RicoS321

I'd like to see Wright, and I think we will. McInnes isn't dyer taking the huff with players. It has to be pace we go for and that needs Hedges and Wright central. That also gives the midfield the greatest support by pressing them higher. Luckily we don't have too many other options. McInnes has been fairly successful versus the Hun when stuffing the midfield with three out and out central midfielders, but with McRorie out and Wright fit I doubt we'll see Ojo in there. I think virtanen might even be ahead of him in the queue now, hopefully. I doubt he'll change from the back three for this one so it'll be 3-4-3 or 3-5-2. I don't think we'll see Cosgrove and Main together either. I think he'll play 3-4-3 but fail to play Hedges through the middle again.

As long as we've still got Curtis Main banging them in, there's still hope. Get yer vitamin d down you in the meantime. Deficiency is a big factor in this. Not that you'd know given it's barely mentioned. I think five years is probably a realistic timeline to get a handle on the virus down to "acceptable" seasonal flu levels. Just in time for the next swine flu.

50k+ infections per day at the moment, which likely means significantly higher. Where do we go now with this? Lockdown until February, but what then? We're not getting out of this anytime soon. There's no mechanism I can see that will get infections low enough to contain with our world beating...etc. I think we'll get to a certain point in the vaccine program, and from that point (say, over seventies and the most vulnerable done*) the government will declare that the rate of infection, based on the science (astrology), is now low enough for restrictions to be lifted. After a few weeks, things will get out of control again, but it will be allowed to run through the population herd immunity style (whilst blaming the public). It'll then move into line with the seasonal flu and be treated thus. Vaccines will continue, but will not be largely ignored - like the flu jab - by swathes of the population who've already had covid anyway. I think it'll be brutal. It already is. I don't believe that with the new variant we allowed to develop (made in the UK!) there is a mechanism to open society for business without the infection rate soaring in a short space of time. I don't see anyway possible for me to get the vaccine before I get covid (I'm low risk, I'm not worried for myself, but definitely for family and friends). Anyone else think differently, or can see a solution? *Vaccinated, nae deid.

FIFY

Fucking hell. No movement in wages? We've got far too much dead weight on the books to be in this position. Ojo, Main, Devlin, Hernandez, Leigh. We just extended Leigh's contract to the end of the season. Fuck is that about? Is that really where we should be spending limited budget? A very negative signing if the report is true.

Yep, I agree about the timing, I was making a general comment about the fact that some folk think players have to show us complete loyalty. It's not just fans, if you look at the pathetic and unprofessional reaction Dyer has shown at killie to Brophy leaving. It's as if witnessing people leaving employment isn't a part of daily life for everyone. As I mentioned, we made the conscious decision to not give Wright an extension in the summer because we thought he wouldn't make it. I agree that he'll struggle to get much time to develop in the championship, and unless he gets a decent side then he'll get zero protection and hoofed all over the shop, I'd love to see him go abroad as I think he could be a success. I think he's a much better footballer than Pawlett. Pawlett was fast and direct but he had nowhere near the skill and awareness of Wright. Wright plays with his head up, Pawlett very much a head down and run. Get the right team and coach and he could be really good. It'll be interesting. One thing about McInnes is that he's usually pretty professional in these situations. His handling of McKenna, Jack, McLean etc was excellent and ensured that we got the best out of guys who he knew had a future elsewhere. It's too common an occurrence to start getting bitter with players like Dyer has done.

Jesus, why do folk assume footballers are in some in servitude to a particular club or country? He's a lad in his twenties, who seems like he has a decent brain on him in. We're on a message board with folk posting from all over the world. Is anybody criticising manc for being in NZ or LA don for being in yanksville (pair of Judas cunts)? Human beings sometimes just want to experience new things. He's a lad in his twenties, wanting to enjoy his life. He's from Aberdeen, so he's been here all his days and maybe wants a change, whether that be down South or abroad. He's maybe got a bird who wants to move away somewhere different too before they decide to settle down and have kids or whatever. Who knows? It may not be a footballing decision, it may not be money. It might be a mistake, it might not. He's perhaps thinking he could get injured again tomorrow and should go somewhere new while he's still young. Maybe his exact thought is that of he gives somewhere else a try now then he can always come back to Scotland if he doesn't settle. There are a hundred reasons for moving and many for staying too, I find it weird that adults on a message board criticise young lads for what they do with their lives. If he "limps back across the border" then at least he gave it a try. Obviously, if he joined the Huns he should never re-enter the city. The onus is on the club to understand the minds of young lads. If they'd approached him before the start of the season and said that we'd give him a one year extension because we believed in his ability to have a good season, with a sell on clause or whatever, then we wouldn't have been able to complain. But we didn't. We waited to see if he was actually going to perform so that we'd have the safety net of being able to ditch him in the summer. Loyalty goes both ways, and we need to be better at understanding that. Edit: wtr, I just quoted you for convenience, my rant was just aimed at the world in general.

