tom_widdows

Calling all gloryhun....Optimists to steal it from Jute. 84 - MBT 83 - Nellie The Don 82 - EdmontonDandy 81 - rocket 80 - Ten Caat 79 - Big Al 78 - Rico 77 - Oxford Don 76 - Wee Toon Red 75 74 - Tyrant 73 72 - Elgindon 71 - manc 70 69 - Jute 68 - Tom Widdows 67 66 - Wi_09 65

I know its not a 'current' dons topic but I felt it was best to start the thread here Seems hes had emergency surgery https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/44019175

Went to the Ross County Partick match tonight. There were some terrible moments (as with any scottish match) but for once I didn't begrudge shelling out £22 for a ticket. Just under 350 county fans showed up too. Got a soft spot for both so for me its a shame that one or both will probably go down. Would personally like to see Dundee dragged straight down and the other teams stay up via the playoffs (preferably denying the arabs for a second season in a row).

Because the transport/ access infrastructure for a 20000 seater stadium is completely different to that required for a residential development. A residential development is highly unlikely to suddenly have 20000 turn up therefore does not have issues such as emergency evacuations, crowd control, commercial servicing. Soon as the 20000 seater stadium is removed that entire area can be remodelled as the majority use has changed. I have mentioned this several times and yet it always seems to fall on deaf ears. Just also want to add (again) the residential proposal for the pittodrie site only has 'outline' planning consent. If you are not familiar with this term it basically means the council have agreed to the idea of x number of flats/ houses being built on the site. It is actually possible to get outline planning consent by simply submitting an application form with a short general description, appropriate fee and an ordinance survey plan with a redline around the site. The 3d scheme is an added bonus designed to tempt prospective developers. Anyone who purchases the site will have to go for a full detailed planning application in which the subject of modifying existing roads will be discussed and the planners could say 'leave pittodrie street alone'. Then the building control team will get their hands on it.

Wolves redevelopments were in effect forced upon them due to new safety standards brought in firstly after the Ibrox disaster and then again following Bradford & Hillsbrough. The first stand may have brought them to their knees but so did poor attendances, bad performances and I would not be surprised if financial corruption had a part to play. The Ricoh is a disaster and had England not gone for the 2006 world cup I think it would have been a different story especially given Coventry were relegated 4 years before construction started. Moving from a 24000 seat stadium to a 32500 seat stadium when you are still paying off premiership contracts but not getting Man United/ Arsenal & co turning up I reckon their board got a major shock when they found out the core fan base wasn't that big. There was a also a fairly big fuck up in the construction/ design which as I understand it screwed up the safety certificate form the start. As for scotland I must correct you and also chastise you for pedalling the west coast media myth about Falkirk's stadium keeping the dons in the top league. When the Dons fininshed bottom back in 1999-2000 there was no automatic relegation from the SPL due to league expansion. The top 2 from division 1 were promoted (St Mirren & Dunfermline) and the 3rd placed team went into a playoff with the team who finished 10th in the spl. Brockville did not meet the stadium criteria so the playoff with the Dons was cancelled. HOWEVER Brockville kept motherwell in the SPL in 2003 as Falkirk's new stadium was not ready so they had to groundshare at Ochil view the following season meaning there was no relegation at all. Essentially GG's statment's statment that no club in britain got into trouble building a new ground is a bit generic as it is never that straight forward The spectre of what happened to Darlington springs to mind but my understanding of that was not so much the stadium but more the absolute fuckwittery of how their board's plan to turn a small north eastern club with an average attendance of 7000 into premiership regulars by building them a new stadium 3 times the size of their old ground on the cheap and with extremely poor planning. Doesnt help when your chairman goes bankrupt and gets sent down for 3 years for tax evasion. I've recently heard someone saying they would rather stay are a delapitated pittodrie and more money be put into the playing squad. This statement is pissing me off as it does not actually engage in the debate about how the stadium issues are resolved. Its classic head in the sand thinking I stupidly put together a rough sketch of how pittodrie could be redeveloped under current regulations and came up with the 12-13k figure. This was promptly stuck on Twitter by a pro kingsford group and met with comments along the lines of 'that prick has no imagination' as if the laws of physics do not apply to the area around merkland road. Pittodrie is a shithole but it can be redeveloped all be it to a much reduced capacity. This will be an expensive and time consuming process and given safety regs get stricter it will leave pretty much no room for future expansion. If the club can find a way to rework the business model on only having 13000 seats (of which 9000-10000 are snapped up as season tickets) then it could be a goer but it seriously restricts their revenue stream. If 90% of the seats are with season ticket holders you could end up with a half empty ground when they can't make it or get pissed off and turn their backs. Reduced food & merchandising sales follows etc. Then of course there is still the training facilities issue. Alternatively there is the new stadium (slightly smaller capacity) which is flawed at the moment but as with lots of large developments I reckon it will take about 3 years and the teething issues will have been resolved. For me something has to be done and its either reduced capacity (and debt), or new stadium (and debt). Simply doing nothing is not an option.

