DantheDon

Are any of these young guys actually getting anywhere down south? I’m sure the Academies are great down there but it seems like the chance of actually progressing into the first team is little to none?

Might make the squad but sounds like it’s going to be too early for him to have much impact by Thelins comments. From BBC: "We've been monitoring Marko for a while and are very pleased to have secured his signature," "He has a fantastic pedigree and despite his young age has played at high level in different leagues across Europe. "We will have to be realistic in our expectations with Marko as it will take him a bit of time to get up to match sharpness and integrate into our way of working. "His pre-season has been a little frustrating due to the uncertainty surrounding his future, but he's shown great patience and now he's finally arrived we're delighted to get down to the hard work with him to get him up to speed. "We believe he will be an excellent addition to our squad. He has an imposing physical presence; good technical ability and he will provide versatility and competition for places ahead of a busy season. "We believe we can unlock some of the undoubted raw materials that he has to make him a potent threat for Aberdeen."

I think it would have been interesting to see how he did with Knoester alongside him. But we have too many center backs now so someone’s got to move on, good luck to him.

I don’t think that was too unexpected. We weren’t quite ready for that match in terms of match sharpness or up front. We definitely need to get a number 9 signed ASAP. Think that was clearly illustrated when we sent Boyd up front. Hearts are what I would expect under McInnes. I think they will do well enough this season but I don’t see them splitting the old firm. I think we have signed some decent players. Milanovic looks handy, and I think there could be a player in the French lad once he settles in. Yengi was pretty unconvincing and I don’t think he’s a number 9.

I think you are correct it could be the 16th or 17th and kick off hasn’t been confirmed.

League cup last 16 tie against Morton on the 16th of August down there.

I do worry a little that Thelin is the man who still has a bit to prove in terms of getting his system working, and doing the job on a regular basis. Scottish Cup win papered over the fact that in the final 27 games of last season we managed to amass just over 20 points. Hibs seem to have turned a corner from last seasons start and although I’m not expecting them to be consistently as good as they were towards the end of last season I think they could still have a better season than us. Hearts are likely going to do pretty well in the league this season. McInnes will manage to get them grinding out results and with no European football to contend with I expect them to get a jump on us and possibly Hibs if they qualify. My worry for next Monday night is that McInnes won’t overcomplicate things whereas I expect Thelin to stick to his system. Seeing as we don’t seem to have mastered it yet it could be a difficult game for us and a bit too early.

Looking at this list I would assume Jensen and Rubezic would be offloaded. I believe Tobers is can also play in midfield so perhaps we have plans for him there, or maybe it’s just because he’s injured again.

Do we really want to sell him? I would be trying to get him to sign a new deal. Youngish player on an upward trajectory. If he doesn’t want to sign fair enough he’s got his price. Just don’t understand why so many have such a low opinion of him after he had a fairly decent season.

I think Duncan is safe to stay for this season. He’s a home grown player so helps our European quota, whether he is good enough to get a new deal I’m not sure but he has this season to try and prove it. The rest I agree we need to move on. A number 9 would be great but hard to find. I’m assuming a good bit of our business is going to be done late in the window now.

From what I remember Cosgrove had good enough positioning. To our detriment the team was set up around providing him service which wasn’t great. With his physical attributes he was difficult enough to handle and managed a decent return but was a bit of a poacher really. It was a failure of our scouting system that ultimately ended McInnes tenure. Why I still regard him as a good coach, Cosgrove is probably the best example of him getting the maximum from a player with limited ability.

Appears to be more of an attacking midfielder rather than a striker. So while it would be nice for him to chip in with some goals not a massive concern. He’s only 22 so has played a decent amount of games at Ligue 1 and championship level.

BBC have pulled this quote from the interview with Dave Cormack on Red TV: "There's a lot of competition for the same players, particularly young players in Scotland.“ A hint that we are looking at players in Scotland and not just foreign recruits.

Armstrong was a decent player, but it feels like he’s been on the move every window recently which might suggest he’s not the player he once was. With the position he plays, his age and likely high wage demands not sure it would be a good move for us. Only one I would have been tempted by is Angus Gunn but we are well covered in the goalkeeping department.

