2011/2012 Season Thread

[Shaki]

The fortunes of football teams tend to go up and down and we are on a down at the moment. We seem to forget that we’ve had moderate success recently (by non-OF SPL standards). It’s not as if it’s been a steady decline either. Under Skovdahl we were last place one season and finished third place the next, then came the dark days of Pele, then the bright days of JC, dark days of McGhee….We’ll be good, we’ll be bad and we’ll be average in seasons to come. The whole “this club is rotten to the core” argument is totally overblown. I’m sure there could be improvements in how it is run but comparatively I can’t imagine it’s much different to many around us. Signing the tea lady from Motherwell might be all it takes.

If you compare our league finishes to a club of a similar size and (lack of)wealth over the past 20 years we’re not doing too bad. To help you out I did this with Hibs and United since 1990-1991, adding up all the finishes* and dividing by the number of seasons. We came 5.85th, United came 6.47th and Hibs came 6.52nd (that’s with their central belt work ethic too)**

*for 98-99 I allocated Hibs 11th position as they won the 1st division below a 10 team top division, similarly when Utd came 2nd in the 1st division in 95-96 they were allocated 12th place.

**Official Shaki statistics. Material may be reproduced without formal permission or charge for personal or in-house use only.

That took 35 minutes, I hope someone takes the time to read it.

[Hugh_Jazz]

To me, it's an utter no brainer. If I was a player, and had the choice between a club with great ground and great facilities or a club with Pittodrie stadium and Balgownie playing fields, I'm choosing the former.

Sure, Pittodrie is the ancestral home, but let's be honest here....it's a fucking shitehouse, and has been for 20 years. Perhaps we would lose a few fans from north of Aberdeen. But we'll gain a bunch from Cove, Stonehaven, Portlethen, Montrose etc. Swings and roundabouts. Overall, having a stadium on the A90 makes it more accessible, not less.

Personally, it's more of a pain in the arse for me (ie. further away), but frankly, I'll be fucking mad for sitting in a new stadium instead of freezing my nadgers off in the South Stand.

[Paranoid Android]

Very true, the fact that these days English clubs in League 1 and maybe even 2 have better facilities than us surely makes it much more difficult to attract players.

I imagine players see the poor training facilities not only as a negative in regards to training itself but also they may take it as a sign that the club has low ambition.

[ca_gere]

Anelka apparently in talks with Montreal MLS team. Great move if it goes through. He's still got a lot to give and seems to thrive when he's adored. Can't remember if it was last season or the season before but there was a streak of about 10 games when he was unplayable and the crowd were loving him. Think he got injured and went back to being a bit moody. Would love to see him over here.

[The Milner]

Look im not saying i want the dons to go down, far from it, im a dons fan, the last thing i want is to see our club go down, my only point was it would force a huge change at the club, something that i personally think needs to happen. We have gone from one disaster to another in recent years, and i am very realistic of my expectations of what we can achieve, top 6 is as much as i would ask for in a season, this year we will do very well not to go down.

I'm also not a Milne hater at all, i fully understand the only reason our club is still where it is, is because of him, we would have most likely gone into administration a long time ago had it not been for him. I also do not expect him to pump any sums of money into the playing squad, he would never see it back and it would make no sense financially from his point of view, ontop of that the club most likely could not support the wages these players would want and it would get us into more trouble in the long run.

But something has to change surely? Some time something has to change, like i say i dont know what but if it doesnt we will end up going down, perhaps even this season.

[Shaki]

I imagine players see the poor training facilities not only as a negative in regards to training itself but also they may take it as a sign that the club has low ambition.

But, but every player who's ever been on trial or in signing talks has stated in the EE that they have been really impressed with the facilities, the city and the people as well as noting that Aberdeen are a massive club with great ambition...

It's inconvenient for me this whole stadium malarky but it can only be a good thing. How long would it take to walk to Loirston from, let's say, the bottom of Market Street?

