Semi Final: Aberdeen vs Celtic

[Dunfermline Don]

Dons fan and shareholder living in West Fife and I don’t think I have ever felt as ‘meh’ about a semifinal.

It’s a combination of KO time, cost of tickets and the fact I just can’t be arsed with any games against the gruesome twosome at Hampden any more.

If it was against the JTs I might have been interested. I went to the League Cup Semi against the Hi-bees with my  Pars supporting sons and their Pals as I felt there was a chance of a more even game. 
 

I will still probably watch the game on TV before heading along to East End to watch the Pars against The Spiders. 
 

PS. Should we win I may go to the final and would definitely expect a 50/50 split of tickets regardless of who we play.

[Melanius Mullarkey]

This has a 2010-11 semi final feel about it. 

[AJF]

On 05/04/2024 at 19:01, lubo_blaha said:

Nope. We’ve essentially had 1/4 of the stadium on sale to us and we have around 1.5k left so will be around 10k atm. Over 1000 of these are in the South Stand at £41 each plus £7(!) postage charge per order. We may sell out the rest of our current allocation in the West but not the South at those prices. Celtic will be getting a good chunk of the North-West corner of the ground pretty soon I’d imagine.

I could be wrong, but isn’t the £7 postage fee only if you select special delivery as the method? For our Semi Final I was £41 for the North Stand which includes a £1 web sales fee.

[Dons_1988]

25 minutes ago, AJF said:

I could be wrong, but isn’t the £7 postage fee only if you select special delivery as the method? For our Semi Final I was £41 for the North Stand which includes a £1 web sales fee.

AFC website only offers collection or special delivery 

[AJF]

3 minutes ago, Dons_1988 said:

AFC website only offers collection or special delivery 

Ah, I see. That’s a bit unfortunate.

[lubo_blaha]

1 hour ago, AJF said:

Ah, I see. That’s a bit unfortunate.

They apparently refuse to do reprints for Hampden tickets so AFC (and possibly other clubs) don’t offer standard delivery in case it gets lost. 

Ridiculous situation. They could easily utilise the Hampden ticket app that they use for Scotland games too.

[DrewDon]

When the draw for this was made, I was only really wanting to avoid Rangers and felt that we could give Celtic a decent game (although we would still obviously go in as underdogs). Having now watched both teams over the last fortnight or so, though, and with Celtic beginning to get back the likes of Hatate and McGregor, maybe that was a bit short-sighted. 

I do wonder if Leven will be tempted to get out Robson's blueprint from some of the Conference League games, where we were content to sacrifice possession for a sound defensive structure and rely almost entirely on transitions for our attacking threat. That would likely mean reverting to a five at the back, with a lot of responsibility on Devlin and Mackenzie at both ends of the park. We need to make sure we have some size and energy in the middle, especially with Shinnie suspended, so Phillips has to start for me. I also wouldn't mind seeing Polvara and McGrath essentially in the roles they took up against Frankfurt away and PAOK at home, making us into quite a compact midfield four but also hitting the box and supporting Miovski as often as possible when we do get possession. Polvara in particular would need to get close to Miovski when we have goal-kicks and are going long, to make sure he doesn't get swamped and to give us an alternative target in the air.

I think I would go with: Roos; Devlin, Gartenmann, MacDonald, Jensen, Mackenzie; Polvara, Barron, Phillips, McGrath; Miovski. 

I could maybe see the case for Clarkson over Barron, but the defensive side of the game is a bit more natural to Barron and he is still a bit more comfortable receiving the ball in tight spaces. Rubezic would ideally play in the middle of the five, but it would be madness to throw him in after so long out. Also, given that Celtic will probably start with Kyogo and not have much physicality up there, it is arguably the sort of game in which his skillset isn't that much of a loss anyway.

[cyderspaceman]

 The best-attended Scottish Cup tie also happens to hold the European record for a domestic crowd.   

147,365 supporters watched Celtic versus Aberdeen on April 24 1937.

Ah, the good old days.

No,  I don't remember it.

'Mon the Dons.

