The Oxford Don

This is a thread about the Aberdeen manager.

 

This is a forum for Aberdeen fans. It has a robust off topic section too.

 

If you have nothing constructive to add, just fuck off and die.

 

I'm sure that you might be capable of saying something interesting sometime. I've just never seen it.

 

You would be best advised to return to the hat.

RS - for the avoidance of doubt this bloke and I are not the same person. I’m the one who posts mainly on AFC Chat.

As you were folks...

Late 20s/early 30s is the worst age for being a Dons fan, I reckon - just old enough to remember some great wins (the 9-8 penalty win in the Scottish Cup is one that sticks in my mind particularly) but not to the extent that you were actually able to properly understand or appreciate it. So near, yet so far!

I can relate to that. I just turned 33 and my whole experience of the Dons is one of utter frustration. 12 in 1990 when we last won the cup, and with only vague memories of the cup wins in 84 and 86, the whole of my adult life has been spent watching us get steadily shittier.

I'm not about to just give up, but I couldn't honestly provide any real reasons why not.

Glad the games are over just because I was on the verge of some sort of breakdown with that unbelievably irritating 'Just Can't Get Enough' chant that Shellac have adopted.

A clear contender for most annoying football chant of all time, I'd almost be happier if the Celtic fans stuck to numbers from their more 'traditional' [cough] repertoire.

Shell-shocked sums it up. So much hope and expectation and it had completely evaporated by the 20th minute.

Supporters and players form a symbiosis, they feed off each other. We make noise, noise inspires players, players play well, we create more noise, etc etc.

The fans kept their side of the bargain yesterday and were there in numbers, offering great encouragement and noise before kick-off and up to the third goal. But when #3 went in folk were just stunned into depressed silence.

You can't create noise in a vacuum! We were given nothing to feed off yesterday from the team, who yet again completely shat it in a major match.

I stayed to the end, am not entirely sure why I did, and have absolute sympathy (envy!?) for those more sensible than me who left early.

Good riddance to at least one half of this insane piece of business. As Jute says, if we can magic our way out of the other 50% of this nonsense and get Dicky Aussielager back then so much the better, but by God this is a decent first step in the right direction.

Draw for the next round is on Tuesday afternoon from Hampden, and will be made by Biffy Clyro! 

Close run thing between Tynecastle and Tannadice, but just went for the latter. Great atmosphere and bounce when we score, and of course we seem to have about half the crowd.

Aaaarrrrgggghh!

Oh well, at least we seem to have played ok. Frustrating outcome though.

"Great tackle by Sone Aluko" - WTF? Shome mishtake, shurely? 

A very good, important victory which would be rendered fairly meaningless by losing to Hamilton. Let's hope the boys are plugged-in enough to get 3 points on Wednesday.

V happy for now though! 

The Globes chanted his name at him when he was a sub in an away game at Hamilton when he was warming up on the track in front of us. He was so startled he looked up and then burst out laughing. It was a very warm moment, but you had to be there.

And if it's a draw or Falkirk win?

Then provided Smurn and Killie both also lose/draw (both are away from home) we would still be 5 or 6 points off bottom spot, but with one fewer game to play. This is why it will be difficult for us to go down. I'm not saying it's impossible BTW, just very very unlikely.

We are 5 or 6 points above 3 teams, have to play all 3 teams ourselves and they have to play each other. MASSIVE factor.

Come on - I cannae get my heid round the matchs/points situation - can ye nae go into a bit more details or do some graphs or something - something to help put my mind at ease?

Just think of it as this: the split works in our favour because all teams in the relegation scrap have to face each other. So even if one of Falkirk, Killie or Smurn goes on a 'run' of results, by definition (because of the split) they will do so by taking points off other teams who are already below us! Basically if we beat Falkirk on Saturday we are already virtually safe and only require one point thereafter to make it mathematically so.

This of course is what the split is intended to achieve - having all the teams in the same situation (title, Europe, relegation) playing against each other.

