The Famous Aberdeen - Season 2022/23

[kingjoey]

17 minutes ago, alta-pete said:

^^^ Head’s gone. (Am I doing this right?) 

Pretty much.

[paranoid android]

So, McInnes has been sacked out of sheer boredom, is that right? 

[Guest TheJTS98]

5 hours ago, HalfCutNinja said:

You mean he did absolutely outstanding, performing above all expectations, and bringing a level of success not seen for decades.

To be honest, you'd have expected him to be the most successful Aberdeen manager for decades.

Nobody else got a run at it at a time when Rangers, Hearts, and Hibs all self-imploded in their own ways and disappeared from the top flight and had to rebuild. The fact that all these clubs' woes were self-inflicted doesn't change their impact on Aberdeen having three of the top flight's biggest wage bills removed from competition and set back while Aberdeen could simply move forward. Aberdeen would have been hard-pressed to not do pretty well in that context.

I think he did ok. Winning a trophy and qualifying for Europe a lot is not to be sniffed at. He was unfortunate to be up against a very strong Brendan Rodgers side. But when you put the timing of his era in a bit of context, it's also reasonable to have maybe expected a little bit more.

The next manager will probably be less successful. There's a functioning Rangers now, Celtic are still loaded, Hibs are stronger than they were when McInnes came in. There's simply more competition now from clubs that have a bit more money.

Edited March 9, 2021 by TheJTS98

[HarleyQuinn]

The job McInnes did is easier said then done. Far too many harping on about Hibs, Hearts, Dundee Utd and The Rangers not being in the league etc. So what. Thats football. You weren't good enough and were subsequently relegated. Hibs and Dundee Utd were in the exact same boat as ourselves when The Rangers went bust and Hearts entered administration. Hearts were punished for spending way way way beyond their means. If they hadn't, they wouldn't have been relegated however they also wouldn't have won the 2 Scottish cups the previous decade nor finished 2nd that one season. Hearts in recent years have spent a fair amount (mostly on utter dross) in an attempt to compete with Aberdeen. James Anderson has poured 9 million into the club over the past 7 years yet they found themselves relegated once more and don't look like they will be up to much upon their return to the top flight -  certainly not with their current squad.

Aberdeen had been poorly run ever since Milne took charge in1998. It's historically Aberdeen's worst period from 1998-2012. In that period we still managed to finish 3rd, a number of 4th place finishes, a couple of cup finals and also reached the last 32 of the UEFA Cup - a feat no other side outside of the OF has ever managed. We put up with the likes of Steve Paterson as a cost cutting exercise along with Mark McGhee and the cult figure that was Ebbe Skovdahl.

McInnes came along and turned the entire club around. What he did was bring back our credibility. We were incredibly unfortunate that Celtic were so strong under Rodgers otherwise we probably would have added a few more trophies to the cabinet. We have been by far the most consistent side outside the OF during McInnes entire tenure. At last we have a training facility (regarded as the best in Scotland and will soon be adding indoor training pitches) and finally a Stadium (whether its by the beach or in Kingswell) is set to be delivered in the near future. We have a considerably more competent Chairmen in Cormack who has enlisted some serious investors from the US. 

This season has been completely derailed by injuries, Covid, the forced sale of players etc and has arguably been the main cause of McInnes recent demise. For a team currently going through historically one of their worst results runs -  to only be 3 points of third ain't bad. Remember Hibs have spent more on their side this season then Aberdeen. Over 500k on transfer fees and in January strengthened with the signings of Irvine and Cadden both of whom will be on very decent wages. They also spent a nominal fee of a goalie from Arsenal. Turned down significant transfer bids for 2 players. This is the same club that was pleading poverty at the start of the season and threatening to close down their youth academy to facilitate the transfer signings of Nisbett and Magennis. They took a gamble for the elusive third spot in the hope of making returns in Europe all while their is a global pandemic going on.

Hearts and Hibs fans in particular who think that Aberdeen will now revert back to the days of the 00's are grossly deluded. We have the infrastructure and backing of the board that any competent manager should be finishing third with the resources at Aberdeen. McInnes time was sadly coming to an end. Its time for a new era. Hopefully one with more trophies being added to the history records. 

