The Famous Aberdeen - Season 2022/23

[coprolite]

17 minutes ago, starryfish said:

Letting McGinn leave whilst keeping McLennan was baffling.

McGinn contributed nothing in his limited appearances. His legs were gone. He only had a deal until the end of the season and i'd guess wanted to play while he still can. 

McLennan is under contract until (i think) 2023. No one was in for him. He's still only 22 and has pace and strength (if not any ability to control the ball) that can cause problems. 

I'm not baffled by keeping McLennan. He'll never be the player McGinn was, but the cost benefit analysis is clearly in his favour. 

[DukDukGoose]

1 hour ago, Dons_1988 said:

Yeah I don’t get the criticism. Anyone out of contract will be wanting to know if the new manager wants to keep them. It’s basic human nature. 

It would be worse if he said nothing or a vague ‘we’ll mebbe offer you a deal in may’. Anyone he wants to keep will have been offered a new deal immediately so it’s pretty obvious if you’re not offered one. 

Can you imagine the bad press we'd get if he was telling folk that they're in with a chance and then telling them they've no future just after the last game?

[GTG_03]

6 minutes ago, coprolite said:

McGinn contributed nothing in his limited appearances. His legs were gone. He only had a deal until the end of the season and i'd guess wanted to play while he still can. 

McLennan is under contract until (i think) 2023. No one was in for him. He's still only 22 and has pace and strength (if not any ability to control the ball) that can cause problems. 

I'm not baffled by keeping McLennan. He'll never be the player McGinn was, but the cost benefit analysis is clearly in his favour. 

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. 

[Dons_1988]

Mcginn probably wanted to go. He’s in the last years of his career and wants to be playing. Letting him go was fair enough. 

6 minutes ago, Merkland Red said:

Can you imagine the bad press we'd get if he was telling folk that they're in with a chance and then telling them they've no future just after the last game?

100%

[tarapoa]

2 hours ago, Dons_1988 said:

Hedges has been a big miss as has the lack of a fit watkins. 

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.

 

[DukDukGoose]

2 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 player was desperate to go.

[Rodhull]

Wonder if the signing from Germany that fell through on the lasts day played a part in Hedges going as well. Presumably they may have assumed that would go through without issue.

[naegoodinthedark]

21 minutes ago, Rodhull said:

Wonder if the signing from Germany that fell through on the lasts day played a part in Hedges going as well. Presumably they may have assumed that would go through without issue.

Did we ever find out who the mystery signing was to be?

[Rodhull]

17 minutes ago, naegoodinthedark said:

Did we ever find out who the mystery signing was to be?

I don't think so. I remember a young English lad at Monchengladbach being mentioned on twitter but don't think anything official confirmed a name.

[HarleyQuinn]

19 minutes ago, naegoodinthedark said:

Did we ever find out who the mystery signing was to be?

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

[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.