2008/2009 Season Thread

[stuartmaxwell]

Fucking hell. Ray McKinnon.... another travesty of a signing for the dons. Awful.

and Montrose

gah

[The Milner]

Obviously getting into Europe, but it's not a clear cut case of one versus the other, it should be a mix of success AND good football. Would you be happy with us if we were playing a long ball game with 9 guys behind the ball in every game like Rangers did in their UEFA cup run, and qualified for Europe?

I can't deny Jimmy's results speak for themselves but it was the way he managed the team that just plain fucked me off, the players just seemed to lack hunger and desire, when they lost a game they just looked like they couldn't give two fucks. In fact, when they were winning a game they just looked like they couldn't give two fucks.

i would rather get to a european cup final in anyway we could, same as im sure you wouldnt have moaned if we had got to the scottish cup final playing the same way. Yes everyone would like a mix of success and good football, but it rarely happens. Arsenal play probably the best football in the world, look how far its got them in the past few seasons. Man Utd play good football on their day but they also win a lot of games playing shite football. I just really dont know what you and other dons fans like you expect, 2 out of the 3 teams in scotland who get prais for playing good football ended up in the bottom half of the table the other we humped on sunday, would you rather we were like them?

As for the players, they should look at themselves about their attitude, you can only coach so much.

[Bigsby]

There is a dude who is about to put money into Dundee who is actually a Dons fan but can't stand Milne, can't remember his name.

[Bigsby]

Deano wants to be new Aberdeen FC boss - Evening Express

Player/assistant manager role?

[captain burrito]

I can see where both you guys are coming from, but I think Lucky is right that the team should be playing better football. The team couldn't string 3 passes together and how many games did we draw when we should have won? The players need to learn how to move the ball and how to finish in front of goal. It's unfair to say we 'humped' Hibs on Sunday, as we should have been 3 or 4 up by half-time and the game finished at 2-1. We finished 4th on math, not skill and this is something the new manager will have to address. The fans and the board have to give whoever is appointed enough time though, as I think whoever comes in will want to bring in new players, tactics and it all has to gel etc.

Trying to be optimistic about the future dosen't come easy to a Don's fan!

[The Milner]

how can you say we didnt deserve to finish 4th?? It doesnt make sense, we must have been the 4th best team this season in order to finish there, the league doesnt lie. For all the ranting and raving about how good united are, or how good football motherwell or falkirk play we still finished above them, that for me is more important. Yes we may not have had as good a season as we expected in terms of cup performances but sacking a manager who has had to rebuild his team every single year and still consistantly delivered is complete madness, i can see next season being a big stuggle and then we will get more letters to the board from the "true" fans and we will end up just like we were before JC came in. God i hate Aberdeen fans.

[Nev]

There is a dude who is about to put money into Dundee who is actually a Dons fan but can't stand Milne, can't remember his name.

Calum Melville. He's already pumped half a mill into Dundee, with further investment promised.

[Bigsby]

how can you say we didnt deserve to finish 4th?? It doesnt make sense, we must have been the 4th best team this season in order to finish there, the league doesnt lie. For all the ranting and raving about how good united are, or how good football motherwell or falkirk play we still finished above them, that for me is more important. Yes we may not have had as good a season as we expected in terms of cup performances but sacking a manager who has had to rebuild his team every single year and still consistantly delivered is complete madness, i can see next season being a big stuggle and then we will get more letters to the board from the "true" fans and we will end up just like we were before JC came in. God i hate Aberdeen fans.

Fair doos, but perhaps we could have got even higher if we hadn't had factors to consider like the tactical tombola, falling out with players because of his massive ego, the horrendus drinking culture at Pittodrie etc etc.

[captain burrito]

how can you say we didnt deserve to finish 4th?? It doesnt make sense, we must have been the 4th best team this season in order to finish there, the league doesnt lie. For all the ranting and raving about how good united are, or how good football motherwell or falkirk play we still finished above them, that for me is more important. Yes we may not have had as good a season as we expected in terms of cup performances but sacking a manager who has had to rebuild his team every single year and still consistantly delivered is complete madness, i can see next season being a big stuggle and then we will get more letters to the board from the "true" fans and we will end up just like we were before JC came in. God i hate Aberdeen fans.

I never said anything about deserving finishing 4th. What I said was that we finished 4th thanks to goal difference, not points, when perhaps we'd have finished 3rd quite comfortably had we won a couple of the many games we drew.

I can see what you're saying about rebuilding the team every season, but then every team has to do that to some extent.

I think Miller's goal against Hibs summed up Aberdeen - they need to be hit in the arse and then maybe they'll get something.

[Scootray]

Milner. Did you go to the Dunfermline game?

[The Milner]

Fair doos, but perhaps we could have got even higher if we hadn't had factors to consider like the tactical tombola, falling out with players because of his massive ego, the horrendus drinking culture at Pittodrie etc etc.

