Dunty

Watched a few old Rangers v Aberdeen highlights from Hampden on YouTube. That fairly fired me up for Sunday.

What was noticeable is that the ticket split on Sunday is no-where near as bad as it used to be. The 1988 LC final for example, in a crowd of 72,000, Rangers seem to have 60,000 of it, going right round to half of the east terracing. Though a year later for the Mason final we appear to have brought a lot more down for that.

A small part of me glad we're outnumbered on Sunday. Siege mentality and all that. Bring them on, have no fear whatsoever, reckon we'll burst Gerrard's bubble.

The officials for our game on Sunday:

 

Referee: John Beaton

AR1: Douglas "Red Hand of Ulster" Ross

AR2: Dougie Potter

Fourth Official: Steven McLean

 

Four Sevco fans on offical duty at Hampden.

 

Any tackles in the box will result as a penalty for the huns.

 

Any 50/50 tackles on the pitch will result in a free kick for the huns.

 

Almost guaranteed an Aberdeen player will be sent off.

 

Apart from that we should be okay.

 

Ps.....Lets hope that there are no serious injuries for any Sevco players from their game against Spartak Moscow tonight which keeps them out of the semi-final.

You see, this is just paranoid shite, the sort of thing we used to laugh at Celtic fans for.

John Beaton has only ever refereed two Aberdeen/Rangers games before - one at Pittodrie, one at Ibrox - and Aberdeen won them both.

This "Rangers always get penalties against us, we'll definitely get red cards". We've both had one penalty each in the last two Dons/Rangers game. Rangers have also had two players sent off against us in the last three Dons/Rangers games at Pitttodrie.

I said he was paid 3/4 a million and two posters as good as said I was lying.

 

Now you butt in with a different angle. I never said I was reluctant to reveal my sources but in this debate, two posters have disputed that he was paid that. Manc said he couldn't imagine it but unlike the two, he didn't know. I think it's fair that we deal with the hostility first. At least others have discussed whether or not he's worth it. Two have flatly denied he was paid it. I want to know why they are so sure and why they tried to derail the debate?

You are barking mad, which is a good reason not to believe you. But, I never said you were lying or even suggested you were lying, so by saying I called you a liar, you have essentially just lied. Maybe your sources are wrong, for example.

Secondly, I did offer an opinion on whether McInnes was worth 750k. You said I didn't. So you were wrong again.

It's hard to believe you when you're wrong so often. Poor.

I never said he was on a salary of £750k p.a. I'm telling you that that is how much he got paid in total last year.

 

How much AFC plc paid him in salary, bonuses and additional payments is a matter of fact, not opinion.

 

And since when does an opinion, even if vociferously held become an "agenda"?

 

People who try to discredit dissent have an agenda. That's a matter of fact also.

 

Please enlighten us to our manager's strengths? And please don't compare him to previous incumbents when doing so.

Where can we find these facts? Where is the proof? Why should we believe you - have you been right about anything else on here?

I wouldn't believe RS on anything related to McInnes - he has an obvious agenda and I've yet to see any clear facts to back up his claims.

However, even if McInnes is on 750k a year, the prize money from finishing second last year, the cup semi-final last season - not to mention this season's, and money made from the Europa League in summer likely all add up to more than 750k, meaning he has brought in the money to pay for his salary.

What pubs are everyone heading to? I want to watch the Hearts/Celtic game but fancy a pre-match bounce too.

I have no desire to do any research on how many tickets we have already sold or how many we will sell. On here and on the hat the consensus view is we have sold around 12-13k. But on Abmad there's a guy who has posted that we've already sold 15k and backs it up with some facts and figures....whether these are genuine I've no idea but FWIW i think we will get fairly close to selling out our allocation....within 1500 or so....especially if we have a good result against Fartz at the weekend.

We've sold under 10,000 according to the ticket office.

Hearts have sold 5,000 tickets for their semi within the first hour of sales.

Good to see a support actually up for their semi-final.

Stephen Craigan (why do BT still use him) called the decision "inventive and innovative". Don't think he knows the meaning of the words.

There has to be some sort of protest.

Would start both Anderson and Cosgrove. Cosgrove is not a goal scorer, needs someone playing off him.

