good balance - you have Hartley, McGeady, Nakamura, Naylor, Brown, McDonald, and Wilson, not big guys, but you do have some size in Balde, McManus, VOHesselink etc. They can play on the deck and pump the long ball when needed. Rangers have Whittaker, Davis, Ferguson, Thomson, Novo, Adam, Darchville is thick and fast but not big gusy. Similar to Celtic as they do have big guys when needed. The difference is the mentality of the player. We have our big guys in Miller, Diamond, Considine, Byrne, Bus etc., and maybe you could add Lovell - they are just not the same presence or quality. And we have Duff and Mackie ;0)

I don't think the problem is height, weight, speed etc. The problem is attitude/mentality of players. We have no leadership, drive, no captain, motivational, inspirational players etc. When we play well our players look good but this is rare - far too often our players are inconsistent, timid, and disappear. We don't seem to have any real winners who fight for the cause. We have no players who always get stuck in and involved and most/all players have games when the game passes them by. Our form and inconsistency shows this. All our players thrive off others but everyone is looking to each other instead of taking the lead role. Russell was good at getting stuck in and being involved, Steve Tosh did this in midfield when he was here, but we've had very few leaders and mentally strong players for years. Since it is 25 yrs since 83 you look at that team - McLeish, Miller, Kennedy, Rougvie, Cooper, Simpson, Bell, and Strachan all played with passion and confidence, and got stuck in in every game - plus they had the skill and intelligence (some more than others) to know what to do with the ball. Rarely did you see a game that passed them by or they weren't involved. Mckimmie, Weir, McGhee, Black, and Hewitt thrived off this and gave us the added flair. Obviously leadership from Fergie played a major part too. When times are tough players need to stand up and show their mental strength - we have very few if any who do that.

It's not the size that counts but what you do with it? Or so I have been told. We certainly need a balance between height/weight/strength, but to me it is more the mentality of players getting stuck in. Yes you have a Drogba, but you also have a Martins and an Owen at Newcastle, Tevez, Kuyt, Schavchenko, etc. Plenty of good players who are not giants. Carvalho is not giant but a tough defender, Gary Neville and Patrice Evra are strong, Cannavaro was the best defender in the world at 5'9''. In midfield you have a Flamini, Gattuso, etc. Paul Hartley and Barry Robson are tough but no giants. Aberdeen's attendance is falling because of a lack of quality and entertainment. I don't see this increasing trend of long ball football. You need players who can play with bite, 11 Richie Byrne's won't succeed. Again, as I posted in another topic, we need a team of fighters and winners, it's not the size but the mentality and belief. Hopefully we are reading this article wrongly, but it doesn't seem to inspire. Height at corners, free kicks etc helps, but proper marking and defending helps more, and I've seen us lose a lot more goals this year to mistakes and poor play than due to a lack of height. JC cannot say anything in the media without most of us reading it in a negative manner - does he not see this? Silence is golden IMHO right now.

We've had this debate/argument before - maybe with the exception of Rangers and Celtic I would think most MLS teams would be competitive with the Scottish teams. They have some good players, average players, and some dross, just like the SPL, and you'll see good games and crap ones like we see in Scotland.

