See you, Jimmy…

ON THE SPOT: Michael Grant

 

THIS WAS exactly the sentence Jimmy Calderwood came out with in one of his newspaper columns last week: "Now it is time to stand aside and let somebody else take centre stage." Was this the bombshell revelation? Had he finally succumbed to the will of a huge section of the Aberdeen support? No, not so fast. He was giving his advice to the losing Ryder Cup captain, Nick Faldo. It wasn't a column about Calderwood himself standing aside to give someone else the reins at Pittodrie, although if he ever writes that it will be the most popular one he has ever done.

 

Calderwood telling anyone else to clear off and let another man take over met with incredulity and hoots of derision from supporters, but then again he can barely open his mouth these days without his observations being treated with scorn and hostility. And it is fan power which dictates that the clock is ticking.

 

Director of football Willie Miller appealed to supporters to give him time in the aftermath of the inept Co-Operative Insurance Cup defeat at Kilmarnock in midweek, but that was a plea which will fall on deaf ears. Calderwood has lost the fans. Sooner rather than later that will cost him his job at a club which cannot afford to ignore them.

 

Whether he limps on for three games or three months, he is a dead man walking at Aberdeen. Privately he knows it and so do senior figures at Pittodrie. Enough of the support has made up its mind about him and the coming weeks will see dwindling attendances and a widespread desire for change. Home games will feel as though they are taking place in a half-empty morgue. Another couple of defeats and demonstrations are likely. The point will be reached at which chairman Stewart Milne and his board of directors will be forced to act out of financial necessity.

 

Some have said that Calderwood will be spared because Aberdeen cannot afford to sack him (along with coaches Jimmy Nicholl and Sandy Clark he signed a new, three-year contract in January). The more significant fact is that no club can afford to prop up a struggling, unpopular managerial regime. Aberdeen were bundled out of the Co-Op Cup before they could make money from a single home tie. Crowds are down to the extent that barely 11,000 turned up for last weekend's home match against Dundee United and if live coverage on Setanta was a contributory factor then so, too, were the previous home losses to Caledonian Thistle and Hamilton and the general mediocrity of Aberdeen's play this season. Calderwood has been living on borrowed time since the day his team conceded four semi-final goals to a First Division team, Queen of the South, and pitifully skittered away a golden chance to reach their first Scottish Cup final in eight years.

 

Calderwood has been a good manager for Aberdeen, the first appointment they got right since Miller himself in 1992. Having survived for more than for four years he is the longest-serving of Sir Alex Ferguson's eight successors. In the SPL only Jim Jefferies and John Hughes have held on for longer. He has established them as a top six club again - although it was an affront that they were below that when he joined - and taken them on a memorable run to the last 32 of the Uefa Cup last season. There have been exciting one-off results against the Old Firm. He has made Aberdeen respectable and will be able to look back on his time with satisfaction.

 

But managers have a natural shelf life and results are showing he has run his course and taken Aberdeen as far as he can. When he criticises his team it is for the same failings time after time: sloppy defending, individual mistakes, a lack of character or communication among the players.

 

The message doesn't get through where it matters: on the training ground and in the dressing room. What are the chances of that changing in the weeks and months ahead?

 

Those who defend him claim the club will sink again if he leaves. They ask if Aberdeen want to return to the days of Ebbe Skovdahl or Steve Paterson? But a club's standards are not set by the worst appointments in its past. Those two helped Calderwood by dragging the club to such depths that he arrived when there was plenty of room for improvement.

 

The question Milne, Miller and chief executive Duncan Fraser have to ask is whether a new manager would transform the fans' morale, improve attendances and gate receipts and, crucially, get more from the current squad than Calderwood. And they will know the correct answer.

 

The Celtic support's repertoire at away games includes a couple of songs which have been silenced at Parkhead for quite some time and do the club no favours. They have been criticised for still belting them out, and rightly so.

 

Credit where it is due, though, and that means applause for those behind the banner demonstration at Rugby Park last weekend. They pointed out the absurdity of £25 Kilmarnock v Celtic tickets being dearer than those for AC Milan v Lazio, Feyenoord v Ajax or Bayern Munich v Werder Bremen league fixtures. "Rip-off prices = empty seats," was the message in a stadium with plenty of them.