 

Edited March 9, 2021 by HarleyQuinn

[Guest TheJTS98]

29 minutes ago, HarleyQuinn said:

The job McInnes did is easier said then done. Far too many harping on about Hibs, Hearts, Dundee Utd and The Rangers not being in the league etc. So what. Thats football. You weren't good enough and were subsequently relegated. Hibs and Dundee Utd were in the exact same boat as ourselves when The Rangers went bust and Hearts entered administration. Hearts were punished for spending way way way beyond their means. If they hadn't, they wouldn't have been relegated however they also wouldn't have won the 2 Scottish cups the previous decade nor finished 2nd that one season. Hearts in recent years have spent a fair amount (mostly on utter dross) in an attempt to compete with Aberdeen.

 

Absolutely none of this is relevant to the point that circumstances fell into McIness' lap. Who is to blame makes no difference to the facts on the ground. Those facts being that Aberdeen had three of their biggest-spending rivals removed and weakened.

For example, 2014-15 Aberdeen had the biggest top-flight average crowds outside Celtic. The next best-attended club had approximately 50% smaller crowds than Aberdeen. Adding together the crowds of the three teams who finished immediately behind Aberdeen just about got to Aberdeen's crowds.

Given a bit of time, that's a situation you'd expect success from.

I should think the next Aberdeen coach would be delighted were the circumstances of 2012-14 to be repeated.

Edited March 9, 2021 by TheJTS98

[Genuine Hibs Fan]

28 minutes ago, HarleyQuinn said:

The job McInnes did is easier said then done. Far too many harping on about Hibs, Hearts, Dundee Utd and The Rangers not being in the league etc. So what. Thats football. You weren't good enough and were subsequently relegated. Hibs and Dundee Utd were in the exact same boat as ourselves when The Rangers went bust and Hearts entered administration. Hearts were punished for spending way way way beyond their means. If they hadn't, they wouldn't have been relegated however they also wouldn't have won the 2 Scottish cups the previous decade nor finished 2nd that one season. Hearts in recent years have spent a fair amount (mostly on utter dross) in an attempt to compete with Aberdeen. James Anderson has poured 9 million into the club over the past 7 years yet they found themselves relegated once more and don't look like they will be up to much upon their return to the top flight -  certainly not with their current squad.

Aberdeen had been poorly run ever since Milne took charge in1998. It's historically Aberdeen's worst period from 1998-2012. In that period we still managed to finish 3rd, a number of 4th place finishes, a couple of cup finals and also reached the last 32 of the UEFA Cup - a feat no other side outside of the OF has ever managed. We put up with the likes of Steve Paterson as a cost cutting exercise along with Mark McGhee and the cult figure that was Ebbe Skovdahl.

McInnes came along and turned the entire club around. What he did was bring back our credibility. We were incredibly unfortunate that Celtic were so strong under Rodgers otherwise we probably would have added a few more trophies to the cabinet. We have been by far the most consistent side outside the OF during McInnes entire tenure. At last we have a training facility (regarded as the best in Scotland and will soon be adding indoor training pitches) and finally a Stadium (whether its by the beach or in Kingswell) is set to be delivered in the near future. We have a considerably more competent Chairmen in Cormack who has enlisted some serious investors from the US. 

This season has been completely derailed by injuries, Covid, the forced sale of players etc and has arguably been the main cause of McInnes recent demise. For a team currently going through historically one of their worst results runs -  to only be 3 points of third ain't bad. Remember Hibs have spent more on their side this season then Aberdeen. Over 500k on transfer fees and in January strengthened with the signings of Irvine and Cadden both of whom will be on very decent wages. They also spent a nominal fee of a goalie from Arsenal. Turned down significant transfer bids for 2 players. This is the same club that was pleading poverty at the start of the season and threatening to close down their youth academy to facilitate the transfer signings of Nisbett and Magennis. They took a gamble for the elusive third spot in the hope of making returns in Europe all while their is a global pandemic going on.

Hearts and Hibs fans in particular who think that Aberdeen will now revert back to the days of the 00's are grossly deluded. We have the infrastructure and backing of the board that any competent manager should be finishing third with the resources at Aberdeen. McInnes time was sadly coming to an end. Its time for a new era. Hopefully one with more trophies being added to the history records. 

