Game of throw-ins
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Posts posted by Game of throw-ins
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5 hours ago, RandomGuy. said:
Aberdeen fans Summer long obsession about signing Jamie McGrath, based on absolute nothing and with repeated stories he's not interested in staying in Scotland, really is incredible.
Repetition doesn't necessarily amount to obsession. If we were to sell Ferguson and spend some of the money on a replacement McGrath would be on a very short list of players fans know about who could potentially fit the bill. So he gets mentioned. Most of the fans who've mentioned him probably don't know a lot about him and won't really care whether we bring in him or some similarly rated player they haven't heard of yet.
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17 minutes ago, coprolite said:
Based on not seeing him applauding the fans after being subbed off on Sunday, staying.
Based on us signing 3 centre mids, going.
Hope this helps.
Based on looking like his mind was elsewhere at times on Sunday, at least contemplating the possiblity that he might be going. I thought at times he played like a guy that thought this was no time to be getting an injury, which is absolutely not his style at all.
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Qarabag is a far richer club than Aberdeen. Azeribajani football is largely funded by money pumped in by big corporations, not turnover. Tens of millions have been invested, by far the biggest beneficiary being Qarabag who have dominated their league.
We were hoping to reach European group stage because it would have transformed our finances. Qarabag have just reached the group stages for the 8th time in a row, collecting big cash payouts every time. Think about how much distance we'd put between ourselves and , say, Heart or Hibs wth that kind of bonanza. The previous seven times it was at a higher level than the Conference League. We're not remotely in the same ball parks as them financially, in the rankings, or in terms of European pedigree.
I happen to think naivety contributed to our defeat last night, we should have known we couldn't just go toe to toe on a football basis with such a technically superior team. But there's a very high degree of probability we'd have been beaten no matter how we approached the game, because in the end better players are better players.
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9 hours ago, betting competition said:
15,000 tickets sold - biggest game in 14 years and struggling to sell out.
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I don't think it's the best arrangement that shortly after finding the money for a ST in summer less well-off fans need to think about extra costs for three home games in a short period. By the time the 3rd tie comes along some won't be able to afford it. The pandemic won't be helping either.
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23 hours ago, Alex_14 said:
Then why did they sell STs in sections C and D?
Well for one thing, when STs were originally sold I doubt whether anyone anticipated the effect on sections C and D of a decision that wouldn't be made by the Joint Response Group until the start of August.
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On 21/08/2021 at 13:57, tarapoa said:
Fully agree - not sure what’s going on hereSeats in C and D sections of the Main Stand will not be available owing to Covid regulations. ST holders from C and D will be allocated seats in the South Stand, where away fans would normally be.
Aren't there rules about segregation of fans? My guess is that with the C and D guys in the South Stand they can't get the necessary segregation arranged.
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Would have taken that result before the game. In fact in the special circumstances surrounding this game and for the first time ever I wouldn't have complained too much if we'd lost by the odd goal at Tynecastle. Even a lucky draw would have pleased me, doubly pleasing that we were arguably the better side.
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1 hour ago, The Other Foot said:
If a Europa Conference League qualifying play-off second leg match between Aberdeen and the Azerbaijani Premier League's second best team doesn't bring a bit of 'dazzle' to the streets of the city, I just don't know what will.
Although if we beat them we might just get some genuinely glamorous ties.
More seriously, I think this is about the money. I kind of agree with your implied point that Europe has been over-sold for fans of clubs of our size, but the Conference League is maybe a game changer. The competition may not be serious, but for clubs of our size the money is. In recent years it's been almost impossible for Scottish clubs outside the top 2 to get a big slice of Euro money. Instances of clubs qualifying for the group stages of the Europa Cup were rare and spread too far apart for clubs consistently to benefit. We haven't since 2007.
That may be about to change. What we really couldn't afford is a situation where the likes of Hibs and Hearts were regularly reaching the group stages and we weren't. A few years of that and they could be out of sight financially.
I'm not saying that's going to happen. It's too early to tell whether some Scottish clubs will regularly make the group stages in the Conference League. But if they do we can't afford not to be one of them.
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10 minutes ago, Dons_1988 said:
Was he definitely booked? I know rob McLean said so but tbh I don’t think they knew what was going on.
The stream I watched from Azerbaijan showed Gallagher's name alongside a yellow card.
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Hard to judge any team on that surface but big plus from that for me was that Qarabag look a much weaker side than I expected from their pedigree. They look technically decent but lacking in confidence/belief. I'd say the tie is about 50/50 and that's a better chance than I would have given us at the start of the game.