[The Milner]

Do the dons not have access to the RGU facilities and the Sports Village?

[framheim]

Look im not saying i want the dons to go down, far from it, im a dons fan, the last thing i want is to see our club go down, my only point was it would force a huge change at the club, something that i personally think needs to happen. We have gone from one disaster to another in recent years, and i am very realistic of my expectations of what we can achieve, top 6 is as much as i would ask for in a season, this year we will do very well not to go down.

I'm also not a Milne hater at all, i fully understand the only reason our club is still where it is, is because of him, we would have most likely gone into administration a long time ago had it not been for him. I also do not expect him to pump any sums of money into the playing squad, he would never see it back and it would make no sense financially from his point of view, ontop of that the club most likely could not support the wages these players would want and it would get us into more trouble in the long run.

But something has to change surely? Some time something has to change, like i say i dont know what but if it doesnt we will end up going down, perhaps even this season.

they've already made or are making every change possible to appease the fans, short of changing chairman. what else could they change?

[Hugh_Jazz]

Change is definitely required, and only one obvious solution presents itself.

We need to play ALL our games on a Friday.

[Soda Jerk]

So the Ballon D'or is between Messi, Ronaldo and Xavi this year. Nothing surprising about that.

I see what they're doing. An anagram of "Messi, Ronaldo and Xavi" is "Phil Jones". You just have to change some of the letters. And take some away.

If Phil Jones doesn't win it, and Messi - who probably couldn't score a goal at the Britannia on a Tuesday night in December - does, then it's a fix. FIX!!

Scumbag UEFA cunts.

[Guest]

It's inconvenient for me this whole stadium malarky but it can only be a good thing. How long would it take to walk to Loirston from, let's say, the bottom of Market Street?

Best part of an hour and a half, I'd say.

[Soda Jerk]

Anelka apparently in talks with Montreal MLS team. Great move if it goes through. He's still got a lot to give and seems to thrive when he's adored. Can't remember if it was last season or the season before but there was a streak of about 10 games when he was unplayable and the crowd were loving him. Think he got injured and went back to being a bit moody. Would love to see him over here.

Would be good seeing a few more players going over there when they are still top players rather than just stepping down a level for big money. Saying that, I thought thats about Beckham initially, but since he's moved from his advanced position to a more Xabi Alonso type role, he's been brilliant. He can still put a football wherever he wants it, through the air or on the ground. He's never really relied on pace either, so the role suits him down to the ground.

Anelka is an annoying player, but he's still very good. I've never seen him express any kind of emotion though. He's a bit like the Keanu Reeves of football. Great player though. He's got the cushioning first touch of a fluffy cloud. You could shoot the ball at him out of a cannon, and he'd probably roll it off his chest and smash it on the volley.

[The Milner]

they've already made or are making every change possible to appease the fans, short of changing chairman. what else could they change?

Its not about changing to appease the fans, the last time they did that they sacked JC, fabulous decision that turned out to be. I really dont know the answers at all, hence me clutching at any straw i can think of as a possibility. I hate seeing the club where it is, and i would love to think we had this fabulous long term plan, and would be willing to accept a few years of us struggling until things began to improve, but i just dont see that at the moment. I like Craig Brown, but he isnt a long term solution to the us, at the moment it doesnt appear he has been the short term solution we were hoping for either unfortunately.

[Alkaline]

Best part of an hour and a half, I'd say.

45 minutes drunk and in horizontal rain. I used to walk home from the Palace to Cove a lot when i was younger.

[Guest Gladstone]

Aberdeen are only 6 points off 7th spot in the SPL. It's very very close in the bottom half. Aberdeen could be out of there with 3 wins. I know 3 wins is a lot to ask for at the moment but in the next 4 matches, you've got St Mirren, Hibs and Inverness, which have all got to look like matches you can win. Not saying you will win, but you can win them. And the toughest (on paper) in the next 4 matches is against St Johnstone, who are doing well at the moment, but still a team that Aberdeen could beat. I'm not saying for a minute that I expect Aberdeen to win their next 4 matches, but they can surely look to pick up a good few points from them - 7 or more perhaps. If they do that, they'll be off the bottom of the table, and hopefully have a bit of confidence etc. and maybe get a few more results.

