The Famous Aberdeen - Season 2022/23

[coprolite]

2 minutes ago, Der Panzer said:

 

Why are you comparing Hearts transfer business to your own? You aren’t even close to direct rivals at the moment as evidenced by last seasons league table.

Maybe keep an eye on the Ross county/St Johnstone etc business - the teams around you.
 

Then when you’ve overhauled them you can start looking up at the next tier of teams before you then try and bridge the still significant gap to Hearts in 3rd. 

Awwwwww, trying so hard! 
it’s adorable 

[Der Panzer]

4 minutes ago, coprolite said:

Awwwwww, trying so hard! 
it’s adorable 

I’m not trying at all tbh - I read it - read it again and couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

Just for clarity I’m not even a Hearts fan - I’m genuinely wondering if Aberdeen fans think they will be looking to rein Hearts in this season off the back of what was an abhorrent season and one in which I’d argue (if Miovski goes) your team looks weaker than last season.
 

Exception being in goal where you replaced that joker you had with a competent goalkeeper - kudos for that one.

Edited July 25 by Der Panzer
Been a long day ant that was a mess - still a word salad tbf but enjoy

[coprolite]

8 minutes ago, Der Panzer said:

I’m not trying at all tbh - I read it - read it again and couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

Just for clarity I’m not even a Hearts fan - I’m genuinely wondering if Aberdeen fans think they will be looking to rein Hearts in this season off the back of what was an abhorrent season and one in which I’d argue (if Miovski goes) your team looks weaker than last season.
 

Exception being in goal where you replaced that joker you had with a competent goalkeeper - kudos for that one.

Some maybe expect us to. But they’re definitely the benchmark of where we want to be.

Not unreasonable given our playing budget and the nature of the league.  

I’ve put us fifth behind Kilmarnock in the P&B predictor. 

Still six weeks of the window 
 

[Der Panzer]

5 minutes ago, coprolite said:

Some maybe expect us to. But they’re definitely the benchmark of where we want to be.

Not unreasonable given our playing budget and the nature of the league.  

I’ve put us fifth behind Kilmarnock in the P&B predictor. 

Still six weeks of the window 
 

Just seems a bit mental to me if some actually do think that - especially in the course of 1 season.

As an example - Dundee/Utd etc are way too big playing budget wise for the constant bouncing between championship and top flight  - but that’s were we/they are and as fans need to accept that it’s currently the position we find ourselves in.

A period of building and stability is needed to get us back to fighting weight and able to worry more about looking up than constantly down  - and I also think Aberdeen are now in that position and will need a couple seasons of consolidation before you even think about catching Hearts. 

That or a huge injection of cash right into the playing budget - which realistically you aren’t getting. 

Aberdeen 100% should be looking up - but as you point out Hibs/Dundee/St Mirren and maybe Killie are the teams you are looking to rein in first. 

[VincentGuerin]

Just now, Der Panzer said:

Just seems a bit mental to me if some actually do think that - especially in the course of 1 season.

As an example - Dundee/Utd etc are way too big playing budget wise for the constant bouncing between championship and top flight  - but that’s were we/they are and as fans need to accept that it’s currently the position we find ourselves in.

A period of building and stability is needed to get us back to fighting weight and able to worry more about looking up than constantly down  - and I also think Aberdeen are now in that position and will need a couple seasons of consolidation before you even think about catching Hearts. 

That or a huge injection of cash right into the playing budget - which realistically you aren’t getting. 

Aberdeen 100% should be looking up - but as you point out Hibs/Dundee/St Mirren and maybe Killie are the teams you are looking to rein in first. 

Hearts have a head start, but it's not wild to think Aberdeen could finish ahead of us.

I think Hearts have signed quite well. Nothing spectacular, but the kind of signings that if Hibs or Aberdeen made them I'd consider them to have done something smart. Hearts' squad isn't really spectacular anywhere, Shankland aside, but it's pretty short on weak links and Hearts have depth in most positions.

That said, I'd expect Aberdeen to markedly improve their squad between now and the window, it's quite possible the new coach is able to get more out of what he has than the previous few abject Aberdeen managers, and you have to keep in mind that no non-OF team has managed a third-place finish playing group stage European football yet. Hearts have at least eight extra games to play in the first half of the season.

I think Hearts have the third best squad in the league. There's no way I'd swap with anyone. But in light of the above, limping over the line in third by a point this year would represent a pretty big success.

Aberdeen will have what they had in 22/23; a whole season playing Saturday - Saturday with plenty time for the new coach to work with his team and develop them. They've got a lot of work to do, but with their budget and a clear run at the season, there's no excuse for Aberdeen not putting up a scrap for third.

[Der Panzer]

12 minutes ago, VincentGuerin said:

Hearts have a head start, but it's not wild to think Aberdeen could finish ahead of us.