Given the bullshit that has gone down in Spain's economy and their construction industry I would not rush to compare it to whats going on Westhill way. The mismanagement of funds in Valencia's stadium debacle reeks of corruption and/or absolute incompitence to me (Edinburgh Trams eat your heart out). Also the price of a 70000 seater stadium dwarfs that of a 20000 seater stadium especially when you get Arup involved and start messing around with silly claddings, wooden interiors and tensile canopy roofs.

Would not be surprised to see a certain Mr Hayes back in a red shirt come August

Spartans 2-1 Cove Cowdenbeath have a trip to Harlaw Park. Possibly the best outcome as I really don't like the idea of a 4th Edinburgh team in the league

Amber Rudd just jumped ship http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-43944988

The cops will love that if its true. Theres a serious bus crash on the clydeside expressway and a large chunk of glasgows emergency services have been dealing with it since 7pm.

I believe Dundee sold out the away section twice in the same season. Once for Cannigia's debut and the second time as a win would take them into the top 6. I found the latter to be really strange as their fans had radios with them and big cheers went up whenever their 'challengers' (I think it was Dunfermline) went a goal behind. For me such behaviour should be reserved for your team winning the league or avoiding relegation, not for the 'honour' of a guaranteed 6th place fininsh. They won both games 2-0 too Given how shit the away section at pittodrie is I'm personally not surprised it rarely sells out.

Cove Rangers 4-0 Spartans Don't imagine Spartans finding 4 unanswered goals in the 2nd leg so looks like Cowdenbeath will be welcoming Inverurie's 2nd team to Central park. The prospect of future Aberdeen Suburb Derby in the making?

clingin on as 4th place is guaranteed. 84 - MBT 83 - Nellie The Don 82 - EdmontonDandy 81 - rocket 80 - Ten Caat 79 - Big Al 78 - Rico 77 - Oxford Don 76 - Wee Toon Red 75 74 - Tyrant 73 72 - Elgindon 71 - manc 70 69 - Jute 68 - Tom Widdows 67 66 - Wi_09 65

Currently Alloa 2-0 Ayr The Bin Man's team have been top of the league for as long as I can remember this season and yet if they don't get their act together the league title and promotion is out of their hands. Saturday Raith are at home to Alloa who basically have nothing to play for so can rest players in preparation for the playoffs. Ayr on the other hand have to face Albion who need at least a draw to stop automatic relegation.

Strikers: May 5 Rooney 11 Storey 1 Midfielders: Christie 8 Mackay-Steven 8 McGinn 2 Mclean 10 Ross 1 Stewart 3 Shinnie 4 Wright 1 Defenders: Arnason 2 Considine 3 Logan 2 McKenna 2 O'Connor 1 Reynolds 1 Own Goals: 1

84 - MBT 83 - Nellie The Don 82 - EdmontonDandy 81 - rocket 80 - Ten Caat 79 - Big Al 78 - Rico 77 76 - Wee Toon Red 75 74 - Tyrant 73 72 - Elgindon 71 - manc 70 69 - Jute 68 - Tom Widdows 67 66 - Wi_09 65 Major cull fo the optimists there. ---------------------------------------------------------- Previous Champions: 2009-10: Dave_min (41 points) 2010-11: BigAl (38 points) 2011-12: Snapper (41 points) 2012-13: Tyrant (48 points) 2013-14: 2014-15: Dandy (75 points) 2015-16: Dandy (retained due to no correct scorer) 2016-17: Rico (76 points - Flawless Victory. Nothing questionable about it at all)

