SotesBornalichtie

I don't understand all this fuss about Blair Yule leaving the club. Players come and go all the time, managers as well and we made a profit by letting him go so what's the problem. It's not as though the team revolved around him. He is a reasonable player at this level, wouldn't say he is outstanding, but obviously he feels that playing for a local side , albeit at a lower level, is more suitable to where he wants to be in his life at this time. Everyone has a choice and leaving us was his. Lacking ambition? Maybe in a football sense but maybe he has more ambition to progress in his full time job which he will still be doing long after his footballing days are over. Time to move on and look forward to see who the manager brings in as a replacement for a midfield position.

My mistake. He looked a good prospect at the start of last season but faded a bit past the mid season point. I guess he's looking at his long term future outside football and if so then good luck to him for the future.

All this chatter about whether or not Montrose were after McCord is irrelevant now that he is back with AFC and hopefully raring to show how good he is. I'm happy that he is back. Blair Yule had a good first season in league 2 but wasn't so impressive in league 1. If travelling from Aberdeen is a problem then he is a bit restricted for other clubs closer to home, mainly highland league clubs. If he definitely is for transfer is it by his choice or is it the manager's decision?

Well said Simon. With a bit of luck we could get Lumsden back as manager as well.

The club seem to be keeping quiet about the Pat Scullion signing. I thought there would have been something on the club website about it. Ha she actually signed up?

I hope McCord stays at the club. I've always liked players who can play the game with a bit of skill and flair, who can see how to open a defence, can read the game and see a move ahead and doesn't need to run about all over the pitch. Don't see many of them at this level but McCord is one and he can chip in with a goal or two. Wouldn't blame him if he does move on to a club where he can get a regular start, but I'd rather see him stay and get more game time next season.

Can't say that I'm much bothered about losing the play-off, it was always going to be a big ask after losing the first leg. Still it's been a successful season, making the play-offs was the aim at the start of the season and that was achieved. I don't think we were quite ready for the step up to the championship. It will be a hard league again next season so we should be aiming for the play-offs again and maybe a bit more. I think we really missed McCord's skill and craft during the last part of the season. We didn't have anyone else who could see the pass that could open up a defence, hope he gets fit and gets his place in the team come August. Also hope that Steven Doris will make it back for the start of the season, keep doing the physio work Steven. Congratulations to the players and management for finishing 4th and commiserations to them for not making the play-off final.

Hope it stops raining before Saturday or the match could be cancelled due to waterlogged pitch.

I hope there will be a minutes silence or applause in respect of John's passing. An honest player and true football man. Condolences to his family at this sad time for them.

Great news indeed on the Steven Doris situation. That's a load of cobblers Schumacher

Cruciate ligament injuries, usually ruptured or snapped ligaments, are probably the worst knee injuries to have and take a long time to get over. The treatment should be available on the NHS but with the stress they are under budget wise the waiting time for an operation is probably quite long. So if the club or Steven Doris do not have the means to pay for the operation be done privately, which is effectively jumping the queue, then Steven could be out for considerably longer than the rest of this season. The rehabilitation time after the operation shouldn't be rushed as that can lead to problems later in life. As others have said, you would have thought that the club would have some sort of medical insurance to cover the players for cost of treatment for injuries incurred when playing for the club. Maybe they have some sort of insurance that covers for loss of earnings when players are injured but not the cost of treatment, who knows? The thing is that it is morally wrong not to, at the very least, help with the cost of an operation for Steven who at all times when he has been with the club has never given less than 100% for the club.

Having suffered injuries to both knees as a young man and now, in my seventies, having suffered for years the long term effects of not having the injuries properly diagnosed and treated at the time, I sincerely hope that Steven Doris will take all the time necessary, and receive the proper treatment, to make a full recovery. Whilst he is a big miss to the team there should be no pressure on him to come back too early. Best wishes to him for a full recovery.

We should be grateful to Bobby Linn for the times he, in effect, carried the team in the past. Every player will have a dip in form at sometime or other especially if they are carrying an injury, so to suggest he is finished is nonsense. Comparisons between him and Steven Doris cannot be made, they are completely different players playing different games but neither ever hide on the pitch, are team players and assets to the club. Hopefully Bobby is back to full fitness and we will continue to see him at the top of his game for the foreseeable future. With the better players we have now in the side he shouldn't have to carry so much weight of expectation and enjoy playing his own game again.