 

A legitimate, mature, proper complaint in contrast with the rubbish normally associated with Celtic and Rangers away from home. It was a protest which had to be made, and which deserves to succeed.

 

 

See you, Jimmy…

ON THE SPOT: Michael Grant

 

THIS WAS exactly the sentence Jimmy Calderwood came out with in one of his newspaper columns last week: "Now it is time to stand aside and let somebody else take centre stage." Was this the bombshell revelation? Had he finally succumbed to the will of a huge section of the Aberdeen support? No, not so fast. He was giving his advice to the losing Ryder Cup captain, Nick Faldo. It wasn't a column about Calderwood himself standing aside to give someone else the reins at Pittodrie, although if he ever writes that it will be the most popular one he has ever done.

 

Calderwood telling anyone else to clear off and let another man take over met with incredulity and hoots of derision from supporters, but then again he can barely open his mouth these days without his observations being treated with scorn and hostility. And it is fan power which dictates that the clock is ticking.

 

Director of football Willie Miller appealed to supporters to give him time in the aftermath of the inept Co-Operative Insurance Cup defeat at Kilmarnock in midweek, but that was a plea which will fall on deaf ears. Calderwood has lost the fans. Sooner rather than later that will cost him his job at a club which cannot afford to ignore them.

 

Whether he limps on for three games or three months, he is a dead man walking at Aberdeen. Privately he knows it and so do senior figures at Pittodrie. Enough of the support has made up its mind about him and the coming weeks will see dwindling attendances and a widespread desire for change. Home games will feel as though they are taking place in a half-empty morgue. Another couple of defeats and demonstrations are likely. The point will be reached at which chairman Stewart Milne and his board of directors will be forced to act out of financial necessity.

 

Some have said that Calderwood will be spared because Aberdeen cannot afford to sack him (along with coaches Jimmy Nicholl and Sandy Clark he signed a new, three-year contract in January). The more significant fact is that no club can afford to prop up a struggling, unpopular managerial regime. Aberdeen were bundled out of the Co-Op Cup before they could make money from a single home tie. Crowds are down to the extent that barely 11,000 turned up for last weekend's home match against Dundee United and if live coverage on Setanta was a contributory factor then so, too, were the previous home losses to Caledonian Thistle and Hamilton and the general mediocrity of Aberdeen's play this season. Calderwood has been living on borrowed time since the day his team conceded four semi-final goals to a First Division team, Queen of the South, and pitifully skittered away a golden chance to reach their first Scottish Cup final in eight years.

 

Calderwood has been a good manager for Aberdeen, the first appointment they got right since Miller himself in 1992. Having survived for more than for four years he is the longest-serving of Sir Alex Ferguson's eight successors. In the SPL only Jim Jefferies and John Hughes have held on for longer. He has established them as a top six club again - although it was an affront that they were below that when he joined - and taken them on a memorable run to the last 32 of the Uefa Cup last season. There have been exciting one-off results against the Old Firm. He has made Aberdeen respectable and will be able to look back on his time with satisfaction.

 

But managers have a natural shelf life and results are showing he has run his course and taken Aberdeen as far as he can. When he criticises his team it is for the same failings time after time: sloppy defending, individual mistakes, a lack of character or communication among the players.

 

The message doesn't get through where it matters: on the training ground and in the dressing room. What are the chances of that changing in the weeks and months ahead?

 

Those who defend him claim the club will sink again if he leaves. They ask if Aberdeen want to return to the days of Ebbe Skovdahl or Steve Paterson? But a club's standards are not set by the worst appointments in its past. Those two helped Calderwood by dragging the club to such depths that he arrived when there was plenty of room for improvement.

 

The question Milne, Miller and chief executive Duncan Fraser have to ask is whether a new manager would transform the fans' morale, improve attendances and gate receipts and, crucially, get more from the current squad than Calderwood. And they will know the correct answer.

