It really never is too early and given it is 2nd September where I am, I'm kicking this one off right now.

Take the chance to start moaning about what we are still missing post Summer 2025 window shutting.

Wonder who the first concrete rumour will involve 🤔

2 hours ago, tlg1903 said:

He did great when he first came in but defo went off the ball.  I would love to see the club try and get the lad Watson from Killie in to replace him if he does go.  He's OOC come the end of the season so could probably get him for a reasonable fee. 

It’s definitely the yank in me, but what’s the chance of offering cash and a player as an incentive? We have a pretty large squad that the likes of yengi, Ambrose, Ryan Duncan, possibly Findlay Marshall is he’s not got a future with us, polvara, even sokler? I know some of these guys are also out of contract next summer, that a January move may be an option??

2 hours ago, tlg1903 said:

He did great when he first came in but defo went off the ball.  I would love to see the club try and get the lad Watson from Killie in to replace him if he does go.  He's OOC come the end of the season so could probably get him for a reasonable fee. 

I think Nilsen is contracted until 2027.

Don't rate him as a player and as bad a signing as we have ever made in my opinion. By that, I mean his age and the length of deal as much as his overall shyteness on the pitch.

1 minute ago, TheDonbytheDee said:

I think Nilsen is contracted until 2027.

Don't rate him as a player and as bad a signing as we have ever made in my opinion. By that, I mean his age and the length of deal as much as his overall shyteness on the pitch.

Agree, pretty sure many of us questioned a three year deal at that age, now seeing his lack of mobility, he won’t see much playing time. I speculated there was a coaching role in his future when I heard the contract offered, but I’d punt him at any opportunity to get him off the books.

Who is the next Watson Cameron mccowan or mulligan? Would really like, and I know it’s hard, to get the best of the rest of Scottish talent.

Andy Tod from Dunfermline.

I'd like us to be at least looking at this loon.

I think he has something about him, but do we even scout Scottish players anymore?

 

20 minutes ago, TheDonbytheDee said:

Andy Tod from Dunfermline.

I'd like us to be at least looking at this loon.

I think he has something about him, but do we even scout Scottish players anymore?

 

He's 54 years old and hasn't played since 2011. We should be looking at younger players.

40 minutes ago, swaddon said:

He's 54 years old and hasn't played since 2011. We should be looking at younger players.

Never stopped Toni Kombuare

8 hours ago, swaddon said:

He's 54 years old and hasn't played since 2011. We should be looking at younger players.

Thought I was in the twilight zone for a moment there 😂

9 hours ago, TheDonbytheDee said:

Andy Tod from Dunfermline.

I'd like us to be at least looking at this loon.

I think he has something about him, but do we even scout Scottish players anymore?

 

He wears funny glasses 

With Tobers confirmed to be out for the rest of the season, be interesting to see if we look to bring in another defender in January.

I guess with Devlin and Dorrington we're okay for cover for now, but we saw last season Devlin have a big drop off in form when overplayed, and although Tottenham will be happy with Dorrington getting minutes they won't want a young player overplayed and picking up injuries either.

32 minutes ago, Panda said:

With Tobers confirmed to be out for the rest of the season, be interesting to see if we look to bring in another defender in January.

I guess with Devlin and Dorrington we're okay for cover for now, but we saw last season Devlin have a big drop off in form when overplayed, and although Tottenham will be happy with Dorrington getting minutes they won't want a young player overplayed and picking up injuries either.

I think Devlin being overplayed isn't a significant issue at right centre back. If he was tanking up and down from fullback, more so. It'd be good for them both just to share our the minutes between now and the end of the season. I suspect JT will want to revert to a four at some point too.

During international breaks, since only a handful of our squad are involved, why don't we organise a friendly game? Behind closed doors if necessary ... Surely there's no better training than a 90 minute game against opposition of roughly equal prowess .... an opportunity to give 'fringe players' some game time .... with no big deal whether we win/lose/draw, just to assess how they perform in a suitably competitive situation.

