The Scottish Cup holders begin their defence of the world's oldest professional football trophy on Sunday 18th January at the Cathedral of Football, kicking off at 2:30 pm and being beamed all around an expectant world in full colour on BBC Television as they take on Championship side Raith Rovers.

Raith have been in patchy form recently, losing at the weekend at home to Arbroath. Aberdeen have been worse than shite recently, losing to everyone. Nevertheless, I fancy a 2-1 win for the Dons after extra time as we bid for a ninth Scottish Cup and a first defence of OUR cup since 1984.

Which was the last time we successfully defended the Scottish Cup that we had won the previous season. Because we won it in 1983. And 1982.

1 minute ago, redordead said:

I really struggle to see why mitov is still between our sticks. That pass to Clarkson 😳

You mean pass the gloves to Clarkson? Hmmm. Interesting approach.

You’re starting to see it. We cannot win headers. They are starting to be more direct.

Josh Fowler listed in some places as a right/left winger. Pace?

milanovic is no different to Jensen. Rarely goes forward, inside sideways and back.

To be fair, good play on the left from topi. Direct, aggressive and attacks.

Good foul by gyamfi. Best to take him off, frame time!

Interesting that Cameron has waltzed in and is immediately taking all the corners. 

3 minutes ago, Kowalski said:

Interesting that Cameron has waltzed in and is immediately taking all the corners. 

I don’t have an issue there. How good have our deliveries been, and how many have we scored from set plays? Cameron has played well so far, done more than a lot of players, plus I think he and Clarkson are a good combo.

We are making hard work of this.

Different competition, same old pish on display.

Just get into half time ahead and hope to fuck we are a lot better in the second half as this is uncomfortable watching.

Raith don't deserve to be behind 

 championship level teams

Not a bad half but raith came more into it after the goal, and we certainly need to score more. Maybe even a little fortunate to be level. Lost momentum at the end of the half.

Seen very little from Armstrong, plus milanovic is his usual effective self, yank those two for shinnie and bilalovic. Gyamfi for frame, he’s been non existent since his booking and lacks pace so vulnerable defensively.

27 minutes ago, redordead said:

I really struggle to see why mitov is still between our sticks. That pass to Clarkson 😳

Didn’t see much wrong with it. And the save that prevented a Polvara og is why he’s in the team.

We’ve been absolutely rubbish again so picking on any individual player is a waste of time.

3 minutes ago, STFU_Donny said:

We are making hard work of this.

Last 5 minutes we’re starting to hang on. Completely lost momentum. Need graft that this 11 doesn’t have. Need to start the second half as we did the first.

Surely that must be the last 45 minutes Milanovic ever plays for us. He is utterly useless. He provides nothing.

Scored one, conceded none so far despite our best efforts. Nothing else positive to add.

4 minutes ago, OrlandoDon said:

Last 5 minutes we’re starting to hang on. Completely lost momentum. Need graft that this 11 doesn’t have. Need to start the second half as we did the first.

Graft is correct. You can do pretty well in Scottish football if you’re willing to put the effort in. Just look at how Falkirk are getting on this season. Watched them last night and their second half performance was excellent at Tynecastle. 

Scrappy. Cameron has done ok. For me Armstrong has been fine - retaining the ball and recycling it. Happy to be winning.

2 minutes ago, Don Julio said:

Scrappy. Cameron has done ok. For me Armstrong has been fine - retaining the ball and recycling it. Happy to be winning.

To be fair, Armstrong isn’t bad, but he’s barely touched the ball, need a worker, shinnie is the best we have, to work alongside Clarkson and Cameron. I think those two have been better than Armstrong, hence Armstrong drops out. I also think shinnie will have a leadership/effort effect.

10 minutes ago, Brochred said:

Surely that must be the last 45 minutes Milanovic ever plays for us. He is utterly useless. He provides nothing.

We can hope. Leven has given him a chance to prove himself. He’s certainly shown he’s not capable, no need to give him more time.

How much longer are we going to persist with Nisbet as a loan striker? It’s clearly not working. 

That midfield three has been completely overrun. Cameron been okay, but I don't see why we've signed him. Armstrong clearly wants to be in that position, so he's been shunted back to a role where he's a fucking liability. Clarkson already needs one mobile and strong midfielder alongside him, the three lightweights together is just - very obviously - fucking ridiculous. It has to be Aouchiche and Shinnie plus one other in the SPFL. You need legs through that centre. Or aggression. Cameron or Armstrong or Clarkson, not two and definitely not three. 

1 minute ago, STFU_Donny said:

How much longer are we going to persist with Nisbet as a loan striker? It’s clearly not working. 

We signed him permanently in the summer 

MITCHELL FRAME!!

The season has officially started.

5 minutes ago, RicoS321 said:

We signed him permanently in the summer 

All this talk of loans has me mixed up! 
 

LONE striker is what I meant 😇

Orlando will be too excited to post haha