BigAl Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 Aberdeen set to hand new deal to Darren Mackie Dec 23 2008 By Ian Orr DARREN MACKIE was celebrating yesterday after being promised a new deal by Aberdeen. The striker is the first of six Pittodrie stars whose contracts expire at the end of the season to be assured of his future. His super strike at Inverness on Saturday was his 50th for the club and boss Jimmy Calderwood reckons there are many more goals to come. The Pittodrie manager said: "Deciding whether to keep Mackie or not was always going to be one of the easiest I've made as a manager. "It's made, now it is only a matter of sorting out the financial side and I don't anticipate any problems. "He is one of the key players in the squad. He is Aberdeen-daft, he really does live the dream every time he pulls on the shirt. That's why I get baffled when some supporters have ago at him because he is one of them. "He would do anything to help the team win. He's also a gem to work with and I want him at this club for as long as possible. "His goal at Inverness was probably one of the best of his career and I was delighted to see him pass such a significant landmark. "This season his touch has improved and his confidence is back. I'm sure he'll be an even bigger handful for defences in the second half of the season." Unlike Hearts and Dundee United, Calderwood insisted there is no pressure to sell top players during the January transfer window. He added: "The way the club has organised the finances means we can sustain what has been planned for at least the next two years. "That doesn't mean we won't sell any players. If a big club came in with a silly offer we'd have to consider it, just like every other side in this country. But I'm under no pressure to sell which makes a huge difference." Unlike last season, when Michael Hart and Chris Clark were sold in January, Calderwood could keep all six players whose contracts are due to expire until the summer even if they choose not to accept new deals. He said: "If they decide they don't want to stay we have to look at what is best for everyone. But I'd be very surprised if that's the case with all six. "My priority is to make sure there is a squad good enough to sustain a challenge for the European places and hopefully everything will be sorted out very soon. "Everything we do next month hinges on what those six decide to do. That's why we haven't really made firmplans to sign anyone at the moment. We've identified possible targets but it's been more a case of doing our homework in case we have to move quickly next month." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superstar Tradesman Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 Good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reekie_Red Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 Thing is, he'll nae score a single goal until the 2009/10 Europa League kicks off. We'll be spitting tacs about how shite he is and how much we need to bin him to Peterheid or anyone who'll take him ... then he'll go and score the only goal of the game to take us into the next round Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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