The Famous Aberdeen - Season 2022/23

[10menwent2mow]

6 hours ago, GTG_03 said:

Mcginn could've done a job up front.  His technical ability is 10x that of McLennan.

McLennan isn't good enough for the premier league, having pace and strength is no substitute for actual ability. 

Josh Magennis dislikes this. 

[kingjoey]

I think that the talk of players downing tools is a bit dramatic, and based solely on the Ross County match if you’re talking recent matches. When you consider the last three matches, overall it’s just not the case. The Hibs match we were busting a gut to win, and did. The Dundee match the players were again busting a gut to win and if we had won 6-2 it wouldn’t have been an injustice. The Ross County match was the one real disappointment of these three matches and it may have been a reaction to not getting the win at Dens after the effort put in. Just putting a bit of realism forward.

[A96]

6 hours ago, tarapoa said:

Watkins injury came on Boxing Day and it didn't seem to take long to establish it would be long term. He still looked way off it in terms of fitness and sharpness against Ross Co.

Which begs the question, why did the club sell Hedges in January?

Hindsight is all well and good, but at the time we were saying due to the league being so tight in terms of positions/ Euro qualification etc - did it make sense to get rid of a known game-changer for a fairly modest amount rather than wait til summer.

Ending up in the bottom six, out of the cup early and with no Europe has likely cost us a lot more than the 200K transfer fee (plus a few months wages) that it would have cost to keep him.

 

The club maybe just assumed it was only a matter of time before Hedges got injured again , so thought it best to cash in while we could.

We were due to play Livingston a few days after the transfer window closed.  Odds on that history was going to repeat itself with that dirty b*****d,  Longridge nobbling him again , Ramos-style , exactly like he did two seasons ago. 

[CoveRangers1922]

10 hours ago, GTG_03 said:

Mcginn could've done a job up front.  His technical ability is 10x that of McLennan.

McLennan isn't good enough for the premier league, having pace and strength is no substitute for actual ability. 

I wonder how long McLennan has left at Aberdeen. Still only 22 and has 1 year left on his contract. Made his debut about 6 years ago now but you feel he needs to prove his worth or move on eventually. Will he move on after his latest contract ends? I suspect Goodwin will be active in the summer.

Is McLennan's level the Championship? Can't say I've seen too much of him bar the odd live game and highlights here and there but a loan spell with us or another club next season could be beneficial for him and the Dons.

Will Dean Campbell get a new deal? Heard mixed views of him on here. Of the Killie games I've seen lately he looks comfortable at that level. Is he prem quality?

Edited April 18, 2022 by CoveRangers1922

[Thenorthernlight]

8 minutes ago, CoveRangers1922 said:

I wonder how long McLennan has left at Aberdeen. Still only 22 and has 1 year left on his contract. Made his debut about 6 years ago now but you feel he needs to prove his worth or move on eventually. Will he move on after his latest contract ends? I suspect Goodwin will be active in the summer.

Is McLennan's level the Championship? Can't say I've seen too much of him bar the odd live game and highlights here and there but a loan spell with us or another club next season could be beneficial for him and the Dons.

Will Dean Campbell get a new deal? Heard mixed views of him on here. Of the Killie games I've seen lately he looks comfortable at that level. Is he prem quality?

McLennan isn’t even a Championship player. 
League One IMO.

Campbell won’t make it Aberdeen either. He’s only just got in the Killie team in recent weeks. Probably a Championship level player. 

[CoveRangers1922]

6 minutes ago, Thenorthernlight said:

McLennan isn’t even a Championship player. 
League One IMO.

Campbell won’t make it Aberdeen either. He’s only just got in the Killie team in recent weeks. Probably a Championship level player. 

Hopefully we steer clear of him then.

I'd like to see Dean at Cove but given we're likely not going to be hybrid until 2023/2024 season I doubt he'll want to drop to part time. A loan spell next season might be agreeable if he gets an extension at the Dons.

[craigkillie]

Campbell has only got into the team at left-back due to both of our existing left-backs being injured. His performances in midfield were terrible and he looked like he didn't fancy it.