I think Hearts have signed quite well. Nothing spectacular, but the kind of signings that if Hibs or Aberdeen made them I'd consider them to have done something smart. Hearts' squad isn't really spectacular anywhere, Shankland aside, but it's pretty short on weak links and Hearts have depth in most positions.

That said, I'd expect Aberdeen to markedly improve their squad between now and the window, it's quite possible the new coach is able to get more out of what he has than the previous few abject Aberdeen managers, and you have to keep in mind that no non-OF team has managed a third-place finish playing group stage European football yet. Hearts have at least eight extra games to play in the first half of the season.

I think Hearts have the third best squad in the league. There's no way I'd swap with anyone. But in light of the above, limping over the line in third by a point this year would represent a pretty big success.

Aberdeen will have what they had in 22/23; a whole season playing Saturday - Saturday with plenty time for the new coach to work with his team and develop them. They've got a lot of work to do, but with their budget and a clear run at the season, there's no excuse for Aberdeen not putting up a scrap for third.

Hearts going a bit old firmy 1990s and signing the best players from the smaller clubs - think it’s smart tbh - known quantities that know the level.

The manager finding his feet and getting every signing correct is doing a lot of heavy lifting in your above scenario and I’ll be stunned if Aberdeen are challenging for 3rd - unless group football really does f**k Hearts season. 

[DukDukGoose]

1 hour ago, DrewDon said:

I am concerned about a lot of different areas of the squad, although accept that we can't solve them all in one window.

We are maybe paying the price for bad - and, crucially, relatively expensive - recruitment failures basically since McInnes departed, to be honest. We have had a couple of notable big hits in Miovski and to a lesser extent Ramadani, and a couple of more moderate ones in the likes of Clarkson and even Duk, but we have thrown away really good money on too many duds like Morris, Jensen, McGarry, Gueye, Besuijen and probably a couple of others too. We now have too many of those guys parked on medium to long term contracts, and the phones aren't going to be ringing at Cormack Park to take them off our hands. They won't be rushing themselves out the door, either.

I am still concerned about the defence, too. I thought the centre of defence was a major area of weakness last season, although Gartenmann came onto a bit of form under Leven. But the only change there has been Molloy in for Gartenmann, which is definitely another one to file under 'gamble'. There are problems elsewhere, especially with the forward players (when Miovski is absent/away) not really fitting each other's strengths, but it's going to be very difficult for Thelin to build something sustainable if the most basic fundamentals are being neglected.

Come on now. The recruitment issues started with McInnes.

1 hour ago, Der Panzer said:

 

Why are you comparing Hearts transfer business to your own? You aren’t even close to direct rivals at the moment as evidenced by last seasons league table.

Maybe keep an eye on the Ross county/St Johnstone etc business - the teams around you.
 

Then when you’ve overhauled them you can start looking up at the next tier of teams before you then try and bridge the still significant gap to Hearts in 3rd. 

Stick to posting about your weekly shop.

[coprolite]

30 minutes ago, Der Panzer said:

Just seems a bit mental to me if some actually do think that - especially in the course of 1 season.

As an example - Dundee/Utd etc are way too big playing budget wise for the constant bouncing between championship and top flight  - but that’s were we/they are and as fans need to accept that it’s currently the position we find ourselves in.

A period of building and stability is needed to get us back to fighting weight and able to worry more about looking up than constantly down  - and I also think Aberdeen are now in that position and will need a couple seasons of consolidation before you even think about catching Hearts. 

That or a huge injection of cash right into the playing budget - which realistically you aren’t getting. 

Aberdeen 100% should be looking up - but as you point out Hibs/Dundee/St Mirren and maybe Killie are the teams you are looking to rein in first. 

We finished 10th in 2021 and 3rd the next season. 

[tarapoa]

1 minute ago, coprolite said:

We finished 10th in 2021 and 3rd the next season. 

Exactly - the only other season in the last decade that we finished below Hearts.

Even now, it’s so hard to judge as we will get four or five in between now and the end of the window - but we can’t afford to squander a decent chance to get off to a good start whilst we await the reinforcements.

Hearts may learn from the lug-howker’e mistake and actually utilise their squad to cope with Thu-Sun thing a bit better than we did.

[Ampersand]

42 minutes ago, Der Panzer said:

Aberdeen are now in that position and will need a couple seasons of consolidation before you even think about catching Hearts. 

We finished 3rd the season before last after reeling in Hearts, and weren’t very good then either. It took one great run of form to achieve that.

Our squad is lacking, Hearts had a better one to start with and have recruited solidly, but they’re not exactly a model of consistency themselves, are they? 

As others, I reckon 5th feels likely this season, but as @VincentGuerin rightly says above, Hearts have the heavy schedule this season, so it’s hardly wildly unrealistic for us to be competing with them.

[Der Panzer]

Fair enough - I’m maybe leaning a bit too much on the fact that Aberdeen were one of the worst teams we played last season - so a long way back for them for me. 
 

Will be interesting to see anyway. 

[DrewDon]

6 minutes ago, DukDukGoose said:

Come on now. The recruitment issues started with McInnes.