That’s a fair point and something I was taking for granted was that Besuijen would be moved on. Besuijens main issue is his lack of pace, he’s never looked a bad player but he wouldn’t be able to beat a man playing as a winger. He’s done ok in the number 10 position before though.

Let’s get him signed up, if only to screw over the Jambos. Seriously though there might still be space in the squad for a versatile attacking midfielder/winger. We’re going to be playing a lot of games while in Europe. It’s maybe the balance between having enough players and allowing our own younger guys the space to break through.

I think it depends how his career goes in the next year or two. Another season like the one he just had for Girona and he won’t exactly be in demand. Hopefully he can kick on and show what he can do, was hopeful when he left he could cut it in La Liga. It’s a good advertisement for the game here if he does well and he can return here for a few seasons once he’s won the champions league with Real or Barca.

Interesting. Seems he was really influential in getting Portsmouth promoted from league 1, but this season was hampered by injury and hes now been released on a free. According to Wiki he was number 10 for Portsmouth, which is probably a good thing as it doesnt look like he has ever been particulariliy prolific in front of goal. Certainly could be worth a punt on a free transfer.

Only argument that we could be made for bringing dorrington back is if you moved Tobers into midfield. Believe he has played that role previously. Then you could move Shinnie to left back where we are lacking. However not sure that is optimum and I think from what I’m reading we would be looking at another loan for Dorrington. That means we are developing him for Tottenham, you occasionally get the chance to sign these guys permanently ala Clarkson but more often they go elsewhere.

I would assume this is more to do with compensation than ambition. Which I guess I can’t blame him for. He’s 25 now and he will no doubt be on a good bit of money there. I think he’s a decent player but not likely to get a big money move if he signs on. No hard feelings for me, just glad he never went near the old firm.

Sorry if it comes across a bit negative but a proven striker in one of those leagues is going for millions, not hundreds of thousands. And then you still can’t be sure they will be able to adapt to the more physical nature of the spfl. I think while the idea of us doing this is exciting, I don’t think we would be in a position to do so until we have established ourselves consistently as getting into the group stages of European football (if that ever happens). The only way I think we might be tempted to spend that kind of money is to bring Miovski back. Considering that even then I can’t see us spending more than a couple of million, I think it’s unlikely to happen. You would need Girona to be desperate to unload him and as much as he has an affection for Aberdeen you would imagine he would be reluctant to have his wages slashed significantly.

He's probably a situation now where his confidence is rock-bottom with all these loans that haven’t worked out. But he’s only 21, his ability doesn’t just disappear and from what I remember reading his attitude is spot on. Coming back to a familiar place with his family/friends around him might be what he needs to get back on track. I think we are going to need to rotate our squad with European football till Xmas and with Jensen seen as a versatile option I would say if the opportunity to bring him back arises we should take it. Edit: Also if McInnes had remained in charge I don’t think Ramsay or Jack MacKenzie would have made the first team. He would have rotted in the reserves for years before being released to a championship club.

How’s Calvin Ramsays situation now? Injury has really hurt his development and his chances at Liverpool but I would imagine they may be willing to let him go on the relative cheap now. I know it’s not a priority position as it’s well covered but presumably he would count as a homegrown player in terms of the quota and he’s still a young guy who could develop into a great SPL player.

It will interesting to see if we have any Scottish players on the radar. It’s not ideal if we hold off sending young guys out on loan to meet a quota, but it will be interesting to see who of the youngsters who have been on loan are ready to make an impact at first team level. Ryan Duncan is the one who I would expect to come back into the first team squad and be expected to make an impact next season or be moved on. I think the quota situation necessitates us moving foreign players who aren’t making an impact on, Vinnie, Ambrose etc. However I would be a bit reluctant to let guys like Clarkson, Morris and Polvara go unless we are offered silly money. There is no guarantee that we will get anyone who is better than these guys in, so I think it’s a bit of a Ramadani Situation where we potentially weaken ourselves letting them go. I’d be trying to get them signed on longer deals now off the back of winning the cup.

Was always hopeful with the Mackenzie transfer talk going quiet and no announcement that he is off he might stay with us. But I doubt that getting a chair to the face is going to go anyway towards convincing him to stick around.