stuartmonroe

The club have announced a media conference tomorrow....

To say what I wonder? 

Are talks ongoing? Can minds be changed? Have minds been made up?

Thoughts? 

Yes Langfield has just signed a 3 year contract, but he was, (I believe), on a 2 year deal. If he had walked now as it looks as if the rest are, it would just show the Management to be even more incompetent.

The club were lucky he didn't want to go to.... 

Agreed, there were contracts handed out to players who didn't deserve them. Kiriakov, Bernard, Tzetanov, etc....

But remember that they were also on very large wages for the club. Nowadays the contracts are for a lot less money.

Yeah they were offered 3 year deals, but who was the last player to sign for the club who was offered any more than a 2 year deal?

Offering only 2 year deals cuts down the number of players who are available for signing for the club, as most clubs offer 3 year deals.

A 2 year deal only enables the club to get one season out of the player before they are in the last year of their contrract....thus only 6 months before being able to sign a pre-contract agreement with another club.

Hibs manage to squeeze 5 year deals out of their players.

Then again, they have a fairly decent youth set-up at Easter Road.

Lets not go there either....

Yet again at Pittodrie, we have been let down by the Management team.

Year after year the scenario we are facing happens at the club.

When are we going to sort this whole mess out to save losing half our team, by staggering contracts?

Three year deals, at least, should be getting offered, and we then should be speaking to the player at least 18 months into it, to enable the club to gauge the feeling of the player. If it is felt the player wants to move on, we can get them transfer listed and sold on, thus enabling the club to benefit from a transfer fee.

Again, it looks like we are going to be losing some very important players in the squad, and with the likely outcome that we will receive very little, if anything, back in return.

The club is being run by amateurs.

I'm sick of it!

What a mess.

Copenhagen are probably the only team we have a chance of beating - so if we got 3 points there - perhaps one or most likely two points found elsewhere would probably be enough to see us through.

It can be done - but it's a big ask....

OK, I know that a load of possible scenarios can crop up between now and the four ties, but assuming that all things are equal....just how can we get on in each game?

For me

 

13/10 Scotland vs Ukraine

17/10 Georgia vs Scotland

20/10 Aberdeen vs Inverness CT

25/10 Panathinaikos vs Aberdeen

28/10 Aberdeen vs Falkirk

31/10 CIS Cup QF - Aberdeen vs ICT

3/11 Aberdeen vs Dundee Utd

8/11 Aberdeen vs Lokomotiv Moscow

11/11 Hearts vs Aberdeen

17/11 Scotland vs Italy

24/11 Celtic vs Aberdeen

29/11 Athletico Madrid vs Aberdeen

Now put results against them....

It would be fitting for him to finish his football career in a few years as an Aberdeen player.

He is a Don through and through!

Agreed - his second goal was a peach!

Hopefully this will see his confidence take a bit of a boost and we will now see some more goals from him.

Don't get me wrong, I would love to see Russell back with us, but do you really think it will happen?

I do believe however, that if he does come back to Scotland, it would be to Aberdeen. Seeing Russell Anderson in a Rangers / Celtic top would be a bit hard to swallow!!!!

Considering that Sunderland would wish to recoup at least the majority of the fee they paid to us, it would put us well out the running to tempt him back to Pittodrie.

We can always dream....

Calderwood must go....Langfield is crap....No chance of a win....etc etc.

We are through on merit to the group stages against the odds.

Yes, it was a struggle and we rode our luck several times, but at that level we will always require a good rub of the green.

Lets face facts - player for player they have a better team than we have. Guts and courage got us through with that luck.

I wonder if our former captain was casting envious glances as he sits recovering from surgery?

In fairness to JC he has taken us up a level and probably will feel that the failure to support him financially now will be reason to move on.

In the first instance I'd like to see contract talks starting with the ten players we have out of contract happen before we start talking about additions in Jan transfer window.

