Kowalski

Aye it was definitely Alex Miller I have fond memories of Ebbe's time, mainly because of the two cup finals and a great trip to Berlin, but some of his results were truly awful. JC is going through a bad patch at the moment (mainly away fixtures in the league) but its never as bad as it was under some of Ebbe's reign. He was a top bloke though and had a great sense of humour.

Dane who became a Don Much-loved former boss predicts Aberdeen will find it tough against Copenhagen PERHAPS a few Aberdeen fans will be tempted to reach to the very back of their clothes' drawers and really go Danish for Copenhagen's visit to Pittodrie on Thursday night. They could do so by dusting down the T-shirts emblazoned with the face of their only manager from that Scandinavian country. The ones that read 'the witticisms of Ebbe' below a choice aphorism from said Skovdahl. Such utterances made more bearable the crackers, calamitous and, always, colourful three-and-a-half year reign of the chain-smoking coach. Five years ago this month his tenure ended, but memories of the period are stirred by the nationality of UEFA Cup opponents that Jimmy Calderwood's side must defeat for Aberdeen to remain in Europe beyond Christmas for the first time in 21 years. "You mean you already have forgotten me?" Skovdahl laughs when told the Copenhagen confrontation had brought him to mind. "I still pay attention to Aberdeen's results because I really enjoyed my stay. I think fondly of the special relationship I had with the supporters. I know we had many disappointments on the pitch and many down moments, but we also had little joy ones." Gentle, affable and immensely likeable, Skovdahl's charm – which remains as winning in the retired 62-year-old as ever – centred around his ability to remain phlegmatic as the flames singed his lugs. And his ear for an adage. He was pilloried in the press for some monumental maulings – in particular to Celtic – but, perhaps masochistically or through sheer contrariness, west of Scotland media-whacking made Aberdeen fans rally round him all the more. "I loved people's passion in Scotland," he says. "It was not so different from Denmark. I loved that you could be walking down the street and a fan would jump up to you and scream: 'Get on with it!'." Scribes and supporters alike, meanwhile, loved the little pocket phrasebook that seemed wedged in his brain. "The operation was a success, but the patient died in theatre" line that followed a defensive display resulting in a 2-0 defeat at Celtic Park in September 2001 and his contention that "statistics are like mini-skirts in that they give you good ideas but hide the most important parts" have entered football folklore, along with his caution that you "don't sell the fur until you have shot the bear". He takes credit for none of these, however. "The ones about the operation and fur are Danish sayings," he reveals. "You have to be careful about translating these in to other languages but I said that about the success of losing 2-0 because we set-out 5-4-1 after losing 7-0, 5-1 and 6-0 on our three previous games at Celtic. We just had to do something different and I told the players I would take the beating if it all went wrong. I learned the statistics saying in Scotland, but I do believe that." The statistics pertaining to his time in Scotland are not eye-catching. A five-times title winner across three stints with Brondby before pitching up at Pittodrie in the summer of 1999, the need to hack away at costs helped fell his hopes of making Aberdeen competitive. Initially, at least. The bite-sized biog of the Dane at the Dons is that it took seven games for his team to register a goal and nine games to post a win in a first season that would have resulted in relegation but for Falkirk not meeting SPL ground requirements. The shafts of light in that gloomy campaign were provided by cup runs – though ultimately Rangers beat them 4-0 in the Scottish Cup final after they were defeated by Celtic in the CIS showpiece. The next season brought the ignominy of Bohemians turfing the Pittodrie side out of the UEFA Cup, before they stabilised to finish seventh. What underpinned that league position was equalling Alex Ferguson's record of nine home wins, courtesy of a 2-0 win over Celtic. In the next campaign matters improved still further. The effectiveness of signings such as forwards Arild Stavrum, Hicham Zerouali, midfielder Roberto Bisconti and Danish international keeper Peter Kjaer was reflected in a fourth-place finish. But as quickly as Skovdahl seemed to have moulded an adventurous, if unpredictable, team, the club's state of penury pulled it apart. He accepted a near 40% wage cut but Robbie Winters and Stavrum, the team's two main goal suppliers, were enticed away. And, after only a last minute goal ended their courageous efforts in the UEFA Cup against Hertha Berlin, domestic fortunes plummeted. At the end of November 2002 a small section of supporters called for his head following a 2-1 defeat against Partick Thistle. Skovdahl served it up a week later. "It was terrible what happened to us in Ireland and I was just so disappointed we could not see the job through in Berlin. But I have good feelings about the (CIS] cup semi-final win over Rangers in my first season and look back on the 2-0 win over Celtic the next season with such fondness. With the snow and the Christmas feel, it seemed the whole city was full of joy and hope." Delight among the denizens of Aberdeen will far exceed their jubilation six years ago if Copenhagen are vanquished. An outcome he believes isn't the likeliest. "If the supporters are really wound up in the stadium, Aberdeen have a chance," Skovdahl says. "But it should be understood the game means as much to Copenhagen. And they are strong in ways that will cancel out advantages Aberdeen might think they could have playing a British style. They are very strong in the air in their own penalty box and at set-pieces and have a striker in Marcus Allback who can create goals from nothing. The second ball always seems to fall for him. Jimmy Calderwood has brought some good players to the club but they will all have to play at their best to get through. I will definitely be hoping they do."