One thing Glass needs to focus on though is why we're coming off second best in the street-wise/physical side of things game after game. I didn't see the Raith game but every other game this season we've been bullied a bit physically and our opponents have been better at working the ref. Brown is the glaring exception but we can't leave that side of the game to one player.
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I can assure you that nobody, and I mean absolutely nobody, not a single person, sponsors or donates money to Aberdeen Football Club with the primary motive of saving tax.
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42 minutes ago, Merkland Red said:
We make a lot more money from corporate than both of them though.
I wonder how much we can rely on that going forward. A lot of it must be oil sector. The industry is not a great shape. You used to look for the oil price bouncing back but with the sentiment against new development and a government in bed with the Greens it's not so simple any more.
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It's not just the quality of the players, it's the mix. The problem with fringe players is that not being a first pick saps confidence. These guys tend not to have the belief to just come into the side and play at the top of their game. Likewise new guys who haven't had a chance to establish themselves at the club are likely to be much more nervous. If you're Andy Considine you can make a mistake and it will make virtually no difference to how you are perceived. If you're Teddy Jenks or Jack Gurr an early mistake can define your whole stay at the club. An otherwise established side can carry a couple of players trying to play their way into the side, but yesterday we fielded almost a whole team that would have probably been disappointed by the amount of game time they've had this season (exceptions Lewis, McRorie, perhaps Hayes).
I'm sure playing to their capabilities the guys we put on the park yesterday should have had the beating of Raith. But solid reasons why they might not play to their capabilities, or might lack confidence or might panic if things started to get a bit hairy should have been evident to a good manager. Glass either missed the obvious, or took a massive gamble that blew up in his face.
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4 hours ago, kingjoey said:
We’ve got to be realistic here. The club need to get as much money in as possible and, at the moment, the priority has to be to do everything we can to get into the group stages of the Conference League.
I don't think it's that simple. Yes the money is huge and it yes of course we'd be willing to lose to Hearts and Raith if that meant beating Qarabag.
But you don't get to make that choice. The most you can do by changing your approach to the domestic games is tweak the probabilities a very small amount and in an unpredictable way. Resting important players might tweak them one way, damaging confidence by losing domestic games tweak them another.
Given the recent pedigree of both clubs, Qarabag are going to be pretty solid favourites going into this tie. They're a richer club with a settled and experienced group of players and coach. They've made the group stages of the Champions League or the Europa League 7 years in a row while we haven't even made the play-off position since 2007. We'll likely have to play the away leg in very high temperatures they're used to and we aren't.
That's not to say we can't win, but the balance of probability is we'll be out of Europe in 11 days time, not because our manager has made an arse of it but because we're up against a financially bigger club with better players and better experience. If we've sacrificed a domestic cup, and lost a six pointer to one of our main rivals for 3rd in the meantime our chances of a good season will be a lot shakier.
If we beat Qarabag over two legs that will almost count as a successful season in itself. Anything we've done to increase the possibility of it happening will look smart with the benefit of hindsight. But I'm far from convinced that seriously damaging our domestic campaign to improve our second favourite's chances in Europe by a percentage point or two is a clever move.
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19 minutes ago, Merkland Red said:
A confidence sapping defeat against Raith will do far more damage to our chances against Qarabag than an extra game for a few of our better players.
For all his good start this season Glass won't last long if he can't sort out the defence.
Those are the parts I was referring to.
For me, our two worst attacking performances have been against Livi and today. In both games we've played McGeouch in the 'Brown' role. He is far too happy to take the ball under no pressure then immediately give it back to Gallagher. Pointless. He's not taken anyone out of position and all he's managed to do is let the opposition get back in to their shape. Brown takes the ball under pressure and creates a gap further forward that the defender can then pass in to.
A far bigger issue for me at the moment than the defence.
I don't see any exaggeration. Everybody agrees confidence is massive in football. Until the Raith game there was a feelgood factor at play that would have stood us in good stead against Qarabag. That will have largely evaporated. I have not the slightest doubt that if we'd played our full strength team today and won the game we'd be going into the next game in a much better frame of mind, which would have mattered for more than a couple of key players having played an extra game.
As for my point about the defence, I think it's simple common sense. I think we'll find it harder to score in Scotland than we have so far in Europe. We won't have a good season with a leaky defence. It's a results driven game and if Glass doesn't find solutions he won't last.
