RicoS321

I'm very glad that I can watch the Dons most weeks and then switch off to all other football (Scotland aside). I do watch the occasional game on the telly (rarely a whole game), mainly the BBC Friday night championship, but there's not a single game in any competition that I feel I must watch. I often think that people (colleagues etc, rather than folk on here) think that I'm pretending when I say I couldn't care less about English football or champions league pish. Because I'm a football fan, I must automatically be attracted to the biggest league or tournaments (I do watch international tournaments, it still holds some enjoyment for now). They'll reel off some name of some famous English based player, and I genuinely won't have a clue who they're talking about. With this world club pish, I have no idea what it is and who it involves (I have some idea, but it's guesswork based on the name and your post). Football mirrors the rest of the world in that it views quantity as progress. More games, more money, bigger transfer fees, fitter players, stronger players etc etc. It's safe to say that football hasn't progressed at all in the last 35 years (bookended by two famous cup wins). It's just that the measures of progress are abstract and hollow, and have absolutely nothing to do with what sport means and its enjoyment. Hopefully this shite will be the tipping point* that starts the much needed collapse of the game (again, mirroring society). The saturation point reached. *alongside VAR of course

Surely it can't be long until they ruin this tournament? How about an East of Scotland league format, where each of the 16 teams plays one another four times. West of Scotland just plays three times because their side is rainier. With the scum playing each other twice in a separate "Champions" division. Winners from East division play each of the West division top four a further seven times (and vice versa), with the top three from both sections merging with the top two in the champions division to setup the quarter finals. Those quarter finals will take place on a Tuesday at midnight to suit Yemeni television - with whom the SFA have signed a lucrative deal said to be worth in the region of 1M Yemeni Rials. The winners will proceed to the semi finals, but not before the losers go through the Plate path, where there's a second chance for those clubs to play for the Scottish Plate. After last year's debacle, ticket allocation for the final will go through a fairer route, with allocation calculated based on proximity to Hampden. The closer you're home ground is to Hampden, the larger the allocation - last season's Scottish cup would have seen a far fairer 97% allocation for Celtic for example. This method will also be used to decide a winner in case of a draw, rather than the ridiculous lottery of a penalty shootout.

Decent game. Keskinen played well, although I thought he should have read the situation better for their equaliser, but he had run himself into the ground for ninety minutes, so maybe a bit harsh. Couple of the Finnish lads looked good.

I remember there was a bit of hype when he first came on the scene in Norway, it'll be interesting to see who Farji has come.

It's very clearly Miovski politely saying that he won't be coming to Aberdeen anytime soon. He worked very hard between his first and second season at the Dons and came back twice the player. I hope he does the same for Girona. I'd like to see him being the best player he can be, and I don't think he does that here.

Maybe give Hirst five minutes...

I didn't watch the first half, but Hirst is basically Chris Martin to date. Good that he should be given an opportunity with Adams, which would likely be the best possible setup to accomodate him, to finally prove that he's pish. The biggest problem with Hirst is that he doesn't do the big lad bit well enough (like Chris Martin). Dykes (and Simon Murray, I should add) do it well because he is aggressive and plays on the edge, which is what we need. Hirst is too passive for international fitba, even if he is playing well at club level. Arguably so is Adams, but he brings pace and workrate. Hirst is just average across the board, is English, and plays in England. Bowie looks a decent prospect. Would be interesting to see what he can add. Inconsistency at club level is fine at his age.

A much better balance to it than on Friday I'd suggest. A back four for a start. The front two is what we should be going with at home against teams like Iceland. Miller and Gilmour sitting, with two from McGinn, Ferguson and McTominay the right choice.

He doesn't sound very good at football.

Yep, guys like Simon Murray. In fact, we should have fielded an SPFL Scottish select team. Would give players in the SPFL a chance they might never get otherwise, and showcase some of the leagues players. Reckon they could have gone out and got a draw, unlike the useless cunts who turned up. Doohan Devlin Souttar Findlay Taylor/Penrice Shinnie Barron Cameron Keskinen Murray Shankland

Legend for Aberdeen, best keeper in the league, completely overlooked for the national side. As soon as he joins the Tims, Clarke calls him up straight away. Disgusting.

This would be one of the best made up stories I've read. Good work.

Mate in the know suggested it might be New Zealand international, Nevin Kisbet.

Ah, that makes sense. Maybe we should consider coaxing Winters out of retirement for the Liechtenstein game.

Aye, that'd be correct. Slicker is the obvious choice, because he came through the u21s, and nobody expected him to have to play. McRorie had a dogshite season for Killie and McCracken is also guff. I'd probably take Kelly in, because he's fairly comfortable with his feet, but he's another guy who chose money and being a sub over first team football (not necessarily a criticism, just maybe not something we should be rewarding). I'm not going to blame Clarke for the goalie situation though, there has to be other people at the SFA looking at these things. Slicker isn't ready, but he should have been able to be thrown in against a pish team and told to go and do his best without pressure. He's 22, not 17. Gordon had probably played fifty games by that age. Whilst he's never looked particularly good for the u21s, Ipswich obviously felt he was good enough to be given a four year deal, so an international friendly shouldn't have been beyond him. Hopefully it hasn't damaged him too much, but I suspect that he might have just dispensed with his entire career.