Lewis

Logan Devlin McKenna Lowe

McGinn Gleeson Shinnie GMS

Anderson Cosgrove

Or, alternatively, Ferguson playing off Cosgrove.

hibs signed lb that has been capped by netherlands...wonder where the dna money is...or maybe mcinnes has his eye on an injury prone shiter from down south

The majority of people are paying in monthly instalments. So the answer to your question is 75% of the DNA money hasn't arrived yet, and the 25% that has, minis the costs in setting it up, freebies to members etc, means there's probably about £50,000-80,000 to spend. What sort of player are you expecting for that?

On the subject of the new Roma stadium, the pathos and irony couldn't be more pronounced.

 

Rome is one of my favourite cities in Europe, an architectural masterpiece. The original "stadium for the people" was such a monumental design that it still makes shedloads of cash, many centuries after it was last used. I'm pretty sure that the new one won't outlive one century, concrete, steel and glass not having the properties to endure millennia.

 

Sharing the Olympic Stadium with Lazio was always a temporary accommodation. There is always going to be a need for new stadia as old ones outlive their usefulness and economic, cultural and city-planning requirements change. But isn't it sad that they're only planning for 52,500 seats? And the shopping district attached? This agenda of exclusivity - they're even planning a fanzone outside for the plebs who can't afford it (a demand that won't happen) - and of retail is what developers do, seeking to maximise and squeeze every dollar. But it misses the point and the history of football which was always about the people and the community.

 

Arsenal is a great precedent. The "working man" can't afford the season tickets. In the Platinum Club where we were, it was £6,500 per seat, complete with bevvy at HT (all you could drink, I managed 3 pints) and shit food. The demographic changed overnight with the move to the Emirates. We were surrounded by City types wearing suits and ties (many with pink hues in their shirts and/or ties) that knew fuck all about fitba. These cunts enjoyed their only outlets in their lives to shout and scream but it was embarrassing what came out of their ignorant mouths. They aren't the lifeblood of football. They are unsustainable. They'll get bored of not being the best. They'll not stick with their team through thick and thin.

 

AS Roma are similarly going for the rich buck. They might fill 52,500 for the first 10-15 years but where will they be in 20-25 years time when the steel isn't shiny and their "mall" looks tired? Football has been lost to the moneymen. They never understood the people, the game nor the soul. Stewrat Milne however, he's our saviour.

All of that has little to do with having a new stadium though. If Roma wish to price their fans out of going they could do it now, they don't need a new stadium to do it. They've a 14,000 capacity stand specifically for the ultras so not sure where you get all that from anyway.

As for the capacity - Juventus are the biggest club in Italy with a smaller capacity than that, so don't agree 52,000 is too small.

"AFC, buzzing Monday to Sunday". Come on min, that's manufactured pish. It isn't Aberdeen's home and it won't be if those are the plans. That's not sustainable in the slightest, nobody has any reason to go to the middle of nowhere in their car for a coffee and memorial garden in memory of something that existed somewhere else. If that was viable, they'd have had a dons coffee shop and museum where the broadhill is 15 years ago. They'll add a coffee shop when building the stadium because it's easy to do but it's not going to be raking it in due to lack of footfall. The reason St Johnstone, and Pittodrie, have just a shop and ticket office is because that's what people go to those places to use during the midweek (less and less so with online purchasing).

Pittodrie, in match days, is concrete, seats and a club shop. So you're right, people don't visit it for any other reason than to buy tickets or something from the club shop.

I'm not saying people from all over the city will be travelling to Kingsford Monday-Friday. But I'm saying there will be people there every day using various services - AFCCT, the community pitches, the bar, etc. People will go and watch Aberdeen train. There will be people visiting the museum.

I don't buy all this soulless stuff. Souless means lacking character and individuality. Kingsford won't be that because it'll be more than just concrete and seats.

Hmmm, I'm not sure whether you're joking or not? That will be nothing like AFC's proposal; the exact opposite. Throwing in the "£50m" as if we should ultimately bow to the mention of money. The amount of money is completely irrelevant (also, it's fuck all), it's being used to purchase/build an asset for AFC, nothing else. The council do not owe AFC anything. If they've built the ground in a place that's unsuitable for surrounding development and that doesn't tie in with future development of the city then it's entirely AFC's fault. They didn't involve the council, they acted independently and they put it in a shite location as they're entitled to do. The council's "vision" shouldn't incorporate AFC's lack of vision. They've built in green belt fucking land, at the opposite side of the city bypass (the clue is in the fucking name) from the actual city itself. Do you genuinely believe that there will be further useful development between Westhill and the AWPR that will positively affect the stadium? Do you think AFC think that? I understand your enthusiasm, but I genuinely think it's misplaced. I hope you're right and I'm wrong, but it doesn't exactly fill me with confidence. The stadium, coffee shop etc is it. That's the development.