And so what if they are? As I found myself repeating on numerous occasions, the whole thing is still a 'design'. You get planning permission for a project and then when you actually go into the really detailed design you discover issues and you rectify them. The controlled parking zone is a nightmare as whilst Aberdeen City council have put it as a condition (I think) they dont have any jurisdiction over that area and it is totally reliant on another local authority allowing it. As soon as Aberdeen-shire Council were given a stake in the actual construciton the alarms bells should have been ringing. If the Club can find an alternative solution which is an acceptable, perhaps even an improvement then Aberdeen Council are perfectly within their rights to accept it. If not the club suck it up and pay for it as agreed. Here's a thought though. Couple of weeks back it was revealed it was techincally cheaper to park illegally in the centre of Edinburgh as the cost of a parking ticket (with early payment discount) was less than actually feeding the parking meters on a weekday. If the Westhill CPZ gets Aberdeen-shires standard penalty charges a parking ticket can be as little as £20.00 if you pay it quick enough. Carload of fans each chip in and it works out £4-5 a head to parking close to the new ground and avoiding the shuttle buses. Putting wheel clamps on illegally parked cars in residential streets is counter productive and if the street is mobbed it isnt easy getting the trucks out to take the cars away. Aberdeen-shire council coins it in every second saturday for the price of a couple of wardens and residents realise the planning rules about car-parking at public buildings are ridiculous (restricting parking spaces as an 'incentive' for the public to not use their cars never has and never will work).

Section 75 agreement is also known as 'Planning Obligations'. Basically the club has signed a legal document saying they will comply with the planning conditions and/or make contributions to improve the local area around the development. Still leaves the building warrant side of things to be resolved.

Scottish football really is dull

The building warrant needs to be approved before they can start actually building anything. Far as I know that applicaiton hasn't been submitted yet and given the complexity I would presume it will be a staged warrant. EG Stage 1 Groundworks & services etc Stage 2 Superstructure/ shell Stage 3 Fit out Before all that they need to clear all the planning conditions and of course start negotiations with Aberdeen-shire council about the improved pedestrian access etc. I'll go out on a limb and say there isn't a chance in hell any stadium works will begin until Summer 2019 at the earliest.

Unfortunately there is nothing 'usual' about the development so its difficult to say when they will get round to issuing the actual decision and/or documents. Planning departments throughout scotland are stretched to the limit and even the simplest house extensions are being delayed by weeks even months so I'm not surprised nearly 2months down the line it is only at the 'verbal' approval stage. A much less controversial development I worked on took 18months to get planning permission of which the final 6months saw my colleagues and I regularly writing to the Planning officers asking 'where is that planning permission you promised us? Just glad its not in a conservation area and doesn't involve any listed buildings

Yon tic win the next 6 league titles they will overtake the tribute acts world record and beat the 9 in a row malarky. Then yon tribute acts 5 stars on their badge will look even more pathetic than it already is.

Went to see 'Ghost Stories' last night Seen a few people slagging it off but I enjoyed it. I've been put off horror films in the last decade or so since the yanks saturated the genre with same monotonous shite emphasising gore and stupidity but this one played to what I consider to be good horror Build atmosphere, imply the horror rather than just shoving a CGI monster onto the screen, keep you guessing, and also make it at least seem as if the situation could happen to you. As it was split into segments with different aspects it didn't get boring. The 2nd 'story' in particular stuck out for me Martin Freeman has been pissing me off with his Vodafone adverts but he was back on form in this one.

Jesus the Dons players need to look at this motherwell team. They just plain simple fucking get on with it. I'm thinking of the difference say between Northern Ireland's National team and Scotland's. Some of the players picked for the Northern Irish are complete unknowns or even ridiculed but when they get together they form an effective team. Scotland over the last 20+ years on the other hand have been filled with individuals or little cliques who believe their own hype.

Jesus fucking christ Lewis & Mckenna!!! We have 3 upfront (supposedly) and yet there is no urgency, or movenment. Its get to the edge of the box, stop, look up, wait, randomly cross it in and wait for motherwell to clear.