With the January window fast approaching, surely it would be valuable to assess the wider squad rather than offload potentially valuable players simply because they have been untried/untested/poorly utilised.... all to bring in others who will suffer the same fate.

Edited November 10, 2025Nov 10 by Radiored

8 hours ago, Radiored said:

During international breaks, since only a handful of our squad are involved, why don't we organise a friendly game? Behind closed doors if necessary ... Surely there's no better training than a 90 minute game against opposition of roughly equal prowess .... an opportunity to give 'fringe players' some game time .... with no big deal whether we win/lose/draw, just to assess how they perform in a suitably competitive situation.

With the January window fast approaching, surely it would be valuable to assess the wider squad rather than offload potentially valuable players simply because they have been untried/untested/poorly utilised.... all to bring in others who will suffer the same fate.

Who do you think we've not assessed adequately? The Icelandic laddy and Bilalovic are the only two I can think of, and I'm prepared to accept that they might not be ready for the first team. The rest have all had plenty of minutes. A bounce game might be a good idea to test a new formation perhaps, but the biggest problem is that St Johnstone - our designated friendly team - are in the championship and probably don't have the week off. I guess there are other teams, but it would seem a little unfaithful to the saints, who might feel left out.

 

Another window, though, where I think that the first priority has to be shipping players. I'd like to see us go full clear out, and get rid of Clarkson*, Polvara, Palaversa, Nilsen, Ambrose and Yengi. We won't have Europe, and that clear out will set us up nicely for the summer. 

*I think Clarkson is our best player, but I hate seeing him on the bench. Just get rid of he's not happy, or the manager is unhappy with him.

12 hours ago, Radiored said:

During international breaks, since only a handful of our squad are involved, why don't we organise a friendly game? Behind closed doors if necessary ... Surely there's no better training than a 90 minute game against opposition of roughly equal prowess .... an opportunity to give 'fringe players' some game time .... with no big deal whether we win/lose/draw, just to assess how they perform in a suitably competitive situation.

With the January window fast approaching, surely it would be valuable to assess the wider squad rather than offload potentially valuable players simply because they have been untried/untested/poorly utilised.... all to bring in others who will suffer the same fate.

We have a KDM trophy game on Tuesday at Spartans which we can field 3 overage players in and then Aberdeenshire Shield game on Wednesday against Banks of Dee where I think we can field first team players a run out as well. Might be slightly better than arranging a bounce game to give players a run out that are not away on international duty. 

17 hours ago, Radiored said:

During international breaks, since only a handful of our squad are involved, why don't we organise a friendly game? Behind closed doors if necessary ... Surely there's no better training than a 90 minute game against opposition of roughly equal prowess .... an opportunity to give 'fringe players' some game time .... with no big deal whether we win/lose/draw, just to assess how they perform in a suitably competitive situation.

With the January window fast approaching, surely it would be valuable to assess the wider squad rather than offload potentially valuable players simply because they have been untried/untested/poorly utilised.... all to bring in others who will suffer the same fate.

Will be amazed if the first team that are not on international duty don’t have the week off or at least a few days. It seems to be the norm these days which is utter nonsense. I get that the season has extended - especially if you are having to play Euro qualifiers in July and players need rest breaks, but the amount of international breaks is getting beyond a joke.

I’m sure some of those with social media will confirm the location(s) of our first team

Edited November 10, 2025Nov 10 by 2stars

2 hours ago, 2stars said:

Will be amazed if the first team that are not on international duty don’t have the week off or at least a few days. It seems to be the norm these days which is utter nonsense. 

⛔️ Warning: Really boring answer coming up. ⛔️ 
 

There's been a few articles on this. Typically, a player is entitled to five weeks paid holiday a year. They can't always get those five weeks in pre-season. And I think they get public holidays added to that too as they work Christmas etc. 

If Aberdeen had lost the cup final, the early European fixtures would have meant we'd probably have started back 19 June like most clubs did. Can't be arsed working out how many paid holidays days that is, but it would fall well short of their entitlement. And then you had Keskinen playing at the U21 Euros and, I can't remember, but Mitov probably playing for Bulgaria etc.