 

:clap:

 

(what is the link/tabloid Big Al?)

http://www.sundayherald.com/sport/shfootball/display.var.2453843.0.see_you_jimmy.php

Hasn;t pulled any punches, a tremendous piece that hits every nail on the head.

he is a dead man walking

 

Im sorry im no fan of calderwood but that is a very harsh and frankly ridiculous article. Yes we have had a shocking start to the season and yes we are playing some shocking football but its only 6 games into the season, to describe calderwood as a dead man walking now is embarrassing. Give it some time, even though he is an idiot i have confidence he will turn it around, given the last few seasons he has earned the chance to do so

Im sorry im no fan of calderwood but that is a very harsh and frankly ridiculous article. Yes we have had a shocking start to the season and yes we are playing some shocking football but its only 6 games into the season, to describe calderwood as a dead man walking now is embarrassing. Give it some time, even though he is an idiot i have confidence he will turn it around, given the last few seasons he has earned the chance to do so

 

Turn it around to what?

Better than it currently is. Over the past 4 years we have gone through a number of troughs, and we have always picked up again.

Better than it currently is. Over the past 4 years we have gone through a number of troughs, and we have always picked up again.

 

So peaks and troughs. But then he is also responsible for the troughs?

 

You admit he is an idiot, how can you justify having him in charge?

Typical Glasgow media sticking the knife in.  I thought it was a deplorable article for 6 games into the season.

 

I still think we should give him until xmas to see if he can turn it around.

Typical Glasgow media sticking the knife in. 

 

Michael Grant is an Aberdeen fan

Michael Grant is an Aberdeen fan

 

I was thinking that too but wasn't sure though it is still Glasgow media he writes for.

 

It doesn't detract from the fact that it IS a deplorable article. Surprising, as I have always thought his articles were pretty good.

Yes some of his decisions are idiotic, and the fact he hasn't sorted the defence is baffling but i cant see how sacking yet another manager is the answer, we went through years of sackings when things weren't going well and it was never a long term situation, calderwood is responsible for the dip in form, as as the players, but im sure he will turn things round, and 6 games into the season is a ridiculous time to call for his head. Total knee jerk reaction.

 

and you know yourself im not a calderwood fan

I realy dont know how to think on the situation. Our defence has been lacking, as has been previously mentioned and not sorted out properly after two of our main players left. that to me is baffling.

 

Most managers build from the back when rebuilding a team, makng sure thy have a solid backline and working up the spine of the team to create stability.  Calderwood sticks on new players here and there whenever they are available and if he cant find new faces, he shoves them into positions they are not comfortable with.  This seems lazy, and frustrating for me and the players too I imagine.

 

He refuses to drop players when they are playing badly or out of form, insisting especially on a captain that appears not up to the job. Again frustrating.

 

His tactics are unentertaining, and at times just plain wrong, giving too much regard to the oppoition and how they will play.  I think this is why he has relative success againnst the infirm. They only know how to play one way respecrively.

 

as someone else said (BB TF)? Scoring three goals away from home for any other team SHOULD mean you win the game.  Scoring 4 at Hampden SHOULD mean you win the fucking game.

 

Despite these neagatives, I just dont think sacking him seems the answer this time.  I said previously it will take him his entire three years to build a team that will be capable of challenging for Europe and cups again.  I stick to that.  However.  Poor, unentertainting performances CAN NOT continue, especially at home.

 

 

 

 

That article is a joke really and totally jumps the gun. Something that i didn't expect from an article of Grants. To say he's lost the fans is absolute rubbish. There's those who just simply don't like him, can't stand his tactics and style of football and those stuck in the past that don't realise how football has changed so much in the last 15 years. While there are others who realise he's doing a decent enough job considering the resources he has.

 

As others have said it's only 6 games in so to sack him now is just ludicrous. The players think a lot of JC- his training is said to be great there's no doubt the likes of Aluko and Mulgrew wouldn't have signed if he hadn't been at the club.

 

He gets sacked after such a short period into the season and we will go backwards players will think twice about signing as they'll never know when the next manager could be sacked. This season will be a total and utter write off!!

I thought the article was correct, some fans will never forgive jc the QOS debacle and years of baffling tactics and poor football. He could pull it around and gain 3rd this season but the crowds will continue to fall as the fans have grown tired of the status quo ( down down, deeper and down..)

 

He wont get sacked before Christmas, Febuary is my bet if we are running a sweeper.

Michael Grant is an Aberdeen fan

 

True fans love Jimmy 

Strange how there is not any similar articles about Levein,

If his record over the last 20 games is considered he's not just a dead man walking, he's a buddhist on his 3rd or 4th  reincarnation!

 

Oh but he's a media darling.

