Ajja

Nigeria look like they are getting pumped out of the U20 WC already. Losing to Spain I think. Aluko might be back sooner than we think.

5 clean sheets in a row is a very positive platform to build from, that is all. Good sides will be built from the back, if we can get that right consistently (the collapse against Dundee shows the fragility of the situation) then we will be in great shape to kick on. Naive teams like Hibs, Falkirk and even Motherwell, to a degree, try to build from the front with attacking and goal scoring ability and it gets them next to fuck all over the course of a season. It might not be pretty but grinding out results with a solid back line has to be the way we get our confidence back and become hard to beat first and foremost. Then we can start to tear teams up with our young 'uns. It will come, believe me, it will come. I predict the second round of fixtures will see us handing out some spankings.

With Hearts, UTD and Hibs coming up in the next 4 weeks its a fucking disaster!

Anyone heard any news about Ifil's injury ? Fingers crossed he won't be out too long.

Sounded like McDonald had a good game, was he playing wide in a midfield 4 ? Sounded like he was getting forward a bit more. Assume Fyvie and Kerr were holding the midfield. Hun midfield was a bit light weight so probably made it easier for them all.

If you had gone for the fool hardy investment as a die hard fan and it had blown up in your face and you had then decided that the long term future was to build sustainability and self-sufficiency but that was also struggling to take hold would you plough yet more money in to see if the first time around was just misfortune or mismanagement ?

The Scotsman has not been a quality paper for some time now.

Or maybe now is the perfect time ? If we are to accept that Messrs Kerr and MacDonald have not suddenly unveiled themselves as turds in sheep's clothing (pardon the bastardisation of a metaphor!) then what better time to talk contracts. They will not be coming to the table with big demands. Charlie on the other hand, he will have inflated his own sense of self worth to no end after scoring a few free kicks and delivering some half respectable balls. I would still have Kerr and MacDonald in our squad, if not our first team because I believe they are good players. I might be proved wrong but I am glad that MM is planning to talk contracts now rather than wait until the eleventh hour. As Paulinho says, we have been looking for this activity for some time, surely lets applaud it ?

You may well be right and I don't dispute recent performance and the need to earn a new contract, tht goes without saying. However, if we are going to make judgements on the future of our squad structure after half a dozen performances that are inconsisitent with recent history then we might as well fit revolving doors at the club. There are few players, if any, who will not find themselves permanently sitting under the sword of damocles.

I'm not so sure that investment is the panacea for the problems that we have. From what I am seeing this season the 'investment' in quality players like Lee Miller, Mark Kerr, Gary McDonald is exactly the place where we are being let down. The modern game is increasingly full of big time charlies who think that as soon as they are earning £1.5K+ a week they think thyey don't have to give a fuck. If Milnes money is going to bring more of that to our club then I say keep your cash. We need excellent quality management from managers who understand how to get the best from players who are interested in putting their shoulder to the wheel and meeting the challenges facing a club like Aberdeen. Increasingly I think this is about investing in youth and bringing players through without egos. It remains to be seen if McGhee will be the guy who can do this but that is where our focus should be. As has been said before, Milne would be a fool to throw money at the problem because its never enough. When there is money being tossed about you can be sure there will be a queue of greedy bastards who have little or no interest in how Aberdeen FC are performing from week to week. Its not the solution and its not sustainable.

This thread typifies the myopia amongst supporters. We are 5 games into a league season. Granted Kerr and MacDonald have not covered themselves in glory but they have not just become shit players in 6-7 weeks. In the latter part of last season this thread would have said keep Kerr and MacDonald and bin that lazy bastard Mulgrew. Suddenly, after a few decent performances from Mulgrew and some awful ones from Kerr and MacDonald people want them binned. Some people need to start looking at the long game here. Its laughable the hysteria that a few bad results can create.

