Can jimmy calderwood be vindicated for not achieving a top six finish after getting us to the semi's of the League cup, the last thirty two of the UEFA cup and getting us to the Semi's of the Scottish cup using such a small squad which has been plagued by injury. Surely after all of these games, something has to give and it appears to be our league position. With perpetual cup games on the go, it must be difficult to raise the enthusiasm of the players for a game aginst st. mirren on a freezing cold easter weekend?

 

Or is it the case that we SHOULD be in the top six, the players need to get their act together and should be giving thier all no matter who the game is against. As a fan base have we have been let down by the board for selling on most of the players who created the opportunity to play on a larger stage again and should hang their heads in shame for not building on last seasons (relative) success by not building UP the team instead of systematically dismantling it. 

 

Surely only by winning the Scottish Cup can this season be salvaged, otherwise its a complete failure?

This season for me stands like this:

 

The league - very disappointing as this is the bread and butter of the club and where your diehard fans who turn up regardless need to be kept happy.

 

The cups - showed how we can play in Europe but also showed that we're hit-and-miss when United tore us a new one.  If we do beat QP and gain a European spot then we can count ourselves very, very lucky.

 

Off the park - extremely disappointing.  Sure we've pulled in millions from all the increased revenue but we should have pulled in extra fans too.  But because of our league showings the opposite has happened.  Although we (actually!) got money for Clark & Hart, I'm certain we could have made more cash by keeping a settled team and finishing higher up the league or passed United into the final.  It now looks like half the experienced players from the Euro games have left or will leave, which leaves only the management team who will have benifited from the big occassion.  We had a real chance to build on our success and we were short changed by half a season.

The cups - showed how we can play in Europe but also showed that we're hit-and-miss when United tore us a new one.  If we do beat QP and gain a European spot then we can count ourselves very, very lucky.

 

Lucky in that there is still a European spot available for the cup runners up, but not lucky in the way we'll have reached the final (if we do indeed reach the final).  Beating Celtic in the cup was one of the highlights of the season.

 

Off the park - extremely disappointing.  Sure we've pulled in millions from all the increased revenue but we should have pulled in extra fans too.  But because of our league showings the opposite has happened.  Although we (actually!) got money for Clark & Hart, I'm certain we could have made more cash by keeping a settled team and finishing higher up the league or passed United into the final.  It now looks like half the experienced players from the Euro games have left or will leave, which leaves only the management team who will have benifited from the big occassion.  We had a real chance to build on our success and we were short changed by half a season.

 

Some good points but I don't think we're missing Hart or Clark.  Nicholson and Miller will be much bigger losses.  But how are half the team leaving?

I think we are missing them.

 

Half the team - Clark, Hart, Lovell, Nicholson, Miller, Soutar?

I think we are missing them.

 

Half the team - Clark, Hart, Lovell, Nicholson, Miller, Soutar?

 

What have Lovell and Soutar contributed in Europe this season?

 

I suspect Soutar may stay anyway.

What have Lovell and Soutar contributed in Europe this season?

 

I suspect Soutar may stay anyway.

 

They've been part of the team.

 

Other than scoring against Bayern Munich, Lovell hasn't done much.

I kinda disagree with not missing Hart. He was a solid enough defender. Wjen he plyed well he was better than average. But to not have him in the team at the moment means that out backline has been even moee disorganised than it would have otherwise have been.

The point I was making was not about missing certain players but moving players on who had more experence of the bigger games as well the impact of upsetting a fairly settled squad.

 

By removing 2 first team regulars (no matter who that was) halfway through a seasonm for next to no reward, was suicide.  It can only be likened to not having a pre-season where the team can get used to each other's traits and gel.  Of course if we had brought in 2 players to improve the squad then I'd take a different stance.

 

As for being lucky to get a European spot through the cup.  No we have done well to get there but then it's a backdoor that we have luckily been granted access to if we beat QP.  The cup is very much down to the way you play on the day and there's a deal of luck there too.  We could just as easily been the runners-up in the other final and got nothing out of it or got to this final but not faced the Huns.

As for being lucky to get a European spot through the cup.  No we have done well to get there but then it's a backdoor that we have luckily been granted access to if we beat QP. 

 

Tad premature S.T.

Nae guarantee the Huns will be there

As supporters I think we need to shake off this notion that because we were utterly shocking 5 years ago we should accept a mediocre season. I have stated previously in this thread that there have been some great memories of the season but I was chatting to someone at work today and they were saying we had been having a brilliant season and how did we not beat St Mirren. I found myself arguing the opposite and that if you remove three games from our season (Dnipro away, Copenhagen and Celtic away) we would be looking at a wholly different prospect. That, to me, typifies the inconsistent season we have had...I can't even make up my mind whether it has been good or bad. 

