Aberdeen finish a terrible season on a high.

This has been one of the worst season for a long time, but Aberdeen ended the season on a high with a 3-1 win over Hibs in Edinburgh.

I kind of had a feeling that we might win this game, We seem to be Hibs bogey team this season having now beaten them 3 times out of 4.

Aberdeen's player of the season Chris Bebo Maguire scored a 2 minute double in the second half to secure the points after Big Josh magennis had equalized .

Although it was a nice way to end the season it only papers over the cracks, but every Aberdeen fan knows the major task Craig and Archie have ahead of them in the summer.
A number of players will be moving on and we need to replace them with players who are better if we want to move forward.

If Maguire stays and continues to grow as a player then he can form a lethal partnership with Scott Vernon. If Bebo goes then we have to find a player who can score goals and also feed vernon.
No disrespect to the guy but I don't think Darren Mackie is that player. He gives his all and is a good back up to have but I don't think he should be one of our main strikers.

Big Josh is also a good back up to have and if he continues to improve maybe in a year or 2 he can be the main man.
Micheal Paton is one player who has just not improved over the last few years and I would shed no tears if he was to move on.

Aluko will be missed with his speed on the wing, on his day he can be a great player but other days he can be frustrating, reminds me of Eion Jess in some ways.

We will find out in the coming weeks and months who is staying, who is going and who is coming in. Should be an interesting break.

Now lets enjoy the summer, no break from football for me, still got Columbus Crew playing in the MLS and the USA playing in the Gold Cup.

Stand Free

Where will a victory come from?

Today's game against St Mirren was a chance for Aberdeen to say sorry to the fans that did turn up  for the terrible season and thanks for sticking by us.

Instead we got another inept performance, I hardly remember hearing the St Mirren goalkeeper mentioned, to be fair Jamie Langfield was not really put under any pressure, but St Mirren took one more chance than we did and are now guaranteed SPL football next season.

I am just happy that we did have that purple patch when Craig Brown and Archie Knox came to Pittodrie as those point picked up then saved us from relegation.

With one more game to play, against Hibs this Saturday, who would bet against St Mirren leapfrogging us and leaving us 2nd bottom when the season is complete.
I really cannot see where a win is going to come from.

So what now? We have a few players out of contract, so there may be some changes over the summer , but will the players who come in be any better than those departing.

What will the management team be thinking? Will next season be their last when their contracts run out or will they stay to see  the job complete.
If they are going to retire are the board actively looking for Suitable replacements or are they going to wait until 2 weeks before the start of the 2012/2013 season.

These questions will all be answered in the next twelve months.

As for us fans the majority will return to spend their hard earned money following the Dons or in my case another years Subscription to Red TV, but some I fear will find other more entertaining ways to spend their Saturdays.

Stand Free

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 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

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