Good on the young lad for talking the shit, we need balls out football on Saturday. He could certainly teach a lot of DT posters how to pick themselves up after defeat, its fucking suicidal in here these days. Paton is one of the good stories this season and should be first pick up front as Miza says. We are going to beat the hun on Saturday, no doubt. Its exactly the right time to play them as they are poor and not scoring goals. We are angry and looking for a kick on. If we have the balls to play the young 'uns and run their ageing defence ragged we will beat them comprehensively. By Saturday afternoon the mood among Dons fans will have flipped on its head.

Regardless...

I agree with you on that score Bilbo, some peoples views can swing significantly depending on which direction they are looking from. It seems the need to be proved right is clouding the need to be sensible and realistic. I think as a support, we need to move away from this jousting about where we have been and focus on some real analysis around where we are right now and how we might move forward. Like I said above, it isn't going to change overnight and if we don't give MM time to get it right we will be back to the knee jerk pressure that saw us binning managers at a furious rate. The landscape has changed markedly and patience is essential.

Sorry, you are correct. Still, he is out for the season with them, regardless.

I'm still willing to give MM the benefit of my support on this season despite a slow start. Its easy to point to a lack of any real progress and to start sharpening the knives at this early stage but there is a lot of work to be done and its not going to happen in 7 games. The two positives for me are: 1. Defence. It might be clutching a bit to point to 4 clean sheets in a row but its very good progress on the first 3 games of the season and we would all have bitten hands off for that after the Celtic game. As McGhee has said, building from the back is a tried and tested route to success. I seem to remember it being a feature of JC's reign, the only problem being that we never really built on that foundation. I personally feel MM is more likely to do so. With a solid defence, not leaking goals every week we have a better chance of building confidence through the side. Its easy to suggest that when we come up against a better side than in recent weeks we will be found out but until it happens then we should give them the benefit of the doubt. For most, that seems to be an illusive trait, much easier to jump on the managers and the teams back before it has even happened. 2. Youth. We have been screaming for this for years and finally we have both a pool of talent and a management team who not only talk about it as the core strength but are actively blooding players. We all know that young players seldom possess consistency and will blow hot and cold. We have to accept that performances from a team with youth players involved will suffer these ups and downs. When it works (see Hamilton) then it will be successful, when it doesn't it will be ugly (see Falkirk). However, th eonly way to get the consistency is to persevere. Again, patience is not a trait on display in this thread. Much easier to offer knee jerk, angst ridden reactions. Its not easy supporting this team but you have to be willing to be patient. Most of us ran out of it with Calderwood but we should avoid expecting immediate changes as a result. It will take time to get things working and periods where tangible results are not obvious does not mean that there is not progress being made. Dillusional ? Possibly. Naive ? Maybe. Realistic ? Certainly. Lets try to be patient and give up on the opening of wrists for now ?

I hear Toronto are after a striker to replace Jamie Smith after he got crocked about 3 secs into his debut.

A guy who knew how to wear a tan with style. RIP.

Comfortable win for the Dons in this one. Dundee won't score against us so it should be easy enough. 2-0 us.

Is it too early to ask Whoopie Goldberg if she has heard from him yet ?

Does McGhee not have a bit of history when it comes to picking fights? While I applaud him taking a tough stance on players doing as they please I hope he hasn't chosen to bloody the nose of our most talented first team player. Bit fucking AAAARRGGGHHHHH on this one. Last thing we need when we are trying to settle into a new set up.

Its going to end in tears! http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/a/aberdeen/8252280.stm

I suspect this might have been the deal clincher

Like I said, we/he is under the spotlight. The media love a good car crash story and we are doing our best to provide one. He could certainly drink a large cup of shut the fuck up at times but the hysteria just builds behind silence on here as much as it does around chat. If we assume he will suffer the same reactionary, unrealistic, irrational response from the fanbase whatever he does then I'd rather hear honesty. Thats all I'm saying.......ya prick.

Its always tough juggling the Socialist hat with the football fan hat...