Good Riddance 2010 welcome 2011

In 2010 Aberdeen played 48 Competitive games in the league and cup. Out of those 48 they won 15.
2 of those victories came over the festive period, the only question I have to ask is why did it take the Aberdeen board so long to make a change.
January started so well, we beat Dundee United 1-0 beat hearts in the league and Scottish cup scoring five goals in the process and the defeated Kilmarnock by a single goal.
We hit a little rock on mid January when we lost to St Mirren but then on the 30th there was a disaster.
Motherwell came to town and put 3 past us, ironically managed by our current boss, Craig Brown that started the rot.

Knocked out of the Scottish cup by Raith Rovers in February the only high would be a dramatic 4-4 draw with Celtic at Pittodrie.

We would not win a game until March 23rd. By this time I had lost complete faith in Mchgee and had decided it was time for a change, a change that would not come for another 9 long months.

We only won 2 more games and managed to avoid relegation by the skin of our teeth.

The rumours were starting about rifts in the pittodrie camp and major changes in the summer.
But come June and the start of pre season training the management team remained the same.
Pre season did not go well but mostly pre season is about fitness and trying out new things.
So I put on my supportive hat and decided to put my faith in Mcghee and his new players. As he had said the previous year, don't judge me now, judge me when I get my own team in.

This season started with a bang, a fantastic display against Hamilton with a Paul Hartley (who had really lifted my spirits and giving me a glimmer of hope that Mcghee new what he was doing) hat trick.
This was followed by a tough game against Saint Johnstone away from home which we battled and won late on. We got a good result in the cup. This was Mcghee's Aberdeen and despite a defeat by Killie we were flying. I was wrong about wanting change, the board had made the right decision standing by their man, or had they?

Then things turned sour and looked very much like the previous season, We could not find a win from anywhere, we even through away a 2-0 half time lead at home to Rangers and lost 3-2.
Our only win in September was a revenge win against Raith Rovers in the League cup.

October did not go much better with wins against Falkirk in the League cup, setting up a semi final game against Celtic in January and a 4-2 win against Hibernian which would turn out to be our last victory under Mcghee.

Mcghee still had the backing of the board at this point but when Celtic completely ripped us apart 9-0 at the beginning of November there was an emergency board meeting and internet forums were buzzing with rumours.
Shockingly the board came out and support Mcghee saying they still had faith in him. Some members of the media were only a win against Inverness Caley would save his job but after yet another defeat at home he was still in charge.

No points were picked up in November and after a 2-0 defeat away to Killie, which has been a grave yard for many Aberdeen Managers career at Pittordrie the board finally made the decision I had been calling for 9 months earlier.

We were due to play Celtic again but hours after the game was cancelled due to bad weather the announcement came.
The board said they would take there time. Many names were mentioned, including Billy Stark who the media seemed sure was going to get the job.

Finally the board announced they had approached Craig Brown but he has politely said no, he wanted to continue to build on what he had started at Motherwell, but then the thought of a real challenge started to get him excited and when Aberdeen called back he changed his mind.

Brown and Knox sat in the stand for the 1st game after there appointment and let Neil Cooper and Neil Simpson take the team.
It was a real eye opener for them as Aberdeen we humbled 5-0 by Hearts.

So far as we come to the end of December Brown and Knox have led Aberdeen to 2 consecutive away wins in Edinburgh against Hibs and then this weeks victory at Hamilton.
The Wikipedia page looks good, 100% wins.

So lets hope that 2011 will be a lot better than 2010 was, starting with 3 points against Dundee United in Craig Browns Pittodrie debut.

Stand Free and Happy New year.

The late show with Scott Vernon

Wins are like buses, you wait ages for one and then  2 come along at once.
It was great to see Aberdeen battle till the very end against Hamilton and grab the 3 points in stoppage time.

I knew it would be a scrappy game, Hamilton would have been happy to hold out for a point. It was clear that both teams were having confidence issues.
There was some poor defending and some poor finishing from both teams.

Craig brown has done for Aberdeen what I said he would when he was appointed, He has made us tough to beat.
It may not be pretty but it is getting points on the board, which at this moment in time is the most important thing.

