The Famous Aberdeen - Season 2022/23

[RandomGuy.]

If you could stop slating the striker who's guaranteed to start on Monday against us then I'd appreciate it.

[Broken Algorithms]

 

[afc_blockhead]

On 03/08/2024 at 12:29, ScottishZizou said:

Yes. Ryan Duncan is a problem by not being very good at football. He also didn't cost us as much money as Sokler and Gueye who as well as not being very good at football have proven to be money pits.

I hope I'm wrong but all available evidence points to Sokler and Gueye being not very good. You can tell by watching Sokler that he isn't up to it. He looks at best like a bottom half player which doesn't justify what we have spent on him. Gueye was allegedly north of £500k and he hasn't been able to get anywhere near the pitch. Are you happy that we have signed these players? That seems a mental take.

Thelin might end up being a good manager but he's stuck with very expensive players who I would be amazed if he would have wanted to sign at that cost.

On Ryan Duncan he has stolen a wage from Aberdeen for years, he doesn't play for free.

As for the bit in bold - A mental take? Happy we signed them?

I think you will find I just find it mental that you have written both off so badly. 

Sokler who has scored 4 already this season. You have also gone with another poster from saying Sokler is a bottom 6 level striker to saying "of course he would have his best games against Rangers, Celtic and Frankfurt" Make your mind up.

On Gueye, many (I am assuming including you) wrote him off after:

- 1 start for 1 half in that blizzard against Helsinki

- Having not played in 4 months, 

- Under the wonderful Robson hoofball tactics

Gueye also did fairly well in Norway, allegedly enough to have transfer interest in him. He may or may not work out for us, same as Sokler, but your extreme take on both is the thing that is "a mental take".

[Dons_1988]

Far too early to write off ester, but I have my doubts. 

I give Gueye about a 5% chance of being successful with us. Might be generous. 

ETA - doubts about ester are that he hits the heights of being a good, reliable first choice striker for us. I think he’s clearly good enough to be a squad player at least. 

Edited August 7 by Dons_1988

[betting competition]

I can't wait for a defeat so the negativity will set in. 

Edited August 7 by betting competition

[ScottishZizou]

1 hour ago, afc_blockhead said:

On Ryan Duncan he has stolen a wage from Aberdeen for years, he doesn't play for free.

As for the bit in bold - A mental take? Happy we signed them?

I think you will find I just find it mental that you have written both off so badly. 

Sokler who has scored 4 already this season. You have also gone with another poster from saying Sokler is a bottom 6 level striker to saying "of course he would have his best games against Rangers, Celtic and Frankfurt" Make your mind up.

On Gueye, many (I am assuming including you) wrote him off after:

- 1 start for 1 half in that blizzard against Helsinki

- Having not played in 4 months, 

- Under the wonderful Robson hoofball tactics

Gueye also did fairly well in Norway, allegedly enough to have transfer interest in him. He may or may not work out for us, same as Sokler, but your extreme take on both is the thing that is "a mental take".

Christ! what a confrontational bloke.

You can tell by watching Gueye play that he is not of the required quality, it's immensely obvious even in the brief glimpses of him we are getting. Nobody said Ryan Duncan plays for free but he didn't cost us multiple hundred thousand and we can assume he is not on the same wages as people that were bought for those fees.

Morris (another on a longer term deal) obviously not up to the required level.

Sokler is at best someone who can do a shift, no better than many other jobbing players at the bottom of the Scottish premiership. I doubt many clubs in the league would be desperate to have him in their ranks. It's logical that someone who's primary qualities seem to be putting a lot of work in would do better in games without the ball. Or against teams well below the required standard in the league cup. That is surely logical no? If Sokler turns out to have a great season I will eat humble pie but my opinion is that he is not good enough and a bottom of the league quality player. Is that definitive enough for you?

The backdrop to all of this that squandering money on these long term deals is hindering the current manager's ability to put together a good all round squad.

[afc_blockhead]

34 minutes ago, ScottishZizou said:

Christ! what a confrontational bloke.

You can tell by watching Gueye play that he is not of the required quality, it's immensely obvious even in the brief glimpses of him we are getting. Nobody said Ryan Duncan plays for free but he didn't cost us multiple hundred thousand and we can assume he is not on the same wages as people that were bought for those fees.

Morris (another on a longer term deal) obviously not up to the required level.

