VincentGuerin

Only minter kicking around here is your (Bournemought's B) team.

Chin up. Your loan superstars might keep you up. Err...

To be honest, I think he fed off the stick he was getting. That's what smart players do. And it worked.

We're only one point further from 1st than we are from 4th. Frankly, if Naismith can't win the league from here, then we need to sack him. The OF are crumbling and can't cope with our form.

Good game, great win. 9/9 from the Hi-Dees over the last few weeks. Align with losers, get slapped about like losers. Sorry, lads. Pick your friends better.

Sky Sports are taking the piss thread for this pish, imo.

I am going to Dundee. Whether I'll attend the game; That's a decision for around 2.40pm tomorrow. I'd hate to commit at this early stage.

I've got an unbelievable record at Dens. Been going since the mid-90s (first trip was the infamous League Cup tie) and I've not seen us lose there since. (ETA: I have! Once! Mo Berthe day) Just one of these things where I've seemed to skip the defeats there out of sheer luck.

Don't see the relevance of our routine home win against bottom-six jobbers Aberdeen. We often start slowly in games at home to the wee teams this season, but we got the job done and move on. Much harder game this weekend. To be honest, I'd take a draw. We probably need to win five games to wrap up third, so one here would be a big step, but a draw is fine.

I think if you go back to summer 2012 and tell Aberdeen fans that, Rangers having just gone, Hearts and Hibs about to go into meltdown, that in the next twelve years they'd win one League Cup, manage group stage football in Europe once, and by 2024 be in the bottom half of the league, that would have been seen as a real failure. That goes beyond McInnes, and I broadly agree he did fine as Aberdeen manager. All clubs occasionally miss opportunities with cups, that's life. You could argue both Celtic and Aberdeen failed to really capitalise on that period. I think the mistake is comparing other coaches unfavourably to McInnes. For reasons completely outwith his control he had it easier than Calderwood, Glass, Goodwin, and Robson, and that undoubtedly helped create an idea of him as a really successful coach. But, looking at the environment he was working in, I'd say he comes out at par. Even when Rangers came back, they were shite and Aberdeen had benefited from years of stability and gradual squad building. Hearts and Hibs remained in a rebuilding phase. McInnes couldn't have asked for a fairer hand.

Aye. I don't think McIness under or over-achieved particularly, he was given a very good hand. All clubs make mistakes and Aberdeen fans will point to errors from Cormack etc, but the simple fact is that Aberdeen's fortunes have dipped as the clubs that were in meltdown a decade ago have generally recovered. That's how fitba works, you succeed when others fail.

Calderwood was operating in a much more competitive environment.

I think without the level of injuries we had last season, Neilson would likely have had three successive third-place finishes. We've had the third-best squad in each of those seasons. While he was unlucky in that regard, I think a coach can also get to the point where other factors and the response to them have made their position untenable. For Neilson the injuries, the weird situation with Snodgrass, and a loss of form all meant binning him became inevitable. Not all in his control, but the snowball gets you the bullet. For Robson, I think you can trace a similar line of things that may or may not be his fault. Arguably over-achieving initially, losing important players in the summer, poor recruitment this summer. But, ultimately, he got to a point where there was no way forward. That's a coach's lot.

WHO MADE YOU THE FUCKING BOSS OF WHAT'S FUKING RIGHT AND WHAT'S FUCKING WRONG? We'll accept pre-recorded video self-denunciations.

I think it's mitigation to an extent. Aberdeen have spent a decent amount on the squad, but they're still poor at the back. I think they dallied too long in the summer, seemingly waiting to see if they could get last season's gang back together when they should have been proactive and got centre halves (and a left-back?) in. Their defence has been shite this season. What's the point in having a good striker if you concede more than a goal and a half a game? And perhaps that weakness at the back had an influence on Robson liking the five at the back? Didn't trust them, basically. I don't pay a huge amount of attention to their shape, but am I not right in saying that the long-awaited change to 4 at the back hasn't seen an upturn in results?

Oh, absolutely. Cormack hasn't picked a good one yet. That's his failing. But punting Robson was the right move.

Pint on offer to any of the Dundee boys prepared to repent of their error and renounce their poorly-thought out alliance with the serial losers from Leith. A public statement of contrition will be expected.

Things like cup performance can, and to an extent should, be ignored, or at least only considered alongside the league form. Aberdeen got to the League Cup final by squeaking past Stirling Albion, squeaking past relegation candidates Ross County, and then being quite jammy to beat Hibs in the semi-final. Fair play, they still got there, but had they drawn Rangers in the quarters or semi, then that run probably doesn't happen. That's fine if you're doing well generally, but against really poor league form it is a weak defence. Goodwin got an easy draw to the League Cup semi last season before running into Rangers. It happens. Robson got a good League Cup draw and essentially a bye to the Scottish Cup quarters. That's no reason to keep him in a job. I knew Hearts fans who used our run to the cup final in 2019 to defend Levein. We beat Livi, Auchinleck Talbot, Partick Thistle, and ICT to get there. Sometimes these things are best overlooked. Aberdeen have won ten games domestically this season. Half of them have been against Ross County, Clyde, or Stirling Albion. I think the only mitigation for Robson is that he's been let down by recruitment. Aberdeen's midfield is unbalanced and their defence is poor. But you can't defend his record. They've spent quite a lot of money and they're eighth in the league.

I'm not trawling through the board looking for your post from weeks ago. Cheerio.

If they're going to call this off, please leave it as late as possible so we still get the day out. Ta.

Don't think I've talked down to anyone. Some posters play the ball not the man, I think I've stuck to the issues. I'm sorry you feel otherwise and will endeavour to do better in future. I don't think pointing out that people are ignoring issues is talking down to people.