Eoin Jess on stuff and his Best XI

[BobbyBiscuit]

EOIN JESS climbed the famous Hampden steps and hoisted the League Cup trophy high above his head.

 

The Dons star was just 19 and enjoying his first taste of silverware after coming on as a sub in a 2-1 extra-time win over Rangers.

 

Jess had been catapulted onto the Scottish football scene and, as a product of the Pittodrie youth system, he carried the weight of the fans’ expectations on his young shoulders.

 

He revelled in the atmosphere as the Dons danced in the Glasgow sunshine.

 

But he is still haunted by the day in 1991 when Aberdeen lost the league to Gers at Ibrox in the last game of the season.

 

Jess said: “I was stunned to be part of the squad which won the League Cup in 1990.

 

“I hadn’t played many games for the first team and I didn’t find out I was going to be in the squad until the morning of the game when Alex Smith pulled me aside.

 

“It was a great shock, but I reckon because I was so young I didn’t enjoy it as much as I could have. It flashed past.

 

“I was quite lucky in the game to have won two League Cups and a Scottish Cup, as well as international caps.

 

“The only one that got away was the league championship — but we came so close to winning that as well.â€

 

Jess and his Dons team-mates were gutted to lose out to Gers, and 17 years later it still hurts.

 

It had come down to the final 90 minutes of the campaign to decide Scotland’s champions as Aberdeen went to Glasgow as league leaders.

 

Rangers had lost boss Graeme Souness just a month before and a draw in the heat of the title decider would be enough for Pittodrie gaffer Smith to take the league trophy back to Pittodrie for the first time since Sir Alex Ferguson had ruled the roost in 1984.

 

But Rangers triumphed 2-0 and Jess admitted: “That was the biggest disappointment in my career. We were favourites, as all we needed was a draw.

 

“To take the battle for the title to the last game of the season was a feat in itself, but to lose in the manner we did was devastating.

 

“It would have been easier to have lost it a few weeks before than on the last day.

 

“I still believe that if it had been at Pittodrie, it would have been different and we could have won it.â€

 

This week the Aberdeen favourite takes a walk down memory lane with SunSport as he picks his all-star XI . . .

 

Theo Snelders: There wasn’t much between Theo and Jim Leighton and both were great keepers, but I played with Jim at the tail end of his career so I’ve gone for the big Dutchman. He had a great attitude, great presence and was more than capable of pulling off some world class saves.

 

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Stewart McKimmie: He was a great defender, aggressive in the tackle and a real threat going the other way. He would fit in well in the modern game.

 

Willie Miller & Alex McLeish: Quite simply the best centre-back pairing there’s ever been in Scottish football. They won everything at home and then did it in Europe too. They were both winners and leaders on the park. They were the backbone of the Dons team.

 

David Robertson: He was very quick and great going forward, but he was just as good defensively and had a strong tackle.

 

Eoin Jess: I’d play myself on the right side of midfield in this dream team. I wouldn’t like to say what my strengths were as a player and I think I would rather leave that for others to decide.

 

Jim Bett: He was a great passer and rarely gave the ball away. He was so strong and it was very, very hard to get the ball off him.

 

Gary McAllister: A team-mate with Scotland and Coventry City. Such a gifted footballer and, like Jim, a great passer. He had great vision.

 

Stephen Glass: Had it not been for injuries and bad luck I’m sure he’d have been a big hit in England. He had a great left foot and superb delivery. He could fly past people.

 

Dion Dublin: A fantastic finisher and a player blessed with amazing technique. He scored loads of vital goals and was a very clever player.

 

Ally McCoist: A goal record unrivalled in recent years. His movement in the box and his predatory instincts meant that if he had the slightest opportunity, he would take it.

[Kowalski]

Dion Dublin: A fantastic finisher and a player blessed with amazing technique. He scored loads of vital goals and was a very clever player.

 

Ally McCoist: A goal record unrivalled in recent years. His movement in the box and his predatory instincts meant that if he had the slightest opportunity, he would take it.

 

WTF the fuck?

[BobbyBiscuit]

WTF the fuck?

 

My thoughts exactly. Booth, Shearer, Nicholas, Gillhaus.....?

[dunblanedon]

WTF the fuck?

 

Oh dear. Mr Jess has truly lost the plot 

[Guest swaddon]

It might sound pedantic, but whoever wrote the article needs to buy a book about the Dons, or a calendar.