 

Oh and as an aside...ST its QoS 

Match day tomorrow, and as usual my optimism grows as the game gets closer.  The experts on Scotsport don't think we'll get a top six place, but it's not beyond the realms of possibility that things could take a big swing in our favour tomorrow.  Falkirk could easily drop points against a resurgent Killie, and even if Hearts beat Utd (unlikely) they then face Killie next week.  If we go into the Falkirk game on Monday week needing a win to secure a top-six place, I think we'll get it.

 

 

Fingers crossed. 

Match day tomorrow, and as usual my optimism grows as the game gets closer.  The experts on Scotsport don't think we'll get a top six place, but it's not beyond the realms of possibility that things could take a big swing in our favour tomorrow.  Falkirk could easily drop points against a resurgent Killie, and even if Hearts beat Utd (unlikely) they then face Killie next week.  If we go into the Falkirk game on Monday week needing a win to secure a top-six place, I think we'll get it.

 

 

Fingers crossed.   

 

Could be even more fun if we go into the Falkirk game needing to beat them properly to negate goal difference. The way the pitched up against Hearts at Tynecastle last week I suspect it might be a difficult night. We are better midweek though 

I've no internal dialogue about this season, it has been brilliant.

Back door or no, Europe has given us £££ this season.  We need a repeat of that.

 

Just my 2¢...

Looking on the positive side. If we can beat Falkirk and Killie can keep Hearts from winning then the most likely outcome for top 6 is that we are on 44 points, Hibs will beat St Mirren to go onto 50 points and both Motherwell and UTD play the OF so will likely lose and stay on 49 points.

 

Suddenly 3rd place is only 6 points away. We might also get home games against Hibs and UTD if we make the top 6. Crazy that we should end up being that close after our dire season in the league.

 

Got to beat Falkirk first though.

Ajja I was thinking the same thing today reading the paper. But as FJ said, we NEED killie to do us a favour. Which isn't beyond the realms of posibility but alas I can't see it happening. But hey ho, anything can happen, we just have to do our bit and we will know by saturday if there is anything to play for. Come on you Reds and killie pies! 

I fully expected Falkirk to despatch Killie yesterday and they didn't. I think this one might go in our favour too. So frustrating that if we had beaten St Mirren last week we would have been in the box seat for top 6 and possibly only 4 points off 3rd  At least we will know what we have to do on Monday. If Hearts win by one goal then we need to win by 6 

I fully expected Falkirk to despatch Killie yesterday and they didn't. I think this one might go in our favour too. So frustrating that if we had beaten St Mirren last week we would have been in the box seat for top 6 and possibly only 4 points off 3rd  At least we will know what we have to do on Monday. If Hearts win by one goal then we need to win by 6 

 

I suspect Hearts will do enough. 

We'll need to win by 7 will we not as they have scored more goals

 

Anyhow I have decided that if the horrible jambos win against Killie I don't mind us getting beat by Falkirk as it would give them the top 6 place!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Then we can go to tynie again and revenge our huge defeat from November

We'll need to win by 7 will we not as they have scored more goals

 

Anyhow I have decided that if the horrible jambos win against Killie I don't mind us getting beat by Falkirk as it would give them the top 6 place!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Then we can go to tynie again and revenge our huge defeat from November

 

I like your rationale 

I've also decided that if the Jambos win on Saturday, i would rather Falkirk beat us and take the top 6. If Hearts take 6th, then how pish are our last 5 games of the season gonna be!? 

Anyhow I have decided that if the horrible jambos win against Killie I don't mind us getting beat by Falkirk as it would give them the top 6 place!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then we can go to tynie again and revenge our huge defeat from November

I like your rationale 

I've also decided that if the Jambos win on Saturday, i would rather Falkirk beat us and take the top 6. If Hearts take 6th, then how pish are our last 5 games of the season gonna be!? 

 

Great minds    I've just posted similar on another thread before reading this!

 

If LSC do lose or draw on Saturday then I am going to be even more pissed off the game has been changed to Monday night 

 

Interesting reading, everyone. Sorry to take a negative view but AT THIS POINT in time, it can not possibly be seen as a good season.

 

In May, if we do get to the final, and we win the SC for the first time in 18 years, only then would I consider it good.

 

Right now, the top 6 is out of our hands, as we have had a pathetic league season.

