rocket_scientist

JC cannot say anything in the media without most of us reading it in a negative manner - does he not see this? Silence is golden IMHO right now.

Good post. When I read that he said this though, I thought it was pretty accurate. I defy anyone to read negative into this wee gem...

“If you want to improve your team, you have to look at what is lacking and sort it out."

Did we not win 2-1 that day against St Johnstone?

I don't remember it being a 0-0 draw.

Pretty sure it was 4-1, possibly 3-1. Comfortable win anyway.

Suicide Blonde on Virgin just now. Sorry but that is a great track. He got hung up about a wannabe posh English tart but you can't blame him.

Aussies inhabit a country the size of Europe, with a population of only 3 times Scotland, so there's bound to be "acceptance" issues.

We've hardly got a capable back 4, let alone the skill and experience to regularly play just three in defence. (successfully!)

DOOM DOOM DOOM DOOM DOOM... why don't you go back to kkk?

No. You're right. I agree.

There are more than two sides to schizophrenia, neither of which are treatable with drugs.

Formation will depend on what style JC will prefer next year.

Neale Cooper: "Aye. I mean Fergie showed me a picture of Stielike before the final and I didn't think 'world class player', which he was. I thought, 'he looks like Basil Fawlty'."

For those with Gnat attention spans, you really don't want to miss this little gem.

Lee Wilkie was prone to howlers at Dumpdee, as much as Zander was before this season, and that was before his horrific injury. Damaged goods I fear.

Not just played at Centre half cause there's nobody else available to cover for Zander.  Although he's slightly built, the games I've seen him in, he gets stuck in and although not fast, is actually a good tackler and has a football brain.  Yes, a bit like someone said earlier - Neil Lemon (Just without the beer gut!)  He needs to played in front of the defence and given a chance.

His thighs could choke a whale. He's one strong bastard. Not slight at all.

the decline in attendances is ALL your fault - simple!

 

I may have your intrigue - but I've nae had my tea yet so you'll just need to have a restless night thinking aboot it while i heid into the kitchen

I assure you that my intrigue is now as dead as John Lennon.

It's not... attendances are though... probably thanks to folk like Rocket_Scientist 

Go on. You have my intrigue. Spit it oot, min...

Is this an attempt to turn this into a 734 page Jimmy must go vs Jimmy must stay thread ?

Do you think it is? I don't see it. The couple of posts in particular by Orlando and kelt, seem to me to be articulate expressions of opinion. I've learned something from a number of the posts above, although my original post was asking another question entirely. You might have an aversion to debate, but I don't think the calibre of posters in here would allow it to degenerate into the pisch that punctuates other sites.

Instead of dwelling in the negative, and making zero worthwhile contribution yourself, just skip this thread, and let it die it's natural death. It's not that difficult is it? You do have the power of decision making? If you struggle to read posts of over 20 words, find yourself a suitable forum.

If only the distinction was a clear demarcation. Unfortunately the ambition of the board, the investment of funds being made available to the "football side of the business" dictate how far the team can go. This is where the two are inevitably intertwined.

 

In fact, the only one who made a reasonable contribution was Smith himself. "That's our season, we'll get on with it".

 

At the start of next season, if you offered any right minded and ambitious manager the following, I think they would all take it: -

"How about getting to every final, and having a fixture congestion as a result"?

What else can they say? "Well actually, lets get knocked out of this one so it doesn't happen".

Get fucking on with it.

When has ANY Aberdeen Director/Board member spent their money on the club?

 

I've heard that Milne has spent his own cash, but that's never been substantiated, and I for one don't believe that for one second.  I'd like to see some evidence to support that highly dubious claim.

 

I well remember the board saying it would put 750,000 into the transfer fund, it never materialised.  Then there was talk of them putting 300,000 of their own cash into the transfer kitty, and that never materialised either.

 

The board is tremendous at saying they intend to do this or that, then nothing whatsoever happens.

 

Training Ground, never happened.

 

New Stadium, talking about it for as long as I can remember... well over a decade, and the most they've achieved is a drawing of what a new stadium looks like.

 

Youth Academy, never happened. In fact the production of young talent through the Pittodrie youth system has been a dead duck for years, with one or two very rare exceptions.

 

Links with African clubs to "Bring in the cream of young African talent". Laughed at at the time, and proven to be a joke.

 

Links with Egyptian clubs at the beginning of this season.  How's that working out for us?

 

Promise to fill the team with the best young Scottish players.  We'll, we've got Scottish players, but they're hardly 'the best'.

 

And so on and so forth....

 

 

 

Also, right after the Semi v QotS, Calderwood announced that his budget was going to be REDUCED.  I would have taken it that IF he had reached the final then his budget would have been INCREASED (possibly), but any budget would have remained static in the event of failure to progress to the final.  We were very clearly told that it would be reduced, not remain static.

