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From a FOI request a few years ago. Here was Aberdeenshire Council's proposed sites for the new stadium. Interestingly, there was one next to Kingsford, which made their opposition to Kingsford all the more puzzling.

I've never been comfortable with Aberdeen going into any sort of partnership with the council, and I say that no matter what party is in power. Aberdeen doesn't have a grown up council, either in power or in opposition. It has a collection of idiots who are doing more harm than good to the city. Dave Cormack is gaining nothing from engaging with them. He's being sold an unrealistic dream by the opposition and hitting a brick wall with those in power. It's a shite state of affairs, but honestly, I'd go talk to Aberdeenshire council (who I also don't trust truth be told, but they have in the past suggested various sites for the stadium). Go build it at Portlethen within walking distance of the train station. Next time we win the cup, hold the fucking parade in Inverurie.

From the outside, it looks to me Labour are using Cormack to paint the SNP/Lib Dems in a bad light to win them votes in the next council election. Labour have previously done little to move on Aberdeen's stadium plans and I doubt we'll see any progress once they're back in power.

At the risk of getting carried away... Rangers have two fairly tough away games up next. We could be above them by Saturday night.

Well, I'll give Thelin some credit. He inverted the wing backs more in the second half which meant we were not as overrun in the midfield. It allowed Aouchiche to find space to pick passes, which also brought the likes of Armstrong and Karlsson more into the game (even if the latter at times was a waste of a shirt). But again, it's individuals that have won us the game rather than what we were doing as a team. The goal is Shinnie refusing to give up on the ball, and Keskinen doing what Karlsson doesn't do and looking up to pick out a teammate. And the first half was unforgivable. A better team than Livingston have that game won by half-time.

That goal is why Graeme Shinnie should be our captain forever.

So yeah, let's take off Aouchiche and Armstrong...

One positive I'll say (a crumb of comfort from this shitshow) is that Aouchiche playing in a deeper midfield role is bringing out the best in him. Some very good passes when he finds space. Armstrong has made some good runs in behind, but (back to the negative) Karlsson's refusal to pass the ball means they're being wasted.

We're outnumbered in midfield. At times we pick it up deep and are asking our two midfields to pick passes through a ruck of yellow shirts, which is why we're giving it away so much. Livingston at times are pushing players forward and playing three strikers against our back three, which should mean there's gaps to counter, but we can't even get that going. We're playing two wing backs but they're so deep they're barely in the game. Big half-time from Thelin. If he changes a few personnel but sticks with the same system, it'll be more of the same. I'd put Devlin or Milne into midfield alongside Nilsen and Aouchiche, move Armstrong more central and play two up front.

Aberdeen have just tweeted saying "0-0 as we search for an opener". Really disappointing to see the club account lying to the fans, because at no point today have we done anything of the sort.

When did Livingston sign Jesper Karlsson? Fair play, good signing for them. Creating so much for them.

It's Opta, and they are to blame for having Nilsen at LWB.

I think I've only been to Livingston away once too; a boring 0-0, and all I remember of it was the birth of the Leon Mike song. But like @JuteI do enjoy the two shopping centres next each other. @tlg1903 I thought it was a four at the back when I first saw the line up too, but I think it might be Shinnie at LWB. Aouchiche playing deep alongside Nilsen. I think he's resting Jensen with a view to starting him on Wednesday and resting Lobban.

The numbers for imorn. Cove Rangers would be nice. Would quite fancy Dunfermline away. Stadium we've not been to for a while, nice big away end, and a chance to upset Neil Lennon.

@OrlandoDon where is it you stay and how many of us are allowed to crash at your gaff for the World Cup?

First game this season I'm not looking to. I'm just so bored with this team at the moment. I've a dentist appointment on Wednesday I'm looking forward to more than the Dons game that night. I'll watch if we play this team. Lobban would usually be my first pick but Id be inclined to not overplay him, especially with the number of games we have coming up in December. Nisbet generally plays deep anyway so let him do that, Lazetic and Karlsson central, Clarkson pinging passes for fun.

We have very little link between midfield and attack. Our two midfielders sit really deep - whether that's by accident or design. Our wing backs don't get up the pitch or overlap quick enough. So we build up slowly, then have a line of four players passing to each other while the opposition are very comfortable in their defensive shape. I was looking at the 'average positions' from recent games on the opta stats website (I'm on my phone at the minute and the mobile version of the opta site is chronic, so can't post the graphics). It's noticeable how deep Nisbet generally is as opposed to Lazetic and Karlsson. He essentially plays as a number 10, which he did to great effect last season. But last year - as @RicoS321has just said - he had Gueye to play off of. Karlsson tends to sort of drift, not knowing if he's a striker or inside winger. At the other side, Armstrong or Aouchiche aren't forwards and don't play as such. When Lazetic plays, he plays further forward, but then there's this big gap between him and the midfield so he receives very little of the ball, certainly not in dangerous areas. Our tactics appear to sort of hope he can pull defenders out of position so Karlsson and whoever is on the other side can exploit the space, but it doesn't really happen, especially when playing a three-man defence. There's two options with a front two. Play Nisbet as a 10 and play Karlsson and Lazetic as a front two. Or play similar to Hibs' set up. Three in midfield, meaning two number 8s step up further forward (a role that would suit Armstrong) and allow the front two to move the defence more while the opposition try to cover the extra bodies. It would also allow to press more.

I don't think he's fixed anything from a month ago, despite the relatively positive results. Defensively I'm not sure we have really improved. I think we just have an extra man in there which means by default second balls in our own box are more likely to fall to a red shirt. Midfield - no improvement. Up front is the same. When Thelin first came in, the first thing I noticed was how well we passed the ball in little triangles. We'd play our way out of trouble. It's clearly something worked on every week in training and even now we still look confident in small pockets of space, and our touch and control is generally good. However, that's it. There's no real substance there. I don't see a game plan. I expected us to play long ball, or "long pass" the Swedes describe his play. It was supposed to be quick transitions, soak up pressure and counter. Elfsborg were comfortable without the ball, but would jockey the opposition into areas they couldn't hurt them. None of that describes how we play. It almost seems like we're getting away with things because we do have good individuals (not to be confused with having a good team). In Thelin's post match interviews he talks a good game, identifies all the things we're not good at. But I don't see any evidence of him ever fixing these issues.

Yeah I don't agree Livi is more important. Even if you think the chances of qualifying from the league phase isn't going to happen, based on last season's prize money then just winning tonight earns us £350,000.

Fourth round draw is this weekend, when the cup holders enter to bring the glamour. My mate has organised a stag do for the weekend of the final which is fucking ridiculous planning.

So what was the justification for the extra £5? Some sort of late fee?

Six months since that wonderful day

On 23 November 2024, Aberdeen were 22 points ahead of Hearts. Had Hearts won today, they would have been 22 points ahead of us.