After our 2 recent wins against fellow struggling teams we face a real test on New Years day when Dundee United are our first foots at Pittodrie.
I think in our current position I would settle for a point against them but Brown and Knox have 2 wins out of 2 against them this season with Motherwell so lets hope they can keep the run going.

Stand Free

Can we play you every week?

Until today Aberdeen had not won a game since the 23rd of October, ironically that victory was also against Hibs.
I said it back then and I will say it again now, Hibs are also a team short of confidence so I am not getting over excited about the victory.
Even after our losing streak Hibs were only 5 points ahead of us going into the game.

Yes it was a relief and a welcome 3 points. But we must go out and battle the same way against the other teams, especially those around us.
Once I see us picking up results against those teams I will start to have more confidence in the players.

I can already see the difference Craig Brown is making, when was the last time we saw Aberdeen spot a weakness in the opponent and change tactics to exploit it.
Brown noticed that the Hibs defence were pretty light weight and brought on Josh Magennis  for Sone Aluko to provide some extra muscle.
Some poor finishing and lack of confidence caused Magennis to miss a couple of sitters but we saw what the lad is capable of.

We are off the bottom of the table at last. Although it was only really 1 game with the games being cancelled recently it has been a couple of weeks. Hopefully we will not be back there again.
A victory against Hamilton on Wednesday will hopefully see us open up a big enough gap between us and them.

All I wanted from Santa was 3 points today and Santa delivered.
Maybe my other wish will now be granted, with league reconstruction maybe it can be set up so we can play Hibs every week, then we will be challenging for the league title every season.

Stand Free and Merry Christmas

David Preece Question and Answers

MR: Having played in England and Denmark. Is Aberdeen still a team that foreign  players and players from England  find an attractive club  or is our location against us, especially with player who are married with families?

DP:   It's a sad fact of life that some are reluctant to move so North. The club has to try harder to sell itself to players.

MR: What do you miss most about playing for Aberdeen and living in the city?

DP Difficult one to pinpoint this. In 6 yrs I grew to love the club, fans and the city and always will. It became home.

MR: Did you feel any pressure following in the footsteps of keepers like Jim Leighton and Theo Snelders?


DP: At the time, no. I was naive enough to think I deserved to be in my position. Looking back, the move came a year or two too early.

MR: Apart from meeting me to present me with the half time draw cheque many years ago, what is your most memorable memory of your time with Aberdeen?


DP: I'd have to say the win at Celtic Park to end their 77 match unbeaten run. Being skipper that night made it special.

MR: Who was the best player you played with and against in your career?


DP: With: Tough one this. I'll go for Thomas Helveg Ultimate professional. Against: Zlatan Ibrahimavic

MR:Who is the best manager you played for?


DP: Peter Reid, Terry Butcher were great and David Hodgson has had a big influence on my career. Liked JC too.


MR: Who was your footballing Idol when growing up?


DP: Bruce Grobbelaar, Peter Shilton and Michel Platini. 1st 4 obvious reasons. Dad bought me a video of WC86 and I loved the FRC team.

MR: What are you plans after you retire?


DP:  Hopefully coaching/management. I'm also doing a degree in Sports writing and broadcasting through the PFA.

MR: What team did you support as a youngster?  


DP:  Sunderland, my home town team and where I began playing.

MR: What advise would you give a youngster trying to make a career in football? 


DP:There's nothing that good old fashioned hard work can't achieve. Talent is redundant without dedication.

I would like to thank David for agreeing to answer our questions.

Stand Free

The Third coming of Jim Leighton

Jim Leighton rejoined Aberdeen for the third time in is career. Having had two spells at the club as a player and then joining the coaching staff after retiring Jim was shockingly sacked by Mark Mcghee not long after Mcghee joined the club. Mcghee wanted to bring in his own man Colin Meldrum.
I don't think it was any coincidence that Jamie Langfield made a few errors in the first couple of games after Leighton left.
Langfield has not really been the same under Meldrum but hopefully he will get back to his best now Jim is back.
I am delighted to see Jim Leighton back, he is a first class goalkeeper a great coach.
Jim himself must be delighted to be back, I remember hearing an interview with him on BBC Radio Scotland  not long after he left Pittodrie and he sounded gutted.
It is no surprise that Brown had brought him back as he was Leighton's Manager at international level and Archie Knox also worked with Jim at both Aberdeen and Manchester United.
Welcome back Jim.