 

I preferred your "we are going to buy every good player in the league" content tbh, at least that was funny. This is just buzzword bingo. 

[tree house tam]

Get Darren Fletcher in, then you can boost the crowd with all the Man United supporting fandans in the north east.

[jagfox]

[afc_blockhead]

1 hour ago, HarleyQuinn said:

The job McInnes did is easier said then done. Far too many harping on about Hibs, Hearts, Dundee Utd and The Rangers not being in the league etc. So what. Thats football. You weren't good enough and were subsequently relegated. Hibs and Dundee Utd were in the exact same boat as ourselves when The Rangers went bust and Hearts entered administration. Hearts were punished for spending way way way beyond their means. If they hadn't, they wouldn't have been relegated however they also wouldn't have won the 2 Scottish cups the previous decade nor finished 2nd that one season. Hearts in recent years have spent a fair amount (mostly on utter dross) in an attempt to compete with Aberdeen. James Anderson has poured 9 million into the club over the past 7 years yet they found themselves relegated once more and don't look like they will be up to much upon their return to the top flight -  certainly not with their current squad.

Aberdeen had been poorly run ever since Milne took charge in1998. It's historically Aberdeen's worst period from 1998-2012. In that period we still managed to finish 3rd, a number of 4th place finishes, a couple of cup finals and also reached the last 32 of the UEFA Cup - a feat no other side outside of the OF has ever managed. We put up with the likes of Steve Paterson as a cost cutting exercise along with Mark McGhee and the cult figure that was Ebbe Skovdahl.

McInnes came along and turned the entire club around. What he did was bring back our credibility. We were incredibly unfortunate that Celtic were so strong under Rodgers otherwise we probably would have added a few more trophies to the cabinet. We have been by far the most consistent side outside the OF during McInnes entire tenure. At last we have a training facility (regarded as the best in Scotland and will soon be adding indoor training pitches) and finally a Stadium (whether its by the beach or in Kingswell) is set to be delivered in the near future. We have a considerably more competent Chairmen in Cormack who has enlisted some serious investors from the US. 

This season has been completely derailed by injuries, Covid, the forced sale of players etc and has arguably been the main cause of McInnes recent demise. For a team currently going through historically one of their worst results runs -  to only be 3 points of third ain't bad. Remember Hibs have spent more on their side this season then Aberdeen. Over 500k on transfer fees and in January strengthened with the signings of Irvine and Cadden both of whom will be on very decent wages. They also spent a nominal fee of a goalie from Arsenal. Turned down significant transfer bids for 2 players. This is the same club that was pleading poverty at the start of the season and threatening to close down their youth academy to facilitate the transfer signings of Nisbett and Magennis. They took a gamble for the elusive third spot in the hope of making returns in Europe all while their is a global pandemic going on.

Hearts and Hibs fans in particular who think that Aberdeen will now revert back to the days of the 00's are grossly deluded. We have the infrastructure and backing of the board that any competent manager should be finishing third with the resources at Aberdeen. McInnes time was sadly coming to an end. Its time for a new era. Hopefully one with more trophies being added to the history records. 

 

All of this is spot on IMO.

The Hibs/Hearts/Dundee United being out the league (plus **** death) stuff is bollocks. They were all shite/relegated/liquidated for a reason.

Also that chooses to ignore Hearts / Hibs / Dundee United never finished above us in the Mcinnes era , even when back in the league and competing with us. We also finished above a big spending tribute act (Sevco) twice.

Hearts and Hibs have not been far behind in playing budgets for a few years now and have usually been comfortably behind. Unless Hearts find another criminal like Romanov to bankroll them with Lithuanian pensioners money they will not be consistently ahead of us again.

Fair enough his time was up and it ended poorly but rewriting history to suggest he hasnt been a great manager for us is petty and clearly shite.

 

 

Edited March 9, 2021 by afc_blockhead

[Leith Green]

10 minutes ago, afc_blockhead said:

Unless Hearts find another criminal like Romanov to bankroll them with Lithuanian pensioners money they will not be consistently ahead of us again.

Doesnt need to be a criminal - You have heard of James Anderson?

