wokinginashearerwonderland

Compared to a team like Wales, which I think we could all say their first eleven and ours are comparable, they get FAR more out of their players than us. Watching them in the Euros, Bale, Ramsay, James and Ward (because he used to play for us) apart, I had not heard of the other 7 in their team yet they still qualified from their group and gave a decent account of themselves. We were struggling to score a goal, never mind win a game. I would say that arguably, on paper, our team is better than theirs. Consistency of selection has also been a bugbear of mine for a while with the national team. Opposition national teams always seem to have numerous players with loads of caps and we don't. We are so sporadic in our selection and just seem to play whoever is flavour of the month and Clarke has done exactly the same in his time as manager. One minute we have Shankland up front, then we go with Brophy for a couple of games, then it's Burke then McBurnie, Fraser, Christie, Dykes, Adams, Nisbet. Same at centre back, McKenna looks like a first pick then he's out for Gallagher who looks like the number one centre half. Then he changes his mind and plays Bates, Considine, Cooper, now it's Hanley. Ridiculous. Choose a group of players, stick with them and give them a chance to build a bit of familiarity and confidence in each other.

I think the grass routes argument is nonsense Jute. I blame the coaches/management and cannot help but feel we should be getting more out of this group of players. That starting team the other night had 8 English Premiership players in it. Ok, they are not all playing at elite teams, some Norwich, Newcastle etc but still they are playing against good players each week so international fitba is certainly not a step up as such. But we were so outclassed in that first half it really could have ended 6-0, I was almost hiding behind the sofa after the second goal went in. Other international teams we play just seem to have so much more of a unity about them and you have almost got to scrape them off the pitch. That Israel team for example is so much better than the sum of their parts yet ours never seems to be. We never get a result against a team we would not expect to. We're just too easy to play against, we need some nasty players. I also reckon there is some truth in what Strachan said about out players being too small, even though he got laughed at for it. Seeing guys like Gilmour and Fraser the other night, they are just not physically imposing enough. We lose far too many goals from headers and score very few times from set pieces.

My point was not to do with the average age of our team compared to someone else, nor whether Glass has or has not played young players and also nothing to do with the last manager. Simply that it was strange to sign six players 30+. Brown aside, who is exceptional, these guys are journeymen.

We also started with five players of 30 and over and brought on two more and we were humped.

Longstaff would probably be our best midfield player but I don't see the point in loans unless it is an emergency which used to be the whole point of them for maybe when you were desperately short of a goalie for example. Seem to recall us taking Bobby Mimms and John Burridge back in the day. Otherwise, unless you have an option to buy at an agreed price, you are just developing someone else's player and the player has no loyalty to you when the chips are down. You are also in a state of constant replenishment every summer because you know at least four or five players are leaving. Other than Ryan Christie, which seemed to work out not bad we have gone through so many bad loanees that I would prefer us to just take a punt on someone from the Scottish Championship to see if we could unearth a gem.

What is going on with the transfer policy? Jet - 30 Ramirez - 30 Woods - 30 Watkins - 30 Brown - 36 Gallagher - 30 Is this a fitba team we are building or a retirement home? The basis of our relative success over the past few years has been that we got a nucleus of players who were in their early/mid twenties and who could stick around and play a couple of hundred games each to build a bit of consistency of selection and get a bit of a rapport going with the fans. I am thinking of Lewis, Considine, Logan, Shinnie, Rooney, Jack, McLean, McGinn, Hayes etc. These recent signings, plus the ones we have on loan, are going to be in the team no longer than a couple of seasons maximum and have no sell on potential either. Just a hunch but I can also see Ferguson moving on in the next few days after the European exit. Probably to Glasgow for about £1.8M.

After news of another couple of players being diagnosed with dementia this week, I wonder how long it will take for heading to be totally banned from the game. It has been suggested that the old heavy lace up footballs were the cause of a lot of it but even the new lighter balls must cause a lot of damage to the brain after years of training and matches. Seems odd that we could see a game with no heading whatsoever but it could potentially make for better entertainment if the ball was kept on the deck. Got to question how many more players will be diagnosed with these awful conditions before FIFA actually do something about it. This is much more serious than the tackle from behind ever was which is now outlawed.

13/4 for an away win. Worth a punt.

Joe Lewis was as much to blame for that second goal on Sunday, I think the commentators mentioned it as well. He should have done a lot better with the initial shot. He needs to cut out the stupid mistakes. Joe seems to have gone from Mr Dependable to a keeper quickly gaining the reputation of being capable of a howler. He got off with the one against Livi because we ultimately won the game but he is not the same keeper of a couple of years ago. He has not really been the same since McKenna left.