This is the problem i think, too many people concentrate on the what ifs rather than looking at what we have actually achieved in the past 5 years. Outside the old firm we have been the only team consistantly pushing for 3rd place for 4 years now, hearts have a wage budget about twice ours and now debt to match it and yet we still managed to get further than them in europe, again ill say it not bad for a tactially inept manager who doesnt know where to play his players.

I really dont understand who in their right mind would want to touch aberdeen, the fans are mostly morons who live in 1983 and we have no money to spend on players and each year we will let our best players go either on a free or for a very small sum of money, the best we can ever hope for is maybe winning a cup, hardly a great distance from where jimmy had us is it.

[Dave-IRL]

how can you say we didnt deserve to finish 4th?? It doesnt make sense, we must have been the 4th best team this season in order to finish there, the league doesnt lie. For all the ranting and raving about how good united are, or how good football motherwell or falkirk play we still finished above them, that for me is more important. Yes we may not have had as good a season as we expected in terms of cup performances but sacking a manager who has had to rebuild his team every single year and still consistantly delivered is complete madness, i can see next season being a big stuggle and then we will get more letters to the board from the "true" fans and we will end up just like we were before JC came in. God i hate Aberdeen fans.

A complete myth. Falkirk arent pretty to watch. Motherwell's game is based on pressing high up the pitch and forcing errors, using mini counter attacks from the halfway line to capitalise on said errors.

Falkrik are actually just shit. really shit.

[The Milner]

Milner. Did you go to the Dunfermline game?

Home leg yes, and before you say it it was terrible and embarressing but really is that a good reason to get rid of the manager, how bout the performances against the scum especially the other week at ibrox, the team played very well and JC had hs tactics right on. Ive said it before but the players really need to look at themselves for that game, if you cannot be bothered in a cup quarter final then when are you ever going to be bothered. You should need no motivation from your manager in a game like that.

[Scootray]

Falkirk are shit, especially when you consider they've got brand new, good training facilities. We have a bit of grass at the barracks and Seaton Park. John Hughes can GTF.

[The Milner]

I can see what you're saying about rebuilding the team every season, but then every team has to do that to some extent.

but how many teams who rebuild every year have consistantly delivered like aberdeen have?

Hibs were ace three years ago, lost their players and now are in midtable syndrom, hearts did the same and fell of the radar for a couple of seasons, motherwell last year were good, lost a few of their big players and this year failed to get into the top 6, keeping in mind this is the guy most want to replace JC, can you see what im saying, yes there have been dissapointments but JC consistantly delivered a team, year after year of losing his best and bigges players, no other manager in the scottish league has achieved that.

[Scootray]

Milner, the Dunfermline game sums up all that was wrong with JC's reign. How you fail to see this I really don't know.

To me you seem like you are settling for second best. The cups are the only chance we'll have to see silverware, and these are our main problem. Just getting a top six finish shouldn't be our aim, it should be 3rd, every season. The tactics in many of his games were fucking awful and in some games we'd win due to pot luck or the fact that the other team were even worse than us. I for one was fed up of the tombola, but if you're happy with it that's fine.

[The Milner]

Milner, the Dunfermline game sums up all that was wrong with JC's reign. How you fail to see this I really don't know.

To me you seem like you are settling for second best. The cups are the only chance we'll have to see silverware, and these are our main problem. Just getting a top six finish shouldn't be our aim, it should be 3rd, every season. The tactics in many of his games were fucking awful and in some games we'd win due to pot luck or the fact that the other team were even worse than us. I for one was fed up of the tombola, but if you're happy with it that's fine.

but we cannot expect to win the cups we can hope that we do better but saying we should be winning a cup is very wrong ( i know you didnt exactly say that btw )

Why should we be third every season? I never realised we had this devine right to third place in the SPL.

[Kieran_imray]

I was a big fan of Calderwood, he took us from annual relegation battles to consistent top six and occasional Europe in next to no time. He has made daft decisions like constantly picking Mackie, playing Severin at centre half etc. He has had some truly dire cup results. But were you honestly happier when Ebbe took us to 2 cup finals in the same season and we only avoided relegation through sheer luck? Also, who are we going to replace Calderwood with? Eric Black has done nothing special. McGee had one good season at 'Well, has just had a crap one. He is still unproven. I would take Duncan Ferguson as he has done a stonking job at Peterborough, but apparently we can't have him. So unless there is some magical mysterious manager no one knows of that has recently managed to take an average squad of players into Europe (and perform admirably) and kept them constantly competing for good places in their league, then yes, I would far, far, far rather have Jimmy.

[Guest Exposure @ Lemon Tree]

but we cannot expect to win the cups we can hope that we do better but saying we should be winning a cup is very wrong ( i know you didnt exactly say that btw )

Why should we be third every season? I never realised we had this devine right to third place in the SPL.

That's what he said the "aim" should be. There is clearly no divine right for any team to win anything or get anything. But don't you think that both sides of the old firm "aim" to win the league every season?

It's seen as a massive failure if either don't finish at least second, and a bit of a failure if they don't win the title.