That's just incorrect. You say they didn't involve the council - they did. The council suggested Loirston, then built a school there. They said Kings Links then said they couldn't do anything about the land still being on a lease. They accepted when making the Kingsford decision the club had no-where else to go.

That's besides the point anyway. They've given planning permission, there's a £50m project now going ahead, next to a Prime Four development wishing to expand. Both of which are bringing money into the city and creating jobs. A council with any sort of vision would be sitting down and saying "Okay, how do we maximise this", which is exactly what the city of Rome is doing.

In your opinion, my use of the word "soulless" is invalid.

 

I agree that Arsenal fans in the new stadium are "shite".

 

You're obviously trying to agree that there is an atmosphere problem.

 

So how would you try to articulate it?

 

Don't you agree that they were NOT "shite" at Highbury?

 

Wasn't it a brilliant atmosphere there, not just on the North bank but the whole stadium?

What, on your opinion, made Highbury capable of creating such a great atmosphere that they can't seem to do in the Emirates?

I also said it was a very good stadium. "Spectacular amphitheatre" were my words.

 

For what it's worth? You mean, like people have opinions, and some of them are different from other opinions? Yes I knew that. The article knew that too, which is why it acknowledged that the architect's blowing of his own trumpet was countered by others who do NOT like it.

 

Even if a majority think it's brilliant, that doesn't mean that we can't discuss the exact theme that the article was talking about. What did I misread? That you, the architect and a bunch of people like the stadium? I like it too but IN MY OPINION it is 1. soulless (but efficient) and 2. not nearly as good as Highbury was.

There's nothing soulless about it. Just Arsenal fans are shite.

The stadium itself is absolutely fine.

I could ask you why you thought I'd misread the article but that would be cruel, as you would just dig yourself deeper.

 

The architect who built the Emirates waxed lyrical about his own work but the article itself noted that it has its detractors, putting forward a pathetic argument that the football itself was a reason for dissatisfaction.

 

Have you been to the Emirates? I have and it's soulless. A spectacular amphitheatre for sure and convenient for accessing with its total concourse but it's impossible to generate any decent atmosphere within it.

 

Had you been to Highbury? I did, twice and it was superb. I can't remember the reasons they felt they had to move - probably financial - and I'm not therefore in a position to comment on how necessary or otherwise the relocation was. All I do know is that their new home has lost something compared to the old one so I'm not inclined to agree with the architect and his self-aggrandisement.

 

It's best to experience something for yourself rather than taking the word of a vested interest and failing to note the acknowledgment that there were counterviews. When you're on solid ground like that, only then can you imply that a fellow Dons fan is a fucking retard who can't read nor think properly.

Yes I've been to the emirates. Toilets too small but apart from that a very good stadium.

Fans of other clubs voted it the best stadium in England recently and their favourite away day, for what it's worth.

A decent read, cheers Dunty.

 

I'm not sure where Aberdeen's stadium fits in to it in a positive way? Whilst it's not entirely relevant to Scottish fitba given the disparity in funds it certainly gives food for thought. Dunty, you are for the new stadium, when you read this does it not make you concerned about the move? If we go on the examples in the article it's very clear that we are ripping the heart out of the club by moving out of the city (I didn't need an article to tell me that). That leaves a few options:

 

The first is that we re-create that heart by creating something phenomenal - a really good design that alleviates all the other problems because the design in itself is the heart and the attraction. Does anyone seriously believe that's what will be done, or believe that's possible?

 

The second is that the cooncil come up with a new city plan. We extend the city out and put the stadium at the heart of it in terms of access and visibility. We bring the city to the stadium as such. Folk will say that's bound to happen anyway, and it possibly will, but it needs to be deliberate and it needs to be integrated and planned. Not some Killie ground surrounded by housing estates (which is what will happen), but surrounded by community and other stuff that attracts people toward it. We've gone out on a whim with no support and no integration. We've treated the club like an individual rather than part of something bigger and I think that we still have time to address that.