Agree, you have to discuss club and team - Club - poorly run. We continue to operate at a loss year after year if I am not correct. The debt is not being lowered. That is the bottom line, business is profit and loss. What makes football unique in business is that you see fans (i.e. Newcastle), millionaires (Chelsea, Fulham) etc. plough personal millions into the team. Most of the frustration from the fans comes from the fact that we have a very wealthy owner who is not willing to put in any sort of real investment when we all feel he is capable. I may be naive to think that even his business could 'loan' Aberdeen the money at a better rate than the bank. We pay a hell of a lot in interest alone. Team - poorly run. Quality of play is poor, performances are generally poor, tactics are baffling. We have no internationalists, very few (if any) special players, and don't seem to have any exciting youngsters coming through. When Fergie was boss he instilled a belief that we can compete and dominate the old firm, and we did. We now have a coach (and club) that in my opinion generally feels they cannot compete with the old firm. I still believe we can - it just takes quality leadership, a few good signings and a bit of ambition, but it doesn't take millions. Results against the old firm show we can compete, and the occasional good performances show what we can do with the right attitude, belief, and motivation. Until the club changes the mindset that we can be a force in Scottish football I feel we'll always be in decline. That to me is the cancer in the club. Money doesn't buy success, a quality business plan, coaching, and players can bring it and I do feel we are capable. We competed with Rangers and Celtic in the past due to excellent leadership and coaching - we were the cream of Europe, not because of the money we had, but due to smart business, great leadership, and quality coaching. We had good players (not great) who did their jobs very well and I don't see why we couldn't have that again. Competing with the likes of Real Madrid, Barca, Man Utd. etc is a bit too much to ask but I do feel we could be the best in Scotland again.

Only seen him play once, against Gretna at Christmas. He was the worst player on the park by far, incredibly slow and didn't once find a team mate with a pass. The groans went up whenever he got the ball and he was yanked at half time. He was reportedly carrying an injury, not sure if correct. However, maybe now, fully fit, he is actually a decent player and worth the risk of another year. Certainly take him over a complete unknown but who knows what JC is thinking.

I don't think we can use the Coopers and Hewitts as good examples of blooding youngsters relating to the team today. They had the strength and experience of Miller, Mcleish, Bobby Clark, Joey Harper, Bill Scanlon, Stewart Kennedy, Drew Jarvie, John McMaster etc - experienced pros who were GOOD players who took the pressure off the young lads. The problem today is that we have no good experienced players to take the pressure off - we throw in the youngsters and expect them to produce since they have shit around them. If we stuck a 19 yr old Eric Black or John Hewitt up front today I'd half expect they'd be booed off the park for being pish - the expectation, pressure, and lack of service and quality around them wouldn't help and it would be too difficult.

Anderson got loads of abuse at first - he was played at right back and was pish for a while, hence the verbals. I see Foster, Considine, and maybe even Maguire in the same light. Give them time and experience and they might be decent. However, Duff and Mair are different - they are total pish!

Don't recall Neil Simpson getting abuse. Isn't he a local lad. Wonder why - maybe because he actually had ability???

More to follow..... JC his assistant at Livi? You can always hope

I certainly hope Wilson is papertalk. Clearly JC and the club know the fans are unhappy and we need a lift. What do they expect if Wilson signs - yet another ex Dunf, a 1st division player who couldn't cut it in the SPL? Surely JC is more creative than that - the signings of Maybury and Walker were good, Maybury on a FT contract would be more inspiring. SURELY JC can find an experienced central defender who isn't an ex Dunf wallowing in the 1st division???

No joke, live in Orlando and one of the kids I coach tonight asked how my team lost to Queen Of Hearts at the weekend? Did my best not to tell him to f**k off.

My point of 'nothing to show' is in terms of the squad. We have no style of play, very poor quality product on the park, no good long term players, no settled squad, no team 'built' by Jimmy. I would expect more. No precontracts and 1/2 a team is leaving at the end of the season. Managers ask for time to implement a squad, a system, their players etc - that is my point of 'nothing to show.' We were worse off under Pele etc because we slashed wages etc when other teams were still paying money. Now it is a more level playing field and I feel this is where the ability (or lack of) of a manager/coach should show. Still, we could be Hearts.

Gow, Riordan......... Bus, Duff. Do we notice the difference between what we want and what we get? We missed out on a few players I would have taken - Lappin, Stephen Hughes, Paul Gallacher at Dunf. for example - I hope JC and WM have signings lined up as 1/2 a team are leaving in about 8 weeks.