[AndyM]

2 hours ago, HarleyQuinn said:

Hearts and Hibs fans in particular who think that Aberdeen will now revert back to the days of the 00's are grossly deluded. We have the infrastructure and backing of the board that any competent manager should be finishing third with the resources at Aberdeen. McInnes time was sadly coming to an end. Its time for a new era. Hopefully one with more trophies being added to the history records. 

 

As a Hibs fan I don't think Aberdeen will revert to the days of the early 90s at all. As you say Aberdeen have an infrastructure in place now much like Hibs and Hearts do in terms of Training Centre and Youth Academies.  You have also had your historical debt written off.

But lets be clear you do pay substantially more in salaries than Hibs or Hearts do thanks to money from your US backers.  Your current wages to turnover ratio is over 90% and that will have to be addressed as it is not sustainable. Where Hibs or Hearts are paying 3-6k a week (Hearts probably less just now in the Championship) for a 1st team player, you are up in the 5-8k  bracket and you have regularly outbid Hibs for players. 

Both Aberdeen and Hibs will likely be in Europe next year (realistically in the Europa Conference League groups)  and that will bring in much needed revenue. With a manager who doesn't play with the handbrake on like McInnes you could do very well both in the league and in terms of picking up European football cash.

[kingjoey]

1 hour ago, TheJTS98 said:

Absolutely none of this is relevant to the point that circumstances fell into McIness' lap. Who is to blame makes no difference to the facts on the ground. Those facts being that Aberdeen had three of their biggest-spending rivals removed and weakened.

For example, 2014-15 Aberdeen had the biggest top-flight average crowds outside Celtic. The next best-attended club had approximately 50% smaller crowds than Aberdeen. Adding together the crowds of the three teams who finished immediately behind Aberdeen just about got to Aberdeen's crowds.

Given a bit of time, that's a situation you'd expect success from.

I should think the next Aberdeen coach would be delighted were the circumstances of 2012-14 to be repeated.

You’re right, of course. In fact Derek McInnes should have voluntarily asked for Aberdeen to be relegated so that he could really have found out how good he was by going up against the giants of Hearts, Hibs and Rangers in the Championship. Oh wait, he did that in 2017/18 in the Premiership and finished above them all.

Derek McInnes has come up against Hearts and/or Hibs in six of his seasons at Aberdeen and neither one of them has EVER finished ahead of Aberdeen. 

[Guest TheJTS98]

3 minutes ago, kingjoey said:

You’re right, of course. In fact Derek McInnes should have voluntarily asked for Aberdeen to be relegated so that he could really have found out how good he was by going up against the giants of Hearts, Hibs and Rangers in the Championship. Oh wait, he did that in 2017/18 in the Premiership and finished above them all.

Derek McInnes has come up against Hearts and/or Hibs in six of his seasons at Aberdeen and neither one of them has EVER finished ahead of Aberdeen. 

Yes, he finished above them all after they'd all gone through a variety of messes while Aberdeen had cruised through in relative stability.

I'm all for the entertainment value of watching people try to argue that Hearts, Hibs, and Rangers all having their own disasters around the time DM got the job somehow did not help him.

It's a funny thing with football fans. I'm not even suggesting he did a bad job. Just that circumstances were kind to him. It's beyond dispute that that is the case.

[Guest Bob Mahelp]

I think fans of other clubs...especially those that see us as rivals for 3rd place.....are quite relieved and happy that McInnes has left. There's no club in the SPL outside the OF  (aside from probably Motherwell) that has come close to bettering us over the last 7 years. 

We also have a better record than any other club against Rangers since they got back into the top league. 

No wonder that there's a bit of surprise and delight that we've booted McInnes. 

[Guest Bob Mahelp]

48 minutes ago, AndyM said:

As a Hibs fan I don't think Aberdeen will revert to the days of the early 90s at all. As you say Aberdeen have an infrastructure in place now much like Hibs and Hearts do in terms of Training Centre and Youth Academies.  You have also had your historical debt written off.

But lets be clear you do pay substantially more in salaries than Hibs or Hearts do thanks to money from your US backers.  Your current wages to turnover ratio is over 90% and that will have to be addressed as it is not sustainable. Where Hibs or Hearts are paying 3-6k a week (Hearts probably less just now in the Championship) for a 1st team player, you are up in the 5-8k  bracket and you have regularly outbid Hibs for players. 