It's not the same as other players though, he has had a fair amount of time on the sick, so I have a bit of sympathy for the club and McInnes here. The difficulty is that he is a specific type of player. One that does something that others can't or don't, in the mould of Christie or Maddison. He's a player that can turn us from a laboured, predictable side to an exciting one. In my mind, that is worth the risk, and adding another year at the start this season would have been an easy thing to do, with a view to selling in may after lifting the cup. We should be aiming to get GMS in soon then, as he could potentially play a similar role assuming he hasn't lost it. Another guy who can drop a shoulder and leave two players for dead. Given there are no fans too harrass him, I'd like to see us hold onto Wright until summer. Oh, aye, Leigh. Meh. I don't see a role for him. I'd rather the young loon covered for Hayes.

I see it a bit like the Fraser situation. We see these guys in training every week, we should have far more confidence in/awareness of their ability. We have to take the punt before they come in and perform. We should be ahead of the game. I've heard a few suggestions regarding loyalty or some pish, which really grates. If he turned out to be pish, we'd have ditched him in a heartbeat. I have to admit though, I don't know where he'll head to that'll be better for him in the short term than here. I'm guessing that McInnes is going public just now in the hope we get a bid. As good as I think he is, I just don't think he'll be on many teams' radars and he'd really need to play in a good championship team if he wants to avoid being hoofed all over England. Maybe abroad somewhere would suit. As I say, seems an intelligent lad, the type who'd want to experience new things.

Not surprised. He's an intelligent lad, who probably realises the finite opportunities he'll get in the game. I'd have given him another year when he was injured last season, but I've always been a fan. Somebody will get a good player there. I don't think McInnes has been particularly useful for his career, I'm not sure creative players like him are McInnes' forte. It's difficult to be too critical given the amount of time he's spent injured, but he should have been a player we got a considerable fee for.

The part where they were walking through a hallway taking photos without breaking the cordon was hilarious. Overall, the whole thing was pathetic. Giving it anymore importance just plays into their pathetic hands. It was a disorganised rabble of fuckwits. I've seen suggestions that it was some form of coup, which is just ridiculous. Most of the people in attendance wouldn't know the meaning of the word. It was hardly the storming of the Bastille.

Aye, it was all a bit pathetic. I was waiting for them to start singing "no one likes us, we don't care". If they'd actually found Pence, it would have been like the dons fan that ran up to ricksen at pittodrie and shat it completely. Fuck knows how the police managed to shoot a wifie like, they should have just have allowed the selfie taking morons their walkabout and waited for the chief moron to tell them to go home. It was hilarious, at one point they'd broken into a capitol hallway, and they were all taking photos, but they all strictly adhered to the rope barrier there to direct people, rather than step over it. Rebels. The world's shittest coup. I'll be honest, I was hoping for some proper action.

I'm guessing he'd be one of the three in a 3-4-3. We could go wild and have a front three of GMS, Hedges and Wright. That'd be the most skillful, creative and pacey front line ever to not score a goal or win a header.

Looked pretty good the couple of times they were on the telly. Aggressive, and good in the air. Easily replace Devlin. Didn't notice how good he was with the ball at his feet, so should be able to replace Taylor on that basis.

Ball was exactly the player we needed when we re-signed him, he was proven backup. It was very low risk. McInnes (the club) just failed miserably in his scouted midfield options that were supposed to take us to the next level, there was no room for another Gleeson or Forrester that late in the window. There are times where you have to be pragmatic. All the players that we sign are guys who have not gone on to better things. What difference does it make if they were previously our players or Motherwell's etc? Guys like Reynolds, McGinn, McGeouch, GMS, May, Hayes, Rooney, Watkins etc etc are our market. They were proven successful SPFL players who didn't fit in a different style of league. The success rate of these guys is far higher than the punts we take on Ojo and the like. We should still continue with those punts of course, but the backbone/majority has to be guys that have proven to be good in this league or guys that we think show potential within our league, like Brophy (I don't think he's good enough, he reminds me of May without the effort), McLean, Ferguson, Kennedy etc.

