The Famous Aberdeen's European Tour 2015/16

[HibeeJibee]

I don't know why people continually refer back to the Malmo tie, other than for deflection: at no point did I claim Alashkert was worse than Malmo. In my posts I referred to Alashkert as the worst defeat of a Scottish club to lowly opposition not comparing it to drubbings from decent opposition.

Anyway - it has been a phenomenon of recent years for our lower entrants to sometimes beat a stronger team (e.g. Rosenborg, Lucern, Rijecka) then lose to an ostensibly weaker one in the next round (e.g. Minsk, Trnava, Almaty). That's probably the next step onward for some of our clubs.

[EdTheDuck]

Even more annoying given that Kairat have drawn Bordeaux. Definitely one of the more winnable ties.

[williemillersmoustache]

That was their gameplan. They were happy to absorb our poor balls into the box and break on us/capitalise on our mistakes. Don't be fooled.

Ultimately we didn't do enough, I felt they would score at least 1 so was always going to be our ability to convert dominance into goals. In reality they didn't allow us to and our final ball was sadly lacking all night.

Very disappointing but glad they got the standing ovation they did at the end. We finally have a team to be proud of, if the quality is not always there the attitude and effort very much is.

Seen enough from this team to suggest we can go on and have a very good season.

This. Also they didn't need to roll about like blouses, but it was easier for them than keeping the ball and it worked.

McGinns balls in were disappointing but they all played their hearts out and did play well. Just not quite well enough. Just think we can take all of this out on that fat w**k boyd, mcelbows and hamill on Sunday. Cheer up min (humper i mean)

[tarapoa]

care to explain why it isn't ? The Armenians beat the team that Aberdeen have failed to beat in two games. At the end of the day, we can talk this team up all you want, the bottom line Is that if the Armenians can beat them ( when they were deemed the worst team in the draw) then this is a very poor result for Aberdeen.

I think you're struggling with the context of a two-legged tie.

Kairat humped the Armenians 3-0 at home. Lost a goal in the away leg, then equalised - tie completely over, rest of the game becomes a glorified training match.

Alashkert's 90th minute goal was about as significant as Hearts drawing 0-0 with Spurs reserves at White Hart Lane after losing 5-0 at home.

St Johnstone had an extremely poor effort in Europe this time round (albeit the 'first competitive match' thing didn't help) - but we need to counter that by stating you have done the nation proud in beating Rosenborg and Lucerne in recent seasons.

As for AFC - yet again we played three rounds, knocking out a seeded side. Last night was a major disappointment, given we took a seeded place in this round.

Kairat were a decent side and don't forget they beat Red Star Belgrade 4-1 on aggregate in QR1. They have a lot of petrodollars put into them, but it was still a far more winnable tie than Sociedad last season.

I'd hope we were good enough to at least make a glorious exit in the play-off round, but not to be.

[Larbert_Par]

Thought Aberdeen dominated the ball but they were really lacking a creative spark, unusually from when I usually watch them. In the first half particularly they just didn't do enough in the final third, and Shay Logan (who I think is a good player) had some dodgy moments in possession.

Disappointing stuff really overall as the Dons had enough to get through. And by disappointing, I mean simply they didn't win the tie, not that Almaty were a poor side. They're not.

I'm sure McInnes will make sure his players recover quickly and they'll go on to have another strong season.

[realmadrid]

It is pretty disappointment. You would think our 2nd best team in Scotland would have enough to beat a team from Kazakhstan over 2 legs.

Why, does any team outwith Glasgow have 15 million invested in them in new players over the summer?

In fact even including the Glasgow teams will any Scottish team spend so much on players.

Just because Sky don't show a league does not mean its a pub league.

[HeartsOfficialMoaner]

Kairat's playacting was fairly standard Eastern European/Central Asian stuff - Minsk did exactly the same in Perth 2 years ago. The time wasting and cheating was embarrassing, ultimately though Scottish teams are too nice, too sportsmanlike and allow it to happen. Adam Rooney should have just buried it when he had the chance, it wasn't an injury and there was no need to be nice and play it back. Their team at the end were a fair disgrace too, particularly number 4, Bruno (I think).

Think there were penalty claims/dives and claims for free kicks/dives from the Aberdeen players.

[tarapoa]

It is pretty disappointment. You would think our 2nd best team in Scotland would have enough to beat a team from Kazakhstan over 2 legs.

It's disappointing indeed, but not sure what you base the second statement on.

I was over there last week in the world's 9th largest country. Almaty is a city of over a million, with Porsches/ Ferraris all over, new malls/hotels/cafes popping up - mineral wealth abounds, Kairat have a huge budget funded by a petroleum billionaire, Brazilians, Spaniards and Ivorians recruited - Tymoschuk has now rocked up there.

Red Star Belgrade were pumped in the first round - Shaktar Karagandy (who gave Celtic so much heartburn), were pumped 5-0 away a few weeks back by them.

I am very disappointed we lost - but to make this assumption that an SPFL side SHOULD be beating them is a strange one.

[~~~]

Why, does any team outwith Glasgow have 15 million invested in them in new players over the summer?

In fact even including the Glasgow teams will any Scottish team spend so much on players.

Just because Sky don't show a league does not mean its a pub league.

Touched a nerve?

You don't find it disappointing that our second best team couldn't overcome a team from Kazakhstan over 2 legs?

I do. We should be doing better and not just looking for lazy excuses.

[BucksburnDandy]

Think there were penalty claims/dives and claims for free kicks/dives from the Aberdeen players.