 

 

 

Edited April 15 by cyderspaceman

[Dons_1988]

1 hour ago, DrewDon said:

When the draw for this was made, I was only really wanting to avoid Rangers and felt that we could give Celtic a decent game (although we would still obviously go in as underdogs). Having now watched both teams over the last fortnight or so, though, and with Celtic beginning to get back the likes of Hatate and McGregor, maybe that was a bit short-sighted. 

I do wonder if Leven will be tempted to get out Robson's blueprint from some of the Conference League games, where we were content to sacrifice possession for a sound defensive structure and rely almost entirely on transitions for our attacking threat. That would likely mean reverting to a five at the back, with a lot of responsibility on Devlin and Mackenzie at both ends of the park. We need to make sure we have some size and energy in the middle, especially with Shinnie suspended, so Phillips has to start for me. I also wouldn't mind seeing Polvara and McGrath essentially in the roles they took up against Frankfurt away and PAOK at home, making us into quite a compact midfield four but also hitting the box and supporting Miovski as often as possible when we do get possession. Polvara in particular would need to get close to Miovski when we have goal-kicks and are going long, to make sure he doesn't get swamped and to give us an alternative target in the air.

I think I would go with: Roos; Devlin, Gartenmann, MacDonald, Jensen, Mackenzie; Polvara, Barron, Phillips, McGrath; Miovski. 

I could maybe see the case for Clarkson over Barron, but the defensive side of the game is a bit more natural to Barron and he is still a bit more comfortable receiving the ball in tight spaces. Rubezic would ideally play in the middle of the five, but it would be madness to throw him in after so long out. Also, given that Celtic will probably start with Kyogo and not have much physicality up there, it is arguably the sort of game in which his skillset isn't that much of a loss anyway.

Wouldn’t argue with any of that. I’d also be taking the approach from Europe for this game and would also go Barron over clarkson to start.

Key to any ‘success’ we had in Europe with this was the confidence, bravery and ambition we showed when we did have the ball. You look at the 2nd goal against PAOK and it all starts with Barron winning the ball in our half and carrying the ball and being direct. It’s so, so important to be able to cause them problems. 

So, aye, back 5. Keep it compact. Deny them space, frustrate. But if we shite it every time we have the ball then we have no chance. None. 

 

[DrewDon]

2 minutes ago, Dons_1988 said:

Wouldn’t argue with any of that. I’d also be taking the approach from Europe for this game and would also go Barron over clarkson to start.

Key to any ‘success’ we had in Europe with this was the confidence, bravery and ambition we showed when we did have the ball. You look at the 2nd goal against PAOK and it all starts with Barron winning the ball in our half and carrying the ball and being direct. It’s so, so important to be able to cause them problems. 

So, aye, back 5. Keep it compact. Deny them space, frustrate. But if we shite it every time we have the ball then we have no chance. None. 

 

Definitely. A lot was said about our performance against Rangers at Hampden in December, but it wasn't all bad: the shape was mostly good and we denied them too many clear-cut chances. But we were painfully timid when we got the ball, and really struggled to make use of having both Miovski and Sokler on the pitch when we did get periods of possession. If we can replicate some of our good work out of possession against superior teams from earlier in the season (big, massive 'if') but also combine that with being brave on the ball and committing bodies forward without leaving ourselves too open, we might be able to give ourselves a slim chance. We would no doubt still need to have a really good day and Celtic to have a really bad day, though. 

[lubo_blaha]

4 hours ago, cyderspaceman said:

 The best-attended Scottish Cup tie also happens to hold the European record for a domestic crowd.   

147,365 supporters watched Celtic versus Aberdeen on April 24 1937.

Ah, the good old days.

No,  I don't remember it.

'Mon the Dons.

 

 

 

Was it a 50:50 split?

[WeeMentalDavie]

Celtic tickets sold out.

[Aylo vanal]

Less than 10k for a semi final is poor from Aberdeen whichever way you look at it. 

However,  you'd imagine it'll be the proper supporters like us in 2012 against celtic which was the best atmosphere wise in our end.