Doesn't look right to me. I think the 3rd column is "Goals every x games"? i.e. Zander scores every 8 games?

Aye but the WPR should be finished by the time the stadium is ready. Thats bound to be one of the main reasons they are looking at Cove.

I think its just fine!

Hmmm, that's called tapping up isn't it?

Not that I want him to stay but why would Clark be leaving the club? Surely he'd be one of the easiest to deal with?

We're doomed if that's true. Nay fussed about Clark and Lovell but we really need to keep the rest, even Seve who on his day is a top notch player (its just been a while since it was "his day"). Surprised if Hart goes.

Doesn't matter where we move to, there is always going to be some folk unhappy. Staying in the beach area would have met some sort of resistance too. As a golfer, I certainly wouldn't have been happy if the Kings Links was to be removed, although as someone said it was perhaps the driving range and cricket pitch that were in doubt. And everybody knows cricket is not a sport! Anyway, I am prepared to see exactly what the plans are including transport "lonks". Slating it before any real plans are in place is a bit foolish IMHO.

Q's 1. Where do you travel from? 2. How do you get there/back? 3. What do you usually do before/after the game? 4. Preferred location? A's 1. City Centre 2. Walk 3. Drink a couple pints before / usually go home after 4. Mike Dunbar's back garden

"With Miller, and Mackie, and Foster too...."?

Are you Stoney from BNP-Chat?

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2005/06/10143649 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aberdeen_Crossrail Not been talked about for a couple of years, but notice they were talking about extra stops on the Stonehaven route so who knows, this might all be back up for discussion again.

They are talking about it, but it was in the opposite direction from Cove. Perhaps they will include the community stadium in future discussions about this.

I expect attendances to go up. They normally do when a new stadium is built. Yes, its going to be a bit awkward for city centre fans to get to but as Slim says, by the time its built the infrastructure should be in place to make it easier. I can definitely see more people with cars wanting to go to the new stadium, because it will be easier to get to, and to park at. Plenty of time to put some bars/restaurants nearby as well. Just think its a pity the train line is on the other side of Cove. But on the whole the announcement is a very positive one. Hope we see the new stadium and AWPR as promised!

If its anything like Inverness, pubs will put on free buses to take you to/from games in order to get you to drink in their pubs before and after games.

A good 4-5 years to build some pubs and decent transport links from the city centre!

I tend to agree with JC's assessment of Miller's performance on Saturday.

EDIT: Duncan Fraser answered these questions.