I'm surpirsed folk have got so worked up about this article.  That could have been written by any number of folk that use this site over that last week and surely is representing how the majority of dons fans are feeling.

 

To say he has not lost the fans is ridiculous when you read these forums and listen to the radio.  Yes alot of folk have not liked him for a while but I know many fans who had backed him to the hilt until the recent shambles who have now said enough is enough

and those stuck in the past that don't realise how football has changed so much in the last 15 years.

Really I'd expect better than that pish from you

 

While there are others who realise he's doing a decent enough job considering the resources he has.

Those will be far greater resources than Hamiton, ICT and United who all beat us at home.  Losing three games on the bounce to that lot can surely never been seen as "decent".

 

 

He gets sacked after such a short period into the season and we will go backwards players will think twice about signing as they'll never know when the next manager could be sacked. This season will be a total and utter write off!!

mince

managers get sacked all the time

Infact JC is one of the longest serving managers in the country...hardly a short period.

Folk wanting rid of JC certainly aren't basing that decision on the 8 games this season alone.  Last seasons league performances were generally unacceptable while the cup semi defeats were sackable offences on their own

 

Clearly we have the players who are capable (see recent games vs OF and Europe last season) yet questions must be asked why these same players can't perform against ICT and Hamilton.  The manager bought most of these guys and needs to take some responsibilty

I'm surpirsed folk have got so worked up about this article.  That could have been written by any number of folk that use this site over that last week and surely is representing how the majority of dons fans are feeling.

 

To say he has not lost the fans is ridiculous when you read these forums and listen to the radio.  Yes alot of folk have not liked him for a while but I know many fans who had backed him to the hilt until the recent shambles who have now said enough is enough

 

Really I'd expect better than that pish from you

Those will be far greater resources than Hamiton, ICT and United who all beat us at home.  Losing three games on the bounce to that lot can surely never been seen as "decent".

 

mince

managers get sacked all the time

Infact JC is one of the longest serving managers in the country...hardly a short period.

Folk wanting rid of JC certainly aren't basing that decision on the 8 games this season alone.  Last seasons league performances were generally unacceptable while the cup semi defeats were sackable offences on their own

 

Clearly we have the players who are capable (see recent games vs OF and Europe last season) yet questions must be asked why these same players can't perform against ICT and Hamilton.  The manager bought most of these guys and needs to take some responsibilty

 

 

I know my post is kinda general waffle. But there are guys i know who have season tickets and see them play there only who weren't even happy with our home form last season. Our home form was outstanding with only three defeats in the league (off the top of my head). The away form was atrocious that there is no doubt maybe our run in the cups and europe concealed the form in the league. You've got to remember though we did play a huge amount of games last season and lost key players.

 

Hart and Clark (your fav eh Doc) both left in the Jan window and also Smith was virtually out the rest of the season three big players for us. Take three key players away from any team outside the filth and you'll see them struggle. There was a big dip in form in Feb where we only won 1 game in 8. We shipped 23 goals and scored 9.

 

This period is very timid compared to that. The defeat to Killie is the only one which can be classed as one which was an embarrasing one.

 

We were poor against Hamilton that there is no doubt where they beat us through a very speculative goal. The same can be said for the united game they were utter utter shite and were gifted the pen. Sadly we were clueless as to how to break them down. Two defeats that have come in succession which come across far worse than they are.

 

Knocking the ball about and creating chances is not the problem(just look at the 2nd goal against cellic) now it's about keeping it tight at the back. Things will change in our favour that i have no doubt, we'll soon be looking back on this in month or two with some decent victories under our belts.   

 

Let the slaggin commence   

I think one of the main problems is that although most of us know Calderwood will turn it round to some extent (based on the fact that, in general, the squad is fairly talented), a few fair few of us don't see achieving top 6 or even 4th place as a major achievement. Yes we are only 6 games into the season, but at the start of the season we were entered into 3 tournaments - we are out of 1 tournament, and are not going to win the league, so really we have 1 chance left. How many of us would bet our house on us winning the Scottish Cup? After 4 years in charge, I would have thought we should have been in at least 2 or 3 cup finals by this point based on the quality of the squad and the resources available.

 

 

 

I don't have any major beef with Calderwood, and the fact remains that he did a decent job in his 1st 4 season in getting us up to the opposite end of the league (refuse to use the term top 6, as to use that term as some barometer of success is demented).

