DC92

McInnes' success at Aberdeen is largely based on him being allocated a relatively large budget and spending that on players with a track record in Scotland or the English lower leagues. His Aberdeen team have consistently finished high up the league because they consistently beat the teams worse than them (which is most of them). There's nothing wrong with any of that, but those achievements don't really translate to being a good Scotland manager. He's never struck me as a particularly good tactician or someone who gets results when it really counts in big games. Drawing conclusions based on Levein might seem lazy, but there a lot more parallels between him and McInnes than Vogts and most foreign managers. Levein in 2009 had built his reputation on consistent performances in the SPL either side of a failed spell in England, much like McInnes. Again, like McInnes, this was built on a smart transfer policy and consistent results against lesser teams, rather than tactical nous or the ability to get results in big games. It's also easy to forget that Levein was a popular choice at the time. Probably about as popular as Clarke is this time (there was even the same chat about how he'd never take the job because of his previous run-ins with the SFA). Funny how things change. As for Clarke, he's been able to get a squad of players playing well above their previous level without making many changes and he consistently gets results against "better" teams. These achievements translate much better to being a good Scotland manager than Levein's or McInnes' IMO.

Okay, clearly they aren't going to kill Jon Snow off-screen or anything like that. Don't be surprised if there's some daft expectation-subverting ending, though. It'd be about time Bran actually did something anyway.

No idea is too daft for Game of Thrones these days.

So why did she destroy it after she'd already won? It made no fucking sense. Oh, I forgot. She's MAD now.

The very idea of travelling 120 miles on a Friday night and paying to watch this Hearts team slog out a 2-0 defeat in a completely meaningless encounter when you can stay at home and not watch it on TV instead.

Believe it or not, the Killie game last week was even worse.

As much as I think Garuccio is very mediocre, it has to be him at left-back if we're using a back four.

The answer is definitely "signing a player who couldn't get a game ahead of Lenny Sowah", I'm afraid.

Imagine thinking this was true.

There are various ways we can play but I think Berra-Souttar-Haring-Djoum-Naismith-Uche needs to be the spine of the team. I'd keep them in the middle regardless. 4-2-3-1: Doyle Smith Souttar Berra Garuccio Haring Djoum Morrison/Mulraney Naismith Clare Uche 3-5-2 (defensive): Doyle Dikamona Souttar Berra Smith Haring Djoum Garuccio Naismith Uche Clare 3-5-2 (attacking): Doyle Souttar Smith Berra Morrison Haring Djoum Mulraney Naismith Uche Clare Some variation of the above would do me for the rest of the season.

Sow has pace, skill, strength and is a good finisher. He can't jump or header a ball but otherwise he's got all the attributes you'd want in a striker. His obvious weakness is that his body seems to be made of wet tissue paper. Given how little he's played since leaving us three years ago, you have to wonder whether he's still the same player. I was sceptical when it looked like he was re-signing for us in August. Neilson used him out wide quite a lot to accommodate other strikers but he was never at his best there.

A player who has won twice as may Scottish Cups as Aberdeen in the last 30 years. Sit doon.

He is shite to be fair.

This would be sewn up by now if we had Uche and Naismith.

He makes some really good runs from midfield but otherwise he can't play football, which has been a bit of a hindrance to his Hearts career.

Just look at the nick of that fucking midfield.

Over a dozen players signed and not one of them a creative midfielder, despite being the least creative team in the league last season. It's the second game of the season and we're starting an Inverness reject winger at wing-back (who cost us a goal), a centre-back in midfield and relying on three teenagers off the bench to salvage something against a team that got pumped by Cowdenbeath last week. Maybe Levein knows what he's doing though eh?

I thought the ingnominy of having to take part in a penalty shootout on live TV after already being knocked out last year couldn't be topped. But having to forfeit a cup game against Cove Rangers for the sake of playing Andy fucking Irving for 25 minutes? I was wrong. Another PR win for our Breath of Fresh Air Chairwoman as well.

Well that just isn't true is it? Their career histories and references from fans are there for all to see. If they suggested that the players were likely to be good enough then I'd be more encouraged. Of course, sometimes players can exceed those expectations, but unfortunately our recent track record of unearthing hidden gems doesn't suggest we're likely to find 7 or 8 in one window.

While I'm not a big fan of our recruitment this summer, Vaněček seems like a reasonable signing to me on paper. Decent enough scoring rate last season and looks like he can hold the ball up as well as providing an aerial threat (which is something we don't really have up front). On the other hand, signing jobbers from the Australian league or lesser teams in this country, a soon-to-be 36 year old journeyman striker or (for three years) a goalkeeper who doesn't seem to have held down a first team place for more than a few months doesn't seem like the best use of a squeezed wage budget.

I'm almost certain this is it. They said they were starting to use stats to scout players last summer and Levein has made reference to e.g. Garuccio's crossing percentages. I believe Grzelak was signed on the basis of having a high dribbling percentage, which says it all about Levein and Murray's ability to interpret stats in a remotely useful way.

Bozanic: "He played for my club in Australia (Melbourne Victory) off the back of his time in Switzerland and was pretty poor. Before the World Cup in 2014 (where he played against Spain and the Dutch) he played as a 10 and was pretty good - I thought he was exceptional in the game against the Dutch. Since then he's never found his groove, played as a 6, 8 and 10 and didn't look comfortable in any position and seemed to lose all attacking instinct, a LOT of sideways and backwards passing. If he can recapture that 2014 form it'll be a quality signing, if he can't, it will be incredibly frustrating and really offer nothing." :Craig Levein pointing smiley: Actually quite looking forward to seeing just how appalling we will be this season.

You can watch it in German with subtitles by changing the settings.