Todays record

[mizer]

Bit of a set up with a trio of stories about us - but to start with Jason Brown does himself no favours.

 

NO wonder Aberdeen are in the SPL's version of intensive care.

 

They've got no heart, no spine and, if goalkeeper Jason Brown is any indication, there are problems with memory loss as well.

 

The stand-in for David Gonzalez, dropped for losing three goals at Dunfermline the week before, looked suspect on each occasion Kilmarnock scored at Rugby Park.

 

And his assessment of the game was equally questionable, challenging the listener to stick with the evidence of his own eyes over what happened during the course of 90 dire minutes.

 

Plus the three added on to make the spectator wonder what he'd done to deserve extra exposure to the elements that, to be fair, ruled out any chance of better football.

 

The Englishman said: "The stats will tell you we controlled the game."

 

"The scoreline, the only stat that counts, will tell you this wasn't the case.

 

"We didn't allow them to play well," he said, summarising Kilmarnock's performance.

 

Once again, a look at the final score will tell you Kenny Shiels' side would dispute that statement.

 

But then Brown gave the game away completely when he added: "We should be doing a helluva lot more to get this club to the middle of the table where we belong."

 

That sentiment would have sent a shiver down the spine of any Aberdeen fan old enough to remember league titles and European domination.

 

Those heady days will never be recaptured because the club has fallen on its uppers but have the Dons now diminished to the extent that mid-table is seen as the peak of their ambition?

 

Regrettably, the avoidance of relegation will now be the first priority because a side as easily knocked over as this one could be stuck at the bottom of the table for a while yet.

 

The way Craig Brown's players emerged from the tunnel to start the game, heads bowed and nobody getting above walking pace to signal any enthusiasm for the fight ahead, was disturbing.

 

Not being the force you once were is one thing, but being as feckless and gutless as this team betrayed the small number of fans who made the long journey to Ayrshire expecting better.

 

The manager has won 11 of the 39 league games he's been in charge for after replacing Mark McGhee a year ago.

 

Aberdeen have won only three games all season, none of them outside Pittodrie, and have taken just one point from their last five matches.

 

These are the figures that add up to a full-blown crisis. The goalkeeper with a distorted view of how this game went had a clearer vision of the immediate future.

 

Brown said: "Nobody in our dressing room is giving up. Pressure games are the best ones to play in because the players really stand up. The boys are confident we can kick on from here.

 

"In training, we look spot on and we're not a million miles away from reproducing that form in competitive matches. Football can change quickly and we could go on a winning streak. Things can change if we get a rub of the green."

 

All of that had better be true or else the top flight of Scottish football will lose one of its most revered names.

 

The Aberdeen defence twice made its own contribution to losing goals, with Andrew Considine and the keeper hesitant and negligent in dealing with a long ball that Gary Harkins seized on and stuck into an empty net.

 

And James Dayton then sprung the offside trap to race in and beat Brown at his near post with a shot that looked stoppable.

 

There was a time when beating Rangers and Aberdeen in the space of a week would have been a major coup for a club like Kilmarnock.

 

The same scale of achievement might not be there today, given the Dons' dismal state, but Shiels' players continue to distance themselves from the strugglers at the foot of the table.

 

Entry to the top six brought out the intense side of the Irish manager's character as, despite the win, he believes his side have played better.

 

He said: "I feel hollow inside but I suppose there are performances and there are outcomes."

 

He knew the performance was less pleasing than the outcome and that troubled him.

 

That's a luxury Shiels can afford whereas Aberdeen's manager knows the most critical time of his stay at Pittodrie is at hand. Any win in any old fashion is now a must for Brown.

 

He said: "I'm not a naive know the game and we're not nearly as bad as our league position suggests.

 

"I don't feel pressure, I feel only determination."

 

Then in comes an interview with Jim Bett who has been read the quotes undoubtedly.

 

JIM BETT reckons Aberdeen are staring down the barrel of First Division football next season unless they start raising their aspirations.

 

Craig Brown's side slumped to the bottom of the SPL at the weekend after another sorry loss at Kilmarnock.

 

Exactly a year ago this week Mark McGhee was sacked with the Dons second bottom of the SPL. Twelve months on and there has been little, if any, signs of progress with the Pittodrie outfit now one place worse off.

 

Devoid of spirt and fight the Dons find themselves in the grip of a malaise threatening to drag them into the First Division.

 

Bett has closely monitored his former club's failing fortunes over the past three years and he said: "The supporters have just come to accept second best.

 

"I keep hearing players and fans talk about how getting into the top six has to be the aim. Well if that is the extent of Aberdeen's aspirations then no wonder they're in trouble.

 

"A club the size of Aberdeen should have a lot more ambition. Qualifying for Europe should be the very least they're aiming for at the start of every season.

 

"There is a real malaise. The mindset has to improve and it has to improve immediately.

 

"I keep hearing players trotting out all these statistics about how Aberdeen are controlling games without winning, but it's all total bollocks."

 

The only stat that matters to Aberdeen fans at the moment is the fact they have taken 13 points from 16 matches and are last of the 12 teams in the top flight. Under Brown they have amassed one point from their last five games and won three all season.

 

The 71-year-old is the third manager in as many years at Pittodrie and Bett feels removing him from office would be counter-productive.

 

He said: "When results are poor everyone starts to look at the chairman. Stewart Milne has piled a lot of money into the team during his tenure but it hasn't worked out.

 

"The club appear to be going round in circles and it would be too simple to blame the board.