Has an option to clear editor now. Thanks to whoever fixed. Or if it was an act of God, cheers Willie.

Who were the eight? Ball and Leigh (Ball a successful gap plugger) plus the above four. Who else? Does Hoban count? If so, success. Christie? Also success.

Most managers don't last long enough to bring players back. Overall it's been a fairly fruitful policy. Hayes, McGinn have been successes and I'd argue Taylor too (through gritted teeth, he's had more good games than bad). GMS was very good just before he left, playing with freedom and drive and working very hard. When McInnes brings someone back it is usually quite obvious if they'll be good or not. It was blatantly obvious that Wilson and Stewart were pish before they left and would be pish on their return. Hayes has always been a professional, and McGinn too. Unlike guys like Ross at Hibs, McInnes doesn't have a pool of players down south that he has recent experience of watching because he's been here for so long. Manager's recruitment will always tail off the longer they've been at a club, as they can't be in two places at once and guys they saw years back are no longer useful targets. If a player has left the club on a high, then getting them back is far less risky than spending on scouted options like Ojo. In my mind it should be viewed no differently to players who have been good at other clubs, gone down South, failed and then we sign. Why would GMS be different to McGeouch or McGinn first time round in that regard? Both successful, proven SPFL players.

Hayes had several good crosses in the first half of the utd game, but there was nobody there. GMS is an entertaining player to watch, and with that comes inconsistency as we see in Wright. He would absolutely have spotted the McGinn option when three on two that Kennedy failed to against utd that's for sure. The only downside to GMS is that McInnes will contrive to keep Wright out of the team in his place, because one creative player is the maximum. He'll fuck them both about ensuring neither gets a chance to settle, moving them around, throwing then into a defensive role and so on. But I'd be happy to see him back, as he's fantastic to watch on his day.

Virtanen looked half decent in centre mid for Abroath on the telly. Worth giving him until the end of the season to see if he can offer anything. Let Ojo go.

He's a much better footballer than Main. Probably about the same in terms of finishing. He'd be an upgrade on Main I suppose. Better than Edmondson too. I'd put him on a par with May. If we get rid of Edmondson and Main then it's a good signing. If we get money for Cosgrove then we should be looking for better.

Thought McRorie was poor again today, he's not been great since getting covid, seems to tire. I'm guessing Campbell was given minutes because we'll need him against the scum soon, but McRorie looked like he was struggling.

Obviously there could be much more to it than that, and for me he hasn't been the same since the move to Cormack park, so I think there's an issue there too. But we see it time and again from McInnes. Players who are struggling with form, and we bring them back in and then ask them to do something they either don't enjoy doing or they struggle with. Wright's position was always behind the front man and with an element of free role. Yet McInnes insisted on playing him as if he was the form player, switching him around the park constantly never allowing him to settle. McLennan and Kennedy have both been subjected to it, and it was blatantly obvious why Stewart was able to cope with the handful of simple instructions doled out at killie compared to playing here. Cosgrove just needs a hand through the difficult period he's having alongside our best possible starting eleven. There's absolutely nothing to lose given Main is the alternative. The guy scored twenty goals before Christmas when he was part of a creative(ish) team where he was allowed to take the ball into the channels, run at defenders and take the ball into feet. Then we decided that height=target and that he couldn't possibly have any other attributes despite the evidence and we actively played him out of form. It's frustrating like, because most fans will just see a player not scoring and a defence resorting to punting it to him and another hoofer alongside.

I agree. He just didn't need to make the sub though, Kennedy was doing okay. Wright and Cosgrove for Main and McGinn. Get Hedges into the attack alongside Wright and Cosgrove, and move Kennedy into right wing back so Hedges doesn't have to defend. If he thinks Kennedy is tired then bring on Logan, again in the defensive area. We just ran out of ideas, but Cosgrove is never ever going to win us a game playing alongside another big striker in a punting match. Give the boy a chance with our best fucking line up and stop hanging him out to dry or don't bother playing him at all. Since returning, I think he's played about 20 minutes with our best attacking team out, it's fucking ridiculous. Especially as he's clearly struggling with confidence, why make it even harder?

Brophy rumours doing the rounds. Fits the McInnes strategy. Player who's fans think is shite but once had a good game against us.