[kennie makevin]

On 17/03/2024 at 18:32, Flybhoy said:

Pretty much like we get every time at Pittodrie. 

 

No matter what kick off time Aberdeen get in semi finals the whinging b*****ds complain about it, you had a 5.00 kick off on a Sunday at Hampden against the **** about five years ago and the fans were complaining it was unfair on people with kids who had school in the morning and might not get home till 10 or 11 o'clock. 

It's not a league game it's a supposedly 'neutral' national cup final. The real scandal is why it's played in Glasgow at all. A totally full Tannadice would be both fairer geographically and more atmospheric than a three quarter full Hampden.....and making Hampden exclusively the venue for the final only adds to the day.

 

Edited April 18 by kennie makevin

[betting competition]

6 hours ago, Aylo vanal said:

Less than 10k for a semi final is poor from Aberdeen whichever way you look at it. 

However,  you'd imagine it'll be the proper supporters like us in 2012 against celtic which was the best atmosphere wise in our end.

Less than 8k, which is frankly disgraceful. Supporters Clubs are facing difficulties in selling bus seats. This poses a future issue for us in attempting to achieve a 50/50 split for the cup final if we emerge victorious.

[Aylo vanal]

26 minutes ago, betting competition said:

Less than 8k, which is frankly disgraceful. Supporters Clubs are facing difficulties in selling bus seats. This poses a future issue for us in attempting to achieve a 50/50 split for the cup final if we emerge victorious.

Jeez. Aberdeens away support is normally decent for league games so why the apathy towards a semi final? 

I think Hearts will be near 19/20k come Sunday albeit we have a better kick off time and only an hour to travel. 

[HeartsOfficialMoaner]

2 hours ago, betting competition said:

Less than 8k, which is frankly disgraceful. Supporters Clubs are facing difficulties in selling bus seats. This poses a future issue for us in attempting to achieve a 50/50 split for the cup final if we emerge victorious.

Just win. Everything else will not matter. See you in the final.

[BucksburnDandy]

3 hours ago, betting competition said:

Less than 8k, which is frankly disgraceful. Supporters Clubs are facing difficulties in selling bus seats. This poses a future issue for us in attempting to achieve a 50/50 split for the cup final if we emerge victorious.

 

2 hours ago, Aylo vanal said:

Jeez. Aberdeens away support is normally decent for league games so why the apathy towards a semi final? 

I think Hearts will be near 19/20k come Sunday albeit we have a better kick off time and only an hour to travel. 

 

In my own case, my wife is working dayshift on Saturday so I'm home looking after the wee one (19 months old) as we've no family within 100 miles of us. I'd imagine for others a mix of family responsibilities like above, being put off by the crap season and for some, the ticket prices will be hard to justify.

[kingjoey]

What amount did we sell for the Lewis Ferguson Rangers semi final? It felt that we were hugely outnumbered that day.

[Flybhoy]

7 hours ago, kennie makevin said:

It's not a league game it's a supposedly 'neutral' national cup final. The real scandal is why it's played in Glasgow at all. A totally full Tannadice would be both fairer geographically and more atmospheric than a three quarter full Hampden.....and making Hampden exclusively the venue for the final only adds to the day.

 

Aye let's play a match that would be a sell out of circa 52,000 in a stadium that holds about 15k. 

Totally sensible and well thought out idea....

Scotland must genuinely be the only country in the football world that has scores of people who actively want to stop people attending matches, having thousands of empty seats at matches to satisfy keyboard warriors who don't want visiting fans in them is one thing but this fucking crackpot suggestion is the daddy of insecure pettiness........fucking hell

 

Can you imagine Liverpool v Arsenal in the FA cup final being played at Molinuex in front of 40k instead of 95k at Wembley because Arsenal are from London where the national stadium is?    Obviously that wouldn't happen because the English aren't as fucking embarrassing as some people up here, they have their faults and their football is a bit money orientated and tourist league but they would rightly cringe at some of the pish like this. 

Edited April 18 by Flybhoy