thestooge

I'd take Samson. I think he's a fair bit under rated. I'd have had Gallacher if he was a bit younger, he should have played at a higher level. Fox may be a gamble worth taking. Other than that, the SPL has a few players worth a gamble, Slater, Erwin, Vigurs and McDonald offer squad depth, but, to be honest, if we want to improve our starting 11, Shinnie aside, we need to look outwith our rivals. We are comfortably the 2nd best team in the SPL, we aren't going to take anyone from Celtic and those at United or ICT that can improve us won't come in our price range. I think we'll add 3 or 4 this summer but I doubt we'll know much about them. How do we feel about Deek in the market outwith Scotland? Logan has been good and Rooney has been amazing but he was a known commodity but Zola, Wylde, Goodwillie and Brown have been a bit underwhelming to, um, pish and, though I accept its a bit controversial as plenty seem to love him, I think Taylor is the most over rated player in our squad at the moment. I think McInnes has been patchy at best.

Rumour on Abdn Mad that the TBC is Cologne. It seems odd that both the TBC game and Brighton game are scheduled between the legs of Euro qualifiers. Developing match sharpness or unnecessary risk?

Canna imagine why anyone would want Cammy binned. He's nae even 20 yet but he's already made 75 odd appearances, admittedly with very few of those starts. That amount of game time in a youngster though shows the faith we have in him. He'd asked to go out on loan numerous times to get first team action but has always been told he's a vital part of our squad. He's on an extended deal anyway so not likely to get released anytime soon. I think he's a very good prospect and even in recent weeks has shown development. He's still a little lightweight but he's a very good wee player. Up until last month, I thought Robson was done but he's shown why he's valuable on the park in the last month and I've no doubt his value on the training ground and in the dressing room is even more important. I think both Shaungnessy and Low will go on to have solid SPL careers. It's nae been that often that our youth players have left us to go on to sustain careers in the top flight, in the past, most would bum about at Peterhead for a year or two but the overall quality does seem to have improved.

Gone: Anderson Shaughnessy Robertson Murray Gibbons Masson Felek Petrie Jones Campanile Driver McManus New Deals: Rodgers Rose Culjak Mutch Storie Robson also offered a new deal. No real surprises, I guess. Bit of a dig at McManus here: "Declan has decided his future lies elsewhere and we wish him all the best in his future career. We want to continue to work with players committed to Aberdeen." http://www.afc.co.uk/news/6095#.VVTD6vlVikp

It's unquestionably a big step up from u20 to the first team. Shankland has missed a couple of decent chances but the fact he's getting into the right places gives me confidence in his potential. He tends to get 5-10 minutes, hard to get up to pace from the bench in that time.

Goodwillie did sign an extension to his deal but I think we're trying to offload him. He's barely featured since his last indiscretion and I get the feeling we've decided to cut our losses. We've got Shankland banging them in at u20, Rooney is the best in the league, if we're seriously looking at May, the writing must be on the wall for Goodwillie.

http://www.talesandspirits.com/ I'm a hipster wanker though. Drinks better than the food above, it's also pretty small. This place is small too, the food is pretty decent. Very central. http://www.indewildeman.nl/index.php

In a straight choice between May and Goodwillie, there is only one winner for me. Goodwillie certainly seems to have pissed on his own chips here. I cant see us getting May though, he's played 40 games down south this season, doesn't sound like they'd want to move him on based on that. Scott McDonald has 5 goals in 10 games at a piss poor Motherwell, he's single-handedly saved them from Barraclough. He's a very experienced player who has won things in the SPL. Atill got a couple of years in him too. If May isn't an option, I really think McDonald could add something to the squad, if not necessarily the first 11.

Have you got the Shaolin Soul comps MD? They're comps of a heap of the originals Wu Tang Clan sampled, including this: Naturally, I have it on original 7. ;-) I just got a copy of this, high on my wants list for years. Awesome, late sixties psych/rock/proto-metal

Pretty sure I'd have nutted a few SPL refs this season had I the chance. http://sport.stv.tv/football/clubs/aberdeen/1320112-top-scottish-referee-john-beaton-headbutted-during-saudi-arabian-derby/

Seems the knives are already being sharpened for oor Kenny. A lot of dissenting voices relating to his form since January. Seems pretty harsh to me. While I agree that he's not really had any stand out games, he still clearly possesses real quality. It maybe hasn't converted into the same amount of goals he's scored for St Mirren (well, or any goals for that matter) but he's still yet to find a settled role in our side. I've got faith in him, I think he'll be a stand out for us next season and I'm sure McInnes will get the best from him in the near future.

Does it really matter? I dinna give a fuck either way to be honest, as long as Ronny gets his roar shoved right up his arse after the 90 minutes.

