AngusTheBull Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 1 hour ago, Jute said: He couldn’t be any worse than Coulson. I have always felt Scales is a left back playing at centre back and McKenzie looks like a centre back playing at left back. Would be tempted to switch them round. Although he’d be ok defensively at LB, I don’t think Scales is quick or agile enough to be that effective attacking wise from LB. He’d probably be ok against a number of teams in this league though. Overall, despite the post-WC shambles, we’re still only three points off fourth (although Livi and St Mirren have a game in hand). Given every team from fourth down has been varying shades of shit this season and I’d say our squad is the strongest - defence aside - out of the four teams looking at top six (Livi, Hibs St Mirren and us), we’re still in a strong position to get Europe. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highloon Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 1 hour ago, AngusTheBull said: Although he’d be ok defensively at LB, I don’t think Scales is quick or agile enough to be that effective attacking wise from LB. He’d probably be ok against a number of teams in this league though. Overall, despite the post-WC shambles, we’re still only three points off fourth (although Livi and St Mirren have a game in hand). Given every team from fourth down has been varying shades of shit this season and I’d say our squad is the strongest - defence aside - out of the four teams looking at top six (Livi, Hibs St Mirren and us), we’re still in a strong position to get Europe. I quite like Scales at LB, he gets forward well and can defend, unlike Coulson. Loving the positivity. We could all do with a good result and performance soon. It's been death by a thousand cuts of late 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caledonian1 Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 1 hour ago, AngusTheBull said: Although he’d be ok defensively at LB, I don’t think Scales is quick or agile enough to be that effective attacking wise from LB. He’d probably be ok against a number of teams in this league though. Overall, despite the post-WC shambles, we’re still only three points off fourth (although Livi and St Mirren have a game in hand). Given every team from fourth down has been varying shades of shit this season and I’d say our squad is the strongest - defence aside - out of the four teams looking at top six (Livi, Hibs St Mirren and us), we’re still in a strong position to get Europe. Sorry to hear this....is the mess in the toilet all cleared up now? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dons_1988 Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 This week should give us a reasonable idea of whether or not the season is in complete free fall like a year ago or if we still feel there’s something to play for. Two ‘winnable’ home games for a team with eyes on Europe. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarapoa Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 Some interesting comments on Goodwin. My from own point of view I feel completely duped by the guy, having placed him high on the wishlist of the candidates presented 11 months back when Glass left the building. It got to the point that every time I'd hear him interviewed, he'd say a lot, but actually say very little. Whilst I don't expect a complete breakdown of tactical analysis from our managers, I feel we got nothing from Goodwin other than soundbites and/or platitudes. This led me to conclude that he's actually a tactical no-mark, and the complete inability to do anything from home or claw back a deficit backs this up. The one thing a lot of us felt he would do as a minimum is make us solid, streetwise and hard to beat. Instead the team have turned in to one of the softest looking gangs every to play professional football. Maybe the 'philosophy' and demands from above don't help any manager there either. The players' attitude absolutely stinks and it's hard to have anything but contempt for any of them right now, but there's no doubt that the lack of managerial acumen from Goodwin has contributed hugely to this clusterf**k. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivo den Bieman Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 Having heard Cormack's statement on Saturday- and those awful photos of Goodwin stalking out of Easter Road on his own- it's hard to feel much more than sympathy for those two, really. Cormack ultimately carries the can- what an unholy mess he's made and it will take an awful lot of money to clear it up. Barry Robson in on a temporary basis makes sense and he just needs to get the tailspin righted. Emotionally the fans will want a lot of those chancers and charlatans in the squad out the door as fast as possible, but who to entrust with that task? It really is a massive 2-3 year job to clear out a lot of duds signed by Glass / Goodwin and get the right mentality and infrastructure in about the place. The chairman is accused of interfering in football matters and micro-managing. If that's true, will this awful week finally get him to change his perspective? It will be rinse and repeat if not. When even Tom English is laughing at the so-called "Football Monitoring Board" it's a no-brainer to shut that down straight away. Given the deep rooted knowledge and up to the minute panoramic view of contemporary football that those clowns have, the emerging shortlist to replace Goodwin no doubt includes Drew Jarvie with John Brogan as his assistant, Jim McInally, John Sheran, Stuart Baxter, and an intention to sound out Ally McLeod informally via ouija board. Hope Aberdeen can manage to turn it around soon, living here it's such an important institution for the city. No doubt the utter ridicule that has come the club's way since the disaster at Hearts is richly deserved but as an outsider looking in, not easy viewing. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coprolite Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 Are we inevitably setting managers up to fail? Is it possible to deliver the fast attacking football (or whatever the strategy called it) on our budget and still pick up enough points to consistently get into Europe? Or do we need to allow for more pragmatism? Personally i think that we can square that circle but we'll need a fairly special manager and they're not easy to find. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarapoa Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 5 minutes ago, coprolite said: Are we inevitably setting managers up to fail? Is it possible to deliver the fast attacking football (or whatever the strategy called it) on our budget and still pick up enough points to consistently get into Europe? Or do we need to allow for more pragmatism? Personally i think that we can square that circle but we'll need a fairly special manager and they're not easy to find. Looking at the wage bill, whilst we do pay a bit more than 75% of the clubs in this league, none of the rest of them are constrained with this strategy and philosophy that maybe works well for a college team in Biddly Bong, Idaho. The 'data' is telling us that there are signs we can open up a bit at Pittodrie - but that the team is complete cannon fodder away from home. What Goodwin needed to do was learn how to 'square the circle' (as you say) and he was on to something - he failed to do that, and it only got worse. The team need to be adaptable - pragmatism and game management or even situation management have been in short supply - some of the decision-making at times has been schoolbuy stuff. Who's the man to sort that? Chris Wilder's the only name that's slightly piqued my interest from those mentioned so far. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukDukGoose Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 2 hours ago, coprolite said: Are we inevitably setting managers up to fail? Is it possible to deliver the fast attacking football (or whatever the strategy called it) on our budget and still pick up enough points to consistently get into Europe? Or do we need to allow for more pragmatism? Personally i think that we can square that circle but we'll need a fairly special manager and they're not easy to find. You can play the fast attacking football at home and make yourself solid away from home though. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmain Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 Aye this...it really shouldn't be rocket science given what's available to at least try and be as non-porous as possible away from home. As time went on it became increasingly obvious, no matter how much we wished it otherwise, that Goodwin just had no idea how to set up away however... 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrewDon Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 I am sceptical of saying that 'fast, attacking football' is the only problem, especially when I have attended a fair chunk of our away games this season and not seen a huge amount of evidence of that actually happening. I mean, half of the goals Hibs scored on Saturday were basically unchallenged headers from set-pieces. That has very little to do with 'philosophy' or being too open, and everything to do with rudimentary competency and organisation. I'm just not sure we are very good at many of the basics. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogbrush1903 Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 32 minutes ago, DrewDon said: I am sceptical of saying that 'fast, attacking football' is the only problem, especially when I have attended a fair chunk of our away games this season and not seen a huge amount of evidence of that actually happening. I mean, half of the goals Hibs scored on Saturday were basically unchallenged headers from set-pieces. That has very little to do with 'philosophy' or being too open, and everything to do with rudimentary competency and organisation. I'm just not sure we are very good at many of the basics. I think that's correct; whatever 'philosophy' the board (Cormack) wants to implement it must be developed from a solid base or it's going to be undermined. I would like us to get the ball down and pass it and be comfortable in possession, as we used to be in the late 1980s and early 1990s under Smith, Scott and W.Miller; however, this as practical as well as aesthetic purpose as you can control a game at your tempo rather than being dictated by the opposition. However, a tight, switched on defence supported by protective midfielders are still required or any good work is going to be undone or put under severe pressure each time the ball enters your box or the attacking team faces you down as we saw at Easter Road on Saturday. I don't think the supporters are crying out for fast, attacking entertaining football per se. We would prefer to see good football played and not hanging on for dear life after scoring early in the first-half but that doesn't necessarily mean wave after wave of scintillating attacking football. But first and foremost, we need to win more often than not and for that you need to have strong defensive foundations. Once you have that, then you can have time and the respect to try things out. The problem with both Glass and Goodwin that they tring to implement things too quickly, and I suspect Cormack's impatient demands might be behind these flawed methods. If it is, then the first thing that needs to happen is for Cormack to stop interfering in footballing matters and give it a rest with the philosophising. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tarapoa Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 Correct - there is nothing entertaining watching your team lose easy goals. Each time the club have tried something different to move from a consistent upper end of the table side to the 'next level' (often due to fans' apparent boredom) eg 1994, 2009, 2021 - it invariably means we turn into a side that loses easy goals, and regress significantly. Saw it coming a mile off two years back - and here we are, back into the embarrassing cup results and cricket score defeats. Of course, it doesn't have to be like this, but it's deja vu. