ntbear

8 pts 

Is that really true though?

 

Much like Kelt, I have been hearing such reports for a long time now, the main stand must have went through a couple of "only 5 years left" scenarios.

 

The Main Stand kept failing it's safety certificate some 10 years ago. There have been many "arrangements" made for it's continued use until a long term solution is found.

Your quote about Dion Dublin being signed by Alex Ferguson, ergo he must be ace... Was Kleberson a better player than Paul Mason? 

 

Dublin was a good player, no doubt about that.  I was merely suggesting that Charlie Nicholas (a player with ten times the ability than Dublin, a guy people would "pay to watch" as the saying goes) and Hans Gillhaus (a European Champion, Dutch internationalist at the time of Gullitt, van Basten et al) were better players.  Why you have to get so high and mighty about it is fucking beyond me.

I did delete an earlier post in which I stuck up for Dion "the donkey" Dublin - as he was called for many years - because I couldn't be bothered having yet another argument with boabybiscuit, but as we are all stating our opinions...

Dion Dublin was a great player, he is thought of highly by many respected pros in the game, and only lost out at Utd because he broke his leg and fergie signed Cantona as his replacement. I can't argue that he was as good as Cantona, but he was way better than he gets credit for.

Yes, you can trot out the "Fergie doesn't always get it right" shite, but come on, the best manager in modern football thinks highly of the guy, so do a lot of the players he played along side (including Jess).

To me, the opinion of many ex-pros and managers rates far far higher than that of a keyboard warrior on dons talk.

That is all.

less games fits with the much talked about winter break

I have noticed that the fans who suggest teams merging are the ones who know there is no chance of it happening to their team. Would the fans on here suggesting it still be doing that if one of the suggested mergers was with Dons and Arabs.

 

Even the merger of the two Inverness teams lost fans to the game with the vast majority of the Inverness Thistle fans having nothing to do with the new club and also a fair number of Caley fans. Anyone looking for evidence of this should look at the Caledonian FC thread on Pie and Bovril.

Well, the idea of merging sides would be done geographically, so the only real mergers AFC could get are cove and inverurie.

It would be better to merge the likes of the dundee teams than have them go under, but I agree there would be a lot of resistance.

As for the ICT argument, I simply don't believe they are getting lower crowds now as to when they were two separate sides.

Firstly i'd abolish the saturday 3-5 tv blackout and sell it to the highest bidder.  I think this would make up for any loses made from only hosting the OF once a season when i extend the league to 18 teams.

Agreed - but it's a UEFA/FIFA thing.

Secondly i like the idea of Kelt's East/West coast conferences except, i'd still have one league just the east play each other 3 times and the west teams play each other 3 times and the crossover of east/west teams play each other twice.  Similar to the NBA set up.  So games within conference set up = 24 plus cross conference games 18 = 42 league games.  The aggregate scoreline between the teams of the 1st 2 games decides who gets the home game.  

Dunno, need to think on that one a wee bit

Thirdly remove the league cup - it's pish and worthless (even if it's a good day out!).  Play league games in it's place - so those not involved in europe are also playing midweek and schedule them properly i.e. not have aberdeen v killie midweek but play the arabs etc.

Go for a cup competition with teams from wales / ireland / lower english leagues instead - much more attractive for tv

Fourthly insist on better coverage.  The current tv coverage is rank rotten and is only harming the game.

This is my point - no one wants to cover the thing on their tv stations - the SPL should setup it's own - or let clubs handle their own tv rights.

Finally, ban all youth football from taking place at the same time as the Local game.  I.e. if aberdeen play at 3 on sat no youth football can take place at the same time.  Games must finish at 2 or be played on sunday.

Agreed

Real fans support F.C. United of Manchester.

 

How does the split make us a laughing stock? Made the league a lot more competitive and something to fight for for the likes of Falkirk, Inverness, Motherwell, Killie etc.

1. They maybe do - but a lot of fans went back - and some support both to save "face"

2. It does make us a laughing stock - no-one in their right minds thinks it's a good idea - it's a rugby league / american football "post season" idea right royally fucked up. Not having equal numbers of home away games, playing some sides only twice - utter bollocks and you know it.

Without TV revenue, how will modern wages be paid?  If we had no TV money, we'd be even further behind the top teams in Europe.

AFC were so far behind we qualified for the knockout phase of the UEFA last year - oh and had to pay a tv station to show our games.....

The idea that a bigger league with teams 'having nothing to play for' will bring a better product may be a little counter intuitive but I think it is the only sensible way forward.

 

I get the argument about less home games but surely we have moved beyond the old debate that all other clubs are so dependant on the revenue of the OF visits that they will never allow change to occur ? With live TV dominating most teams home games with the OF these days the crowds are dwindling, is this revenue really make or break for SPL clubs ? There has to be a breaking point where clubs realise that by hanging onto these relics of past discussion they are strangling the game by restricting its ability to adapt to a different environment ?

 

I would think there is almost consensus now for an expanded league set up. Personally I would not only support an expanded top league but I'd be tempted by a two league set up with 16-18 in each and the other clubs could consolidate. I mean some of the areas that are represented in the football league is ridiculous. Dunfermline & Cowdenbeath ? I mean for fuck sake why can't we just have West Fife Minks UTD ? We just can't support the number of teams we have playing in top leagues......now that is something that's never gonna happen.