3-1 win before the youth Dons lifted the league trophy. A very enjoyable night in a freezing but packed Main Stand. The first noticable thing, this being the first time I've managed to see the youths this season, was how similar they set themselves up to our default system in the SPL. We had Culjak at RB, Anderson and Rose at CB and Roberston at LB. In midfield, captain Gibbons sat deepest, along with Capanile in the middle, with Low, Wright and Smith more advanced. Shankland was up front with Mutch in goal. It was great to see Ando back and he literally strolled through the game, don't think he ran more than 20 paces all night. First glance of Culjak for me and he's clearly got great physical attributes, big, strong and fast enough but, at RB at least, he still seemed very raw. He wasn't the only one though and I guess that's understandable at this level, even with a league winning side. Low struck first after good work from Smith. I'll really miss Nicky. He played tonight like he's played every other game he's ever played for us, like it was his last. Sadly, this probably was. Given the league was won and he's signed for another club, you'd forgive him for taking it easy but he was a dynamo all night, spurring on his team mates and earning us the lead. In contrast, the second goal, the equaliser, only emphasised how I feel about Robertson. He looked out of his depth even at this level, and worse, he didn't particularly seem to care. Now, that partly might be me misreading his body language, etc, so I may be harsh on his temperament. They got all their success down his side though. That, in part at least, was down to the quality of their number 2, Ryan Williamson, who was comfortably their most composed ball player and solid defensively too. He's one worth keeping an eye on based on tonight's performance. Our second came from brilliant skill as Scott Wright ripped through their defence, with Shankland showing a keen instinct to tap in the rebound. Wright was my motm. Lots of skill on the ball and good movement throughout. Not a dissimilar player to Pawlett. Wright capped his performance with the third late in the game. He got a selfless assist from, I think, sub Orsi, before he misqueued his shot straight into the keeper, who fumbled the ball underneath him into the net. Overall, it was really promising, the system clearly works and the movement, ball retention and understanding of the players is great. We're creating smart players too, the way several of our players shift their balance and use their body to shape space and get an little advantage is impressive. I was also impressed by a Shankland pass, under a lot of pressure near the halfway line, where he switched the ball into space wide on the left. It was a little thing but it just showed a match awareness that I found really promising. However, that said, other than Smith and Shankland, already in and around the first team, and Wright, perhaps, I can't see any others bothering the first time in the next year. Well done to the loons and to Sheerin and co. Great effort all round. Good to hear Doncaster get booed too. Prick.

He's earned it, in so much as he's met the required criteria. For me, he's been a decent enough servant who has always fought his way back into the team and he has, until now at least, always proven to be better than those brought in to replace him. I can see this being the lowest attended fixture in a long while though. He's hardly a fans favourite. Langfield was in the Scotland squad when we had a solid defence in front of him. When we next had a solid defence, he saved the pens that delivered our first trophy in years. His flaws were over emphasised by some horrendous players in front of him over the years with the added factor of McGhee's Man management further exasperating evident weaknesses. I think he gets way more stick than he's due but even I'm nae exactly rushing to get a ticket to see Brighton.

Failing to deliver a sponsor should have seen senior heads role. Absolute farce.

Aye, it's a fairytale for sure. Club nearly goes out of business, gets bought by an oligarch, gets to the premiership, cant attract premiership quality but overspends on journeymen, gets relegated, oligarch loses interest, club goes out of business when it can't sustain its new position. Beautiful. Football, isn't it. Mmmm.

Doubt that. He's been bench warming in the Championship. I think he played 90 minutes once in the Championship last season and most appearances were less than 45 minutes. Canna see him featuring in their plans much next year. I was really disappointed in him when he left. I thought it was a poor move for his development but I have absolutely no doubt he won't have any regrets so you've got to say fair play to him. It's impossible to say if he'd have developed into a better player had he stayed here but I'm sure he'd have got a lot more game time and I still think that would have been valuable to him. By all accounts, Eddie Howe seems to be getting all the plaudits just now so maybe he will be a really positive influence on Fraser's career but I think McInnes could have been too. Howe's job will change dramatically in the coming months. I doubt Fraser will feature much in their future plans, but I've been plenty wrong about Bournemouth before so who knows. Despite the limited game time he has had, Fraser has certainly managed way more appearances than both Fyvie and Grimmer and I think all three would be solid SPL players despite the lack of game time. Maybe they were all right to move on.

We are 19 points clear of ICT as of the final whistle tonight. That is a monumental achievement. Only 5 points behind Celtic. Dare to dream. :-)

2-1! McGinn agin.

Yaas min, McGinn min 1-1. Equaliser against the run of play. Pick it oot Esson yi fud.

John Hughes has fair won me round this season. He's a total nutter but he's pretty loveable. It'll be interesting to see how he handles the continuing break up of his squad. Losing McKay in Jan hasn't seen them implode, but losing Shinnie will cause big problems. I think we'll edge it, hopefully with Rooney getting a step or two closer to the 30 goal mark. 2-1 Aberdeen.

Aye, my father in law will certainly have to stump up a bit more. Shame.

My ticket in the Mainer remains the same but the OAPs seem to be getting shafted again. Under £15 per hour of entertainment? Canna really complain with the squad we have at the moment.

For me, there is little point comparing this season and last, it's best to see them as a continuation of our development. Winning the cup was a huge monkey off our back and it's a shame we we're able to be more competitive in the cups this year, though I still blame the ref for our semi final exit more than individuals in our own ranks. The league progress is also positive, however, it too also shows just how important it is to get things right off the field. With our debt shed, we are in a position to flex our financial strength, comparatively, and that's now giving us a huge advantage. The signing of McLean and Shinnie are huge steps in the right direction, it's been a long time since we've been so aggressive in the transfer market. Again, that shows the value in getting it right off the park and emphasises how expectations will rise. We've just got to keep moving in the right direction again next season. The league may well be considerably more competitive so we can't ease off there, we'll obviously want to progress in the cups beyond this years relative disappointments and we're back in Europe with aspirations of getting to the Group Stage. It's exciting times for sure.

McManus top scorer in League One. Shankland, I assume, top scorer in the U20s. Rooney top scorer in the SPL. Pretty impressive attacking options on our books these days. A fair difference from season after season of Mackie, Hinds, Djaffo and their ilk.