Panda

I get Sparta had a similar formation to us, but once again we played three at the back when we really didn't need to. 

All three at the back really does for us is give us an extra man when teams throw in crosses. But on nights like tonight, we can't hold onto the ball, and the way Sparta played meant any 'advantage' of having an extra man was lost.

As much as they are struggling at the moment, Celtic will play a similar way on Sunday, and Wilfried Nancy will absolutely have Maeda and Hatate cutting inside and finding the space to get shots away.

5 minutes ago, Brochred said:

YAAAS Rapid Vienna own goal takes us to 2nd bottom

Successful European campaign imo

55 minutes ago, Panda said:

We're becoming very predictable. Name the wrong line-up, fix it at half-time. 

Thelin mixed it up tonight by not fixing anything at half-time.

12 minutes ago, OneBrianIrvine. said:

 

I know a few folk get a piss up abroad but honestly I’d sooner be in the league cup group stage.

 

I get tonight is a tough watch, but overall Europe has been good for us. Four games where we have played relatively well in, we've banked £6m, and by qualifying we've attracted a few players.

But, for those who don't enjoy it, be encouraged that if we do qualify next season, it'll likely all be done and dusted by the end of August.

We're becoming very predictable. Name the wrong line-up, fix it at half-time. 

Clarkson being hung out to dry in an unfamiliar position. Karlsson not suited for any game where we have to be disciplined. Outnumbered in midfield.

Worryingly, Sparta look a better side than AEK Athens.

Clarkson said on the Dons social video yesterday that he would be playing Football Manager on the flight over to Prague, and was playing as Aberdeen.

Clearly Thelin is not going to accept him thinking he can do the job better than him. Probably pipes up every 20 minutes to announce Ambrose has just scored a hat-trick in a 7-3 win over Motherwell.

He should have played as Torino and tried Serie A.

NB: Nilsen said he would be writing poems on the flight over, which sounds lovely, but he's not playing either, so they must either be shit or all about Thelin.

Be interesting to see the midfield set up. Is it the normal two in the middle and front three - and if so, who is stepping into the front three?

Or, is it a three-man midfield with Karlsson and Nisbet as a front two? I'd like that, and tonight would be the time to experiment with it.

4 hours ago, tom_widdows said:

Can see him making his way to Dingwall

Edit: Just realised you were taking about Yogi

My immediate worry would be Peter Leven being courted for the Kilmarnock job. 

Looking at who is in our European squad, happy for this to be the team. 
 

If Gyamfi isn't fit, then play Clarkson or Palaversa at LWB for shits and giggles, and play Nilsen in the middle. Or play Jensen and play Shinnie at LWB v Celtic. A shame Bilalovic isn't in the Euro squad because would have been a nice run out for him.

Go enjoy yourself lads, Prague should be nice this time of year. But it's all about another Glasgow win over Celtic on Sunday.

3 hours ago, dons8321 said:

Maybe you just need an appointment with Specsavers.

To be fair, the RedTV commentary team initially credited the goal to Lazetic too, so the loyal armchair fans are blameless for this mess.

2 hours ago, Jupiter said:

I see the BBC can't be bothered showing highlights of our game tonight.

It's on tomorrow night chief. The license fee doesn't cover four Sportscenes in a row.

27 minutes ago, The.Moog said:

I’ve heard something about what happened behind the scenes wi Clarkson (at the joot game at Tannadice), but I’m nae sure fit the rules are on here about spreading club gossip, even from a decent source, so dinna want to overstep.

Donstalk has some excellent legal representation so they'll be able to fight any lawsuit.

29 minutes ago, Jormungandr said:

Onybody else reminded o Hannibal Lecter by thon Karlsson?

More Percy from the Green Mile vibes for me.

I think that's the first time Celtic have lost two cup finals in the same calendar year since 1984, when they also lost the Scottish Cup final to Aberdeen.

By the way, we have far too many players who look like each other when watching on the telly.

Lazetic-Bilalovic.

Jensen-Karlsson

Milne-Polvara

Too many times today I praised/criticised the wrong player. It's another issue Pfannenstiel needs to sort out.

Not for the first time, Thelin names the wrong line up, but makes the changes which turn the game.

Nisbet did nothing until Lazetic came on, and then he was everywhere for the last 20 minutes. Shinnie brilliant. Bilalovic is raw, but very good. 

Aouchiche - get that £1.5m paid. Lovely player. 

This is not a game for three at the back. We've got an extra passing option in our own half which we don't need, and it means we're short when going forward.

Case in point: Jensen gets the ball wide. Fans screaming at him to pass but he's no options, so has to wait for Karlsson to come to him. He makes the pass and Karlsson then is wide with no-where to go, so he has to wait for Jensen to then overlap him. 

We like to double up down the sides but Killie are wise to it so crowd us out. We are constantly having to pass backwards and inevitably towards our back three.

@OrlandoDon pal, see if I go to the Brazil game, I fancy popping along to see the Kennedy Space Centre while in that part of the world.

Apparently there's no public transport and the tour buses take like two hours. Any chance you could just give me a lift?

4 hours ago, TheDonbytheDee said:

You would think that Cormack would be willing to say how much would be needed to build the stadium

To be fair to him, he has. His last estimate was £80m.

The club need to do a feasibility study to get an accurate cost of building at the beach, but the club's issue is they keep spending money on feasibility studies that then prove useless because the prospect of building the stadium soon goes.

Ie, they did one for Loirston, then the council decided they wanted a school on part of the land instead. Then they did one for Kingsford, only for the council to approach them about the beach. Now the council have been saying up until now they aren't putting any money in towards the stadium, so the club are asking why they should spent any money on the project.

2 hours ago, Jupiter said:

Still never going to happen

It might not, but something has to happen. Pittodrie won't stay standing forever.

* Upgrade Pittodrie (likely with a smaller capacity)

* Build at the beach

* Build at Kingsford

* Build elsewhere

One of those things will happen.

21 minutes ago, tlg1903 said:

Indeed, that sounds positive.  

Oh I was being sarcastic.

I'll wait and see what comes of this before getting excited about anything.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5yddkkl0wdo
 

Well that's nice, I guess.

As for the team, Armstrong sacrificed as a front man, but will be interesting to see if him and Aouchiche can work together in the middle. Keskinen has probably earned a start.

That's two or three times now that Aberdeen's social media fella has interview Shinnie ahead of a European game, got him to say how excited he is about playing in it, only got the poor fella to be on the bench.

21 minutes ago, TheDonbytheDee said:

We should be calling out Cormack for even suggesting moving OUR club outside the city boundaries. 

But he's trying to keep it in the city, and seems a lot more keen on it staying there than the council are.

If, ultimately, he can't get the council to agree to help, then he has to look elsewhere. Pittodrie is not going to stand forever, and any upgrades are going to reduce the capacity.

If Aberdeenshire council approached him and offered him the same deal he's trying to get the city council to take, then would we turn that down?

Many Aberdeenshire sites are practically the city anyway. Like I posted on the previous page of this thread, back in 2012 the club were offered a range of Aberdeenshire sites in Portlethen, Balmedie, Blackdog, Blackburn and Westhill. Blackdog especially, you may as well just call it Bridge of Don.

2 hours ago, Panda said:

We didn't bring the guy on just to he a stop gap for a year. 

This should say "We didn't bring the guy in just to be a stop gap for a year."

Apologies to anyone affected.

I am again asking for this forum to employ a proofreader.