Both Aberdeen and Hibs will likely be in Europe next year (realistically in the Europa Conference League groups)  and that will bring in much needed revenue. With a manager who doesn't play with the handbrake on like McInnes you could do very well both in the league and in terms of picking up European football cash.

Lots of made up stuff in there straight from the experts on hibs.net. 

Have you got any proof of your various wages claims ? That's the sort of stuff that Hibs and Hearts fans love to bandy around, simply because we generally have a better team than you. 

I'd love to know where you got this information, because I've seen nothing, anywhere that suggests the wages to turnover ratio at Pittodrie is 90% (I know a few years ago we were down at around 50%), and I've also no idea at all what we pay players in wages and I suspect neither do you. 

We also don't have 'US backers'.  This is absolute nonsense. 

I'm also sick of the 'playing with the handbrake on' nonsense bandied around. That's also utter garbage. Have a look at McInnes's record with Aberdeen over the last 7 years.....we've generally been 3rd top scorers in the league (sometimes 2nd top scorers) in all of these seasons. This season and parts of last have been a bit pish, but the perception that McInnes is a 'negative' manager is bollox. 

 

 

Edited March 9, 2021 by Bob Mahelp

[coprolite]

10 minutes ago, Bob Mahelp said:

Lots of made up stuff in there straight from the experts on hibs.net. 

Have you got any proof of your various wages claims ? That's the sort of stuff that Hibs and Hearts fans love to bandy around, simply because we generally have a better team than you. 

I'd love to know where you got this information, because I've seen nothing, anywhere that suggests the wages to turnover ratio at Pittodrie is 90% (I know a few years ago we were down at around 50%), and I've also no idea at all what we pay players in wages and I suspect neither do you. 

We also don't have 'US backers'.  This is absolute nonsense. 

I'm also sick of the 'playing with the handbrake on' nonsense bandied around. That's also utter garbage. Have a look at McInnes's record with Aberdeen over the last 7 years.....we've generally been 3rd top scorers in the league (sometimes 2nd top scorers) in all of these seasons. This season and parts of last have been a bit pish, but the perception that McInnes is a 'negative' manager is bollox. 

 

 

From the annual report:

"Wages increased from £9.238 million to £9.770 million as we maintained our investment in the playing squad. We

had ended-up with five players on loan from English clubs during season 2018/19, which made it difficult to achieve

any continuity in the playing squad. We believed that we had addressed that situation by basing our squad building

for season 2019/20 around permanent contracts on longer terms, but injuries meant loan players were still required.

The wages to turnover ratio increased from 58% to 68% as the Club maintained the First Team squad budget but is

still within accepted industry norms and compares favourably to many other clubs. Note that this was achieved on

much lower revenues reduced by the effects of coronavirus."

I can't see that hibs have published their accounts , they certainly haven't filed them. 

Hearts didn't disclose the ratio but i make theirs 68% also. 

These are season 2019/2020 figures so will be way higher for this year for all clubs. 

[DukDukGoose]

1 hour ago, AndyM said:

As a Hibs fan I don't think Aberdeen will revert to the days of the early 90s at all. As you say Aberdeen have an infrastructure in place now much like Hibs and Hearts do in terms of Training Centre and Youth Academies.  You have also had your historical debt written off.

But lets be clear you do pay substantially more in salaries than Hibs or Hearts do thanks to money from your US backers.  Your current wages to turnover ratio is over 90% and that will have to be addressed as it is not sustainable. Where Hibs or Hearts are paying 3-6k a week (Hearts probably less just now in the Championship) for a 1st team player, you are up in the 5-8k  bracket and you have regularly outbid Hibs for players. 

Both Aberdeen and Hibs will likely be in Europe next year (realistically in the Europa Conference League groups)  and that will bring in much needed revenue. With a manager who doesn't play with the handbrake on like McInnes you could do very well both in the league and in terms of picking up European football cash.

The 'American investment' was for the new training facilities. We can pay as much wages as we do due to the amount of corporate tickets etc that we sell.

