Bogbrush1903

I thought he over-achieved

I would say the tactics were embarrassingly shit for the last 25 minutes plus injury time.

Blame the manager, it was he who started the negativity with his tactics against Celtic, and then compounded this with his apparent decision to re-purpose them again after 65 minutes against the Re-writers of History F.C when we were comfortably holding our own. ...that maybe so, but they didn't have their strongest XI playing on Tuesday night, their ageing goalie looks like he's given up on diving for shots, and we went into the final three minutes of the match with a 2-1 lead which we still managed to see overturned when we were playing a team that looked no better than a run-of-the-mill Premiership team. The last 25 minutes we seemed to be adapting our style because of who they were, not how they were playing that evening.

Having faced Peterhead, Dumbarton, Stirling Albion, Raith Rovers, Annan Athletic, and Partick Thistle to reach the semi-final then Goodwin isn't overachieving, he's doing what we would expect given the amount he had to spend and the resources available to him in comparison to those teams. I doubt we'll be third in the league by the end of the year, let alone by the end of the season. However, 4th would secure Europe, so would take that for a first full season in charge. We've seen worrying signals over the course of the first half of the season, and especially in the last week, that Goodwin isn't capable of staying as Aberdeen manager over the longer term. I'm always amazed when a manager freeze players out when you should be working with the whole squad available to him. A good manager, in my opinion, should try to keep the squad in a positive frame of mind even with players that he may not see as having a long-term future at the club. You never know when you might need these players, and they should be kept match fit where possible, and with the carrot dangling that there is still a way back if you do the business on the park when the opportunity arises (and the opportunity should arise for all members of the squad). However, when he came in last season, he was quick to write off players and close the door early on any return to the team. This season he failed to give Lewis any minutes in the League Cup section, Ramirez could and should be utilised whilst we still have him in the squad, Vinny has disappeared. Even if he isn't happy with them off-field, it's up to the manager to get them back onside, make them feel wanted and give them that possibility of a return to action if the attitude improves (not that there seems anything wrong with the attitude of Joe Lewis). I think there's a lot to be said for squad harmony and everyone fighting for each other. Then Goodwin, after the Celtic game last week I think, said something along the lines that he didn't care what the supporters think. Even if you think that, to vocalise that thoughts again show a lack of control over his mouth. something he was already guilty at with the Porteous outburst and on a few other occasions. Then he said something about him being the manager and nobody's viewpoint mattered apart from his own. He needs to be careful because stubborn-ness, hubris and a lack of awareness about your own deficiencies and those of the players you 'like' or 'trust' has led to many a manager's downfall. I don't know the intricacies of their working relationship but Lee Sharp seems more like a dogsbody than a trusted coaching confidante to Goodwin. After my initial concerns that he wasn't the right man for the job and that he was employed with undue haste, I was guilty of thinking that he sounded good in front of the press and that he had some kind of vision. Fast forward eight months or so and I can't listen to him any longer. He annoys me and sounds increasingly like a clueless work colleague trying to blindside you with presentable patter. He's having a bit of a tough time over the last week but we'll see over the next few games if he can get the performances and results he needs from his squad. My gut feeling is that he's done a lot of damage this week with his relationship with the supporters, any lingering goodwill for Goodwin has evaporated, and that's almost impossible to repair.

Oh, of course, I remember that game but never associated with Goodwin but, as we Dons now know, it's got his tactical nous written all over it... So he doesn't learn from his mistakes then, similar to his gaffer, Dave C... Goodwin is going to have to produce a miracle from somewhere before I can even listen to one of his interviews again.

Sums up how I felt leaving Pittodrie tonight. I mean, as always, people will defend the manager and his tactics but that was a kick in the teeth tonight after Saturday's shitshow and I can't remember feeling so disappointed after leaving a home match.

Goodwin, thankfully, won't be Aberdeen manager this time next year...he's a shitebag of the highest order

We were playing a far poorer team than Saturday and we've still managed to defend our way to defeat so it's infinitely worse for me

We haven't beaten our opponents tonight at home since 2016, with better teams than the one that will play tonight. And because the manager decided to employ those negative tactics on Saturday as placed more pressure on himself and his team. The players will also read the criticism of Goodwin and may start to question his ability if they haven't already. Anyway, I can see only one winner in the league and cup double header* and that ain't the Dandy Dons... *Can it still be called a double header if the matches don't run consecutively?

If he could play with a midfield next time rather than eight defenders and two isolated attackers then that would be grand. We might be 3rd for the moment but let's see what happens now that Hearts are out of Europe. He also had a decent wedge to spend in the summer so a Top 4 finish in the league and a return to Europe isn't asking too much. But, in my mind, he must deliver European football for next season if he wants to be Aberdeen manager past the summer. If, at any time this season, European football becomes unattainable then it should be goodbye to Jim with immediate effect and get the new man bedded in. To date, he hasn't impressed or shown that he's anything other than a reasonable interviewee.

To this day, Messi still insists that Kenneth & Wilkie were the toughest opponents he ever faced.

Aye, just like Craig Levein tried something different in Prague. If he does try it again, say at Hampden in January, will you then join those in going OTT?

Have you been dropping acid @Cosmic Joe? Hayes had a couple of runs at their defence but we never tested the hapless Hart. I like your avatar by the way. Kevin Mouse? Wasn't he one of the first big name English players to play in Scotland when he joined Hotshot Hamish at Princes Park?

You've got to be joking!! I don't mind protecting the defence a bit more but we played like fucking San Marino. I won't be paying another £30 to watch the next home match against Celtic. The players weren't to blame though. The tried hard to execute a flawed plan. Tommy McLean used to do that with Motherwell regularly in the 1980s. Go to Ibrox, Parkhead, Tynecastle and Pittodrie (we used to attack back in those days) with the uber-defensive mindset, and it would be an eye-bleeding shitfest before the overworked Motherwell defenders would finally lose concentration and concede a late goal. Nul points and fuck back to Paisley Goodwin...

Ian also had his off-field issues. I think it was 'rumoured' that he glassed someone in nightclub. The Northern Light fanzine had a cartoon with two men standing at a bar, and the one with the Rab C.Nesbitt bandage wrapped round his head says to the other, "...so I said to Ian Porteous..."

What is this regarding? Archie Macpherson lied about what pensions to whom? Or have I missed a joke?

No, but things have went very quiet with regards any announcement of any games and can't see the point of deliberately keeping stum about it. However, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating when we come to play the gruesomes in the first two games back. We'll soon know how well they utilised this enforced break by using their performances as a measure.

If league appearances on Wikipedia are to be believed then we aren't bringing Dacres-Cogley because of his vast experience in comparison to Richardson. However, lets pray he's a better defender.

One game against an under-12 team on the other side of the pond and we think we'll be ready to face the Gruesomes...

I can't believe it's been thirty years...I was given that book for my Xmas and read it and re-read it... brilliant

It was one of the first matches* I taped onto our new Ferguson video recorder which was then complimented with Manchester United Vs Dundee United and an episode of The Tube and a Madonna video. *The first match I taped was Dundee United vs St Mirren also around November 1984, on Scotsport's Sunday highlights and it was raining quite heavily. I don't know when I got round to finally taping The Dons but we possibly weren't on the box during November 1984. I've never been able to find a copy of the original complete Sportscene(or was it on Sportsnight) highlights of Scotland Vs Spain since. I wish I had kept my copy...

I forgot the women's team from the 2019 World Cup opening match...

There's a theme here which I call Great Expectations, that beautiful moments before it starts to go wrong...

That's an outright lie, I can see three sets of royal blue socks in the pic...

Willie's death last year was big news in the Tees area though.