Panda

Well I do work at the same place Craig Levein does... Edit at 12:03: But on this occasion I was attempting a rather shit April Fools

Robson has said Hayden Coulson won't play after this week's events. Formation wise, I wonder if we'll go back to a back three. It's how we finished against United and how we played v Hearts. I'd like to see Watkins start but I imagine after having a good international break (goal and assist I think) then Miovski will keep his place.

Agnew apparently told the club he's open to staying should Robson land the job permanently. On Liam Fox, although he's not a manager, he is a highly rated coach. Actually a good appointment I'd say. The news that disturbs me is that Craig Levein met with Alan Burrows this week and is set to join the Football Monitoring Board.

I think if Robson does well then he's in a no-lose situation. Either he gets the Aberdeen job permanently, or another club will pick him up. Hard to see Billy Dodds staying at Inverness beyond the end of the season for example. Robson an ex-player, it's still relatively close to the north-east. If he's not getting the Aberdeen job then that would be a plausible move. Or Dundee United if Goodwin doesn't stay. For Aberdeen, it means they have a manager in place now with the option to extend it. I would have preferred they had just made it permanent as there's still an uncertainty over the role, but it is what it is. Now go do enough to get the job permanently Robbo.

Don't know what's worse. Failing to make a dog pun or the weird way you've written 22nd. You're one sick puppy.

Could be one of those weekends that changes the course of history (bit dramatic maybe, or is it?). Aberdeen and Hearts both have terrible away records. On paper, we have similar challenges this weekend - us away to Saints, them away to Killie. We win, they don't, then we're right behind them and Neilson will be under severe pressure. However, they win and we don't, all the good work from beating them is gone and certain Danish managers called Jess will continue to see us as a chaos club. McInnes, you owe us one lad after lumbering us with Funso Ojo.

I think that would be really disrespectful to Robson and he would likely tell them to gtf, and quite right too. He's managed for six games, won four of them, had the team scoring three goals in three of them, beaten two direct rivals for a European place and won away from home. So what would we be hoping for from another four games? Just to make absolutely sure it wasn't all a fluke? And then if he does well in those we give him another five after the split just to make extra, extra sure it's not a fluke? If the club have someone lined up that they can't get until summer, or they feel they might get in summer (Chris Wilder perhaps considering he's only on a short-term deal at Watford) then that's the only reason to give it to Robson until summer only. Other than that, show the boy some respect and either appoint him or don't.

Aye, 2068 is when the stadium is being delivered and the 8,000 capacity in order to save costs will make getting a ticket difficult.

Come on McInnes, time to do your old club a favour. Beat Hearts, then send the reserves up to Pittodrie the following week. Edit: Reserves and Ash Taylor

According to Robson on the radio pre-match he had been ill all week.

Experience isn't just gained by managing. And just how "inexperienced" is Robson? He's played at a high level. He's played under many managers and will have taken many things in. Played under pressure at big clubs and Scotland. Has played for Aberdeen. Has coached at Aberdeen. Knows the club and area inside out. Has worked with McInnes, Glass and Goodwin and saw up close what was working and what wasn't, and likely won't repeat the same mistakes. He has an experienced assistant alongside him. He's been in interim charge now for several weeks and has shown he can handle it. If he's not ready to be a manager now then he never will be. Everyone's first club doesn't necessarily have to be a small club. Mikel Arteta is doing okay in his first job.

Aye, playing Clarkson deep has been a masterstroke from Robson. It frees up Ramadani to go and chase down loose balls and put pressure on players. Hearts never had time to think in midfield today, we forced them to play at a pace that they didn't want to.

Watkins did more in his time on the pitch than Miovski. I'd start him next game, let's see what he can do.

Club need to make a decision next week. Either new manager or Robson in charge at least until the split. It's not fair on him and also means we're not doing any forward planning ahead of next season. Four wins out of six, and not just scrappy wins either, we blew Hearts away in the first half today and could have had much more than three. For me, unless a name emerges that makes me change my mind, I don't think you can make the case for someone else now unless they have an exceptional CV. For example, how could you make the case for Ricky Rodriguez based on him having an attacking philosophy and a questionable league record with Urawa - Robson has six goals in the last two, coupled with no goals conceded from open play in our last three. Is that not what we're looking for from a new manager? Come on Cormack/Burrows. Let's make the Robson & Agnew era permanent.

Hearts fans chanting Neilson must go, and he got an earful at full-time. I've said it all season - Hearts are a bang average side who have taken advantage of Hibs & ourselves being poor. Miovski apart I thought everyone had an excellent game. Clarkson showed a side of himself we hadn't seen before, throwing himself into every challenge. He was my MOTM closely followed by McCrorie and Duk.