Sokler is at best someone who can do a shift, no better than many other jobbing players at the bottom of the Scottish premiership. I doubt many clubs in the league would be desperate to have him in their ranks. It's logical that someone who's primary qualities seem to be putting a lot of work in would do better in games without the ball. Or against teams well below the required standard in the league cup. That is surely logical no? If Sokler turns out to have a great season I will eat humble pie but my opinion is that he is not good enough and a bottom of the league quality player. Is that definitive enough for you?

The backdrop to all of this that squandering money on these long term deals is hindering the current manager's ability to put together a good all round squad.

I wouldn't say I was confrontational. I replied to a post calling me "mental" for holding an opinion you decided I had without me actually saying it.

THAT is confrontational 

Gueye against Dumbarton (yes yes lower league) did seem to show some skill, footballing awareness and attacking effectiveness. Just last week. I like how you ignored him getting a respectable amount of goals/assists in Norway attracting interest in him from teams in the Norwegian top flight. Well ignored. 

Duncan has been in the first team squad a few years, he will have cost us a few hundred k. Transfer fee or not that isn't insignificant.

Sokler wise you have contradicted yourself numerous times again. Sokler scored against Celtic and Frankfurt and assisted against Sevco, he didn't just " put in a lot of work". You then criticise him for doing well against some lower league sides.

So basically according to you, Sokler just "puts in a lot of work" which ONLY makes him effective against Sevco/Celtic or Frankfurt level teams OR really bad teams 

Morris brought in as well now? Wonderful, nowhere near enough chat about him.

By the way the above is not confrontational , it simply disagrees with you and points out you contradict your own opinions.. often in the same paragraph.

[afc_blockhead]

42 minutes ago, ScottishZizou said:

Christ! what a confrontational bloke.

You can tell by watching Gueye play that he is not of the required quality, it's immensely obvious even in the brief glimpses of him we are getting. Nobody said Ryan Duncan plays for free but he didn't cost us multiple hundred thousand and we can assume he is not on the same wages as people that were bought for those fees.

Morris (another on a longer term deal) obviously not up to the required level.

Sokler is at best someone who can do a shift, no better than many other jobbing players at the bottom of the Scottish premiership. I doubt many clubs in the league would be desperate to have him in their ranks. It's logical that someone who's primary qualities seem to be putting a lot of work in would do better in games without the ball. Or against teams well below the required standard in the league cup. That is surely logical no? If Sokler turns out to have a great season I will eat humble pie but my opinion is that he is not good enough and a bottom of the league quality player. Is that definitive enough for you?

The backdrop to all of this that squandering money on these long term deals is hindering the current manager's ability to put together a good all round squad.

Just to also point out a few days ago you were criticising Sokler on here "for scoring 1 in 26 for Aberdeen".

Which was both entirely wrong, lacked any context about any other contributions he made and was being used as the basis for your entire point about him.

Hardly screams someone that (a) Has an informed opinion (B) Has an opinion based on anything else other than a deep seated desire that they are "right". all the time.

[ScottishZizou]

11 minutes ago, afc_blockhead said:

Just to also point out a few days ago you were criticising Sokler on here "for scoring 1 in 26 for Aberdeen".

Which was both entirely wrong, lacked any context about any other contributions he made and was being used as the basis for your entire point about him.

Hardly screams someone that (a) Has an informed opinion (B) Has an opinion based on anything else other than a deep seated desire that they are "right". all the time.

Will reply to both posts here. The 1 goal in 26 was his league campaign last season. Admittedly a lot off the bench but it did not come from nowhere. He really doesn't convince in front of goal at all. What I am saying is that he seems to have his uses in games when our backs are to the wall or he is playing against jobbers like Dumbarton. He is at best a bottom 6 player. Players like Jordan White scored against Celtic last year for christ sake. Should we go and sign him?

Morris is undeniably not a very good footballer, anyone with half a brain can see that. Everyone is saying it because it's true.

I will ignore the Gueye speculation because I never saw him play in Norway. Even the glimpses that we get you can see he is nowhere near good enough.

Answer me this- knowing what you know now, if you were to go back to last summer. Would you say yes to:

1- signing Gueye for more than £500k? 2- Spending a couple hundred K on Sokler 3- Giving Morris a multi year contract?