The holiday allowance actually starts 1 July, so the longer summer break we had this season doesn't actually count towards this season.

So basically, in short, without a winter break, we need to use the international breaks to give them their days off.

Woke nonsense etc.

45 minutes ago, Panda said:

⛔️ Warning: Really boring answer coming up. ⛔️ 
 

There's been a few articles on this. Typically, a player is entitled to five weeks paid holiday a year. They can't always get those five weeks in pre-season. And I think they get public holidays added to that too as they work Christmas etc. 

If Aberdeen had lost the cup final, the early European fixtures would have meant we'd probably have started back 19 June like most clubs did. Can't be arsed working out how many paid holidays days that is, but it would fall well short of their entitlement. And then you had Keskinen playing at the U21 Euros and, I can't remember, but Mitov probably playing for Bulgaria etc.

The holiday allowance actually starts 1 July, so the longer summer break we had this season doesn't actually count towards this season.

So basically, in short, without a winter break, we need to use the international breaks to give them their days off.

Woke nonsense etc.

Back when Fergie was manager, if a player asked for a day off he'd chain them to the side of the pier. After high tide, he'd untie them, and if they weren't dead he'd fine them a week's wages. 

1 hour ago, Panda said:

⛔️ Warning: Really boring answer coming up. ⛔️ 
 

There's been a few articles on this. Typically, a player is entitled to five weeks paid holiday a year. They can't always get those five weeks in pre-season. And I think they get public holidays added to that too as they work Christmas etc. 

If Aberdeen had lost the cup final, the early European fixtures would have meant we'd probably have started back 19 June like most clubs did. Can't be arsed working out how many paid holidays days that is, but it would fall well short of their entitlement. And then you had Keskinen playing at the U21 Euros and, I can't remember, but Mitov probably playing for Bulgaria etc.

The holiday allowance actually starts 1 July, so the longer summer break we had this season doesn't actually count towards this season.

So basically, in short, without a winter break, we need to use the international breaks to give them their days off.

Woke nonsense etc.

My question would be is why doesn't international duty count as holiday time?  

I'd never thought of players and holiday entitlement before. Just assumed whatever break they get in the summer was their holiday, but makes sense what Panda posted. 

 

On 09/11/2025 at 16:07, tom_widdows said:

Never stopped Toni Kombuare

Or Stevie Crawford 

11 minutes ago, Blow.Up.Sheep said:

Or Stevie Crawford 

Or John "Budgie"Burridge

15 hours ago, Panda said:

⛔️ Warning: Really boring answer coming up. ⛔️ 
 

There's been a few articles on this. Typically, a player is entitled to five weeks paid holiday a year. They can't always get those five weeks in pre-season. And I think they get public holidays added to that too as they work Christmas etc. 

If Aberdeen had lost the cup final, the early European fixtures would have meant we'd probably have started back 19 June like most clubs did. Can't be arsed working out how many paid holidays days that is, but it would fall well short of their entitlement. And then you had Keskinen playing at the U21 Euros and, I can't remember, but Mitov probably playing for Bulgaria etc.

The holiday allowance actually starts 1 July, so the longer summer break we had this season doesn't actually count towards this season.

So basically, in short, without a winter break, we need to use the international breaks to give them their days off.

Woke nonsense etc.

Thanks for the explanation- 5 weeks seems excessive given the work day sometimes comprises of an hour and a half of “training”

i understand that players deserve downtime like everyone else and need to physically recover given more games being played, but feel we could be be doing more with some of the downtime when it becomes available

modern fitba is p1sh

Players in the auld days used to do a 16 hour shift down the pit every day and still turn out for their team on a Saturday afternoon.

Modern footballers don't know they're born.

5 hours ago, swaddon said:

Players in the auld days used to do a 16 hour shift down the pit every day and still turn out for their team on a Saturday afternoon.

Modern footballers don't know they're born.

'You cant expect a professional, paid to do nothing but play football all day to achieve the same level of physical fitness as a man who works in a chip shop all week and only plays football on saturdays'

Edited November 11, 2025Nov 11 by tom_widdows