 

In the UEFA cup, we played 8 and won 1. Great trips abroad yes, but we got humped in Greece, lucky not to be down after 5 minutes in Madrid, and comfortably beaten 2-0, and thrashed in Munich (Thanks, Clangers). We were not, and are not, competitive in Europe.

 

So at this point, the season is crap. As I say, there is still everything to play for, but being so far off the pace in our domestic league, is a true indicator of where we are, which unfortuntaely, is nowhere... yet.

Interesting reading, everyone. Sorry to take a negative view but AT THIS POINT in time, it can not possibly be seen as a good season.

 

I don't agree, our season has been as exciting as we've had for many a year.  There's been several disappointments along the way, obviously CIS semi and some dire league form, but there isn't another SPL club that I'd want to swap places with.  You talk about only one win in Europe, but we showed lots of character to dig out important draws and without question, we over-achieved.  As for the Scottish cup, from the depths of despair in the Celtic game at Pittodrie to the euphoria at Parkhead, it has been unbelievably good.

 

Of course a trophy would be the icing on the cake, but even if we lose in the Scottish cup final I'll still smile when I  look back at a season that gave us so many highs, so many moments to cherish.  And it's all been done on a shoe-string budget, with a wafer thin squad, and a manager who seemingly doesn't know what the fuck he's doing.

 

Fantastic! 

Conversely, we were unbeaten at home against Dnipro, Lokomotiv, Copenhagen and Bayern Munich that sounds fairly competitive to me. We have also got to 2 cup semi finals with a realistic chance of making a final.

 

By competitive in Europe, what do you mean? A realistic chance of winning a European trophy?

Tenement, I remember Steve Coppell a couple of years ago objecting to all the press speculation about Reading's chances of getting into Europe. He said something along the lines of them being nowhere near good enough to compete for the trophy, so no point entering, althought he also said that he was trying hard to get them to a level where they could compete.

 

I found his view refreshing, and what you might expect from a sportsman with a winner mentality. The club accountants and fans might not agree, but as regards AFC, we took 4 points from a possible 15, which was probably as good as we might have expected. Of course we're nowhere near good enough to get even close to winning it, and last 32 was probably the maximum we might have achieved. It's a measure of how far behind the rest of Europe that we as a club have fallen.

 

This season has been a first for many younger Dons fans. Three or four times as many Dandies made the trip to Munchen than 25 years ago. The difference this time was no-one expected us to get through at Bayern's expense. We all knew it was never going to happen, despite a fantastic first leg.

 

1. Winning mentality, 2. Expectations - realistic or otherwise, 3. Ambition - these are the keys. I think it's a shame that some younger fans can rate this season as a success, principally because of adventures into Europe, adventures which did, and were bound to, end in failure. The board and management of Aberdeen do not necessarily have the ambition and desire that we fans have.

 

The business of football is a totally different world of course nowadays, but winning mentality is free, and we don't seem to have it. I always suspected that our chairman wasn't passionate about success for AFC plc on the park - this is not his overwhelming desire, it's not the most important thing in his life. It's also difficult to argue that our manager has a winning mentality, as winners tend to win something sometime, and JC's not won anything in his whole life, and is happy and doing remarkably well to be picking up a wage. If Miller and calderwood don't live and breath with realistic expectations for the club, and aren't fired by ambition and desire to be the best they can be, chances are the players aren't going to be burning with it either. Their form on the pitch this season would suggest they too aren't fuelled with the killer passion.

 

But if the fans accept the mediocrity that we've had to endure for well over 10 years now, then we really are in trouble. Whilst we still have the Scottish Cup to play for, to not only salvage this season, but make it one of the best in living memory for most of the young fans, then this is not the time to be negative or critical. I sincerely hope that JC proves me wrong, and finally does make it onto the winner's podium, but getting beat in a final is a horrible feeling, and I simply do not understand the acceptance of second best. Making a final and then losing is never a positive achievement in my book. When I went to Parkhead, I didn't necessarily expect to win, but I saw enough in the first game to believe we could do it, as we were tremendous that day, and Celtic were pretty poor. It's just i haven't seen enough consistency, both of fight and quality, to believe that we have got the right ingredients to go and win the cup this year, but I'm trying real hard to be positive.

 

The league table never lies, and what it tells me, is that we're really struggling to be top half, with Rangers, Celtic, Hearts, Hibs, Dundee Utd, Motherwell and Falkirk all above us, at the start of April. That is a shocking indictment of how far we've slumped, and that's why I wanted to offer an alternative view. Mediocrity should never be acceptable, and as the original post title says, I think not making top 6 is inexcusable for Aberdeen FC.