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Sunday 12 May 2024:  kick-off 3pm

Scottish Premiership - Hibernian v Aberdeen

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The January window


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Surely it’s just a case they want to secure his signature, hence the fee up front. Nothing more, nothing less?

 

They could have done that purely by getting him to sign a pre contract. Only scenario that fits for me is the one where McLean has insisted on the transfer now thus gaining us a nice fee.....yes it is a generous thing for him to do but of course he will pocket a chunk of that transfer fee as is the norm plus he still will get a signing on fee from Norwich into the bargain.

 

As has been said also, they prob have a couple of players going out of contract who similarly to KM, have told Norwich they are leaving in the summer but at present are first team regulars who would keep KM from playing so best all round he gets a regular game with us for now.

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That's a fucking weird one like. You're nae good enough for us just now, but we've got a target of being much shiter by the start of next season by which point you'll fit in fine.

 

Fuck it though, he played very well yesterday (was better than Shinnie I thought, who started very slowly) and we'll struggle to replace him before the summer. Ideal situation.

 

Bobby, McGinn in central midfield? I've never seen McGinn tackle anything in the history of McGinn. He's frightened to header the ball.

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I don't think you're wrong in the summation of McLean's negative points.  For the natural talent he has he should be doing better. 

Your point about Shinnie however... is Shinnie a better centre midfielder? or is Shinnie a left back playing in centre midfield and merely showing the same tenacity he always shows, regardless of position?

 

Shinnie is an asset in the middle of the park because he covers the ground so well, he shuts things down and gets us going forward.  But, his passing has to be better, his composure has to be better and he has to be more measured in possession. 

 

Shinnie is loved in the same way Hayes was favoured over McGinn for a lot of fans. They have this all action style, Hayes always looked as though he was running 120mph when he was actually only doing 30mph  ;), and fans lap that stuff up.  But, McGinn was equally as creative/dangerous in the last season of the two of them being in the team, and more-so over the course of their time at Aberdeen.

 

Now, I love Shinnie (as I did Hayes), but we need to see past the rough and tumble styles and look at the quality they're bringing in relation to the position they play. Comparing Shinnie to McLean... well, McLean is a better passer of the ball, and to replace McLean we need to make sure we get someone who has that passing range.

 

 

In saying that, i reckon in 2 years time McGinn will be one of our centre midfielders....

 

I think it’s fair to say, if you compare the two, Shinnie is the more effective and influential midfielder. They are very different types of players, I’m not comparing them like for like. In the 4-2-3-1 that McInnes plays, the flair comes from the attacking 3, and we have that. The two holding mids require Shinnie’s qualities, and it sounds like McGeough can hold his own. McLean can pass an excellent 50 yard square ball, it looks good but the majority of passes from what I see do little, hence the minimal assists. No way McGinn becomes one of those two, he’s more lightweight than mclean.

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A pre-contract is an intention to sign, but I'm not quite sure how legally binding it is. I'm sure there have been cases in the past where a pre-contract hasn't been honoured.

 

Fuck, we keep the player and get some cash for him, sounds ideal. Gives us a bit of time to get a replacement sorted out.

 

A shrewd bit of business by the club I'd say.

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A pre-contract is an intention to sign, but I'm not quite sure how legally binding it is. I'm sure there have been cases in the past where a pre-contract hasn't been honoured.

 

 

Richard Britain (Ross County to St Johnstone) a few years back.

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Bobby, McGinn in central midfield? I've never seen McGinn tackle anything in the history of McGinn. He's frightened to header the ball.

 

McLean doesn't tackle either. He'll move centrally as he gets older. Eoin Jess couldn't tackle, but used his skill and vision to great effect in the centre of the park.

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McLean doesn't tackle either.

 

That's nonsense, he clearly does. Like Jack before him, he doesn't dive in because he doesn't need to and occasionally poofs out. And he can win a header - in fact he's pretty decent in the air. McGinn could play in Christie's forward role in the midfield but nae deeeper. Jess could tackle too, he certainly never pulled out of challenges in the way that McGinn regularly does (which is fine in his current position).

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The importance of him remaining at the club for the rest of the season was prevalent in his mind, and he has represented both his own, and the clubs, interested superbly.  All parties involved have handled the situation extremely well and we’ve ended up with an outcome which is positive for both Aberdeen FC and Norwich FC.

 

Sounds like he's done us a good turn here. Best of both worlds for us, a fee for a player leaving and we get a bit of time to replace him. I thought McGinn had an excellent last 6 months for us at the end of last season when he knew he was off, so hopefully we'll see the same from McLean. He can hopefully play with a bit more freedom and try a bit more of the passing he's clearly capable of.

 

Good to see all the pish about him joining the huns put to bed too. Clearly started by huns but lapped up by dons fans as a stick to beat him with.

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Fantastic deal, getting cash for a player we knew would be leaving anyway, keeping a key part of our midfield and 6 months to sort out a quality replacement too. Top work from the club there!

 

McLean has really gone about this move well and deserves some credit for being so open about his intentions.  His performances have improved of late too, here's hoping that continues and he leaves with a SC winner medal  :thumbsup:

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I'd suggest the Ryan Jack saga, along with the Jonny Hayes transfer, has affected how McLean went about his departure. Well done son.

 

Totally. Although it was probably helped by the example set by his boss too. Any desire to go to the hun was probably booted into touch at that point too when he realised what a shambles they still were.

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The success of this appointment will depend on the difference he makes to the bottom line.

 

On the face of it, his background looks great and he should bring good strategic direction.

 

These new faces just remind us how appallingly badly the club has been run for 20 years.

 

Optimistic that this could signal an uplift in business management.

 

Wm. Donald's £10m was the turning point.

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Well, McGinn potentially replaces Christie, and McGeough linked to replace McLean. I see in the sun and record (yes, I know) we’re now linked with Chris Cadden. Given we have Scott Wright, do I assume cadden replaces the on loan Stewart? What are people’s thoughts, Cadden or Stewart? Stewart has found some form of late and is growing on people. I think he’s skilled but in the #10 role, thus sending McGinn wide. I’m not a fan of him wide, his lack of pace kills me.

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O’Connor wants to follow in the footsteps of Ash Taylor by inexplicably turning down a new contract to go and battle relegation with Morecambe or a team of similar standing.

 

No great loss, but with Arnason probably also going and hopefully Reynolds going, we have a bunch of defenders to recruit.

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O’Connor wants to follow in the footsteps of Ash Taylor by inexplicably turning down a new contract to go and battle relegation with Morecambe or a team of similar standing.

 

No great loss, but with Arnason probably also going and hopefully Reynolds going, we have a bunch of defenders to recruit.

 

Where did you hear this? I really hope we sort a deal out for Arnie.

 

Edit: I see the sun are reporting it. No big loss (re O'Connor)

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