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A gamble that misfired badly. A confidence sapping defeat against Raith will do far more damage to our chances against Qarabag than an extra game for a few of our better players.
Scottish teams, even down to the level of Raith, have perfected the art of making it hard for the opposition to score and hoping for scraps at the other end. We've got away with being leaky at the back in Europe by outscoring teams that aren't as single-mindedly set up to prevent the opposition playing. We won't get away with it in Scotland. For all his good start this season Glass won't last long if he can't sort out the defence.
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1 minute ago, Cardle is Magic said:
Outrageous that one of Livi, Dundee or County will stay up without having to even compete in the play-off.
I just hope that it's one of Dundee or County after that beyond cynical display by Livingstone.
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Well done United. I know this will look like benefit of hindsight but after watching United play Aberdeen last week I was surprised at the media response to the game. I thought we were worth our win but reports that Aberdeen were really good and United really bad didn't stack up with what I watched. We didn't have much clear cut chances apart from the goals and United had one great chance and could also have profited from some unforced errors by our defence. I didn't come away fancying United to beat Rangers, but I didn't think they were anything as bad as the media and even their own fans made out.
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2 hours ago, BucksburnDandy said:
Gentleman's agreements aren't worth a thing as shown elsewhere this week with Harry Kane and Spurs. Ferguson's agent should have had clauses in the contract to that end. As unfair as that may seem on Lewis Ferguson, AFC have to look after their own interests and try to maximise value.
All I can say is that if a young lad of that age entered into a legally binding contract on the basis that his obligations under it could be circumvented by a "gentleman's agreement" he was very incompetently advised.
Anyone any idea who the people responsible might be?
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1 hour ago, Illgresi said:
So we need a more mobile partner for Gallagher, that's good on the ball. Player's like that are rare at our level/price point, but McCrorie is too much of a gamble.
There seems to be an inconsistency in your logic there.
Not at all. "Rare" is not necessarily impossible to find.
Failing that, if you don't have the personnel for plan A to work, you need to devise a plan B. My concern about the way Glass wants to play is that I doubt whether we can afford the players we need to implement it. Mccrorie might yet be the answer. But if he's not we may just have to settle for an effective defender who isn't so good on the ball, and adapt our style of play accordingly. We've got off to a good start in terms of results, but we won't be able to maintain it unless we can tighten up at the back.
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Very unconfident with the Considine/Mccrorie partnership. Considine has had an Indian summer as a player but is getting ever slower and I have my doubts he should be a first choice central defender. Willie Milller is right to say that Mccrorie may have the qualities to be a central defender but he's not there yet. Add to that two inexperienced young full backs and we have a recipe for defensive problems.
We've done well in Europe but still conceded 5 goals in 3 ties against nothing special opposition. Against Dundee United there were mistakes at the back that better sides would have punished. So far we've got away with defensive frailties but we will pay a heavy price eventually unless we can get a fix. We obviously need a more mobile partner for Gallagher. Given the way Glass wants to play he needs to be good on the ball. Guys like that within our budget are rare beasts, and we seem to be pinning our hopes on Mccrorie being the answer. On the basis of what we've seen so far that looks too much of a gamble.
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48 minutes ago, betting competition said:
My point is that fans that go to every home and away game following the club is not able to buy any tickets today. That is not right just because they haven't bought AberDNA.
Those that purchase AberDNA and season tickets but only go to a few away games is ahead of someone that hasn't missed a game and that isn't right.
Disagree. The points system should be skewed in favour of people supporting the club financially. A DNA contribution helps the club far more than attending away games, and it's right that it should carry more weight.
(I'm a long term season ticket holder but don't have DNA, so I'm not looking for an advantage for myself. I just think people who effectively made a donation the club should take precedence over people who'd rather spend their money on away tickets funding our rivals).
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On 25/07/2021 at 18:32, TommyDickFingers said:
Standard.
If all the officials are **** we're out.
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I'll admit I've been a new regime sceptic (putting it mildly) but Thursday's performance and result has injected a hefty dose of optimism even though I know you can't read too much into one game. We had a team spirit and commonness of purpose that belied the messages coming from some folk connected to the club. So far, so very surprisingly good.
Still far too early for predictions though. The thing about more expansive football is that when things go right they go righter. When things go wrong they go wronger. We won't know much about this team until we see how it copes with adversity. But I'm much less gloomy than I was last week.
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Double Winning St Johnstone FC Thread
in Scottish Premiership General Chatter
Posted
So unlike the long list of owners that have that have served up a steady diet of success at Dundee, the incredible shrinking club.