 

"Mark McGhee said recently there was a lot of dead wood dragging the club down. If that's the case then something needs to change quickly.

 

"It's not as easy as just throwing more money at the problem either. I find it amazing that Aberdeen is the oil capital of Europe yet nobody wants to invest money in the club.

 

"What happens on the field is not the fault of Stewart Milne. The buck has to stop with the players and the manager."

 

The party line in the dressing room appears to be Aberdeen are in a false position but if the recent performances are anything to go by then the players are just kidding themselves.

 

Bett said: "The players need to have a hard look at themselves.

 

"I've watched them two or three times in the last few weeks and nobody stands up to be counted when the chips are down. Losing doesn't seem to hurt them enough. They have some talented young players but there is just no character.

 

"Team spirit is non-existent at the moment and that is not helped by the results.

 

"The players have retreated into their shell and confidence is at rock bottom.

 

"Craig Brown did a good job at Motherwell and got off to a flying start at Pittodrie. But the results have tailed off dramatically and they are now bottom of the pile.

 

"The demise is not down to ability - on paper Aberdeen have stronger squads than St Mirren, Dunfermline, Inverness and maybe even Hibs.

 

"But the players are deluding themselves if they genuinely believe they should be higher up the table."

 

Brown has a major job on his hands if he wants to save Aberdeen from the first relegation in their proud history.

 

But having survived the curse of Kilmarnock, Bett believes he should be given the time to turn it around. Losing to Killie saw Mark McGhee, Willie Miller and Alex Miller collect their P45s.

 

Bett added: "Craig and Archie Knox have huge experience and should be given more time It's their responsibility to get the team going again but I think he should be judged at the end of the season.

 

"Craig has a massive job on his hands because the other teams near Aberdeen appear to have more going for them.

 

"Hibs will get a boost from Pat Fenlon taking over as manager while Inverness have plenty of spirit under Terry Butcher.

 

"You would expect both of them to rise up the table quicker than Aberdeen.

 

"Relegation could finish Aberdeen off but it would be a sad day if it ever came to that."

 

And then the news that our players were oot in Newcastle on Saturday night

 

ABERDEEN'S flops slumped to the bottom of the SPL table on Saturday and then went to Newcastle for a Christmas party.

 

The dismal Dons left Rugby Park after a 2-0 defeat that increased the fans' fears of relegation for the first time in the club's history and hit the town with greater accuracy than they'd shown in front of goal.

 

Now the sickened support is getting ready to grill the club's hierarchy at their agm in two weeks' time over which direction the club is taking.

 

They believe there's a Tyne and place for everything, and Saturday offered no cause for celebration of any kind involving players who have won three games all season and have taken one point from their last five games.

 

Greg Ingram from the Aberdeen Supporters Trust said last night: "I understand that these Christmas nights out are always planned well in advance but it seems particularly unfortunate timing to go out for a party after the team has just fallen to the bottom of the table."

 

Ingram was one of a dwindling band of away fans at Rugby Park on Saturday and now he and his fellow Trust members want answers to some pointed questions.

 

And their most damning line of interrogation will concern what effort Craig Brown's players are putting in to avoid relegation.

 

He said: "We think it's now debatable whether the players are giving their all for the club.

 

"We've gone from being inept as a team to something even worse than that.

 

"Saturday was a masterclass in mistakes and misplaced passes."

 

 

[Jute]

Comment from Jason Brown sums up everything that is wrong with the club. He and every other player with the attitude that mid table is acceptable need to be moved on as quickly as possible along the manager who talks about getting a point at St Johnstone. Fucking losers the lot of them.

[Tyrant]

The first time in a long time I've agreed whole heartedly with a Daily Retard article. So sad. There are so many players in our squad that think it's OK to draw or even get beat against a bigger team. Well it's fucking not. I wish they'd all fuck off.

[BigAl]

Agree with comments from both Jute and Tyrant.

Putting that aside however, the cunts at the Retard are having a real wankfest about our self inflicted shambolic position.

[mizer]

Agree with comments from both Jute and Tyrant.

Putting that aside however, the cunts at the Retard are having a real wankfest about our self inflicted shambolic position.

 

After last weeks article with Foster surely there should have be memo sent round the changing room saying dont speak shit to the press.

 

To be fair to JB he is only repeating what CB is saying!

[BigAl]

After last weeks article with Foster surely there should have be memo sent round the changing room saying dont speak shit to the press.

 

 

Fair point, but that would necessitate a modicum of professionalism, and that is something that has not been evident in our club for a long long time

[mizer]

Fair point, but that would necessitate a modicum of professionalism, and that is something that has not been evident in our club for a long long time

 

Indeed, from head to toe!

[stubo72]

Funny how in that article that quotes Jim Bett we are now being accused of having expectations that are too LOW!!!

 

I thought the problem was that we expected too much?!?!

 

Wish these fucking rags would make their minds up.

 

[Superstar Tradesman]

"I keep hearing players trotting out all these statistics about how Aberdeen are controlling games without winning, but it's all total bollocks."

 

Go'an yersel Jazzer! 

[rocket_scientist]

I heart Jazzer Bee.

[mizer]

Comment from Jason Brown sums up everything that is wrong with the club. He and every other player with the attitude that mid table is acceptable need to be moved on as quickly as possible along the manager who talks about getting a point at St Johnstone. Fucking losers the lot of them.

 

he claims he said the aim was to get to middle table over christmas and then kick on from there.