[Guest Bob Mahelp]

1 minute ago, coprolite said:

From the annual report:

"Wages increased from £9.238 million to £9.770 million as we maintained our investment in the playing squad. We

had ended-up with five players on loan from English clubs during season 2018/19, which made it difficult to achieve

any continuity in the playing squad. We believed that we had addressed that situation by basing our squad building

for season 2019/20 around permanent contracts on longer terms, but injuries meant loan players were still required.

The wages to turnover ratio increased from 58% to 68% as the Club maintained the First Team squad budget but is

still within accepted industry norms and compares favourably to many other clubs. Note that this was achieved on

much lower revenues reduced by the effects of coronavirus."

I can't see that hibs have published their accounts , they certainly haven't filed them. 

Hearts didn't disclose the ratio but i make theirs 68% also. 

These are season 2019/2020 figures so will be way higher for this year for all clubs. 

Cheers.

So nowhere near this 90% nonsense that had been quoted above. 

[Golden Gordon]

12 hours ago, HalfCutNinja said:

At every level of the game the world over the team that spends most (transfers and wages combined) finishes first.

The team that spends the second most, finishes, can you guess............second!

The team that spend the third most.....are you getting the idea yet?

To be fair, there are exceptions to this rule.  Hearts, Hibs, Dundee Utd. spending time in the Championship, despite having arguably similar budgets to Aberdeen.  Hamilton remaining in the Premiership for a sustained period despite having a very limited budget, St. Mirren  currently being in the top six & Livingston even being in the top division is fairly impressive, never mind looking on track to finish either fourth or fifth.

It might be the case that Aberdeen struggle following McInnes' departure, but that would make the above argument even more questionable.  McInnes kept Aberdeen consistent during his tenure at the club.  This was his greatest strength, which became his greatest weakness, as he was not able to sustain this level consistency over the past couple of seasons, hence the Board made the decision to part ways.   

[HarleyQuinn]

1 hour ago, AndyM said:

As a Hibs fan I don't think Aberdeen will revert to the days of the early 90s at all. As you say Aberdeen have an infrastructure in place now much like Hibs and Hearts do in terms of Training Centre and Youth Academies.  You have also had your historical debt written off.

But lets be clear you do pay substantially more in salaries than Hibs or Hearts do thanks to money from your US backers.  Your current wages to turnover ratio is over 90% and that will have to be addressed as it is not sustainable. Where Hibs or Hearts are paying 3-6k a week (Hearts probably less just now in the Championship) for a 1st team player, you are up in the 5-8k  bracket and you have regularly outbid Hibs for players. 

Both Aberdeen and Hibs will likely be in Europe next year (realistically in the Europa Conference League groups)  and that will bring in much needed revenue. With a manager who doesn't play with the handbrake on like McInnes you could do very well both in the league and in terms of picking up European football cash.

 

Aberdeen offered Ross McCrorie the same exact wage and offer as Hibs. He choice to sign for Aberdeen. Both McInnes and McCrorie commented on this when he was unveiled at Cormack Park. Same applies to Curtis Main when he choice us over Hearts. Remember Hearts offered Boyce 6k a week in order to outbid us last January. This January, GMS was offered his salary in full whereas Aberdeen offered him a deal to defer his wages until the summer - both clubs offered him the same compensation package however. 

Prior to Covid, our annual turnover was nearly double that of Hibs. Even ignoring the corporate ticket sales, Aberdeen commercially do considerably better then both Edinburgh clubs. We sell tens of thousands more replica shirts each season (and all club shop merchandise) then both Hibs and Hearts - we sell more then some EPL side's such as Burnley. Where we do fall short is obviously our season ticket sales. Along with the replica shirt sales we also have a larger social media presence (numbers) then both Edinburgh sides which indicates we have the fanbase to compete with their average attendances. The 43,000 fans in attendance at our most league cup final win further backs this point. Aberdeen requested 50k tickets for the league cup final due to demand. Cormack believes decreasing the stadium capacity to 18k will help generate demand and subsequently increase season ticket sales/average attendances.

We have to change stadiums and ultimately win cups to attract larger crowds. After Hibs won the league cup under John Collins, their season ticket sales increased by 4k the following season.