 

[Donte Polvara]

While I get the frustration with squad lacking depth and needing players in there probably need to temper expectations a bit as to what can actually be done in a single transfer window. Even the best recruitment departments don't see better than a 50% success rate with transfers and you can't really bed in more than 2 or 3 key players at a time. The business we've done so far looks decent with Mitov, Molloy and Nilsen all starters with Ambrose admittedly looking more like a project player. I'm sure we'll bring in a couple more likely a Miovski replacement when he's sold, a winger and maybe a loan that can cover 10 and play on the wing when Clarksons back. We've also been a bit unlucky with the injuries to Clarkson and Polvara as well as Duk going AWOL who would have gone a good way to helping us with quality on the wing.

It annoys me a bit how quick we are as a fan base to write off players I think Sokler, Morris and Gueye could all have a part to play in the season and you have to trust in the coaching staff to develop them in the new system. I can remember watching Duks first appearance against Stirling in the cup and would never have guessed he's have gone on to be as big a player for us as he was. 

[SamuraiJock]

As usual fringe players get a crazy amount of criticism and will be blamed whenever anything goes wrong this year.

Fans never have the patience for it, but surely it’s possible the new manager might elevate fringe guys from shite to passable or even passable to useful depth?

[afc_blockhead]

19 minutes ago, ScottishZizou said:

Will reply to both posts here. The 1 goal in 26 was his league campaign last season. Admittedly a lot off the bench but it did not come from nowhere. He really doesn't convince in front of goal at all. What I am saying is that he seems to have his uses in games when our backs are to the wall or he is playing against jobbers like Dumbarton. He is at best a bottom 6 player. Players like Jordan White scored against Celtic last year for christ sake. Should we go and sign him?

Morris is undeniably not a very good footballer, anyone with half a brain can see that. Everyone is saying it because it's true.

I will ignore the Gueye speculation because I never saw him play in Norway. Even the glimpses that we get you can see he is nowhere near good enough.

Answer me this- knowing what you know now, if you were to go back to last summer. Would you say yes to:

1- signing Gueye for more than £500k? 2- Spending a couple hundred K on Sokler 3- Giving Morris a multi year contract?

 

So again you repeat Sokler is only good when we are backs to the wall (against good teams) or when we play shit teams. Do you not see the logical gap in your repeated statement?

Morris wise, I offered no comment. I just enjoyed your Aberdeen boo boys bingo being completed. Morris has a few assists this season already. I suppose they don't count given your criteria.

Gueye scored/assisted a decent amount in the Norwegian top flight and Norwegian teams wanted/want to sign him. This is a fact. Your opinion doesn't alter that. You can choose to ignore it though.

(A) Gueye's 500k is an often repeated lie based on the Daily Record reporting "the fee is believed to be in the region of 500k" before then reporting it as "undisclosed low six figures". So your question is based on an incorrect fee

(B) Yes on Sokler. He started 7 games last season. This season he has started 5 and scored 4 (plus assists).

(C) Morris is a name you have added after the initial post. I am still open on Morris. He can be infuriating but he has undoubtedly improved under Thelin already. He has started 12 games. This season will decide.

I know you disagree with all the above.

[ScottishZizou]

18 minutes ago, afc_blockhead said:

So again you repeat Sokler is only good when we are backs to the wall (against good teams) or when we play shit teams. Do you not see the logical gap in your repeated statement?

Morris wise, I offered no comment. I just enjoyed your Aberdeen boo boys bingo being completed. Morris has a few assists this season already. I suppose they don't count given your criteria.

Gueye scored/assisted a decent amount in the Norwegian top flight and Norwegian teams wanted/want to sign him. This is a fact. Your opinion doesn't alter that. You can choose to ignore it though.

(A) Gueye's 500k is an often repeated lie based on the Daily Record reporting "the fee is believed to be in the region of 500k" before then reporting it as "undisclosed low six figures". So your question is based on an incorrect fee

(B) Yes on Sokler. He started 7 games last season. This season he has started 5 and scored 4 (plus assists).

(C) Morris is a name you have added after the initial post. I am still open on Morris. He can be infuriating but he has undoubtedly improved under Thelin already. He has started 12 games. This season will decide.

I know you disagree with all the above.

There is no boo boys bingo. But the obvious issue that we have is that we have a very mismatched squad. We have some 8/9 players who seem very capable of finishing 3rd and then the depth falls off a cliff after that to the guys I am mentioning above.

There is no logical gap. A player can have a level of ability where he can bang them in against part time teams and a willingness to put a shift in when the backs are against the wall but not have the requisite ability to play with the ball against teams around your level. Which is what I believe Sokler to be. Using Sokler's stats against part time teams is obviously ridiculous. 

