Ajja

Problem with McGlynn is we are observing him years into a project at Falkirk where he has had the time to build a squad of guys who will run through walls for him. This Falkirk team/club didn’t spring up from nowhere in 3 months. We know he’s never getting the time to run that process at the Dons. We don’t have the players with the character to snap into that set up. He’d have to clear the decks and start all over.

Gutting that this rules out travel for this one. It’s not every day you get to see Ajax circa 1973 in the flesh at Pittodrie.

I’m already exhausted with the new manager chat. I’m even starting to convince myself I’d be OK with McGlynn because I just want to make the Robinson fever dream stop. I get the argument that some fancy pants from Europe with 3 hair cuts and a tight suit isn’t necessarily any better than someone like McGlynn but I just want to hold on to the increasingly unrealistic ambition that we can reach for more. Wake me up when it’s all over.

Also, if you get it right with a couple of anchor signings it’s amazing the difference it can make to others who are malfunctioning or just lacking confidence. I’m not entirely convinced we have a lengthy list of complete failures but we do have a list of players who aren’t currently performing.

Possibly also need to factor in the fact that January is a notoriously poor window to shop in. Populated with over-priced, underperforming charlatans. We might just be avoiding wasting too many sovs in this window knowing the next rebuild will be better delivered in the summer?

Ronnie Edwards from Southampton coming in on a deal at QPR so he’s slipping down the order too.

As bad a move as that is under normal circumstances, the timing couldn’t be worse right now. We are a club letting so much slip right now and the fan base is lost with what the plan looks like. The optics here absolutely stink.

As TheDonbytheDee said, McGynn’s time at Tynecastle isn’t quite a fair comparison as they were an absolute disaster of a club when he was in charge. Im guilty of that same reasoning that makes McGlynn look like an unfashionable option. He definitely has lower league vibes but is possibly what we need right now

This is my concern also. The whole set up feels like Lutz is the master puppeteer and we’re getting more Northern European crazy. Just get 3 in midfield to protect the back 4 and offer a platform, play the leftie on the left, the rightie on the right, hit the by line and stick Kev on the pen spot. I’m over simplifying it I know but we need to change something.

Reckon we just aren’t on the Media radar at the moment while ‘they’ are recovering from their respective tantrums, Jambos are sweeping the footballing world of all trophies available and Motherwell are playing like 70s Ajax there is nothing of interest in Aberdeen.

This game is everything. I’m struggling to see what else is left of the season other than a form defying defence of the cup. As others have said, I’d take that ahead of clawing our way into the top 6 ahead of a plucky Falkirk and the hopeless belief that we might sneak a soul destroying spot in qualifying round 46 of the Eurovision Song Contest. OK others might not have said exactly that but you get the idea and yes I’m still suffering from yesterdays viewing.

Would worry about Milne in a back 4. Assume that FBs go high so it leaves us awfully exposed. When we switched to 4 against both St Mirren and Utd at home it didn’t take long for them to make in game changes and have a go and we looked vulnerable down the channels immediately. Hopefully we would play KMK regularly to screen the 2 CBs to become a 3 out of possession.

Literally spitting distance

Polishing off the Christmas booze purchases early Rico

Continuing to cling onto the hope that away from home we get a bit more room in behind and Hibs are knackered after Derby game. Also, my last 3 games Ive been at were Hearts, Livi and Dundee all of which we won and I’m going tomorrow. Where are those straws.

Honestly think Bilalovic would be handier up front that any of our current ‘strikers’.

Even better than that, it was 35 years

Looks like they have a fair few injury doubts. Hopefully all the big dirty bastards.

Honestly can’t see Watson moving within Scotland. Would be good to see what Marshall can do though. He might be more of a prodigy for Armstrong but we should be building him into a central character in there.

The square pegs is a big problem. His system is dependant on WBs but we don’t actually have any. We have a collection of converted left and right sided midfielders or CBs into FBs. Lobban has done well but I’m not sure he is a WB. Our wide attacking players are easily defended as they always cut into traffic. We were arguably better when we had next to useless haddies like Morris as at least he would take the ball to the goal line and cut it back into areas of danger where Nisbet could do what he does. All our attacking play is into congested channels or on the edge of the box. We are toothless as a result. Very little bite or dig in midfield means we struggle to win ball, maintain any posession or build from a platform. Teams overrun us easily in that area. If we get the gaps right between middle and back we are hard to beat but utterly inept up front, if we get the gaps further up right we start to look dangerous but wide open at the back. We seem to fluctuate between these two set ups in game.

I’m still firmly in the ‘desperately want it to work but increasingly unconvinced it will’ camp. Im trying to find excuses in my head every time we come out like a drunk boxer for first half after European games, why we don’t seem to have a set 11 and endlessly tinker, don’t give players a look in then bring them on at Parkhead, can’t defend balls into our box, can’t play out from back, play Jensen in every position on the pitch and he still runs forward, stops and runs back, Karlsson cuts in and smashes a shot of the first defender, Lazetic can’t play anywhere except in the pocket of the biggest centre back……the frustrations go on. Massive 5 games coming. Will determine whether we are battling to be the best of the bottom 6 or genuinely competing for 3rd. I’m not convinced it’ll be the latter at this stage.

One thing to cling onto is that our home form has been a little more shaky than our away form recently. We’ve looked much more stable in away games.

I’m absolutely ragin’ that I can’t inject this into my eyeballs because the likely beneficiaries are the two shades of hunnery. It’s devastating that we aren’t sitting in that top 3 waiting to capitalise on this implosion.

Did Clarkson partner have a baby recently? Could be unsettling him, looking to get closer to family etc etc. I know he was claiming to be knackered at some stage recently.

Def soft but he lifts his arm up towards the ball, a movement akin to someone doing the birdie song dance circa 1981 on TOTP. Think that’s the crucial decision making criteria.