 

The third option is to completely re-define the club. Change it's identity completely. Perhaps not as full on as a name change, but certainly a change of focus. Creating the idea of an Aberdeenshire FC (again, don't call it that if you don't want) would be more apt in the proposed location. That's what this new stadium caters to, so lets not pretend it doesn't and actively pursue that goal if that's what we're doing as part of our strategy (is there a strategy?). Westhill isn't in the city, so lets stop fannying about pretending it is and pretending that in some way this club and location is representative of the city. A new start with a new identity is what we're proposing, solet's not lie about it and embrace it. If that means a clean cut off for existing fans then so be it.

 

I don't think people are really thinking about this move at all. Certainly not beyond the first decade of its existence. Saying that "we need to do something" doesn't cut it anymore, it's simply not true nor does it help.

The article wasn't really against new stadiums, just that it should have some character that makes it feel like home. They were saying the Emirates has it (rocket seems to have mid-read the article) but West Ham clearly doesn't, and neither does Wembley.

I do support the new stadium. Not blindly, I want one that's good and that we're proud to call our home, not just a pitch and four stands.

A lot of people say it'll be another McDiarmid Park. The thing is, turn up at St Johnstone at 2pm on a Tuesday, and there's nothing except concrete and some seats. Maybe a small ticket office and a club shop. That's not what Aberdeen's vision is. They want the whole club on this one campus, almost a community. So you turn up at 2pm on a Tuesday and the first team are training, there's events on at the AFCCT, kids are training on the community pitches, you've got the car, cafe, museum and memorial garden. It's Aberdeen's home, and it's buzzing Monday to Sunday with the focal point the match day.

I'd like to see them go further, which is what you've alluded to in your post. If you look at Roma's stadium plans, they're actually building shops, restaurants, music venues, basically a "Roma village" - I'll post the video below. Would be good if Aberdeen could link up the council and either prime four or other developers wanting to build near the stadium, and like you say rather than just build houses and offices build something that actually makes that area a bit more interesting and gives it a bit of character. It shouldn't be all the club's job though - this is where the council should be showing a bit of vision and thinking "okay, how do we reap the benefits of this £50m private investment?"

Roma stadium:

Maybe worth a thread of its own but it is relative to some of the recent discussion here.

 

https://www.givemesport.com/1372426-its-the-end-of-football-as-we-know-it-just-ask-celtic-and-arsenal?amp&__twitter_impression=true

 

The link between "traditional" fans and clubs is going (gone?) and I doubt very much whether it'll ever come back.

If that's written by the same Roger Mitchell that launched the SPL, then he's got some nerve.

Bit long-winded, but decent article about new stadiums.

http://mundialmag.com/2018/08/14/stadium-architecture-wembley-millenium-spurs-new-stadium-2018/

I'd say LA meant a foreigner with no SPL / SPFL experience. We sign very few.

You sure? His post was about Mulumbu.

It appears Mulumbu is still without a club. Makes me wonder if we ever considered or spoke to him given we don’t sign foreigners.

Tomas Cerny is a foreigner.

When he scored a hat trick months ago, you didn't think he was "ready for the first team". What aspects of his game weren't up to scratch?

 

And if he's still not ready, what have Cosgrove and May offered AFC this season that is superior?

 

Only an idiot fails to recognise that a quality footballer can have a bad game. Strachan had many of them.

I didn't say I watched him every week, I said I watched him on occasion. It's U20 level, it's a big step up to the Premiership.

Like I said, he's done well in his two appearances so far, I'd like to see him get some more game time v St Mirren, but let's not go pinning all our hopes on him just yet.

He's out of contract next summer, so an outside chance that if he has a good season we'll sign him up permanently.

On 30k a week just now though (Man U picking up the majority of that during the loan) so I wouldn't go getting Wilson on my shirt just yet.

Bruce Anderson is the only natural striker in the squad.

 

Ony cunt who kens onythin aboot fitba can see this from 2 x subs appearances only.

 

So what the fuck is that beardie cunt looking at week in week out that he doesn't start him?

 

Fucking wank.

He's done well in his two games, however having watched him a few times for the U20s last season I didn't think he was ready for the first team.

It'll take one poor game for everyone to turn on him and decide he's shite.

Man U striker James Wilson joining Aberdeen on loan according to Mail. Others saying he's already in Aberdeen having a medical.