I do disagree with all of the above they aren't up to the required standard. 

Let's rephrase the Gueye question to even a few hundred K then? These are fees that most other teams in the league can't pay.

[ScottishZizou]

43 minutes ago, SamuraiJock said:

As usual fringe players get a crazy amount of criticism and will be blamed whenever anything goes wrong this year.

Fans never have the patience for it, but surely it’s possible the new manager might elevate fringe guys from shite to passable or even passable to useful depth?

I am happy to be patient with the manager for sure. I genuinely think he will be doing well to get this group of players to finish 5th though. The whole point is that we have spent good money on these fringe players. Money that other clubs don't have for players that are on a similar level to theirs. That isn't good enough recruitment 

Edited August 7 by ScottishZizou

[afc_blockhead]

1 hour ago, ScottishZizou said:

There is no boo boys bingo. But the obvious issue that we have is that we have a very mismatched squad. We have some 8/9 players who seem very capable of finishing 3rd and then the depth falls off a cliff after that to the guys I am mentioning above.

There is no logical gap. A player can have a level of ability where he can bang them in against part time teams and a willingness to put a shift in when the backs are against the wall but not have the requisite ability to play with the ball against teams around your level. Which is what I believe Sokler to be. Using Sokler's stats against part time teams is obviously ridiculous. 

I do disagree with all of the above they aren't up to the required standard. 

Let's rephrase the Gueye question to even a few hundred K then? These are fees that most other teams in the league can't pay.

A huge logical gap.

Youve discounted Soklers goals against crap teams (including presumably the likes of Ross County who he scored against at the end of last season?) and against teams better than us.

He has to score against a chosen 3-4 clubs around us in the league to be worthwhile is your logical conclusion ..

[afc_blockhead]

1 hour ago, ScottishZizou said:

I am happy to be patient with the manager for sure. I genuinely think he will be doing well to get this group of players to finish 5th though. The whole point is that we have spent good money on these fringe players. Money that other clubs don't have for players that are on a similar level to theirs. That isn't good enough recruitment 

If you are surprised that not every player Aberdeen signs is a perfect fit/roaring success then you will be very disappointed. 

Also when you decide most players we sign are shite whilst making that opinion based on incorrect stats and a "feeling" very early on , again disappointment will be the outcome

[ScottishZizou]

56 minutes ago, afc_blockhead said:

If you are surprised that not every player Aberdeen signs is a perfect fit/roaring success then you will be very disappointed. 

Also when you decide most players we sign are shite whilst making that opinion based on incorrect stats and a "feeling" very early on , again disappointment will be the outcome

So what did the recruitment get us last year? A bottom half finish in the league. Obviously every signing won’t be a success but the hit rate lately has not justified the significant investment. 
That Ross County goal was his only goal in the league! In what must have accumulated to a large amount of minutes. Let’s wait and see how much we get out of Gueye, Sokler and Morris this season and we can reconvene in a few months 

[afc_blockhead]

23 minutes ago, ScottishZizou said:

So what did the recruitment get us last year? A bottom half finish in the league. Obviously every signing won’t be a success but the hit rate lately has not justified the significant investment. 
That Ross County goal was his only goal in the league! In what must have accumulated to a large amount of minutes. Let’s wait and see how much we get out of Gueye, Sokler and Morris this season and we can reconvene in a few months 

Guesswork again.

7 starts, 4 goals last season

5 starts, 4 goals so far this season

Lets see what happens

 

[ScottishZizou]

36 minutes ago, afc_blockhead said:

Guesswork again.

7 starts, 4 goals last season

5 starts, 4 goals so far this season

Lets see what happens

 

Hahah yeah let’s wait and see if Gueye, Morris and Sokler are triumphs this year 

[DrewDon]

I said on Monday's match thread that Morris is a speedboat without a driver. There are attributes that I like about him, and that will always be valuable at this level - essentially, he's quick, nimble and wants to carry the ball forward. There are a lot of flaws and shortcomings, though; his final product is poor, he switches off defensively and gets caught ball watching, and he often seems to lack a clear idea in his mind of where he is ending up, or at least how he is getting there. 

There is something to work with, I think. At least as a squad player, and as a winger rather than a wing-back. But the chances of getting him up to the standard necessary to make a really positive impact over the course of a season, at least in the short term, are slim.