January 2026 Transfer Window

[OrlandoDon]

I’d do that deal, get somewhere between 500-1M, maybe bring in shady back on a short term loan till summer to seal the deal until better options are available in the summer?

[Jute]

Scott Burns saying we are still looking to bring in defenders. 

[2stars]

Slight deviation but still on topic - any idea how many players that we sign / loan we actually watch play?

be interested to know;

how may are from data models - with a quick view of a “highlights” reel

how may are pushed by agents- again with obligatory highlights reel

how many - like Lutz signings- are from recommendations from “contacts”

how many we physically send someone to look at them, asses their attributes over a period of time, and actually make a decision on from how these guys actually play

data may be the future but until you have people that can interpret it, you will throw good money after bad

dont have an issue using the data, but some of our signings, if someone told me they had watched them, would be sending them to the SFA to take up a refereeing course

[BigAl]

40 minutes ago, OrlandoDon said:

I’d do that deal, get somewhere between 500-1M, maybe bring in shady back on a short term loan till summer to seal the deal until better options are available in the summer?

Nae offence but can't realistically see that coming to fruition 

[Panda]

Zak Vyner (remember him?). Just signed for Wrexham, who are play-off hopefuls in the English Championship.

All I remember of his time here was a cracking goal in a 3-0 win at Fir Park.

[OrlandoDon]

8 minutes ago, BigAl said:

Nae offence but can't realistically see that coming to fruition 

Of course, just when luton was mentioned and as average as shady was, he outshines milanovic based on what we’ve seen to date!

[Brochred]

54 minutes ago, OrlandoDon said:

Of course, just when luton was mentioned and as average as shady was, he outshines milanovic based on what we’ve seen to date!

Serious question,are there any Dons who haven't outshine Milanovic? Yengiand possibly  Maynard but can't think of many others. Gary Hackett was also terrible but thankfully,due to personal circumstances,I missed all of his useless appearances, more's the pity I have witnessed the cross Milanovic has provided

[Blow.Up.Sheep]

6 hours ago, Brochred said:

Serious question,are there any Dons who haven't outshine Milanovic? Yengiand possibly  Maynard but can't think of many others. Gary Hackett was also terrible but thankfully,due to personal circumstances,I missed all of his useless appearances, more's the pity I have witnessed the cross Milanovic has provided

Said it since the first time I seen Milanovic in a dons shirt, he is an imposter and never a football player. fk sake for as good and solid manager as even Neil Lennon is, I honestly think that even he would struggle to get a tune out of that lad 

[Radiored]

7 hours ago, 2stars said:

Slight deviation but still on topic - any idea how many players that we sign / loan we actually watch play?

be interested to know;

how may are from data models - with a quick view of a “highlights” reel

how may are pushed by agents- again with obligatory highlights reel

how many - like Lutz signings- are from recommendations from “contacts”

how many we physically send someone to look at them, asses their attributes over a period of time, and actually make a decision on from how these guys actually play

data may be the future but until you have people that can interpret it, you will throw good money after bad

dont have an issue using the data, but some of our signings, if someone told me they had watched them, would be sending them to the SFA to take up a refereeing course

Regardless of the absence of question marks ..... and assuming all sentences are questions, I'll answer. 

And to all perceived questions, I answer ... ALL 

If I am wrong, then something other than myself is wrong.

I seriously doubt if any team, Scottish, English, European, ... fuck it .... any team on planet Trump does not have such a wide scope of potential players ..... don't let the word 'data'mean anything more than 'seen the boy play' cos, it aa come's doon tae the same thing. an' each double checked afore pen an' paper collide.

[2stars]

3 hours ago, Radiored said:

Regardless of the absence of question marks ..... and assuming all sentences are questions, I'll answer. 

And to all perceived questions, I answer ... ALL 

If I am wrong, then something other than myself is wrong.