 

We won the league last in 1985, not 1984

'Black Saturday' (11/5/1991) was 18 years ago, not 17

Jess won the League Cup in 1989, not 1990.

[baggy89]

It might sound pedantic, but whoever wrote the article needs to buy a book about the Dons, or a calendar.

 

We won the league last in 1985, not 1984

'Black Saturday' (11/5/1991) was 18 years ago, not 17

Jess won the League Cup in 1989, not 1990.

 

Are you sure? It would have been 89-90 League Cup with the final being in 1990. Didn't we lose to Rangers in 1989? And had Jess even made his debut by the time of that final?

 

Or through the haze was the league cup played entirely before Christmas in those days? In which case your right and I apologise for questioning you.

[BobbyBiscuit]

Are you sure? It would have been 89-90 League Cup with the final being in 1990. Didn't we lose to Rangers in 1989? And had Jess even made his debut by the time of that final?

 

Or through the haze was the league cup played entirely before Christmas in those days? In which case your right and I apologise for questioning you.

 

Yeah it was in the days of it being played in October.  Far better than the current set-up in my opinion.

[Superstar Tradesman]

My thoughts exactly. Booth, Shearer, Nicholas, Gillhaus.....?

 

I'm going to stick my neck out and say that McCoist was probably the best striker that Scotland produced over Jess' career and if Dublin is good enough for Fergie's Man U then he's good enough for a Dream Team.

 

You've got to remember that he's not picking players on stats alone.  He's choosing players he's enjoyed playing alongside.

 

I play fives with a lad who kicks lumps out of me each week then there's another who's skillful as fuck but never passes the ball.  I like playing against the former because I know it's going to spicey with a bit of rough and tumble to the game.

[BobbyBiscuit]

I'm going to stick my neck out and say that McCoist was probably the best striker that Scotland produced over Jess' career and if Dublin is good enough for Fergie's Man U then he's good enough for a Dream Team.

 

You've got to remember that he's not picking players on stats alone.  He's choosing players he's enjoyed playing alongside.

 

I play fives with a lad who kicks lumps out of me each week then there's another who's skillful as fuck but never passes the ball.  I like playing against the former because I know it's going to spicey with a bit of rough and tumble to the game.

 

I'll try to remember that.  Although I'm not entirely sure I was basing my post on stats at all, never mind alone, but hey ho...

 

Dion Dublin may well have been good enough for Fergie's Man Utd, but Gillhaus was good enough to win the European Cup.

 

And, as far as Scottish strikers go, Mo Johnston was far better than McCoist, in my opinion.

[Superstar Tradesman]

I'll try to remember that.  Although I'm not entirely sure I was basing my post on stats at all, never mind alone, but hey ho...

 

Dion Dublin may well have been good enough for Fergie's Man Utd, but Gillhaus was good enough to win the European Cup.

 

And, as far as Scottish strikers go, Mo Johnston was far better than McCoist, in my opinion.

 

You know the saying about opinions and arseholes....

 

Jess gave his opinion having actually played with these guys and to say he's lost the plot is just plain silly.  Or it is if you remove the red tinted specs long enough.

 

You say Johnston, I say McCoist and the next neep will say Zero.

 

Opinions - arseholes.

 

[BobbyBiscuit]

You know the saying about opinions and arseholes....

 

Jess gave his opinion having actually played with these guys and to say he's lost the plot is just plain silly.  Or it is if you remove the red tinted specs long enough.

 

You say Johnston, I say McCoist and the next neep will say Zero.

 

Opinions - arseholes.

 

 

I never said he lost the plot, did i?

 

To suggest Dion Dublin was a better player than any of them i listed is ridiculous and that's without the red tinted specs. Opinion.

 

arsehole.

[Superstar Tradesman]

Who lit the fuse to your tampon sweetcheeks?   

 

Forgive me if I take the opinion of someone who has played alongside all the aforementioned and made a career out of it rather than someone sitting in the stand with their knickers in a twist.

[BobbyBiscuit]

Who lit the fuse to your tampon sweetcheeks?   

 

Forgive me if I take the opinion of someone who has played alongside all the aforementioned and made a career out of it rather than someone sitting in the stand with their knickers in a twist.

 

 

Dry yer eyes.

 

I wasn't asking you to take my opinion over Jess's, honey.  I was merely getting involved in a conversation, which I thought was the purpose of these forums?