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrewDon Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 4 hours ago, Bogbrush1903 said: The problem with both Glass and Goodwin that they tring to implement things too quickly, and I suspect Cormack's impatient demands might be behind these flawed methods. If it is, then the first thing that needs to happen is for Cormack to stop interfering in footballing matters and give it a rest with the philosophising. I would happily have a 'proper' Director of Football in place. It would both take some accountability and responsibility away from Cormack. Ideally, though, this should precede the appointment of the next manager, especially if the manager would be reporting into them rather than Cormack. It would probably be a fairly long process, though, and if results continue to slide then the pressure will be on to get a permanent manager in sooner rather than later. Our approach to reorganising the 'football structure' since 2021 has been a bit odd. That's why I think the criticism of Gunn has maybe been a bit unjustified. His role is still a bit ambiguous to me, but he definitely isn't a DoF in the way that would be recognised in Germany or at some clubs in England. It is like we are in a halfway house between more traditional and modern models, but we have been wanting to shortcut it and don't really want to do the necessary to make the latter work properly. Either that, or Cormack is reluctant to surrender the necessary amount of control at the moment to make it work. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72redz Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 11 minutes ago, DrewDon said: I would happily have a 'proper' Director of Football in place. It would both take some accountability and responsibility away from Cormack. Ideally, though, this should precede the appointment of the next manager, especially if the manager would be reporting into them rather than Cormack. It would probably be a fairly long process, though, and if results continue to slide then the pressure will be on to get a permanent manager in sooner rather than later. Our approach to reorganising the 'football structure' since 2021 has been a bit odd. That's why I think the criticism of Gunn has maybe been a bit unjustified. His role is still a bit ambiguous to me, but he definitely isn't a DoF in the way that would be recognised in Germany or at some clubs in England. It is like we are in a halfway house between more traditional and modern models, but we have been wanting to shortcut it and don't really want to do the necessary to make the latter work properly. Either that, or Cormack is reluctant to surrender the necessary amount of control at the moment to make it work. Aye, we’re neither one thing or anither - time tae be brave and radical 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waspie Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 Goodwin got the Dons job too early. He inherited a brilliant Alloa team from Jack Ross and spent the first year making it worse. We went from top of League 1 to the bottom in that first year. He was fortunate Alloa were patient. He ultimately cracked it by going back to the Ross template and adding 2 or 3 good young loans from the Premier League each window, which was a great success. He was clearly a good leader and respected, and he did make some very successful calls and signings, but in terms of building a team he relied a lot on what was already there. He also made some bizarre decisions like shrinking the dimensions of the park while playing a passing style with good wide players. His St Mirren spell after leaving us seemed pretty up and down. Hard to see how he earned a job like Aberdeen really, stars really aligned for him with timing in that respect. He'd have needed a lot of support and time I think, but ultimately just looks like too big a job too soon. Feel sorry for him, he always came across as a good guy and he does have some of the qualities required. Does have an eye for a player too, he signed 3 of those Darvel players for Alloa, including Meggat and Kirkpatrick who were terrific against Aberdeen. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngusTheBull Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 Tom Ritchie recalled from Peterhead. Would suggest either the Dutch keeper isn’t coming or Lewis is away. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodhull Posted January 31, 2023 Share Posted January 31, 2023 5 hours ago, AngusTheBull said: Tom Ritchie recalled from Peterhead. Would suggest either the Dutch keeper isn’t coming or Lewis is away. Scott Burns claiming its just because the club want 3 keepers available. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukDukGoose Posted January 31, 2023 Share Posted January 31, 2023 15 hours ago, tarapoa said: Correct - there is nothing entertaining watching your team lose easy goals. Each time the club have tried something different to move from a consistent upper end of the table side to the 'next level' (often due to fans' apparent boredom) eg 1994, 2009, 2021 - it invariably means we turn into a side that loses easy goals, and regress significantly. Saw it coming a mile off two years back - and here we are, back into the embarrassing cup results and cricket score defeats. Of course, it doesn't have to be like this, but it's deja vu. We were embarrassing at the end of Derek's tenure, let's not do this again. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anotherchance Posted January 31, 2023 Share Posted January 31, 2023 16 hours ago, tarapoa said: Correct - there is nothing entertaining watching your team lose easy goals. Each time the club have tried something different to move from a consistent upper end of the table side to the 'next level' (often due to fans' apparent boredom) eg 1994, 2009, 2021 - it invariably means we turn into a side that loses easy goals, and regress significantly. Saw it coming a mile off two years back - and here we are, back into the embarrassing cup results and cricket score defeats. Of course, it doesn't have to be like this, but it's deja vu. The problem in 94, '09 and '21 is because we made a complete bollocks up of who we appointed to take us to the next level. I accept that we need to be able to adapt to games like Livingston and St Johnstone away in the arse end of winter where we need to shitfest out a result, but that doesn't need to be at the expense of quality, flair, pace, creativity as our default setting. It's difficult to get it right, but Cormack hasn't really tried yet - giving it to his best mate followed by a flavour of the month appointment. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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