It's very difficult for us to go down because of the split and the 6 point gap which we already have. In fact we need to lose every game and almost every single other fixture would have to go exactly the way we don't want it to. Which is hardly reassuring and it's a farce that we're in this position in the first place, but hey ho.

Even 3 draws SHOULD keep us safe.

But he was a Catholic 

Actually converted to Roman Cafflicism once he'd left office.

Found this 'lovely tribute' -

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0GT1kVTs68&feature=fvw

Fucking hell that video is horrific! I loved this quote from one of the half-wits who posted on it:

God save our Queen? and God save christianity befor the labour party realy fuck us.

I could have sworn that one of the reasons why politics is so fucked in this country is precisely because the previous Labour Prime Minister had a major Christ-related hard-on. I've been wrong before, mind.

I'm in! I'm in! I'm actually going to this game!

Does anyone like me yet!? Does ANYONE LIKE ME?

My God I'm so alone.

The Gothenburg Stadium, and invite IFK across for an exhibition match when we open the fucker. Simples. 

Its absolutely the sensible position to take up at present. Remember that the guys that are being held up as examples of our apparent restrictions on wages are high earners who are long in the tooth. They are absolutely prime candidates for cost cutting, large outlay for little return. ROI ratings are poor on these guys at present.

 

If the management are in any way on their game then they will be putting everything on hold right now and concentrating all energy on landing this bitch of a season with minimal damage.

Agreed. I also think that if the rumours about our financial restraints are true then Calderwood might just bugger off of his own accord. He hardly has a great track record of hanging around once the money's gone.

Smith and Severin need to get punted anyway. Contributed nothing between them for a very, very long time.

I would say he's bang on, neutrals will view the protesters as fantasists who are living in the 80's and the protest was a pathetic display of strength by those who want the club to wilfully piss money up against the wall by sacking a manager who's less than 1 year into a 3 year contract.

Neutrals??? Define 'neutral' - do you mean 'non-Dons fans' or do you mean 'Dons fans who are neutral about whether Calderwood stays or goes'?

If you mean the former - really couldn't give a fuck what they think, we know that we're not living in an 80s fantasy land, it's just a shame that lots of Scottish media commentators can't be bothered doing the extra bit of research required to understand this (in absolute fairness, however, the comments in the media have been much more supportive of digrsuntled Aberdeen fans, post-Dunfermline, than I was expecting, particularly Spiers in the Times and Grant in the Sunday Herald).

If you mean the latter - frankly, any AFC fan who could accuse another of "living in an 80s fantasy" simply because they're pissed off with the way things are at the moment would be beneath contempt. So I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt... 

That article is a complete fucking joke and contains a standard of journalism that would embarrass a 15 year-old on work experience. The only decent thing about it is the comment posted immediately below - take a bow 'Granitecity', whoever you might be:

Here we go again with another old chestnut from an uninformed media man. No Aberdeen fan is living in an 80's fantasy world we ALL KNOW we will never recreate those days but is it too much to give the Dons fans a wee bit of a right to demand a half decent team playing half decent football consistently and beating Queens Park, QoS, Dunfermnline in the cups and not struggle and get beat by Hamilton x 2, Caley, Falkirk and over the last 2 seasons we have regularly been outplayed by every SPL team even Gretna. Just how much resources do you need to carry out that task. Stop trotting out tired old statements aimed at us fans who watch the dire performances week in week out.

Getting spanked 4-1 at Easter Rd in a Scottish Cup replay. Rarely have I felt so down after a match, because that Hibs team was fucking gash. 

Going 5 games without conceding a goal at the start of his first season in charge, and restoring our belief that we could be competitive again after the disasters of Skovdahl and Paterson.

5th, behind an awful Hearts team and a half-decent UTD team (I can see the Arabs pinching third TBH - and oddly enough I'd be happier about that than if the Yamboids get it).

Oooft! No holds barred there.

A good piece and a good read - hard to disagree with much (or indeed any) of that. The silence from Pittodrie over the last few days has been defeaning; I'd have at least expected by now the usual platitudinous pish about "standing by our manager at this difficult time", but no, not a cheep.