I seriously doubt if any team, Scottish, English, European, ... fuck it .... any team on planet Trump does not have such a wide scope of potential players ..... don't let the word 'data'mean anything more than 'seen the boy play' cos, it aa come's doon tae the same thing. an' each double checked afore pen an' paper collide.

For someone that is challenging punctuation, I am still trying to decipher some of that Neeps

I would argue that actual representatives from the club haven’t seen some of these boys play- there may be recommendations from a generic scouting network that we pay like a service provider, but did Jimmy, Garner, Gunn etc actually go see Yengi play or Milanovic play?

I'm just interested in the level of checks and balances being done as surely if someone had physically watched these guys they wouldn’t be anywhere near Pittodrie 

 

[RicoS321]

7 minutes ago, 2stars said:

For someone that is challenging punctuation, I am still trying to decipher some of that Neeps

I would argue that actual representatives from the club haven’t seen some of these boys play- there may be recommendations from a generic scouting network that we pay like a service provider, but did Jimmy, Garner, Gunn etc actually go see Yengi play or Milanovic play?

I'm just interested in the level of checks and balances being done as surely if someone had physically watched these guys they wouldn’t be anywhere near Pittodrie 

As most of us said over and over, the biggest problem was the lack of players with experience of the SPFL. They are far lower risk than players outwith, and give you a bit of breathing space. 

Overall, though, everything should go through the data system so that they can build a feedback loop and get better at signings (not necessarily in percentage success, but overall quality). McInnes was given too much freedom to sign pish that he'd seen have a good game against us. Even the slightest bit of data and scouting would have shown that Miles fucking Storey was horseshite. 

I'd hope that we're not utilising Lutz's contacts, as that is just moving the problem from manager to sporting director. His contact list will lose potency the longer he is away from it, and it leaves us back at square one. His role should be as devil's advocate. Accepting the recommendation of his scouting team, the data team and the manager's list of desires and filtering out the pish to be left with the signings. We need a mechanism to prevent McInnes signing Storey, JT signing Jensen or Karlsson and the data team from signing Milanovic or Ambrose. It's basically combining the three elements: "Derek, the data and scouting say this Storey lad is gash, yer nae getting him.". "Aye, his data is off the charts, but the lads actually watching Milanovic say he's a fanny." and so on. We don't want any single person given the keys to recruitment. Lutz shouldn't be involved in the ground work at all preferably. 

[Slim]

59 minutes ago, RicoS321 said:

I'd hope that we're not utilising Lutz's contacts, as that is just moving the problem from manager to sporting director. His contact list will lose potency the longer he is away from it, and it leaves us back at square one. 

Interestingly (or most likely not), I had a look at the St Louis FC subreddit last week to see their fans reaction to signing Polvara and there were a few negative comments towards Lutz filling their team with players from European reserve teams and they were glad to finally be clearing them out and getting more Americans on board, noting that it was ironic that Lutz was now helping them fix the mess he created.

Obviously, I could have been reading the output of the Yank equivalent of a Hat numpty mashing his keyboard but came to mind when I read that statement above. 

[The.Moog]

13 hours ago, Jute said:

Scott Burns saying we are still looking to bring in defenders. 

Good - about 4 or 5 minimum hopefully…

[BigAl]

2 minutes ago, The.Moog said:

Good - about 4 or 5 minimum hopefully…

Potentially bad news on the injury front incoming 

[The.Moog]

13 hours ago, BigAl said:

Nae offence but can't realistically see that coming to fruition 

I can. Luton’s my English team, and trust me, they’ve spent waaaay more than that on absolute shite this last couple of years.

Still getting parachute money fae their year in the prem so there is cash there…

[Jute]

So a player we had negotiated a £1.5m buy out option on 6 months ago now joining Schalke on a free.

Our recruitment team needs emptied. 

[The.Moog]

5 minutes ago, BigAl said:

Potentially bad news on the injury front incoming 

Assume that means Knoester out for season.

Shame for the lad but hopefully we can sign a defender that can win his headers and clear his lines in the box to replace him.

