wee toon red

I'd take Wallace to cure our left back woes in a flash, providing the contract was reasonable.

Presumably to find out if they might actually be good enough for his first eleven, which I'd suggest McKenna seems like he could be, with McTominay and McBurnie reasonable squad players at this stage. McDonald and Murphy not so much.

Tierney will be captain when he's back in the squad so anyone else is just a temporary measure. Also, and I hope no-one takes this the wrong way, if your enthusiasm is affected overly much by whoever is named captain for a couple of friendlies then you probably weren't too bothered about the team anyway.

That's the point though, they are HIS players by any objective measure. He's responsible for them from now until the end of the season, he signed or brought them all through and I bet all three would credit him with playing a huge part in their careers to date.

If that's one of the big things we have to worry about as a club at the moment then we can't be doing too badly. All three, regardless of where they'll be next season or where they were last season, will be playing for Aberdeen for the remainder of this season, therefore they're Aberdeen players. McLean and Christie were both signed by McInnes and he gave McKenna his debut so they're also very much his players.

Whoever gets the shot or point(s) in the previous end goes first in the next one, ie if you win the end you go first in the next one. If it's a blank end, whoever went first in that one goes first in the next one.

I think that might work in an ideal world but it's almost impossible to look at it beyond a campaign by campaign basis. You've only got 10 or so games each time so individual players' form, injuries, luck etc all play much more of a part at international level than they do in the club game. Saying that, it should definitely be in Malky Mackay's job to look at the long term and for that reason a degree of integration between his job and the manager's is essential. The manager is really just a head coach anyway so I don't see much harm in the SFA, through Mackay, having certain stipulations for each squad selection to make sure we are always looking long-term.

I may have read you wrong but it seems like you're writing off 2020 qualification? I think we should be appointing someone now with a view to qualifying for the 2020 Euros. Qualifying for the World Cup is a nightmare but if we make it to the Euros through the usual qualification (doubt it, other than a VERY kind draw) or the Nations League (much more achievable) then the experience, confidence and belief we'll get from that will push us on tremendously. If we don't make 2020 then I don't think we'll get anywhere near the World Cup in 2022 so you'd be looking at 2024 before we have a realistic chance, barring an amazing qualifying draw for 2022.

I'd blame both centre backs before I'd blame Consi for that one. O'Connor gave the ball away and was too slow to get back into positioning. Knowing his mate was out of position, McKenna should've stood off his man rather than getting too tight and leaving a massive space for Stanton to run into. Shinnie also wasn't too great, although Stanton did take a great first touch to take him out the game.

If he's in control of his demons then he's the best centre half in Scotland by a million miles and an incredible signing by Dundee. Unfortunately, the fact he's signed for Dundee is probably a reflection of the faith managers in the championship down south have in him being in control. Hope I'm wrong and that he has a great end to the season, followed by a summer move to Pittodrie

Cmon man, that’s crazy talk. Rangers didn’t get relegated they went bust and their zombie replacement was allowed to start way higher up the pyramid than they should have. That was a massive helping hand for them. While I have no love for the sfa board, regan outlived his usefulness in general and it was long past time for him to go.

Apparently the Chinese window is open until February 28th so we'll find out in a few weeks if there is any substance to these rumours (like fuck there is).

His second goal last night was absolutely typical Rooney and shows why he, and the team, suffered so much from losing McGinn and Hayes at the same time.

I picked Mimms as well. For some reason, watching him at the dons when I was a kid made me want to be a keeper. Got over that notion fairly quickly thankfully.

Seen the picture of this Cosgrove boy? I'm not convinced that it isn't actually Jayden Stockley under an assumed name.

Hope it was a good game

Another striker, particularly one who at the age of 21 appears to have failed to score in 25 appearances in the national leaue and national league north, and once in 8 appearances in League Two, seems unnecessary. Though he'll still be better than Maynard.

We brought in a centre back, centre mid and resigned one of our top players of the last few years. If that's a poor window then you've got some pretty high standards chief.

Whilst it's impossible to argue any differently, I think that, in terms of the prestige of international management, the same could be said for most football associations. Certainly, none of the home nations have their top manager in charge of the national team and haven't had for some time, barring perhaps Allardyce's brief stint at England. Even furthrer afield, the top names want to be managing a club level rather than international so it's no surprise we struggle to attract any exciting names. The prestige of the positions and the draw of your country aren't what they used to be and an up and coming manager, or someone looking to get their career back on track, are probably the best most countries can expect to appoint.

Of the 22 players listed as "1st team" on the club website, six came through the youth system. Surely 25% of your squad being home grown is a decent return, especially since all six have actually contributed this season and aren't just filling jerseys (Harvie excepted maybe)?

Giving any manager, but especially one at international level, full control over an entire set up from the youths upwards is madness. Managers are, by their nature, transient, so clubs and associations should have a system running in the background that continues regardless of who is in charge of picking the squads etc. Now it's obviously highly unlikely that the SFA will make a good job of such a thing but as a general principle they shouldn't be handing a manager full control and it seems like they're already aware of that, with Mackay as performance director overseeing the full set up.

They could do that on a pre contract without giving us a penny.

This might be unlikely but maybe McLean said "show me how much you want me; give the mighty Dons a couple of shekels now and loan me back or I'll hold off signing until June to see if I get any better offers" or words to that effect. Unlikely as I say but can't think of another explanation that makes any sense.

You’ve also got to bear in mind that, generally the higher a fee you pay the more the player will ask for in wages. So shelling out £1m for one player is going to lead to him wanting probably double whatever our current top earner is on and that could lead to all sorts of knock on issues. Until we’re ready to spend a relative fortune on the whole squad, not just one player.

Hull would be a shite move for any young Scottish player with aspirations of doing well in the game. Other than money, there really isn't any appeal as they're a poor team in a poor league and a youngster won't get much time to bed in. Much better staying here for another 2/3 years and seeing where that takes him. If he continues to play regularly for us he'll be in or around the Scotland squad soon enough, which is bound to get him a better move than Hull in time.