Exactly as you say, questionable.

His team selection and substitutions would be on par with Strachan's.

To paraphrase Fleetwood Mac "Players only love you when they're playing", so no surprise that Ricky Gomes would be unhappy not getting a game, if he is indeed fully fit. But I would have thought it fairly standard that if a player playing in your position is playing well you have to accept that he is not going to be dropped to accommodate you. I would be sorry to see Ricky leave the club under these circumstances and hope he stays and gets his place back should Hutton's form take a dip or should he be injured. As for communication between club and supporters, I think there is still room for improvement. Supporters like to have a general idea of what is happening within the club and, as has been mentioned in other posts, really enjoy interaction with players and management at club functions. Better communication would reduce the rumours that appear on the internet and make supporters feel they are of some importance to the club.

Just expressing my opinion, as you so often do, based on his past behavioural patterns.

Football clubs are almost like that other boys club with the funny handshake, they are full of secrets and hate to let anyone not in the club what is going on. Personally I feel that anyone with secrets must have something to hide. It would be nice for our football club to be more transparent but it just isn't going to happen, it seems to be the supporters are not to be trusted with knowing what goes on at the club. The meetings with supporters would seem to be all smoke and mirrors. If Gavin Swankie was as good a player as he thinks he is he would be a starter for every game, but the way the team are playing at the moment he will have to be content with being a squad player. He is past his best and if he doesn't like not being first choice he can take the huff again and clear off to some other club.

I have to agree with Simon regarding the signing of Gary Fraser, hopefully it IS just short term, because contrary to Smokerson I don't remember him running us ragged that often and wondering why he was said to be a signing target after a 0-0 draw at Gayfield last year. Couldn't we have done better in the loan stakes? I suppose Hester will be on the bench again to make way for Fraser in the starting line up, just hope he can justify his place if he does start. What's the story about Swankie starting or not? Is there any reason why he shouldn't play, other than the fact of how bad he was last week?

Glad to hear Steven Doris' injury isn't cruciate ligament damage, although the injury is bad enough as it is. Don't think it requires surgery, at least hope it doesn't, but he'll still be out for a while. Hope the club treat him better than they did Paul McManus when he got his bad injury. As for Gavin Swankie, he can bring something to the team when he's playing well. Pity he can't play well that often.

Our average attendance last season was 727. So for a game that the manager was using as a fitness game for the players, the travelling distance for away fans and it being the holiday time of year I think 702 was a good crowd. Looking forward to next Saturday to see how we do against a team that finished mid table last season. If we can cary on playing as well as we have done in these pre-season games we could cause a few surprises and make the play-offs.

Another good game against a Premier league side. Doris definitely mom with Hutton close behind. Thought Henry looked OK at full back but McCord a yard off the pace but will probably get more time on the ball in the league. Agree with earlier post re Skelly, he hasn't impressed so far in these pre-league games. Good size crowd , hope we get the same numbers or more for league games.

Looking forward to the match tomorrow. With the players that are available it'll be interesting to see what the line up is at the start. The back four pretty much picks itself along with Bobby Linn and Steven Doris but I wonder what formation the manager will decide on when selecting the rest of the side. Would think Yule is definitely a starter but the others are up for grabs. Almost spoiled for choice if the full squad is available.

Another good run out against a team of full timers. A Bolton fan told me that there were only 4 of Bolton's first team squad on for the first half and the big guy up front was a Swiss trialist. Probably more first team squad members in the second half. If we can play to the standard that we have in these friendlies in the league we should have a good season. But, as others have said, we need a back up goalie, but all in all we have the makings of a good side. Just a word about Ricky Gomez, when he was doing his warm down he took the time to have a word with the young fans who were watching him and was happy to do a few selfies with them, so well done Ricky.

Another good team display against a premier league side although Dundee didn't look anywhere as good as Aberdeen did. If that was the core of Dundee's first team, come Christmas time Neil McCann might be wishing he'd kept his TV job. I thought the whole team played well, after just a day's rest, against another full time team. Agree with other comments regarding best players for us. Thought Dundee were quite lucky to end the game with 11 players on the park. Looking forward to Tuesday night, hope we get another big crowd.