That would be nice…

[Shetland Don]

14 hours ago, 2stars said:

Slight deviation but still on topic - any idea how many players that we sign / loan we actually watch play?

be interested to know;

how may are from data models - with a quick view of a “highlights” reel

how may are pushed by agents- again with obligatory highlights reel

how many - like Lutz signings- are from recommendations from “contacts”

how many we physically send someone to look at them, asses their attributes over a period of time, and actually make a decision on from how these guys actually play

data may be the future but until you have people that can interpret it, you will throw good money after bad

dont have an issue using the data, but some of our signings, if someone told me they had watched them, would be sending them to the SFA to take up a refereeing course

 

14 hours ago, 2stars said:

Slight deviation but still on topic - any idea how many players that we sign / loan we actually watch play?

be interested to know;

how may are from data models - with a quick view of a “highlights” reel

how may are pushed by agents- again with obligatory highlights reel

how many - like Lutz signings- are from recommendations from “contacts”

how many we physically send someone to look at them, asses their attributes over a period of time, and actually make a decision on from how these guys actually play

data may be the future but until you have people that can interpret it, you will throw good money after bad

dont have an issue using the data, but some of our signings, if someone told me they had watched them, would be sending them to the SFA to take up a refereeing course

Seemingly we got a satellite image of Yengi from outer space which sealed the deal. 

[Slim]

32 minutes ago, Jute said:

So a player we had negotiated a £1.5m buy out option on 6 months ago now joining Schalke on a free.

Our recruitment team needs emptied. 

I read that as being no fee paid to Aberdeen, either as compensation for cutting loan early or difference between fee paid by Schalke and the £1.5m (if higher).

[Jute]

21 minutes ago, Slim said:

I read that as being no fee paid to Aberdeen, either as compensation for cutting loan early or difference between fee paid by Schalke and the £1.5m (if higher).

I just assumed no transfer fee being paid meant for the entire deal but suppose it could mean we gave up our option for free rather than being bought out. 

[RicoS321]

5 minutes ago, Jute said:

I just assumed no transfer fee being paid meant for the entire deal but suppose it could mean we gave up our option for free rather than being bought out. 

Whilst we'd agreed £1.5m, I reckon Sunderland might have just been happy to offload given he didn't set the heather alight here. 

The nature of the deal was bizarre from day one, and almost certainly something we'd never have got to work. I think he might turn out to be a very good player in the coming years, if played correctly, and I think our managers have failed miserably in getting the best out of him. Probably the closest we've had to Ramadani since he left. With the right instruction, and the right combination of players alongside him, we could have been on to something. 

[OrlandoDon]

Knoester out for the season with a broken collar bone? If the rumors are true, what’s Anthony Stewart up to these days? Maybe being consi back in?? At this rate I wouldn’t turn my nose up to miller and mcleish!

[RicoS321]

Just now, OrlandoDon said:

Knoester out for the season with a broken collar bone? If the rumors are true, what’s Anthony Stewart up to these days? Maybe being consi back in?? At this rate I wouldn’t turn my nose up to miller and mcleish!

I like Knoester but this could be a bit of a blessing if we could get a good left sided defender in. Someone with experience and will attack the ball in the area. I think Milne will develop those attributes in the coming seasons, but he's not there yet. Ironically, it'll be exactly the partner that Knoester would need too, but it'll be in his place, if we do get someone. 

[BigAl]

1 hour ago, The.Moog said:

I can. Luton’s my English team, and trust me, they’ve spent waaaay more than that on absolute shite this last couple of years.

Still getting parachute money fae their year in the prem so there is cash there…

It was the Shady back on loan part I was questioning.

You'll know better than me as you follow Luton, but I thought he was playing regularly for them 

[Mason89]

1 minute ago, RicoS321 said:

Someone with experience and will attack the ball in the area. I think Milne will develop those attributes in the coming seasons, but he's not there yet. 

Is it too much to ask that he should be doing this already?