RicoS321

Shite. Christ sake loon.

Aye, that was entertaining today. I don't know if we responded more impressively to going behind or to the referee being an absolute mess. Starting with the ref, that's the second time I've seen him, and both times he's been the worst ref I've seen in Scottish football. He shouldn't be there. Another product of VAR of course, with half the refs watching on a telly somewhere. Onto VAR, that offside call was a fucking disgrace. It wasn't the ref's call to go to the monitor, it's not even the guys in the video room, it's the fucking rules. If you can't draw lines, it's the onfield decision, that has to be written in. They just changed the decision from a factual one to a subjective call and then used an inappropriately positioned camera to decide on it. It completely goes against everything we've been told about it, it's a fucking disgrace. The arrogance of any cunt in a video room suggesting that they know better than an official who is in line is staggering. The whole reason we got VAR in the first place was because ignorant pundit fuckers questioned offside calls from a TV a mile away, and if VAR has taught us anything it's that there are exceedingly few incorrect offside calls that are more than marginal. Terrible decision, regardless of what they think the telly showed them. Anyway, we played some great stuff today. Frame, Keskinen, Shinnie, Nisbet (probably equal with Keskinen for motm) and Armstrong all very good. We defended very well in open play, but Jesus Christ we can't defend set pieces. I don't think it's necessarily about winning headers either, it's more fundamental than that. Our organisation, following the man etc is terrible. It needs a lot of work, I don't think a change of a defender will cut it. Our goals were fantastic, the crosses from Frame and Keskinen just class. Frame worked well with Topi and played well overall. Nisbet's link up play and movement was excellent. Bilalovic tried to take on his man regularly on the other wing too, and his determination for the goal was ace to see. Armstrong seemed to have chucked it at 1-2, for about ten minutes, but then he woke up and started putting in the passes he was doing at the start of the season. The one for Nisbet's nae goal was especially class. The subs from Leven were well timed and effective. Taking Devlin off on a booking the right call, Bilalovic was knackered too. Don't think we can be risking Frame and Lobban at the same time just yet, and Jensen was good when he came on. Clarkson steadied things nicely in midfield and Olusanya is indeed rapid (although he should have gone for it in the last seconds). Great fun.

Looking forward to the game, in perfect conditions. Got my best booing lungs ready for the Hun when he scores his first Dons goal.

Unfortunately he's not a winger though. But, aye, he's definitely a good signing on that front. Run in a straight line and harass defenders. A Sokler replacement if you like. Edit: a loan deal, for this type of player is completely acceptable. A potential super sub with a bit of experience. Probably not likely to be a long term solution but may allow us to test out new systems that would suit a player of his profile. Crucially, not a type of player that we already have.

So? Those failings are the same for any single manager given the keys to the building. Not bringing through youth, limiting your signings to the lower English leagues, pragmatic football, grinding out results, signing players who have had a couple of good games against you. These are all symptoms of a structure where the manager is unaccountable until they're sacked, at which point you realise that they're accountable for absolutely everything and you need to start again.

Yep, he was a scout for the Tims, he knows how the system works and any time you hear him speak, he's well versed. Robinson I'd be far less sure about. We had that under McInnes and a large number of fans weren't happy. We also largely failed with that model since the mid nineties through to the point the Hun went bust. It had a ceiling, and McInnes was it. Maybe that is our actual ceiling. I tend to agree that our budget will never be enough to buy success, or consistency, it doesn't buy enough additional players to cover injury even if all signings were perfect. However, I'm loathe to criticise Cormack for recognising that ceiling and trying to implement a strategy to break through it. That he seems incapable of implementing, or letting others implement, the strategy is the problem.

If teams are being expelled from cup competitions every single season, and they've done nothing to prevent it, then of course they deserve criticism. Their goal should be to end the problem, not to keep blaming individual error. It shouldn't be complicated, but the evidence shows that it is. Or at least that it's easy to make a mistake. That a team should be thrown out for clerical mistakes is abysmal. It's the absolute opposite of sport. It'd be very easy to prevent, and can't be done at the level of the cash strapped, part time club.

He was ace at playing Dundee

Looked to me like a loan was exactly what was needed.

I don't. I mean a system that is preventative, immediate, and actually works. They have all the data via COMET, it needs an outward facing portal for teams to submit lines every week and return if a player is suspended or ineligible due to registration issues. It should be an extremely simple add-on. Unless the system is already shite, in which case they need a COMET 2.

But they are responsible for every single player. They hold all data on yellow and red cards, as well as all player registrations. And the latest copy of all the rules. The entire point is because other clubs have been burned. It happens every year. A bureaucratic human error results in a team getting thrown out of a competition. It's the most anti sport, and anti sporting, thing ever (VAR aside). Nobody is cheating, just simple error. Every year. It's ridiculous to expect part time clubs with part time admin staff to get it 100% correct every time, and the evidence shows that they don't, so why not fix it once, for everyone? They could start with league fixtures and the league cup, then expand to the Scottish cup and Highland/Lowland leagues when they feel their system is working well. It wouldn't even be difficult to offer a non-binding parallel system for a year to test it - I'm sure most clubs would be grateful. But, no, we expect every single club to have their own system, whether it be paper and pen or a shite spreadsheet, and for it to be 100% accurate despite Annie fae accounts being unwell and nobody can find the bits of paper she writes stuff on, but Barry kens fit she does so he can do it this week, although he has a full time job so won't have time to double check it. A centralised system is really, really simple. They undoubtedly have one anyway or else they wouldn't be picking up these ineligible players. The only difference would be that the ineligible player would be picked up before the game, and so nobody misses out.

