RicoS321

It doesn't look too bad. I'd start Armstrong over Aouchiche if he's fit. Fullbacks are a bit poor, and the midfield is crying put for legs (what we should be getting from Palaversa basically). The other problem being that we've not got much of a plan B, and a few injuries to the players that make things happen and we turn into the nice looking but easy to beat team we've seen since the middle of last season.

Weird. Does it help that he's Scottish, for European purposes? As in, we might as well have another Scot to fill a place that would otherwise be empty? He was decent a few years back, but not entirely sure what he offers. A, sort of, McGrath replacement perhaps?

Think Gyamfi is October, not sure about Tobers. Given they've not had a preseason, they probably won't be up to speed for half the fixtures, so might be easier to just keep them out of it.

Don't you need three goalies? I'm guessing Gyamfi and Tobers could comfortably be left out.

Can naebidy at the BBC contact AFC to find out the whereabouts of Boyd? Just to see if he's okay really, a young loon like that. Also ask him if he's seen Sokler. Cheers.

I think he had to leave after the Germans bombed the city in 1943.

It didn't have the bit about Jesper in earlier! All good now, apart from the ever present segregation and prominent coverage of the scum.

Apparently he went to a campervan trade fair at the Birmingham exhibition centre instead of signing for Villa, and he's currently making his way back up the road in a luxury motorhome. Just rumours like.

Weegie pish Did Nick go to bed early after quickly penning some old firm shite and a couple of afterthoughts?

They don't show you the 78 efforts he blootered over the stand though. He certainly turns a bad window into a nae bad window. Obviously, he's just a stop gap, but it buys us time until January, when we can address the glaring issue of midfield. It's clearly a difficult time to be buying players. In terms of squad building for Europe, I think we're nowhere near the required level, but it is what it is. Hopefully by January we'll have a good picture of where the new signings are at, and we've had six months to nail down a potential midfielder. We're putting all our eggs in one basket with this lad, so he better not get injured! Edit: oh, aye, welcome back Kevin

That's a shite idea

I'm concerned that if I go to bed now, big Jesper won't be signed when I wake up.

So nae midfielder then, and no confirmation of Boyd or Sokler (or Nilsen!) leaving?

A loan deal, I take it? Reckon he might be an upgrade on Okkels.

This is outrageous

Never rated him, despite him doing well against us. They were probably in the seaside leagues in his last season (difficult to keep track of them). Always seemed a bit of a fanny. Anyway, if he comes free with a central midfielder, then welcome aboard.

I'm assuming that means that they're open to offers and the player is also onboard with it at least. I've a feeling that it might be our only signing. Maybe Sokler will stay put if we can't get anyone else in.

It's the meek displays, and continued errors from last season that are the issue. That, and the fact that we're watching players who don't really look that good. We've lost the assists and goals of McGrath, Gueye, Morris and Nisbet, replacing with worse at present. Without something today, I don't think many teams will be frightened of a visit to, or from, the Dons.

Trying to actively dissuade u18s to go to the red shed by charging £15 per game, or £54 for three. Edit: prices aren't that reasonable, and the shite state of having to pay in advance to get your seat - and only getting until Friday to do so - is rancid pish.

We say Yengi isn't going anywhere, but if we get Nisbet, then that's three strikers who are exactly the same, and if you could categorise Ambrose as a footballer - which you can't - then he'd be in the same bracket. They are all supposed to be players that can link play, hold it up and bring in the inverted wingers, with the number 10 close by and ready to move beyond. Neither of them stretch play, can get the ball over the top, run the lines etc. Ambrose is obviously done, but Yengi will get zero minutes if we get Nisbet in. As I said previously, as bad as Ambrose is, he should have been given the opportunity to play regular football last season at another side. Yengi too.

I don't think Hale is any better than Sokler, but we do need that type of player I think. If Lazetic turns out to be decent, I really don't see the point in Nisbet, who is very similar. We need options that vary in my opinion, but Thelin doesn't believe so. Ideally we'd have Nisbet and another, and in that case Hale would be a great choice. Then get Ambrose away and Yengi on loan. Realistically, though, we've got one day.

Good lad. Pace gets you very far in the game, but he added to it with hard work and a good attitude after a very ropey start. Good luck to him.

The Motherwell lad has apparently transformed their style, but so did Glass with us. It's just that every single goal conceded for both is from an error caused by a player trying to be too intricate and giving it away. It won't be long before the Motherwell fans are bemoaning the passing out from the back, despite its apparent easiness on the eye. I don't think we're overthinking, just that we've got several players who are very average. Coupled with lack of preseason and additional European fixtures and it's showing. I don't think Hearts investment is going to make a huge difference. At best, they'll get a slightly better player. There's not enough difference financially to make a consistent difference. It'll all be down to the things I've already mentioned, which is the balance of the side, pragmatism, experience and a good dose of luck in the transfer window. Our investment hasn't set us apart from the rest to date, and I doubt Hearts will.

You're right, but that was one of the reasons for changing approach under McInnes. Team balance under McInnes generally didn't work because he made mistakes in the transfer window. He'd identify a key position and then sign someone like Greg Tansey to fill it. GMS and Stewart to replace Hayes and McGinn almost looks sensible on paper. McInnes' problem is that nobody was there to question his signings, and also that nobody was there to pressure him into playing youth players (which we're still not seeing). Cormack's bravado ensured that we spent three managers trying to implement the change in approach, but we're clearly still not getting it right. It's like everyone is so focused on getting the next big moneymaking signing, that we're ignoring the bigger squad picture. I would suggest, perhaps, that a technical fucking director might be asking questions were they to exist.

I suspect the upside is that you get the consistent challenging for third, doing so while also getting a good return on the foreign project players, plus playing out from the back (it's very debatable whether this is better than a McInnes or Robinson side or not). Overall, the idea is that we'd have a structure in place behind the manager, that would allow us to transition to the next guy with little upheaval, but I'm not convinced that is the case at all. There is no reason for us to take the three year project with any seriousness though. Cormack simply chose to say that about Thelin. He could easily have said that about Glass, Goodwin or Robson but for some bizarre reason chose not to. Thelin's repeated mistakes and failure to address key areas wouldn't look out of place in any of the other guy's Dons teams. Hopefully he can learn from mistakes in the way the others weren't given the opportunity to. Thelin certainly has a more complete backroom than the others had (strangely missing a technical director). All of this should have been ready while McInnes was still at the club, but we chose to half-arse it with a few role-players (Cormack included). As I mentioned on the transfer thread, it seems we are still making errors and there's no overall good strategic thinking at the club. It's still hugely debatable whether our model versus our model under McInnes works better in Scottish football though. The risk is that a team like hearts or Hibs get it right and we're lagging because we chose to stick with giving a manager all the control.