[Game of throw-ins]

3 hours ago, kingjoey said:

I think that the talk of players downing tools is a bit dramatic, and based solely on the Ross County match if you’re talking recent matches. When you consider the last three matches, overall it’s just not the case. The Hibs match we were busting a gut to win, and did. The Dundee match the players were again busting a gut to win and if we had won 6-2 it wouldn’t have been an injustice. The Ross County match was the one real disappointment of these three matches and it may have been a reaction to not getting the win at Dens after the effort put in. Just putting a bit of realism forward.

"Downing tools" misrespresents the problem.  Players rarely go on the park thinking "I'm so pissed off I'm deliberately not going to bother".  Anybody who's that obviously disillusioned probably doesn't get picked.

And yet confidence, motivation and belief are massive.  That's why teams in the zone go on great runs beating teams they've no right to beat, teams who are off the pace can't buy a win even against teams with obviously inferior players.

We're talking about what can seem like fine margins between a player who genuinely thinks he's being a good professional putting in maximum effort for a manager he doesn't rate or like, for a club he thinks his time is up at, in front of fans he think don't think he's good enough, versus a guy who enjoys being at the club he's at, who feels a high level of camaraderie with his team mates, who likes and respects his manager, who feels a loyalty to the club and its fans.

And the effect of those differences can be colossal

[GTG_03]

7 hours ago, CoveRangers1922 said:

I wonder how long McLennan has left at Aberdeen. Still only 22 and has 1 year left on his contract. Made his debut about 6 years ago now but you feel he needs to prove his worth or move on eventually. Will he move on after his latest contract ends? I suspect Goodwin will be active in the summer.

Is McLennan's level the Championship? Can't say I've seen too much of him bar the odd live game and highlights here and there but a loan spell with us or another club next season could be beneficial for him and the Dons.

Will Dean Campbell get a new deal? Heard mixed views of him on here. Of the Killie games I've seen lately he looks comfortable at that level. Is he prem quality?

If he can improve his finishing then he's maybe got a future there as a forward. If not, then he's Highland league level imo.

Campbell is a great centre mid when he's confident and got someone experienced alongside him. I'd like to see him get more of a chance at the dons. McInnes used to give him 5mins at the end of games so he never really got a consistent run of games at centre mid.

[Thenorthernlight]

4 hours ago, GTG_03 said:

If he can improve his finishing then he's maybe got a future there as a forward. If not, then he's Highland league level imo.

Campbell is a great centre mid when he's confident and got someone experienced alongside him. I'd like to see him get more of a chance at the dons. McInnes used to give him 5mins at the end of games so he never really got a consistent run of games at centre mid.

Campbell is “great”… is he? 

And he got a decent run under Sheerin & initially under Glass.

Dont think he is Premiership level personally. 

 

[DukDukGoose]

37 minutes ago, Thenorthernlight said:

Campbell is “great”… is he? 

And he got a decent run under Sheerin & initially under Glass.

Dont think he is Premiership level personally. 

 

He said "when he's confident".

I know for a fact that his is shot to shit.

[GTG_03]

46 minutes ago, Thenorthernlight said:

Campbell is “great”… is he? 

And he got a decent run under Sheerin & initially under Glass.

Dont think he is Premiership level personally. 

 

Yeah I've seen him play really well on occasion. He wasn't trusted by McInnes who was only giving him a few minutes when games were already won which may have affected his confidence.

He's easily a premiership player, just needs a manager who believes in him and gives him a good run of games (actually at centre mid, not filling in at full back).

[Dons_1988]

I’m not sure he’s easily a premiership player. He’s got some technical attributes but there’s fundamental flaws to his game that he needs to sort if he’s to make it. 

 

[tarapoa]

13 hours ago, Thenorthernlight said:

McLennan isn’t even a Championship player. 
League One IMO.

Still holding out for the Martin Boyle style transformation from fast jobber into a consistently effective player.

Sadly in each passing appearance, that trajectory to Forfar or Peterhead looks more and more likely.

