As per usual, no direct quotes about the players mentioned

 

McGhee is planning a mass cull in January and Darren Mackie, Derek Young, Stuart Duff and Tommy Wright are earmarked for the exit door.

 

McGhee said: "It's nothing personal, it's just the way things happen in football.

 

"The fans may have their own ideas about certain players but I will make my own judgments.

 

"When I went to Motherwell I was told straight away David Clarkson and Paul Quinn were hopeless, Stephen Craigan was too slow and I would be better off without them.

 

"But I took time to assess all three who proved great assets."

 

Letting players go has killed us in recent years.

 

Hibs may be a good example with regards bringing through talent, selling them for large sums and moving on, but it hasn't really helped them kick on as a club.  They've stagnated and regularly finish 5th/6th.

 

Problem is, we realise we've got potential talents at Pittodrie, then train them up with our average coaches, and these "potential" players get worn down and end up just like all the other dross. then we try to sell them but can't and they end up moving to England for nothing.

 

Hibs, on the other hand, realise they've got a player with potential. They play him for a couple of months in the senior squad, then tout him at about 3x the actual value. Then someone with stupid money like Sunderland, Rangers or Celtic come knocking on the door and pay half what Hibs are valuing the player at ... which is still more than the ACTUAL value.

 

Hibs may have stagnated recently ... but they're one of the very few clubs in Scotland who are completely debt-free. Oh for a debt-free Aberdeen!

Lubomir Blaha

Theres no need for bringing Lubo into this now! A man who came on against Rangers got booked before touching the ball for a lunge-Tells me a hero

@Reekie_Red - Your simplistic view of football is staggeringly stupid [no offence intended].

@Sharpie - I do hope they'll even out but the revenue streams will always be slightly higher at the Old Firm so they'll have the advantage.  To compete with that Aberdeen would need to keep the spine of the club intact for a few years, constant chopping and changing personnel doesn't work.

 

 

 

The revenue streams of the Old Firm would have been higher during the Fergie era as well. We were lucky Dick Donald took a punt on Ferguson.

@Sharpie - And that the spine of our team stayed the same as I've said.

@Reekie_Red - Your simplistic view of football is staggeringly stupid [no offence intended].

 

Explain. What is stupid about my comments? Fact of the matter is, whilst Hibs have sat mid-table for several years now, they have done so because they've consistently sold their best young talent for substantially more than we could ever wish to make from our youngsters. This has resulted in Hibs being debt free.

 

Where's the simplicity or stupidity in my view there?

Liverpool's title chances? 

 

Correct.

@Sharpie - And that the spine of our team stayed the same as I've said.

 

Thanks to Fergie. I think we are agreeing here.

@Reekie_Red - What is stupid about my comments?

 

I'll explain.

 

Problem is, we realise we've got potential talents at Pittodrie, then train them up with our average coaches, and these "potential" players get worn down and end up just like all the other dross. then we try to sell them but can't and they end up moving to England for nothing.

 

Realistically speaking, what talent [by talent I mean good players that we have brought through] have we nurtured in the last 10 years that we could have sold for the sums Hibs received for Scott Brown and Kevin Thomson?

 

And what potential have our average coaches turned to dross?  It's only in recent years that we've started producing players that appear to live up to their alleged potential.

 

Hibs, on the other hand, realise they've got a player with potential. They play him for a couple of months in the senior squad, then tout him at about 3x the actual value. Then someone with stupid money like Sunderland, Rangers or Celtic come knocking on the door and pay half what Hibs are valuing the player at ... which is still more than the ACTUAL value.

 

This is just poppyock.

 

Scott Brown - £4.4m (23 years old at the time of his transfer to Celtic)

Kevin Thomson - £2m (23 years old at the time of his transfer to Rangers)

Gary O'Connor - £1.6m (23 years old at the time of his transfer to Lokomotiv)

Derek Riordan - £170k (23 years old at the time of his transfer to Celtic)

 

That's four young players, two attacking players and two very good midfielders, which always adds value to any transfer.  A little over £8m for those four is not that great really.

 

Kevin McNaughton is probably the only player we've had in recent years that would compare to these transfers (he was 24 years old at the time of his free transfer to Cardiff).

 

Russell Anderson was 29 years old when he moved to Sunderland and Aberdeen received £1m.  And he was a defender.

 

Michael Hart was 28 years old when he signed for Preston 6 months before his contract was up.  Aberdeen received £100k.  He was a defender.

 

Hibs may have stagnated recently ... but they're one of the very few clubs in Scotland who are completely debt-free. Oh for a debt-free Aberdeen!

 

This I agree with.

Hibs may have stagnated recently ... but they're one of the very few clubs in Scotland who are completely debt-free. Oh for a debt-free Aberdeen!

 

Hibs aren't debt free.

I think they have a debt of around £3 million. That's where it stood a season ago. Not sure if they made any big sales since then but they apparently had to splash some cash to get Stokes.

@dave_min - I never said they were debt-free, you not bored of arguing against my posts?

@dave_min - I never said they were debt-free, you not bored of arguing against my posts?

 

You're exact words were "they're one of the very few clubs in Scotland who are completely debt-free"

 

Are you bored of fishing yet Adam?

@dave_min - Read reply #53, I never said it.

@dave_min - Read reply #53, I never said it.

 

Read reply #61, they were your exact words.

 

Hibs may have stagnated recently ... but they're one of the very few clubs in Scotland who are completely debt-free. Oh for a debt-free Aberdeen!

Read reply #61, they were your exact words.

 

 

Nah min. That was me that said that. Paulinho was simply taking what I said into context for his argument's sake - hence the italics in Paulinho's post.

 

I was of the belief (like most of my arguments, I'm sure I read somewhere) that Hibs and St Mirren were the only debt-free clubs in the SPL.

Nah min. That was me that said that. Paulinho was simply taking what I said into context for his argument's sake - hence the italics in Paulinho's post.

 

I was of the belief (like most of my arguments, I'm sure I read somewhere) that Hibs and St Mirren were the only debt-free clubs in the SPL.

 

I am pretty sure St Johnstone are debt free Reeky. If Hibs managed to plug a £3million gap in the last year and a half they may be debt free. I can't find any evidence to suggest they are debt free. They recently put a halt to a plan to rebuild one of their stands as it would have put them back in to heavy debt.

I am pretty sure St Johnstone are debt free Reeky. If Hibs managed to plug a £3million gap in the last year and a half they may be debt free. I can't find any evidence to suggest they are debt free. They recently put a halt to a plan to rebuild one of their stands as it would have put them back in to heavy debt.

 

I was of the understanding that their only debt was a mortgage they have for their re-built main stand. However thay have the money to cover it, they just haven't paid it off. I could be completely wrong though.

 

Apparantly Dundee are debt free too, as are ICT.