B team or no B team we should be capable of beating a team that finished third in last year's Championship. There were no young loons in that team. We only managed one shot on target. Realistically our only chance of silverware is in the domestic cups and yesterday, added to the Utd Scottish Cup exit last season is pretty poor stuff. We would have never lost those games under McInnes. Qarabag have been in the group stages of both the Europa and Champions League so will be a massive step up on Thursday night in the searing heat. There is the potential for a hiding in that game if the players do not give themselves a serious shake. Escape with a one goal defeat at the very worst and we will take them at Pittodrie next week.

We can’t win it though, that’s the reality. In an ideal world Forres Mechanics could win the Scottish Cup but their players and fans ideally want an away day at Ibrox rather than a home tie with Cove.

A few years of group stage football, Champions League, You been drinking?

You’re spot on of course but we’re fitba fans, not directors sitting around the boardroom. Since when did the club getting in a couple of million pounds become more important than getting a right good tie against a team from one of the top leagues? As a player as well surely an Andy Considine would far rather test himself twice against Bayern than getting half a dozen trips to Azerbaijan and Iceland.

No, that’s not what I mean Rico. The teams we are playing are a fair reflection of our level, they are certainly competitive and I am not saying we are too good to be playing these teams. There’s just no real glamour or excitement there which was what Europe always meant for me. It’s like we strive every season to qualify then once we do, the opposition is very uninspiring. I’d compare it to Scotland qualifying for a World Cup, getting excited about the draw and then getting grouped with New Zealand, Finland and Saudi Arabia. I guess it used to feel like your reward for a good league season was getting a crack at one of the big boys which seems to have gone. It was not that long ago St Johnstone played Monaco, Raith Rovers drew Bayern and Motherwell played Dortmund which at the time seemed like massive ties. I’d far rather be in Europe once in every five seasons if we could get one really cracking tie (like St Johnstone getting Galatasaray) than being there every year to draw some dross from a minor league.

Anyone else underwhelmed with the whole European journey? Growing up and just missing the glory days, I was never expecting to see the Dons win a European trophy but the lure of qualifying for Europe was the possibility of a glamour tie. We played the likes of Torino, Bayern and Atletico Madrid over the years and seeing some of the great players at Pittodrie was magic. Even the tie against Burnley was glamorous in a funny kind of way. Now I really start to wonder what is the point of qualifying in the first place in this Micky Mouse Conference League. So far we have negotiated some unknown Swedes followed by a similarly underwhelming draw against a team from Iceland. If we qualify for the group stages we’ll make a good bit of money but as a fan the balance sheet does not interest me, it’s the fitba I signed up for. Some talk the other night about the lower turnout being due to the ticket price but is that the case or like me, does a game against some Icelandic nobodies have little more appeal than a Scottish Cup tie away at Alloa?

He's still a poor man's Stephen Glass ?

The commentators are sugar coating this a bit much. I must be watching a different game because I reckon we have been pretty lucky. A lot of the time we can't seem to string more than two passes together.

Agree he is a decent player HaarDon but not sure what he has done to justify your valuation. I was more concerned about losing GMS when he left than I am at the prospect of Hedges going. I’d like to think it would make McLennan think he had a real opportunity to stand up and make himself counted because if he doesn’t screw the nut in the next 18 months he will find himself playing for Caley or Hamilton.

Great discussion with Steven Gunn, well worth a listen https://lnns.co/ilAdYn74F3v

The Rangers doing well tonight

Fucking hell SeaBass he will need a decent improvement on the 5 goals he managed last season

Fair comment. Like Shane Duffy and Roy and Robbie Keane before him, James McCarthy is only going there because of the Irish connection (even though he’s Scottish) not to further his career. Always rated him as a player and actually thought he would end up at Man Utd one day. Looked a fantastic young player but 30 now. Hart is just there to top up his pension.

Hopefully you are right but you've got to give him time, he's played one league game. I can remember folk saying exactly the same about Devlin and Gallagher (Jon) then slating them further down the line. You can't properly judge a player until he's played 25 games. I'll be interested to see Ramirez handles Livingston's plastic pitch on a Wednesday night in January.

Just too many things there this time that should never be Olympic sports. The Olympics for me should be the pinnacle for your sport so no need to have sports like golf or tennis in it. No way a gold medal at the Olympics can compare to winning the Masters or Wimbledon. Also the idea of an Olympic medal for BMX, skateboarding and three on three basketball is ridiculous. These sorts of sports being included devalues the famous gold medal achievements of the past. They might as well just include darts and e-gaming whilst they are at it.

Brown has played over 250 games in the last five years, probably more than most players in our squad have played in their entire careers. He’ll be fine. I’d be more concerned with guys like Hedges who seem to injure themselves getting off the bus.