Once again, you are spot on here.

Two leagues of 16-18 and bin the rest to non-leagues. Let's face it, the split has made us a laughing stock.

As for the TV argument, there were no games on tv many years ago, and football survived - besides, there are better deals to be negotiated, if the majority can vote against the OF. In a world of internet connections, someone really should be offering all SPL games for live streaming for a fee. You would get far more revenue from that than some tv deals that are going to come scottish football's way.

As for the amalgamation argument, I can't agree with sheep - Inverness HAS profited from a union - It makes financial sense to merge the scumdee teams. It's a bit like the Man Utd problem, hw many fans 'deserted' them over the Glazier buyout, yet now attend OT again? I don't think you can say what will happen with various mergers, it's like arguing what colour my next shite will be.

Its the savings on Foster's wages that paid for young's extension.

I see your point Ajja. But isn't the number 1 priority in football to score more goals than your opposition? The other nine or ten players are supposed to be there to ensure the ball keeps moving up the park and to keep it away from your own goal for as long as possible. If there's nobody up there who can put these opportunities away, then it's pretty pointless having the rest of the squad. Didn't Dunfermline get relegated one season because they'd had something like 20 draws? Proof that, whilst they were keeping opposition out, they just didn't have anyone upfront who was putting the ball away.

 

I'd much rather have a Kris Boyd type player who does very little else but CAN put the ball away time and time again than someone who does a lot of work in the buildup but scores once a month

I can't believe there would be this type of post after we had just beaten Celtic 4-2.

As they say "You can't win them all" - and remember - we are Aberdeen, so it's more "You can't lose them all" with some of our fans

Calderwood has been a good manager for us mostly, but the lack of a final and losses to lower league sides blot his record but to think where we were before him he has done very well to not only steady the ship but improved us greatly. However, we do need to keep improving, a trophy would shift him up that table.

DonsTalk in some sense posted shocker.

No team in football "deserves" anything, and too many dons fans think we 'deserve' to be playing finals and winning trophies. I think we'll be lucky to do that with the current board / chairman.

Jimmy is the best manager we have had since Fergie, and with the squads he's had and the investment he hasn't, he has done extremely well.

I honestly don't know who we could pick up at this moment in time that would be better than the 2 Jimmies.

Ever watched a boxing match? 

Who mentioned boxing, someone mentioned a fight?!?!?!

Never seen ultimate fighting then?

Retard... from the guy with a huns username...

 

I never said that about Seve. I want us to re-sign Seve anyway, but I said it became crucial if this was true.

 

A wee tip, just read the words that are actually on the page.

Oh christ here we go again Tommy.

People have lives outside the internet and shock horror even the football world.

It might mean we pick up a non-football related nickname and use it on the internet!!!

It's so funny that if you disagree with a headcase dons fan, you suddenly become a hun!!

That takes the boabybiscuit!!

LOL how do you draw a fight?

I want ICT in the final.

For fucks sake, I was passing on information a mate heard on Radio Scotland. I thought this was the place to discuss things connected with AFC, no?  Reading the P&J article it seems it isn't as bad as the radio has made out, why the fucking attitude for simply asking a question about whether anyone has heard anything similar?

Chill out retard.

I was expressing my opinion about the source, and as Jimmy has just said on the radio - It's been blown out of all proportion - "I said if he wasn't careful he could be out for a year, but I'm hopeful it's just a few games"

The other issue was the "we need to sign Seve on the back of this" - absolute tosh

The day we start handing out new contracts based on gossip in the Daily Express is the day we prove our chairman and 'director of football' are complete idiots.

He has an Achilles problem, Jimmy is saying he needs rest, the 'being out for a year', is if it isn't rested properly.

Why are Dons fans so fond of the big red panic button?

think you mean hearts

Nope I meant Well.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/aberdeen/7137400.stm

Less drinking more thinking...

I see Motherwell are at it again, this time they aren't allowing the St. Mirren to move their league fixture back 24 hours which means they play 48 hours after a cup game.

Motherwell aren't being very nice citizens in the SPL when it comes to this sort of thing.

Whilst he's not the best striker we currently have on the books,

We haven't lost him for nothing at the end of the season, with f*ck all chance of replacing him with someone even half as good.

Exactly - we are never going to win every game, but as long as we win the next two we are sitting in good shape.

Jimmy did well retaining the entire squad in January, and hopefully we can push on and grab 3rd.

It's all hypothetical at the minute anyway. And I'm pretty glad it is to be honest, don't think there's an outstanding candidate out there just now.

+1

big words hiding behind the pc eh?

 

 

love the fact all the weegies have plenty to say behind the keyboard but nice as pie when you actually speak to me

 

bottle merchants 

hahahahahaha

That's hillarious, if you dare to disagree with mental Aberdeen fans you are instantly branded a hun - doesn't matter which shitty corner of the internet it is.

And Stoney, trust me mate, the only time I met you was when I was at the bohs game in dublin - and you were being a cock their too.

If you can't back up your fucking stupid nonsense about Calderwood spending £3m a year, don't go crying into your keyboard and make up insults. At least do your research and find out who you are insulting!

If JC and JN go, there is only one choice (for wiggy)......

Sandy Clarke.

And to be honest, don't think many other managers would take the job - Brewster maybe...