 

This attitude of "he's played with him", "he's a manager so what do we know", is a lot of fucking guff. It implies that everyone in football has the same opinion - or arsehole, whatever you wish to call it.

 

Your quote about Dion Dublin being signed by Alex Ferguson, ergo he must be ace... Was Kleberson a better player than Paul Mason? 

 

Dublin was a good player, no doubt about that.  I was merely suggesting that Charlie Nicholas (a player with ten times the ability than Dublin, a guy people would "pay to watch" as the saying goes) and Hans Gillhaus (a European Champion, Dutch internationalist at the time of Gullitt, van Basten et al) were better players.  Why you have to get so high and mighty about it is fucking beyond me.

[Sharpie]

I love it when Bobby gets Biscuit ersed!

 

[BobbyBiscuit]

I love it when Bobby gets Biscuit ersed!

 

 

Cracker. 

 

I kinda flaked out...

 

[Kowalski]

I'd have Gillhaus and Nicholas in that team ahead of Dublin and McCoist every day of the week.  I'd have Booth in before Dublin as well.

 

Jess should have been told to not include himself, so that Mason could have got in.

[bilbobaggins]

Imagine choosing himself anyway.

[ntbear]

Your quote about Dion Dublin being signed by Alex Ferguson, ergo he must be ace... Was Kleberson a better player than Paul Mason? 

 

Dublin was a good player, no doubt about that.  I was merely suggesting that Charlie Nicholas (a player with ten times the ability than Dublin, a guy people would "pay to watch" as the saying goes) and Hans Gillhaus (a European Champion, Dutch internationalist at the time of Gullitt, van Basten et al) were better players.  Why you have to get so high and mighty about it is fucking beyond me.

 

I did delete an earlier post in which I stuck up for Dion "the donkey" Dublin - as he was called for many years - because I couldn't be bothered having yet another argument with boabybiscuit, but as we are all stating our opinions...

 

Dion Dublin was a great player, he is thought of highly by many respected pros in the game, and only lost out at Utd because he broke his leg and fergie signed Cantona as his replacement. I can't argue that he was as good as Cantona, but he was way better than he gets credit for.

 

Yes, you can trot out the "Fergie doesn't always get it right" shite, but come on, the best manager in modern football thinks highly of the guy, so do a lot of the players he played along side (including Jess).

 

To me, the opinion of many ex-pros and managers rates far far higher than that of a keyboard warrior on dons talk.

 

That is all.

[BobbyBiscuit]

I did delete an earlier post in which I stuck up for Dion "the donkey" Dublin - as he was called for many years - because I couldn't be bothered having yet another argument with boabybiscuit, but as we are all stating our opinions...

 

Dion Dublin was a great player, he is thought of highly by many respected pros in the game, and only lost out at Utd because he broke his leg and fergie signed Cantona as his replacement. I can't argue that he was as good as Cantona, but he was way better than he gets credit for.

 

Yes, you can trot out the "Fergie doesn't always get it right" shite, but come on, the best manager in modern football thinks highly of the guy, so do a lot of the players he played along side (including Jess).

 

To me, the opinion of many ex-pros and managers rates far far higher than that of a keyboard warrior on dons talk.

 

That is all.

 

Aye, God forbid you make your own mind up about something...

[???]

the opinion of many ex-pros and managers rates far far higher than that of a keyboard warrior on dons talk.

 

Oh rly. LOLLERSKATEZ...

 

The day we start handing out new contracts based on gossip in the Daily Express is the day we prove our chairman and 'director of football' are complete idiots.

 

Willie Miller's an idiot?

 

I think I must have missed the last few seasons of this Seve player some people are talking about.

He had one, maybe two good seasons for us and has been in decline ever since. Turning up for a game here or there is just not cutting it.

 

As for his captaincy, he was the captain who led us to two embarrassments at the semi-final stage of both cup competitions last year.

 

Even worse, he has stated his desire to walk out on us, and we will receive nothing, yet people defend him.

He cares not a bit about AFC, and I cannot believe fellow fans are 'wishing him well' and patting him on the back.

 

I'm nae going to lose sleep over it, losing Nicholson last year was a bigger blow than losing Seve will be.

 

Jimmy Calderwood seems to rate Severin.

[Mentorred]

No room in the team for David Winnie?

[Guest swaddon]

No room in the team for David Winnie?

 

Obviously no place for the one-time Icelandic Player of the Year (I kid you not).