That doesn't say that either side has a divine right to be in the top 2, let alone win the league. It's a realistic aim to strive to win the league. At the moment I'd say it's a realistic aim for Aberdeen to strive for 3rd place.

[Guest Exposure @ Lemon Tree]

I was a big fan of Calderwood, he took us from annual relegation battles to consistent top six and occasional Europe in next to no time. He has made daft decisions like constantly picking Mackie, playing Severin at centre half etc. He has had some truly dire cup results. But were you honestly happier when Ebbe took us to 2 cup finals in the same season and we only avoided relegation through sheer luck? Also, who are we going to replace Calderwood with? Eric Black has done nothing special. McGee had one good season at 'Well, has just had a crap one. He is still unproven. I would take Duncan Ferguson as he has done a stonking job at Peterborough, but apparently we can't have him. So unless there is some magical mysterious manager no one knows of that has recently managed to take an average squad of players into Europe (and perform admirably) and kept them constantly competing for good places in their league, then yes, I would far, far, far rather have Jimmy.

I've spoken to quite a few Aberdeen fans who said that season under Ebbe was far more fun than most of the seasons since... Even last season, outside the UEFA Cup, most of my mates with season tickets said it was boring and shite.

[Lemonade]

but we cannot expect to win the cups we can hope that we do better but saying we should be winning a cup is very wrong ( i know you didnt exactly say that btw )

Why should we be third every season? I never realised we had this devine right to third place in the SPL.

Milner you're so infuriating, I feel like thumping my head off my desk repeatedly.

Who said we had a divine right to be third every season? Nobody said that, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't expect to be challenging for it, and be happy at finishing 4th or 5th or 6th. Any team in that league could finish third and Hibs, Hearts, United, Motherwell etc. aren't exactly streets ahead of us like the Old Firm are, there is no reason why we shouldn't expect to beat these teams and finish ahead of them. I'm sure there are supports of Hibs and Hearts and United who expect to get third every season, are they being ridiculous too? It's not as though third is some mission impossible, it's a perfectly reasonable and attainable goal for a club the size of ours.

Right, I'm going for a lie down.

[The Milner]

That's what he said the "aim" should be. There is clearly no divine right for any team to win anything or get anything. But don't you think that both sides of the old firm "aim" to win the league every season?

It's seen as a massive failure if either don't finish at least second, and a bit of a failure if they don't win the title.

That doesn't say that either side has a divine right to be in the top 2, let alone win the league. It's a realistic aim to strive to win the league. At the moment I'd say it's a realistic aim for Aberdeen to strive for 3rd place.

the big big big difference is the money tho you must see this, with the money the old firm spend then yes they must expect at least second, we dont spend more money than hearts and have a very similar budget to united, hearts also have a top training centre and the ability to sign proven international players, something we cannot come close to. Surely people can see this and understand it.

[The Milner]

Milner you're so infuriating, I feel like thumping my head off my desk repeatedly.

Who said we had a divine right to be third every season? Nobody said that, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't expect to be challenging for it, and be happy at finishing 4th or 5th or 6th. Any team in that league could finish third and Hibs, Hearts, United, Motherwell etc. aren't exactly streets ahead of us like the Old Firm are, there is no reason why we shouldn't expect to beat these teams and finish ahead of them. I'm sure there are supports of Hibs and Hearts and United who expect to get third every season, are they being ridiculous too? It's not as though third is some mission impossible, it's a perfectly reasonable and attainable goal for a club the size of ours.

Right, I'm going for a lie down.

haha club of our size, remind me why people think aberdeen are a big club again please.

[captain burrito]

but how many teams who rebuild every year have consistantly delivered like aberdeen have?

Hibs were ace three years ago, lost their players and now are in midtable syndrom, hearts did the same and fell of the radar for a couple of seasons, motherwell last year were good, lost a few of their big players and this year failed to get into the top 6, keeping in mind this is the guy most want to replace JC, can you see what im saying, yes there have been dissapointments but JC consistantly delivered a team, year after year of losing his best and bigges players, no other manager in the scottish league has achieved that.

It's fair enough that JC lost his 'best' players and had to rebuilt, but he also kept deadwood like Mackie when he should be looking for fee's for these sorts of players. The board provided what little they could, but Jimmy didn't go looking for that little bit more by selling off some players. Scottish teams have to wheel and deal abit more now, something that Jimmy was terrible at.

I don't think the buck shouls have stopped at JC. Willie Miller should step down and his wages be used to take in a player or two. What does he really do at the club? Negotiate the contracts? Provide a business mind at Todders? He can't negotiate his way around a chippy, let alone a football club. Deary me.

[Kieran_imray]

I've spoken to quite a few Aberdeen fans who said that season under Ebbe was far more fun than most of the seasons since... Even last season, outside the UEFA Cup, most of my mates with season tickets said it was boring and shite.

Aberdeen fans who had fun watching their side get drubbed 7-0 away and 6-0 at home by Celtic? And liked the fact we only stayed in the SPL because Falkirk's stadium was too pish?