But he's been gone for over three years now, and it's difficult to credibly argue that recruitment hasn't got worse since then - and at significantly more expense.

[Dons_1988]

Just now, Der Panzer said:

Fair enough - I’m maybe leaning a bit too much on the fact that Aberdeen were one of the worst teams we played last season - so a long way back for them for me. 
 

Will be interesting to see anyway. 

Not really how football works though, so long as the budgets are reasonably competitive. It can swing wildly even within seasons. You see a lot when a team has a bad season that it’ll take YEARS to recover. All it really takes is a group of people from the board to the players to do things competently. Admittedly that’s easier said than done. 

Let’s see what the remainder of the window brings. Smart money would be on us being better than last season but not 3rd. That could easily be wrong in either direction. 

[tarapoa]

Just now, Der Panzer said:

Fair enough - I’m maybe leaning a bit too much on the fact that Aberdeen were one of the worst teams we played last season - so a long way back for them for me. 
 

Will be interesting to see anyway. 

We are generally terrible at Tynecastle as you are at Pittodrie - two of the games were down there, one of which turned on a Miovski screamer being harshly disallowed before a game’s gone handball pen for the home side in the second half.

 

[Dons_1988]

3 minutes ago, DrewDon said:

But he's been gone for over three years now, and it's difficult to credibly argue that recruitment hasn't got worse since then - and at significantly more expense.

Too simplistic. I genuinely think we’re laying foundations to have a recruitment structure with far more potential than before. We just don’t have (or haven’t yet had) the experience and ability in the building yet to utilise it properly. 

[Der Panzer]

Just now, Dons_1988 said:

Not really how football works though, so long as the budgets are reasonably competitive. It can swing wildly even within seasons. You see a lot when a team has a bad season that it’ll take YEARS to recover. All it really takes is a group of people from the board to the players to do things competently. Admittedly that’s easier said than done. 

Let’s see what the remainder of the window brings. Smart money would be on us being better than last season but not 3rd. That could easily be wrong in either direction. 

It just seems that maybe Aberdeen fans have a lot of faith in Thelin being the answer, his recruitment being excellent, and Hearts faltering.

After your recent successes with managers, recruitment and opposition  I’m just a bit surprised at so much blind optimism as so many moving parts.

[DrewDon]

Just now, Dons_1988 said:

Too simplistic. I genuinely think we’re laying foundations to have a recruitment structure with far more potential than before. We just don’t have (or haven’t yet had) the experience and ability in the building yet to utilise it properly. 

I agree that what we want the structure to be - or what Cormack thinks the structure is/should be - would be preferable to the pre-2021 structure, but at least that was broadly coherent if flawed/short-sighted; that is preferable to a structure that is just fundamentally incoherent with an unwillingness from the central figure to concede the control necessary to make such a structure be a net positive.

[Der Panzer]

2 minutes ago, tarapoa said:

We are generally terrible at Tynecastle as you are at Pittodrie - two of the games were down there, one of which turned on a Miovski screamer being harshly disallowed before a game’s gone handball pen for the home side in the second half.

 

Im a Dee not a Jambo.

Last season I was incredulous watching you just try and spoil games we played - never seen a Dons team come to Dens - or against Dundee at Pittodrie - and look like they were playing for a draw. 

Although we actually played well against Hearts they actually came and looked to dominate and because of their overall better quality and squad depth managed to beat us 3 times.

Anyway - I hope Hearts are rotten as much as every other side that isn’t Dundee. 

[Dons_1988]

13 minutes ago, DrewDon said:

I agree that what we want the structure to be - or what Cormack thinks the structure is/should be - would be preferable to the pre-2021 structure, but at least that was broadly coherent if flawed/short-sighted; that is preferable to a structure that is just fundamentally incoherent with an unwillingness from the central figure to concede the control necessary to make such a structure be a net positive.

I’d probably challenge that by asking what particularly brilliant recruitment did we do in the last couple of years before Derek left? Mccrorie, then maybe Lewis Ferguson going back a bit further? 

I agree the implementation of our recruitment in terms of squad building has been incoherent and scattergun, but it’s also yielded a duk, ramadani and miovski, which we wouldn’t have gone near previously. So the potential is there, but the sensible heads need to be doing proper squad planning and actually building a team rather just chucking darts and hoping we accumulate enough individual talent to get us through. 

Thelin at least appears to have his head screwed on in this regard, whether that is the reality or not or whether it’s enough, time will tell. 

[starryfish]

21 hours ago, kingjoey said:

After knocking the club about not publicising  potential wrong fixture dates, I would like to congratulate them In updating their scoreboard software which means that the time in each half doesn't now stop at 45.00 and 90.00. Also like the club badges replacing the three letter club names on the scoreboard. Take my applause AFC.

Wondering if this is a league cup thing, thought clock had to stop at bang on 90 due to potential for riots if ref played longer than the allotted time, though maybe I made that up