Get those he wants to keep tied up first.

 

Still not convinced of the fact that he will be allowed to splash the cash, nor indeed that it is the right thing for us to do. Part of the windfall certainly must go towards the level of debt we are carrying unless there is another Russian/Ukranian oil billionaire out there that liked what he saw last night and wants to take us over

I agree.

We must retain the players Jimmy Calderwood wishes to keep at the club first and foremost.

I suspect that the extra finance may enable Jimmy Calderwood to perhaps bring one more player in in January, but I would certainly not expect any significant money to be spent.

I would think that a chunk of that money will be put towards the debt and the remainder will be used perhaps next summer along with any other monies good cup runs (or wins)! would bring.

Well done to the lads.

As has already been said every player in red played their part, but special mentions must go to Langfield, Diamond, Considine and Foster - all of whom really were vital tonight.

A huge victory for the club....both financially and for the morale of the club.

Lets hope for a group with some of Europe's giants.

Tears in my eyes at full time. A real gutsy show!

Agreed BobbyBiscuit!!!!

Last night I was having a discussion regarding the quality of the squads in the Premier League.

I am convinced that the Dons have the third best squad in Scotland.

He said that Hearts have.

Thoughts?

I was only 10 at the time, but will always remember it as if it was yesterday.

Just an awesome night for a provincial club like Aberdeen.

Probably never again now will we ever see a club the size of ours win a major European prize.

We did it, and no-one can ever take it away from us.

I too remember the free kick right at the end, and praying that it would come to nothing - it did and the rest, they say, is history.

I have often wondered about the weather too. Had the conditions been like that nowadays, the game would probably never have taken place, and of course, who can forget that the conditions of the pitch led to the Real penalty?

Must say, would not fancy our chances against Real Madrid now!!!!

With the 0-0 draw at Pittodrie, at least we are in the comfortable position knowing that even to go a goal down, we still only require one to go through.

Psychological advantage....

Can we do it?

What are the thoughts?

Dnipro have apparently lost a few goals in the past 3 games (9 I believe).

Can we get that all important goal?

Come on lads - predictions please!!!!

When exactly did it all go wrong with the Youth set-up?

Kelt is spot on in saying that it is poor - when did we last bring through 2 or 3 players in the same year that is of a reasonable standard?

Where are the likes of Jess and Anderson etc

Hibs and Motherwell, to mention only two, have brought through some players of note in the past few years and in Hibs especially, have made them a lot of money.

Can someone more in the know than me give me a clue as to why the system has fallen apart so drastically?

Surely as a Manager, you get paid to make these decisions and work with the players to ensure that where they are playing they feel comfortable and above all, they do a good job.

If Jimmy Calderwood does not realise yet where the above players are best positioned on the park, then God Forbid....

P.S - Derek Young's best position is outside Pittodrie selling programmes....

Aberdeen v ICT

Celtic v Hearts

Motherwell v Rangers

Dundee Utd v Hamilton

That will do for me....Home tie and against the second weakest team left.

Bottom line on the whole sorry tale is that despite Jamie Langfield's shortcomings he is Scotland's second best goalkeeper.

Whilst bad behaviour cannot be tolerated, we must attempt to retain as many player's as possible who are better than that of the teams around us players'.

He will be offered a new contract, but must be told that he is in the last chance saloon, and a further breach of discipline will ensure that he is free transferred out of Pittodrie as soon as.

With no money available, we are kidding ourselves if we really think that there is a lot better out there who want to play for us.

Reality check please....

Disagree Bobby Biscuit - Thought that he led the line well, and really put a lot into the game. I agree that he should have been booked and that I have seen him many times go down looking for a penalty rather softly.

I did, however, think that De Visscher was awful and so far off the pace it was untrue.

I hope that it is just that De Visscher is still unfit, and not just crap. Surely by now he should be finding a bit of fitness.

He could do with losing a stone or two.... 

It's all about opinions....