What I'm saying really is that I don't think it's quite as bad as some are making it out to be. Stick with Craig Brown and the current plan and I reckon Aberdeen will finish 7th or 8th this season. Really can't see Aberdeen getting relegated. Far worse Aberdeen sides over the past 20 or so years have not been relegated.

[Chris]

Cue someone bringing up how Falkirk saved us from relegation...

#westcoastmediapropaganda

[Guest Gladstone]

Haha - they changed the rules to save Aberdeen!! They'll probably extend the league at the end of the season so that Aberdeen don't get relegated...

Watch what you're doing with that hashtag. Soda Jerk is loading his rifle as we speak.

[davidm]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-16012632

Anyone remember Ronnie Wallwork? Jailed for 15 months for stealing scrap metal. Odd.

[Soda Jerk]

I remember him coming through the academy. It was the same year Jonothan Greening and Chris Eagles cropped up. The Fergie Fledglings v2.0. They were all pretty bad.

[Paranoid Android]

He's become Manchester's own Bubbs?

[Guest Gladstone]

That's quite a fall from grace. Young Player of the Year at Man United in 1996, Premier League winner in 2001, West Brom player of the year in 2005 (after a season in the Premier League), banged up in 2011 for nicking scrap metal.

His lawyer says he had a promising career until it was cut short 5 years ago, which would have made him 29 - but according to wiki he was still playing 3 years ago, making him 31. It's not exactly the shortest career ever.

Just read further down his wiki page - he was stabbed by Robert Rimmer with a fish knife. Brutal.

[Captain America]

I'm enjoying the farce at Liverpool at the moment.

King Kenny called Fulham fans chanting cheat at Suarez "Scandalous" but fully supports a player who has a racism charge over his head and then flips off fans (last night).

Kenny is being found out big time just now. He bought overpriced, average players, his tactics are tired and stale. For once I'd just like to see him be a man after a game and not blame it on something.

[Soda Jerk]

I don't mind Kenny, even though I hate Liverpool. I imagine whilst he defended Suarez publicly, he's probably tearing him a new arsehole behind the scenes. I don't think even the most stubborn of managers can defend an abusive hand gesture towards opposing supporters.

[Alkaline]

That's quite a fall from grace. Young Player of the Year at Man United in 1996, Premier League winner in 2001, West Brom player of the year in 2005 (after a season in the Premier League), banged up in 2011 for nicking scrap metal.

His lawyer says he had a promising career until it was cut short 5 years ago, which would have made him 29 - but according to wiki he was still playing 3 years ago, making him 31. It's not exactly the shortest career ever.

Just read further down his wiki page - he was stabbed by Robert Rimmer with a fish knife. Brutal.

Was he not banned from playing football in Belgium after knocking a ref on his arse whilst on loan at Royal Antwerp as well?

[Guest Gladstone]

Was he not banned from playing football in Belgium after knocking a ref on his arse whilst on loan at Royal Antwerp as well?

Indeed!

He joined Royal Antwerp on loan during the following season and helped them to reach the play-offs, but their hopes of promotion to the First Division were ended by a defeat to La Louvière. After the match, Wallwork grabbed referee Amand Ancion by the throat, for which he was banned from football for life. Another Manchester United loanee, Danny Higginbotham, was banned for a year for his part in the attack. A Belgian court reduced Wallwork's sentence to a three year suspension, of which two years were probational, while Higginbotham's ban was reduced to four months. The remaining twelve months of Wallwork's ban applied only in Belgium, rather than the worldwide ban given under the initial ruling.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/football/410955.stm