RicoS321

How can you be oot for the entire transfer window? That's going to be some trip.

I agree. If you look at our "prized" signings in Duk and Miovski for example, they wouldn't get near the Southampton team. They're at the Dons to get lots of game time and to advance their potential to the point that they might get signed by someone like Southampton. It's not impossible, but very unlikely that we'll be picking up a player with the ability to walk straight into a Southampton team. They'll only come from our youth setup or on loan from an EPL team (thus not our player anyway). Duk might be in the place where a bigger team would take a punt on him in the summer (he's the type of guy that the scum would nullify by signing and benching, but I'd like to think players would see through that these days), but he's still got a lot that he can learn positionally and about how he brings others into the game which he could do at the Dons. I'd hope someone like Mowbray could see that the Dons have a fairly vital role to play in developing players, and that he'd try and retain connections with the club in some capacity. I use to think that us being a stepping stone to English clubs was embarrassing and insulting (especially as we are a bigger club than pish like Southampton!), but given that the game in the UK is generally some pathetic number-wang exercise (see the amazing achievements of Man City's wallet) completely unrelated to sporting merit, I'm okay with it these days. We are where we are. Mowbray strikes me as the type that would be quite managerial anyway, rather than a guy with an eye for a player. Hopefully whatever structures he's put in place can be retained and improved upon.

There's no way in earth Clarkson is staying. He'd walk into the Huns team right now and be pushing McGregor for game time at the Tims. There is zero benefit to Liverpool or Clarkson to him coming here for another season, he's more than proven himself. Putting my own partisan and selfish reasons aside - I'd love to see him back - I'd feel like the guy would be being hugely let down if he returned next season. Pollock is a different matter, I think he's still got a bit to go even at this level, but I could understand his parent club maybe wanting to take a punt on him at a higher level. Scales I'd definitely take back. He reminds me of Considine when he was transitioning from being a guy that gave away pens and got stupid reds every time he played a player with any strength to a player that learned to be aggressive and use his body well. I think he could be a great fit for us for another few years, whilst probably not hitting the heights of earning a big money transfer either. Could be a very reliable mainstay alongside MacDonald and beyond. Good one the ball too.

There's very little gushing over Stewart in there. Most of us were probably still at the "being polite about him" stage. Duk was gash, he was three stones overweight and kept tripping over the ball. He also kept getting played out wide by Goodwin, where I maintain he is still far more of a liability than he is an attacking threat. He's won me over, just, but he'll need another season here just to prove himself. Maybe two. He should probably sign a two year extension with a clause that stipulates that he can't leave unless I sign it off to agree that he's reached expectations. I'm generally fairly good at picking a player from one or two viewings, but Duk is definitely one that had me. I usually factor in the lack of fitness, but he was positionally atrocious in his first few games for us, it was like the first time he'd ever played fitba. Jet was another recently that I couldn't nail down as being good or bad. I guess it's probably just more obvious with guys like Stewart who are playing at full fitness in their preferred role and they are missing the basic attributes. Some guys are clearly just of a standard below that required. I think Roberts falls into that, Morris too. I struggle with Richardson as I think so much of his failure could be turned around with confidence and just being told to do the basics.

There have probably only been about ten posts about Roberts given the fact he's never played. I like to make an early call on most players, just to make it interesting. A first impression. I can't believe anyone's first impression of Roberts would have been in any way hopeful, there was zero redeeming features in those two games. Of course that could just have been a fitness issue, so I'd always caveat any early predictions with a: "they might improve". He was okay against Hibs, he looked fitter, but we were 40 goals down by that point. Anyway, regardless, I've clearly been proved right. I don't remember Stewart being gushed over, I thought there were quite a few negatives on here, even in the league cup matches with regard to his pace. There were certainly a lot of people raising questions by the time he was made captain. Either way, it's good to discuss the first impressions on players, and it's also okay to be wrong about them too.

He played less than 30 minutes in games against the Tims and St Mirren and was honking in both. Since then, he's managed another 30 minute cameo against Hibs in a mildly disappointing game, before disappearing. At no point did he look like he had a bit about him.

Roberts is gash. The problem with the recruitment strategy is that when you have to sign so many first team players, it largely goes out the window as you begin to miss out on targets for the usual reasons. It gets worse when you then have to change formation because one of your first team signings is fucking honking, rendering several other signings surplus in the process. Goodwin was clearly intending a 4-2-3-1 or variation of that, which requires plenty of Morris, Roberts, Besuijen, Duk (the theory was he was a left sided attacking player) types. Stewart blew that out the water, as did Richardson. Robson has a slightly better hand to deal with, in that many of the key areas are covered assuming we can hold onto certain players. If Duk leaves, then decisions have to be made with regard to a front two, otherwise that's pretty much our only option, so we need wing backs, and good ones.

McKenna is just the gift that keeps on giving.