I thought he actually did ok at right-back in a couple of games.............but he is completely shot to pieces as any kind of creative force.  I remember as a youngster there was promise there, but he now looks like he has lost the basics such as ball control and spatial awareness.

 

[HunterAFC]

20 minutes ago, tarapoa said:

I remember as a youngster there was promise there, but he now looks like he has lost the basics such as ball control and spatial awareness.

 

His ball control and spatial awareness were always awful. As a 17/18 year old those are excusable as he was direct and keen to take folk on, as a 22 year old having a first touch that ends up 10yds ahead, running the ball out of play or standing on/tripping over the ball to ruin a good opportunity aren't really excusable any more.

[BrendanGalloway]

18 hours ago, HarleyQuinn said:

keanan Bennetts. Forward. Would have been a loan deal until the end of the season.

It wasn't him. As the club said it was a u21 German.

[starryfish]

31 minutes ago, tarapoa said:

Still holding out for the Martin Boyle style transformation from fast jobber into a consistently effective player.

Sadly in each passing appearance, that trajectory to Forfar or Peterhead looks more and more likely.

I thought he actually did ok at right-back in a couple of games.............but he is completely shot to pieces as any kind of creative force.  I remember as a youngster there was promise there, but he now looks like he has lost the basics such as ball control and spatial awareness.

 

This also seems to have affected Jonny Hayes, usually when players get older its the footballing ability that they maintain but Hayes seems to have lost that as well.

[Bogbrush1903]

2 hours ago, GTG_03 said:

Yeah I've seen him play really well on occasion. He wasn't trusted by McInnes who was only giving him a few minutes when games were already won which may have affected his confidence.

He's easily a premiership player, just needs a manager who believes in him and gives him a good run of games (actually at centre mid, not filling in at full back).

Confidence and mental strength can be the difference between a successful player and one that doesn't make the grade. A manager can only give him so much, the player himself needs to dig deep and find that swagger which will give the manager confidence in the player.

Whether he is or not, Campbell looks soft and, unfortunately,  that's not ideal in the dark ages that Scottish football resides in.

I think he should've loaned out as a younger player to give him more of a streetwise edge. He looks and plays like he's been overly protected, unwilling to take a chance on the pitch, but rather play it safe. A player needs to mix it up now and again to keep the opposition on their toes.*

*But he did show that determination to get into the box when he scored at Livingston on one of his first appearances. Perhaps an over-cautious manager has been partly to blame for the player's on-pitch caution, which makes the decision to return the player to the manager that held him back all the more baffling from Campbell's perspective.

I'm sure I read that Arbroath was interested. I think that would've been a good move for him.

Edited April 19, 2022 by Bogbrush1903

[CoveRangers1922]

40 minutes ago, Bogbrush1903 said:

Confidence and mental strength can be the difference between a successful player and one that doesn't make the grade. A manager can only give him so much, the player himself needs to dig deep and find that swagger which will give the manager confidence in the player.

Whether he is or not, Campbell looks soft and, unfortunately,  that's not ideal in the dark ages that Scottish football resides in.

I think he should've loaned out as a younger player to give him more of a streetwise edge. He looks and plays like he's been overly protected, unwilling to take a chance on the pitch, but rather play it safe. A player needs to mix it up now and again to keep the opposition on their toes.*

*But he did show that determination to get into the box when he scored at Livingston on one of his first appearances. Perhaps an over-cautious manager has been partly to blame for the player's on-pitch caution, which makes the decision to return the player to the manager that held him back all the more baffling from Campbell's perspective.

I'm sure I read that Arbroath was interested. I think that would've been a good move for him.

Arbroath interested in Dean? I think Cove would be interested too. Could see him playing alongside Fyvie.

If he leaves Aberdeen the lure of FT might rule out both us and Arbroath. 

Edited April 19, 2022 by CoveRangers1922

[Dons_1988]

Mclennan was really direct, aggressive and exciting to watch when he first broke into the team. Just lacking in real quality. He’s totally lost that now, seems frightened to take men on and still lacks any quality.