Panda

Campbell in today's Daily Record saying he hopes his form at Stevenage might still earn him a new contract at Aberdeen. According to soccerbase, since his Aston Villa goal he's made just three very late substitute appearances. St the very least he needs to be starting games down there to be getting a new deal here. But, you know, if it's Robson who gets the job permanently he might be thinking he knows how to get the best out of Campbell.

Not that I want John Hughes at Aberdeen - but where is the "Hughes hates Aberdeen" stuff coming from? One memory I had of him was after the 2014 final, I waited outside the main stand to see the team come out with the trophy and Hughes came out first and was very gracious, congratulating everyone. I don't think he has it in him to hate anyone.

At those odds it'll still worth £2...

It be took me less than two hours to make Felipe Martins the fifth favourite for the job...

Filipe Martins is doing a sterling job with Casa Pia in the Portuguese league. Despite being minnows they are sixth in the table - just two points off a European place. I reckon if I were to message the bookies, ask for odds on him, place a bet on him, message a few pals and say I've heard whispers we've spoken to him and they should stick a cheeky fiver on him, then I could get him in the running for the Aberdeen job by this time tomorrow.

Excellent article here from Thomas Duncan. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/64585496

Think we can safely assume McBookie have no idea who the next Aberdeen manager will be.

Behave you. Leanne's a good egg.

Falkirk 2-0 up on Darvel. Are you watching Jim Goodwin?

I'm fucking fed up of the Darvel love-in, so hope Falkirk take at least three off them tonight. However, Darvel v Ayr would be tasty. Some cup run for Ayr. They've played Pollock, Cove, Elgin and now the winner of Darvel/Falkirk. If only we had drawn an easy team like Da.....oh.

Well that's helpful. To be fair was he not originally a centre midfielder who has been converted into a centre half?

A 17 year old centre half would get ragdolled by 90% of the forwards in the Premiership. Jack Milne (who is a few years older at 20) is likely to be the next centre half to step up but we've sent him out on loan. He might get his chance next season.

Which youngsters do you have in mind? I'm all for giving youth a chance (McInnes sacking led to Ramsay & Mackenzie being introduced) but let's not forget we're in a four-way fight to finish fourth and qualify for Europe.

Right enough, it is a two-game ban for McCrorie In that case then maybe Mackenzie in for Scales being the only change if Robson sticks with three at the back. Although a back four with an extra man in midfield might not be too bad an idea. Problem is we're not blessed with natural full-backs, or at least ones able to defend.

Everyone is obviously scared to talk about this one! Hard to guess how we'll set up as Barry Robson - in his two spells as caretaker boss - is yet to manage a game away from home. With him very much under the microscope from the Football Monitoring Board (), does he just play it safe and try and avoid a hiding, or does he take a risk and try be adventurous knowing that a positive attacking performance would boost his case enormously. It'll actually be really intriguing to see and I'm looking forward to this one despite the horrible record v Celtic. Was hoping to go, but having to work now as the boss is off to Spain and we're short staffed. I suspect we'll stick closely to the formation that started v St Mirren and Motherwell. That would mean McCrorie into a back three. Personally I'd prefer him at RWB with Mackenzie in. Can't see any other changes - Coulson a good attacking option off the bench with Hayes likely to start for experience.

Looking increasing likely Robson will get the next three games:- Celtic away Livingston home Dundee United away The Livi & United games especially are huge - a defeat in either would be really damaging. A minimum of four points is a must, ideally six, and any more than that from the three games would definitely cement Robson until summer. After those three there's a two-week break due to the Scottish Cup, we play Hearts at home on the 18th, then there's another two week international break. So for Robson or any new manager coming in they'd have loads of time on the training ground, pick up the customary three points at home to Hearts, some more time to work at Cormack Park before launching into a big April and May. Have some concerns over Robson maybe being inexperienced, but quite happy to see what him & Agnew can do until summer if they can show something in these next three games, and the management "team" at least look more experienced than Glass/Russell, and arguably more than Goodwin/Sharp.

To be fair, Wilder welcomed the approach and spoke - either directly or indirectly through an agent - with the club, so there was some interest there. That all said, Sun reporting tonight he's pulled out of the race. Not a huge loss as I'd struggle to trust someone who spent £20m on Oli McBurnie.

Nipped over to Tynecastle to see Fiorentina when they played Hearts. Was disappointed with their away support (and Lazio's when they played Celtic). Neither hold a candle to the noise and colour generated by the Torino support at Pittodrie in 93. However, might be heading to the Coppa Italia final in May, which could have Fiorentina in it after Cremonese did them an almighty favour by knocking out Napoli and Roma.

Hayden Coulson has signed a new contract with Middlesbrough, so we can rule out a permanent deal for him. Edit: Beaten to it by Jute.

Inter winning a good result for Roma & Lazio as keeps Milan behind them. The two Rome clubs in the Champions League together, and Napoli as champions, would really be something after the traditional Northern domination.

I actually explained why in an earlier post on this thread. Clearly, having a link to either of the Old Firm doesn't hinder their ability to be a football manager. My point was that the new man has to be someone who - if not universally, then at least a very large majority - are excited about and right behind from day one. You bring in Neil Lennon, Paul Lambert, David Martindale or - considering they've both thrown their hats into the ring - John Hughes or Charlie Adam, then you're going to have the support split again like they were with Glass & Goodwin, and a huge section just waiting for the manager to fail so they can say "I told you so". As an aside, McInnes took plenty of stick for his Rangers leanings, as did Calderwood. Robson it's a bit different as he's an Aberdeen boy, one of our own really like Shinnie. But I don't want anyone from within Scotland, whether they're linked to the Old Firm or not. I want a fresh face in from elsewhere with a good track record, with Robson and Agnew as part of his management team.

Robson saying post-match he doesn't know if he'll be in charge for the Celtic game, will need to speak to the board. I would like Robson to be assistant manager with Agnew also staying on the coaching staff. But fear it's still too big a job just yet for him full-time, would be another Stephen Glass situation where you can see some good things but maybe that lack of experience at times just comes to the fore. In hindsight Glass maybe should have been assistant to someone else & been groomed for the role - he could have been getting it at the end of this season if he had that sort of plan in place. An experienced and exciting foreign* coach coming in to work with Robson/Agnew would be my preferred choice. *foreign as in not currently related to Scottish football. Let's get someone in with no links to the old firm, no baggage from previous times in Scotland, and someone with a good track record we can all be excited about.

I was annoyed as soon as I got to the word "Clancy".

Don't think it'll be going anywhere unfortunately. They are trialling at the club World Cup having fans at home & in the stadium hear the referee explain why he's changed his mind if VAR intervenes. It's only happened once so far and the ref, who had originally given a penalty, just said "changed to a free-kick and red card for denying a goal scoring opportunity". So not the most detailed explanation, but will be interesting to see how it goes. Dunno if it'll do much to change terrible decisions mind you. Likewise, rugby referees have been given a directive to speed up play in the Six Nations. Basically been told they should only be using VAR if it's a clear and obvious mistake. For me, the main gripes are the handball rule, and the offside rule. That's not really on VAR, it's just spotting it more. Surely we can tell the difference between a deliberate handball that has given the offender an advantage, and it brushing someone's elbow. Likewise, if someone's knee is offside I really don't care. If it's not an obvious offside, play on.

No idea how we're playing as relying on red Tv commentary today which has consisted of long spells of silence then the co-comms saying "go on, that's it, well done" which isn't the most descriptive commentary I've ever heard. I had Duk first goal and 3-0 at 50/1 so devastated at the penalty award.