Rather than get drawn into transfer debate on the match thread, will add this here. One of the most important things in the summer is going to be players being released. We're going to be buying at least ten players, of which law of averages tell us that five will be shite. We've seen today what happens when you carry shite in the squad and have to rely on them. With that in mind, I think it's vital that we ditch at least three from Morris, Roberts, Richardson and Myslovic (alongside the others leaving of natural causes). Otherwise we become loaded with pish. Robson should probably just draw a name from a hat to see which one gets to stay.

In fairness, they're probably saying "okay" by the players' own benchmarks rather than general fitba standards. Morris looked quicker than I thought he was previously. He was absolute dogshite on the ball of course. Markanday shouldn't be getting minutes, it's a totally bizarre situation. Bavidge should have been on earlier instead. Kennedy obviously not getting a new deal, and I'm assuming that Richardson is getting a game as a last chance to prove that he's good enough not to get punted in the summer (I guess that could be the same with Morris).

Big relegations today. Accies lose the championship playoff against Airdrie and - even bigger - Spartans displace rovers, sending Albion down to the colts league or some pish.

Nae luck.

I doubt they're getting an offside wrong these days, he looked in line with the fullback in the replays. Miovski made zero attempt to shoot, it was really poor. He was just leaning into the defender until he fell over. In fairness to Miovski he was using all his strength to get in front of the guy that I think he was eventually just leaning against him for balance and support, but I still think he should be swinging a foot at it at least.

Yep. That's to be expected though. We signed 10 new players in the summer, and another few in January. We brought forward Watkins, Hayes, Kennedy, Barron, McKenzie, Besuijen and Duncan from last season so it's no surprise that we're struggling given a fairly standard 50% success rate in transfers. Next season it'll be just as bad. Clarkson our best player too, and he's leaving. There's no way we can possibly recruit the volume and standard required. We're nowhere near ready for European football next season. It's probably a distraction we can't afford.

Aye, fuck it. Scores the winner before getting taken off injured, returning to full fitness just after the window closes. Best of all worlds.

Fantastic. Get him in the team for tynecastle.

Given the turnover of managers, there are few options left. Mcpake at Dunfermline for the whole leagues probably best overall performer, but obviously it'll go to the plucky underdogs' manager when he wins the treble.

It's easy saying £3M, but actually getting someone to pay that is something entirely different, every player has a ceiling value. They'd just walk away from the deal. The bidding probably started around £750K-1M (that's his value on transfermrkt, which obviously requires a little pinch of salt, but seems reasonable), so I think they've been very difficult to deal with. I think we're doing the club a disservice here, and being incredibly unrealistic if we're expecting more for a strong athlete of limited ability (an upgraded Dom Ball). "No requirement to sell" is aimed at the guys with potential, not McRorie. The only reason we would not sell McRorie is if the board felt the turnover of players was already too great (I'd agree with), not because of the player himself. For me, £2M for McRorie is the equivalent of being offered £5M for Duk or Miovski. You'd have to let the player consider his options with such an offer, it'd be deeply unfair not to.

It's not low though. There's a limit to what people will pay for a player, regardless of contract length. I'd have him valued at around £750K if he'd had a year left. I think the club should be given immense credit for managing to get a club to pay £2M for him. That's clearly, already, an inflated valuation which takes into account the 3 years left.

Christ, that's a terrible thing. Not even sure I'd have had the maturity of thought to even consider such a thing at that age, nevermind be in a place where I actually felt I could go through with it. Hope you can get yerself through without going down the drink route, which is very easy for me to say from where I'm sitting of course.

The giant-couponed bellend leaves Queens Park.

This. They go someway towards addressing the point, with important mentions of the Highland and Junior leagues, but a more scathing attack on the structure of the game would have been worthwhile. The wider point being made was about what was best for Aberdeen, and I think we need to look way beyond that selfish and insular approach if we're to really make things better in Scotland. That said, it's a strong decision, likely to have been taken under considerable pressure from the power holders, so well done AFC on reaching the right conclusion. Next up, refuse to allow VAR back into Pittodrie.

Don't think so. Ramadani was put through at one point, but decided to head away from goal and then kick it out of play. That was the closest we got.

One slight underperformance against Hibs led to the knee jerk sacking of our previous manager.

That was an impressively honking game of fitba. Turgid stuff. Difficult to pick a worst performer, but 5 or 6 made a good case for it today. Pollock and Coulson deserve special mentions, with Duk putting in a tremendous attempt too. Even Clarkson wasn't at the races today, and Duncan was poor, although senior players should be taking the responsibility with Ramadani showing his limitations as a footballer as well. Miovski was okay and Roos comfortably man of the match. The subs took things to a whole new level of shiteness, and showed extremely poor judgement. Dogshit like Markanday and Morris should be nowhere near our team, which they've proven already. Richardson was worse than Coulson at his worst, as expected. Bavidge should have been on, and Barron should have replaced Duncan with Clarkson moving forward. VAR once again wrecking football as a spectator sport.