Our prices compared to Hibs (below). The AberDNA prices make Aberdeen's look good, but of course it doesn't include the price of actually having DNA. A season ticket in the centre of the Main Stand at both stadiums is £110 more expensive at Pittodrie at full price. I think our tickets are too expensive personally. No wonder Hibs (and Hearts, who last season were cheaper than Hibs) are growing their home support quicker than ours.

You're not the only one.

Think you underestimate how bitter I can get.

I think we all know Aberdeen are going to finish third and have our guaranteed group stage place taken away by Inverness or Falkirk winning the cup. That would put the seal on season 22-23.

Any team that beats Darvel deserves to win the cup. That Caley/Falkirk semi at Hampden is going to be like the covid season.

Aye but they're still being successful at the top of the tree. Mourinho is still being linked with top clubs (PSG & Chelsea in the past 12 months) so it's not comparable to my original point, which was that Barry Robson essentially going off the radar by managing in the lower divisions won't actually help him that much, in the same way it's not doing Paul Hartley much good. It's about turning them into winners though. And also made him the first manager to win all three of the current European trophies. If he lands the Europa League & finishes top four, no-one can doubt he's still the special one.

Sorry to be that guy, but you couldn't have picked two worse examples. Rory McIlroy was last year's Race to Dubai winner (pretty big deal in golf) and finished in the top 5 in three of last year's Majors, and top 10 in all of them. "Golf fans still view him as possibly the best in the world because they remember what he has done in the past." He's ranked third in the world based on current achievements, so there's no sentimentality going on, he is up there as one of the best in the world. Mourinho has won Roma their first trophy in 14 years and could still win this season's Europa League and secure Champions League qualification for the first time in five years through the league, which was Roma's aim at the start of the season. They both have nothing in common with Paul Hartley.

I was going to start this thread last week, then thought I'd wait and see if there was any movement on the manager front. But here we are with the growing possibility that Robson will still be in charge. Win and we're four points off third and it's game on in the race for the Europa League spot. Lose and it's a 10 point gap and surely over. A draw doesn't do us any good either. I'm heading up for it, and despite being at Aberdeen games at Tynecastle frequently, the last Dons/Hearts game at Pittodrie I made it to was the 2-0 Scottish Cup win in 2010. Team - I wouldn't be against the same one that beat Livi & Dundee United, although maybe drop Ryan Duncan just because of the size of the fixture and he's not been great in the past two games. Perhaps time to start Watkins and put him up against Stephen Kingsley, who recently has looked a shadow of the player he was last season. Hearts have a lot of injuries so we're getting them at a good time, but I suspect Robbie Neilson will be cautious and quite content with a point so could be a horrible game. After this it's yet another two-week wait for a game. Thankfully we've got loads of enthralling manager chat to keep us going.

I disagree. Those clubs would require him to perform miracles to get a sniff of a top job. Morton, maybe, and it's a big maybe at that, he might get them to the Premiership, but just keeping them up would be a stunning achievement. Our fingers have been burnt with appointing Goodwin based on getting St Mirren close to the top six and beating some big teams while on a good run. So Robson would probably need to hope a Motherwell or Kilmarnock took a punt on him, maybe a Dundee United if he's lucky, then he would need to be smashing it out of the park with them before being considered by Aberdeen. That sounds like a very slow, arduous journey where a few bad months and the sack somewhere could see his reputation in tatters. Paul Hartley - once tipped to be a future Aberdeen or Hearts manager - is essentially at a backwater in Cove (I get the oxymoron there) after Dundee didn't go to plan, then Hartlepool after slightly restoring his reputation. Not only that, but Robson is not going to be learning off Steve Agnew at Morton. Even if Robson doesn't get the manager's job, he's too highly thought of at Aberdeen to be told U18s is all he's ever going to get. I expect he'll be first team coach at worst, unless we appoint a manager who insists on his own backroom team. If that happens, wouldn't surprise me to see Robson pitch up as a coach at a big club in England, perhaps if Agnew gets a job and takes him with him.

Does managing at a lower League club prepare you for the Aberdeen manager's job? If so, why aren't we looking at the lower leagues - where's the Dougie Imrie or Lee Bullen chat? And if Robson went to Dundee United and brought them success, we'd be paying six to seven figure sums to get him back here. He's got coaching experience, had a storied playing career, knows the club, has set up the philosophy going forward for all the young players coming through, and with Steve Agnew he has bundles of experience to rely on. Barry Robson would be less of a risk than Ricardo Rodríguez, who has likely never set foot in Scotland. If they team up together, great, if Agnew stays too we'll have a very interesting management team. But if I had to pick between the two of them I'd pick Robson. That said, I don't think Rodríguez is number one choice. Another name might emerge over the next few days.