"I dont think Calderwood should go anyway. If we are the same next year then some questions need to be asked" We have been pish this year and we are getting worse by the day. We've had very very few good performances and are clearly worse than last year. We got great draws in both domestic cups, lucked a win in the QF against the tic, and still couldn't reach a final for yet another year. QOS in f**king Europe instead of us! We scraped into top 6 - woopie f**king do! The Europe run - in which all the results went for us - hides the fact that were are pish. We have a clueless manager and a paper thin squad, many of which are leaving in the summer. Sorry, but where now - blame JC, WM, SM?? JC has had 4 years to build the foundations for a team/club and we have nothing to show for his 4 yrs.

Sorry, dont agree, JC is responsible. He is responsible for the product on the park. He prepares, trains, motivates.... it is his job to make sure the players are prepared for games like this. You can blame Milne and WM but JC still has the players/resources to beat QOS and most of the average teams we played this year. He just doesn't do his job well. Most of the players needing cut are players he has brought in - yes he cuts the squad, but who does he bring in? He doesn't inspire in the transfer 'freebie' market whereas there are other coaches who do better on mediocre budgets, Time up JC.

Quoting JC after the game - "For some strange reason Queens were better than us and defensively we were awful, as we have been all season." No wonder. Have we ever had a consistant back 4 all year. Changing the back, changing the keeper all season - what exactly do we do in training - it's April and we're still chopping and changing. No wonder we lose goals at an alarming rate. JC has had an entire season to fix the defense which he hasn't done and this has cost us all season. He's had more than enough time to train a 'post Anderson' defense. The fans have been outstanding yet again but we're let down yet again. Time for a change - everyone can see that. JC is clueless - 4 years into the job and we've no foundation to even build a team for next year. I certainly don't trust him to rebuild.

Sounds like another 'come and get me' plea. Basically he wants more money but doesn't have any decent offers - he wants to leave but we're the best offer so far, hence the contradiction.

Leighton or John 'Budgie' Burridge.

In a 16 team league with 2/3 for CL spot you should have 4/5 teams maybe competing for those spots, plus a 3rd/2nd botton play off with 2nd and 3rd from div 1 would give plenty of meaningful games. However, I do feel that 'meaningless' games allow teams to simply go out and relax and play - you can introduce younger players and give them an opportunity. With every game so important you don't usually get to blood youth appropriately and the games are full of fear factor that usually lack quality. The average Scottish fan wants instant entertainment, ball in the box etc and instant gratification - the 16 team league doesn't necessarily give that though.

I wouldn't exactly say clubs are being greedy. Most clubs are struggling to survive and, like ourselves, are servicing debt rather than rolling in money. A 16 team league, playing each other twice, would be 30 games in a season. Add the Scottish Cup and League Cup (maybe a home and away 2 game semi again??) plus Europe, international fixtures etc and that is more than enough. We may play a few less games but that may help the injuries heal, the pitch recover etc. However, again, less games means less money for clubs so clubs won't vote for that. Something has to change though as the product is not good. A revamped league, plus a 2/3 champ league play off, 2 up 2 down would create a lot more interest in my opinion (even in a 16 team league have third and second bottom and second and third from the 1st div. play a semi and a final for promotion like in England). Something needs to change.

I think most managers coach not to lose now for the sake of their job - gone are the days when managers get 3 or 4 years and if a team goes on a bad run then the manager loses his job. They coach not to lose because playing well and losing gets you sacked. Fans like exciting games but business is business and losing means lower league spot and less money. I would love a 16 team league and have said that for years but it will never happen. No team can afford to only play the old firm twice, too much revenue lost. The SPL can be pretty boring playing the same old teams 4 times, plus the same again in the cups. I'd love 2 play 3 for the 2nd CL spot, 2 up two down - make it more exciting.

How about Gazza - good for the dressing room and players nights out

You mean mutter 'who?'

Steven Thompson to replace Lee Miller? Paul Gallacher to replace Soutar? Definitely sign Maybury to replace Hart. Whatever happened to Burton O'Brien? A replacement for Nicholson?