 

However, he clearly can't take us to the next level, which is best of the rest, and as this stage of the season, we should be up and in about the Old Firm, and his contract should have been allowed to run down in the summer. Seems an open secret that he was head hunted by a decent Dutch team in the spring - who knows what happened there but he ended up re-signing for us for 3.5 years, a crazy situation that will haunt us for some time to come.

 

I don't doubt he will lead us out of our current predicament, but as has been said already, he should have been gone afer the QOTS debacle.

I think one of the main problems is that although most of us know Calderwood will turn it round to some extent (based on the fact that, in general, the squad is fairly talented), a few fair few of us don't see achieving top 6 or even 4th place as a major achievement. Yes we are only 6 games into the season, but at the start of the season we were entered into 3 tournaments - we are out of 1 tournament, and are not going to win the league, so really we have 1 chance left. How many of us would bet our house on us winning the Scottish Cup? After 4 years in charge, I would have thought we should have been in at least 2 or 3 cup finals by this point based on the quality of the squad and the resources available.

 

and going into the split last year, no-one would have given us a hope in hell of finishing 3rd, yet Zander's goal at parkhead would have given us 3rd.

 

Dons fans seem to have 2 memories, "The glory days" and "The whoever isn't giving us more glory days".

 

JC brought us europe for the first time in ages - it was miller and wiggy who broke up that squad - not jimmy.

 

I wish the majority of fans would wake up to the real issue of AFC and why we'll never challenge for anything on a regular basis - Stewart Milne!

Michael Grant is an Aberdeen fan

 

Still a cock though. I met him in some (cough) wine bar off Golden Square a few years ago. Arrogant piece of crap of the second-highest order.

 

The article itself, though, is pretty much exactly how I feel. Why do we have to give him til Xmas? What's the point in that. We've been cursing Calderwood since February. Since then, we gutlessly got dumped out of the Scottish Cup, League Cup (twice), scraped into top six on the final day before the split. He also said "we need at least ten new players to be able to compete next season". He's still only on nine so, by his own estimations, he's working with a smaller and weaker squad than last year.

 

In his favour ... he has stabilised us. No more guaranteed thrashings from the ugly sisters. And some of the players he's signed have been of a high standard - Severin, Nicholson, Mulgrew, Miller, Brewster, Jamie Smith, Aluko, Ferne Snoyle, Noel Whelan ... If these guys were our team, I don't think any of us would complain at all. However, one of the most irritating things is that he then goes out and gives the likes of Maguire and Foster new lucrative contracts, and then signs shite like Bus, Mair, Duff, Soutar, Bossu and Hodgkiss (a player he didn't even know existed until the loan contract was finalised!).

 

JC has been below par for a lot longer than just six matches. He's been below par since he signed his new contract. He has taken Aberdeen as far as he can. Thankyou Jimmy for bringing a bit of respectability back to Aberdeen Football Club. For that, I take my hat off to you. Now, though, we want more. You are not the man to give us more. Therefore, your time is up.

I think one of the main problems is that although most of us know Calderwood will turn it round to some extent (based on the fact that, in general, the squad is fairly talented), a few fair few of us don't see achieving top 6 or even 4th place as a major achievement. Yes we are only 6 games into the season, but at the start of the season we were entered into 3 tournaments - we are out of 1 tournament, and are not going to win the league, so really we have 1 chance left. How many of us would bet our house on us winning the Scottish Cup? After 4 years in charge, I would have thought we should have been in at least 2 or 3 cup finals by this point based on the quality of the squad and the resources available.

 

 

Quite right, and if it wasn't for the split I'd be very surprised if ANY of us ever spoke of "achieving" a top six place. It's created an artificial goal for us.

 

The one thing I'm getting thoroughly fed up with though is JC constantly talking about "and we all know the expectations at this club". He mentioned it three times in an interview at the weekend. It's obviously something that weighs him down. The fact he mentions it so often leads me to think that he can't handle that and he's out his depth. if he doesn't like it he can fuck off as far as I'm concerned.

I would have thought we should have been in at least 2 or 3 cup finals by this point based on the quality of the squad and the resources available.

 

squad = pish, resources = d*ck all.

 

2 or 3 cup finals = having a laugh.