Panda

To be fair, was very bad timing to post it at the exact same time Clarkson was playing (or, on the bench at least) against that team. Wasn't the smartest decision really as conspiracy theorists would all be trying to work out if there was a hidden meaning behind it. But, Clarkson wasn't the one who posted it so not really his fault, and he looked more than happy for Bilalovic when he scored, so it's a bit of nothing. He will leave as a Scottish Cup hero, and will likely sign for a club down south so probably won't face us in opposition. Cheers min, but don't let the kid grow up as a Celtic fan, much more fashionable and enjoyable to support the Dons.

My theory is that Cormack wants the whole back room structure sorted; coaching, academy. Basically a whole DNA - pathway to first team, pathway for coaches to step up too. This whole "three year project" is more about Thelin leaving a legacy on the club, an imprint. That's why he has backed Thelin a hell of a lot more than Glass, Goodwin or Robson because they weren't offering that. And I think results wise, Thelin winning the cup and banking £6m+ from Europe, that was probably ahead of schedule - the club likely were aiming for that in his second or third season. It would also explain why Thelin doesn't feel the need to throw in Bilalovic and Kjartansson. I think he's quite happy to develop these guys and have the next manager enjoy the fruits of his labour. Like I said, just a theory. If he gets sacked next week, someone delete this.

How impressive was it though? I did say I didn't think our performances are much better than they were prior to those 10 games. The last two games have shown how fragile we still are. The reality is, for a club that has spent the money we have, the last time we beat one of the division's top sides over 90 minutes, and coupled it with a really good performance, was Hibs in April. We beat Hearts this season, but I think we all admitted on the match thread we weren't great and rode our luck a fair bit. St Mirren away was a decent result, but had our fair share of luck there with VAR, and they are a bottom six side anyway. The impressive performances have been against Dundee and Kilmarnock, teams that - with respect - we should be miles ahead of. Since that Hibs win in April, it took us another 11 games to win another league game. And Hibs have been back to Pittodrie and utterly dominated us since then. That's regression rather than progress. The next two games are huge. Not for the result, but if we go to Easter Road and get a chasing then what the hell have we been doing since April?

That sounds about right. They said they had only 500 tickets were left five days ago, and they've opened up the ticket exchange so fans can sell their tickets.

Who in the league would you swap him with? I still think he's the best goalkeeper in the Premiership, his confidence is rocked just now and yeah, a few too many mistakes are happening - potentially it's a mental thing, just a bit of weariness, and I wouldn't be against Sumans getting a game or two just to let Mitov sit a couple out. However, I think he absolutely should still be our first choice goalkeeper. Best we've had for years.

I think he probably deserves at least the January transfer window, and it'll be the first with a sporting director. And if you're giving him that, then you're essentially giving him until April, unless the form becomes terrible again. I do have my doubts now. Some really poor decision making coming from Thelin; namely I don't think he's used the squad well enough this season, and I think the tactics are wrong. But I have not lost faith with him the same way I did with Goodwin and Robson. We're in December, we no longer have the European games, and there's still a lot to play for - third is still very much there, and should we be any less confident about winning the cup than we were at this stage last season? So I'm still backing him for now, but a bit pissed off with him.

He's made a poor pass, it's a mistake, and it's something many players do (Milne did it in midweek, Keskinen/Lobban both combined to gift the first goal). The saves he made kept us in the name. He's still a very good goalkeeper. But that's on Thelin. Karlsson shouldn't have played 90 minutes in midweek. Aouchiche played 86 minutes. Shinnie being on the bench while a young inexperienced player in Lobban started contributed to how things went.

Yep. We absolutely haven't learned anything from Thursday. The same tactics and game plan, and on both occasions fortunate to only concede three.

He would suit a back four where he can sit in front of it, and then Aouchiche and Armstrong could play further forward and link up with the front three. Only positive from today is Bilalovic is this generation's Zoltan Varga.

Yeah, I suppose the 9-0 defeat probably still edges it To be honest, I'm beginning to doubt if he's even real.

A shocker of a performance. Playing 5-4-1 yet still being easy to play through is astonishing. The way we were set up in the first half, Lobban, Jensen, Karlsson and Keskinen were barely in the game. It was like seven v eleven before the red card. Mitov - howler for the red card, but some huge saves in the second half to keep us in it, let's not forget that. Milne, up until the mistake for Tierney's goal, was okay. Off the bench, Gyamfi, Shinnie, Kjartansson and Bilalovic all did well. Apart from that, Armstrong and Aouchiche guilty of trying to take Celtic on themselves at times (although, they didn't always have a lot of passing options). And the five at the back just invited Celtic onto us.

Once again, five at the back is doing nothing for us, because we just pass it in a horizontal line, they press us, and we have no-where to go. If you actually get at Celtic they don't look that great at the back, we were playing this pathetic passing out from the back, knocking it along our back line, and losing the ball before it gets close to the halfway line. And now with 10 men.

That goal has been coming because we're getting caught in possession and have no-one to pass to. Keskinen has to go back the way, Lobban receives it in a horrible position, and Maeda - like I knew he would - just kills us down the left. We're beating ourselves here.

That Celtic line-up is (on paper, and pre-match while my optimism is still at relatively normal levels) is as poor a side as I can remember facing at Parkhead. One recognised centre half, in between Ralston and a Tierney who isn't the player he was. Yang, who was one of Aberdeen's best players in the cup final. And Kenny, who isn't even close to the level of striker you expect Celtic to have. Maeda, McGregor and Engels the only players in that team to worry about. Fuck it, it's a winnable game for Aberdeen, get at them.

Results (domestically) have picked up since this thread was last active, but not sure we're much more convincing than we have been at any other stage of the season. Next five games:- I would love to come up at the other end of these with a good tally of points, but that's four away games there, at least three at tough venues, and I can't say I'm confident about winning any of them. At least two of them though are after all our new January signings arrive...