I can't believe I'm still having to say this every season in the 21st century. How does the SFA (and SPFL, as it happens in the league cup too) allow this to happen? You submit your provisional squad a day before via an online app, and it puts a wee red cross next to any player that is ineligible. Everything held on the SFA database. Why on earth are clubs with part time admin staff being blamed for making simple errors that could be overcome by a rudimentary centralised database? One that holds suspension and registration data and a basic algorithm for the relatively simple rules. With a phone and PC app for submitting teams. Why are our national competitions being ruined because the cunts at head office can't provide a simple service? More importantly, why is nobody talking about this when it happens every season? Why is the blame aimed at small teams and the overriding systemic issue never talked about or addressed?

But why loans? Morrison is younger than Milne and less experienced. Do we seriously expect him to be better than, say, Dorrington? We're offering development minutes for six months. An experienced defender on loan, I'd be comfortable with. This just seems weird. Cameron is less of an issue in terms of the actual loan (although it's still weird given where he plays), but who it's from makes it ridiculous. Overall, though, it's a disaster in the long term, as we've seen twice before. You simply can't afford to miss the churn of a single window. We should have learned this by now, and we should have the structure in place to see that it doesn't happen. We're going to be looking at around six players leaving in the summer that need to be replaced: Karlsson, Aouchiche, probably Clarkson, the two loanees and likely one from Milanovic, Jensen, Gyamfi, Armstrong etc. that mill around the squad. In order to replace that, you're looking at least ten signings. Again. Two good signings now and you've potentially reduced that to 8. At the very least you've crossed two options of your list. Things need to keep moving. The new manager will once again be doing a complete rebuild in the summer. The chances of getting that right are extremely slim as we've seen every time it has happened. Sign now, even on precontract, to ease the pressure.

Not sure why McGinn's arse needs knees anyway. He'll be fine.

Aye, a good point. However, given that Knoester was just an illness, I'd have hoped that we'd just be seeing out the one game per week schedule with Polvara and Devlin as backup. Keeping the squad lean and getting as many minutes as possible into the existing squad. A loanee that's here to get first team football doesn't really fit with that. If he's not left footed, too, then it's simply a replacement for Milne. Milne is making mistakes still, but game time is massively important at his age, when the biggest component missing from his game is aggression (particularly in the air in the box). I'd be willing to overlook the mistakes for a young Aberdeen fan developing. Not so, an inexperienced loanee going back in the summer.

Doesn't excuse no pre-contracts, or loans with agreement to purchase. We managed to sign players in January every other year, it's not beyond us. Loans are a choice, and one we've seen before.

I don't think it's quite that. It's supposed to be a team effort involving the manager. Or certainly that what was hinted at in the past. But, aye, we've certainly got enough in-house to be making signings without requiring the first team coach in the door.

He was useful at running in the direction he was facing. I think he'll be decent from the bench, making space for Nisbet. Don't think he's good enough at football for the wing unfortunately. A 4-4-2 and some direct fitba when we're trailing should suit him. Like most of our players, he's limited to a few setups.

That's certainly what happened when it was decided when McInnes was leaving, and when Robson was caretaker. On both counts, it was a catastrophic decision. You need to keep a club ticking over in terms of ins and outs. We apparently have a recruitment team with a lot more sway than previously, they should be trusted to make signings. Loanees are fine late in the window, with an option to buy preferably. Two loanees in January means two more signings required in the summer, which generally means four more in order to get two. A new manager is getting a bunch of guys he won't know anyway, adding another two to that using our ability to scout good players alongside a general knowledge of what we're missing is far less risky than not signing anyone.

Are we doing the whole not signing players while there's not a long term manager in place again? Horrendous approach. Are we seriously going to displace another first team player for a loanee?

We're more of a "jobby in the post" nation.

We're not in control of anywhere, hence climate change and the sixth mass extinction. We definitely will not be colonising other worlds, it's not remotely possible and we'd run out of resources trying. Indeed, once we reach the point where the resources we need require more energy to extract than they return then there is no further modernity. That will be it, forever. Our fossil fuels were a one-time bonanza. The 1% are no more in charge of the technological system than you are I.

Only if it involves the Huns paying money. They've not paid for Barron or Cameron I don't think.

It's the strategy etc. identity or some pish. The inverted wingers is a function of the signings though. As I mentioned earlier in the thread, Keskinen hits the byline far more often on his wrong foot, and he's the closest we've got to a winger. Milanovic and Bilalovic are fast, but not over ten yards. Karlsson doss exactly the same thing every time, and has zero pace whatsoever, and it's quite unbelievable that he's ever been able to play on the wing (or as part of a team). Playing out from the back is absolutely fine. It just needs the correct blend of when to do so and when not to. It makes sense from the point of view of drawing the opponent out and retaining possession. It makes no sense when the opposition are in shape and pressing. We seem to have instituted it as a fundamental at a high level, and associated it with "entertainment". It ignores player ability. It also ignores the far bigger problem of pitch quality for large parts of the season. Our goalies always start off being able to kick accurately, which mysteriously tails off after November. It's very hard to pick a forty yard pass on a bobbly pitch in rainy conditions. That never gets acknowledged in our playing out from the back utopia.

It is. Clarkson, as it stands, will be here next season. If he's playing every week, the dynamic changes significantly, and the change of management might see to it that he is. Although I suspect we might not find out, because we'll quickly discover that him and Cameron in the same side will struggle and he'll make way for the Hun loanee. If Cameron does very well for us between now and summer then he's good enough for the Hun squad, just as Barron was. If he's anything less than very good then the price that it'll cost to get him won't be worth it. If they think for a second that he might be an advantage to us, then they'll accept a bid from some championship fodder from down south instead, without the slightest regard for the player. The chances of us wanting, and getting, Cameron next season are exceedingly slim.