Our two "penalty claims" were horrendous shouts, in both situations the Aberdeen player was quite legitimately outmuscled, I have no complaints there. Pawlett's one in the first half was particularly disappointing given that I thought he had the beating of the Kairat player. The referee had an excellent first half, second I feel he could have come down stronger on the Kairat time wasting, particularly the "injuries" to the keeper and the laughable one from Tymoschuk.

Be under no illusion, that is not the reason Aberdeen are out. We were beaten by a more clinical, more expensive and ultimately marginally better team.

[~~~]

Btw I'm not having a pop at Aberdeen, I just want to see all our clubs do better in Europe.

Football is our national sport, we are a fairly wealthy first world nation in Northern Europe. So why do we struggle so badly?

[Ross.]

Btw I'm not having a pop at Aberdeen, I just want to see all our clubs do better in Europe.

Football is our national sport, we are a fairly wealthy first world nation in Northern Europe. So why do we struggle so badly?

A large part of it is down to attitude. Our mentality is naturally pessimistic. The most common reaction to a tough but winnable draw is "That looks tricky but we have a chance". Elsewhere the reaction is "We can beat this mob". There's not much of a difference to the mindset when viewed at in those terms, but it makes a massive difference to the overall attitude. They go out looking to win, we go out looking to avoid defeat in the hope that a win is the outcome.

[Milners]

Btw I'm not having a pop at Aberdeen, I just want to see all our clubs do better in Europe.

Football is our national sport, we are a fairly wealthy first world nation in Northern Europe. So why do we struggle so badly?

TV money is one of the main reasons, look at how bad a deal Scotland gets compared to most of europe. The biggest problem i have is Match of the day gets 66 million a season while Scottish football gets about 1 million - I thought the BBC should be balanced and give Scottish about 8% of what we pay for Match of the day. This will help with us getting better facilities and better players that the younger players can learn from.

[~~~]

TV money is one of the main reasons, look at how bad a deal Scotland gets compared to most of europe. The biggest problem i have is Match of the day gets 66 million a season while Scottish football gets about 1 million - I thought the BBC should be balanced and give Scottish about 8% of what we pay for Match of the day. This will help with us getting better facilities and better players that the younger players can learn from.

I did see the TV money mentioned on Twitter.

But I'm not one who buys into the myth that better facilities = better youngsters.

[Milners]

A large part of it is down to attitude. Our mentality is naturally pessimistic. The most common reaction to a tough but winnable draw is "That looks tricky but we have a chance". Elsewhere the reaction is "We can beat this mob". There's not much of a difference to the mindset when viewed at in those terms, but it makes a massive difference to the overall attitude. They go out looking to win, we go out looking to avoid defeat in the hope that a win is the outcome.

Don't agree with this in the case of Aberdeen last night, we gave 100% and the what I was hearing was Aberdeen thought they had a great chance to get through and lets be fair we did as that team was not as good as HNK Rijeka. Gerard Gohou who scored last night is nearly on 1/3rd of our wage bill that is what we are up against.

[Milners]

I did see the TV money mentioned on Twitter.

But I'm not one who buys into the myth that better facilities = better youngsters.

ImageUploadedByPie & Bovril1438958072.481520.jpg

Think Murray Park or fit ever it is called now is a good example to that as not much has come through but we need to have better facilities. Aberdeen training on a public park is a disgrace although our manager has done very well considering but we need to get Scotland best youngsters with the best facilities and hopefully Scotland can start producing great world class players again.

[Ross.]

Don't agree with this in the case of Aberdeen last night, we gave 100% and the what I was hearing was Aberdeen thought they had a great chance to get through and lets be fair we did as that team was not as good as HNK Rijeka. Gerard Gohou who scored last night is nearly on 1/3rd of our wage bill that is what we are up against in Scotland.

The money helps, for sure, but the attitude is a major factor.

Every side in Europe, when they draw a Scottish team, will automatically view it as a great chance to go through. Scottish sides almost always see any draw as a potential banana skin. The problem starts there.

[Milners]

The money helps, for sure, but the attitude is a major factor.

Every side in Europe, when they draw a Scottish team, will automatically view it as a great chance to go through. Scottish sides almost always see any draw as a potential banana skin. The problem starts there.

Not disagreeing with you on that one, Jimmy Calderwood used to slate Aberdeen fans for expectation levels saying we had no chance against the old firm.

I do believe McInnes is different from the stories i'm hearing from people close to the club as we gave Celtic a good run for the their money last season but he believes it was our start to the season that really hurt us but i thought it was more the results against Celtic. He thinks we have a better chance this season to win the league but the media put us down as no-chance. I do think the players mentality under McInnes has changed and I see continue improvement with Aberdeen team.

[tarapoa]

Our two "penalty claims" were horrendous shouts, in both situations the Aberdeen player was quite legitimately outmuscled, I have no complaints there. Pawlett's one in the first half was particularly disappointing given that I thought he had the beating of the Kairat player.

Even worse was Pawlett's reaction - play the fkin whistle peepaw.

Whilst he was waving his arms around, the guy he was meant to be tracking stuck a bonnie ba' through and Ward had to get out and make a fine save to prevent us going 1-0 down early on.

[ArtemisClydeFrog]

Why, does any team outwith Glasgow have 15 million invested in them in new players over the summer?

In fact even including the Glasgow teams will any Scottish team spend so much on players.

Just because Sky don't show a league does not mean its a pub league.

Do you have a link for this? According to Transfermarkt most of their signings have been free transfers and loans. Even at that, the players they have recruited don't exactly come with any sort of pedigree, Tymoshchuk aside who is well past his best.