Stand Free

David Preece/ Ian Robertson

Something different for the blog tonight.Ex Aberdeen Players  David Preece and Ian Robertson  have kindly agreed to answer some questions about his career on the blog.
Add your questions to the comments and I will pick the best.
looking for around 10 questions to ask him.

The only way is up

I predicted before the game that we would lose to Hearts today, But I was not expecting a result like this.
Tynecastle is always a tough place to go and it takes a huge performance to take the points. But 5-0 is totally unacceptable.

I had hoped that the pending arrival of Craig Brown and Archie Knox would have given the Dons players a confidence boost, and it looked like it had as Aberdeen came out fighting ans seemed to be all over Hearts for the first five minutes.
But Hearts went up the park and scored with their first attack, There was some debate that the ball did not cross the line but the commentators on Red TV said that it could have been a penalty before the goal was given.
Hearts were really going at our weakness of having no full backs and the 2nd goal like the first came after they run at Ifil. The game was dead by the 10th minute and Brown and Knox must have been sitting in the stand thinking What have we done.

David and Steven from Red TV were arguing with each other at one point David saying the Dons had "No Bloody Confidence" and Steven arguing that it was not confidence it was that the players were "Just not trying, How hard is it to make a tackle to try and  stop Hearts scoring".

Craig Brown's list of Players just not good enough will be getting longer and longer and I can only say roll on January and the opening of the transfer window.
I can see some players being moved on if people will take them and hopefully a few free transfers or loan players coming in to see us through the second half of the season.

The result today means we are now bottom of the SPL with Hamilton not even kicking a ball.
As Red TV said the only way is up.

Aberdeen are a mess and the fans need to have patience with Brown and Knox and not expect dramatic results right away. But hopefully these embarrassing scores will end now and we can scrape a few wins to take us out of the relegation zone.

Good Luck Craig Brown and Archie Knox, you are going to need it.


Stand Free

Paw Broon and Oor Wullie join forces.

So Aberdeen look to have ended the search for Mark Mcghee's successor, with Craig Brown  and Archie Knox resigning from Motherwell  late on Thursday night, they look set to be announced as the new Aberdeen management team in the morning.

I am quite happy with the appointment as Brown is vastly experienced and is just the sort of man we need to steady the ship and build a foundation that can be built on in the future.

It would not surprise me if Paul Hartley was made part of the coaching staff and mentored by Knox and Brown as a possible future manager.

Brown and Knox did not have a contract at Motherwell so there will be no fee paid to Motherwell, although Motherwell are filing a complaint with the SPL about Aberdeen's conduct.
Another boost for Stewart Milne is that Craig Brown will not need a company car as he can just use his free bus pass. (Someone had to make an OAP joke)

So welcome to the good ship AFC Craig Brown and welcome home Archie Knox.

Okay  the Honeymoon is over, get to work lads.

Feel free to comment on your thought of the new Pittodrie Management team.

Stand Free

All aboard the Managerial Merry go round

Mark McGhee's reign as Aberdeen Manager came to an end this afternoon.
I have been saying for Months that Mcghee was out of his depth and had to go and I am glad the board have finally seen sense.
I take no pleasure from the decision, I had hoped after the first two games of the season that McGhee was going to prove me wrong.
In fact I am sad it never worked out, McGhee is still a hero of mine after his playing days at Pittodrie.
I would like to wish Mark all the best for the future.

But what now for Aberdeen F.C ? I would not be opposed to them doing a Killie and bringing someone in to steady the ship till the end of the season then make a permanent appointment.
One thing is for sure, the Aberdeen board need to take their time before making a decision.

A number of names have been mentioned, some good in my opinion and some not so good.
I don't envy Stewart Milne and Co having to make that choice.

I blogged about Gordon Strachan previously he is available for no compensation fee but could we match his wage demands?
Terry butcher is another name mentioned but some fans have already brought up the Ex Rangers player point and he could be fighting a losing battle before his first game.
As someone else said Fergie was an Ex Rangers player and look what he did with us.

So as we await an announcement from the board about an interim appointment I will go and write my C.V.


Stand Free