 

The club has been in decline for years, and I don't believe that the ship has been steadied.  Our results on the park have improved under JC, but the team's performance (apart from this season) has little impact upon the increasing debt of the club, which continues to mount each year (apart from this season).

 

The ship got a little bail out this year with three very good cup runs and a top 6 finish... but the CLUB  still sinking under the weight of the debt. 

 

Let's not forget that.

 

Can't argue with your points, but similarly, I've heard shite being spoken about how much money Milne has put in to the club, without seeing the evidence. He paid significantly less for his shares per share than he asked us to pay, raising millions for him to fucking squander.

Decline is the wrong word to use.

 

Rot would probably do it justice.

Spot on too.

Where's the DOOM DOOM DOOM DOOM DOOM sayers? The ones that have their heads in the sand, or have the monopoly on positive thinking?

Yeah thats about as entertaining as watching an Anna Nicole Smith porno (shes deid!)

Was she was dead when she made the porno? Link please...

Marvellous stuff. Never heard that albatross reference before. Like it, and agree with his point.

Aye but kebabs in his culture is meat and drink to him.

Feared the worst when I opened this thread, as so many others on other forums have written him off, without ever having seen him play more than half a dozen times. He was immensely strong in the 1-1 v. Celtic, and totally dominated the younger Sno. Slow Sno.

His Madrid performance, on the telly anyway, was fantastic. He's been fit and available for more games than he's been picked however, and should have been included more just to give some of JC's favourites a kick up the arse and a week on the bench. Thats what good managers do.

Shouldn't Ian Donald take the blame for trying to keep up with the Huns in the early 90s without realising the consequences?  Stewart Milne  didn't improve things either and got us into further debt, but the board have finally steadied the ship financially and we should be beginning to see a reversing of our debt (mainly thanks to Calderwood this season though!).

 

I do think that while we went through all these changes of management, that the board needed to take a much harder look at itself.  And I suppose it did by getting Willie Miller back, who is now Milne's stooge and is taking all the criticism that Milne used to get. 

 

I'm sure Milne would step aside if somebody did really want to run AFC, but there is no white knight out there so we probably should be grateful he is guaranteeing the debt.

 

On the park, I don't think we're in decline.

Ian D ran the club with zero debt, ever. The building of the RDS put us in the red for the first time, to the tune of £2m. The debt that SM guarantees is the one he built.

1. Based on what? The fact he's still in charge despite the constant griping with his Chairmanship? The fact he's a lifelong Dons fan? Or what?

Can't agree, even though you're allegedly quoting me.

 

2. Aberdeen has never been the same without Chris Anderson's hand on the tiller, but we are looking in better shape than we've been for a number of years, Tango or no Tango, Milne or no Milne. The decline - which I would say wasn't linear anyway - probably stopped/bottomed out with Ebbe or Patterson, and is rising again at the moment.

 

3. The period from Fergie to Portaloo was arguably the biggest reversal in fortunes during the last 30 years at any time.

 

4. Worst Chairman in my lifetime - Ian Donald, what exactly did he do? Best/most effective board member - Chris Anderson, and no-one's even close.

1. Can't agree with yourself? Hmmm. Swore you wrote the club was in decline today. Oh you did.

2. I agree with you here, Fat shaft, in that CA was a good steady ship-keeper. Can not see Tango and Miller taking us forward though.

3. No. After Porterfield, the club was playing magnificent football and but for Smiffy's asurd team selection at Ibrox, when it really mattered, deserved to win the league.

4. Agree that Ian was not cut out for it, but Milne starves this club of ambition, and has been openly hostile to shareholders, and employed Miller as a stooge. He took this club into debt and it escalated pretty quickly under him, whilst his own personal net worth accelerated skywards.

So if you said the club was in decline this morning, you're now saying we're on the up under Calderwood. You could be right. I don't agree, but time will tell.

To be fair to LS, he is adept in throwing in spanners to test the water. Fat man believes that Milne is going to give us a bunch of cash when he retires.

A couple of staunch Milne supporters have just said that the club has been in decline ever since Anderson died.

I can't argue with that. Just wondering why they, and others, feel that AFC plc is in decline?

 

Start a new topic then............  Not that hard is it? 

I think everyone would have seen my Pulp Fitba from January by now, wherein my reasons are contained. Just wondered how vociferous defenders of our wonderful Milne can say the club is in decline, when staunchly defending the man in charge whenever anyone dares to question his motives and his record.

My opinions have been exhaustively documented and I've dealt with the abuse from the ostriches many times. Knock yersel oot. It's not too difficult is it?

You first . . . . 

You say we're in decline but do not offer any reasons for the decline?

EDIT: Sorry TF. Thought it was one of the two who had asked - LondonS or Fat Shaft.

Might be worth starting a new topic with that question, as its deviating slighty from the Gothenburg Greats.......

Not wearing underpants is a deviation. This was just a minor deviation. One sentence answer would do it.