New Season, New Attitude, Same missed chances.

Aberdeen came into the new season with most of the fans feeling some optimism that we would see an improved side with the players Craig and Archie have brought in over the summer.
One new signing that was not fit for the game was Chris Clark.

We played well and were creating chances but I was always nervous that we would end up regretting our missed chances as has happened so often in the past.
We could have been 3 or 4 up at half time and if corners meant goals we would have been way ahead. St Johnstone changed it up a bit in the 2nd half and came at us a bit more, but in truth the Aberdeen defence looked comfortable.

The major turning point in the match was the red card to Ryan Jack for a late challenge on Murray Davidson, some people saying it was a bad challenge others saying it was a free kick and a yellow card at most. I will look forward to seeing it on the highlights.
(Having seen the highlights and listened to the players and managers thoughts it looks like it was a red card, the studs were a little high but I think it was just  a young player trying hard to win the ball)

Craig Brown has spoken about wanting to bring in a flair player and after seeing some of the missed chances I can see what he means. Hopefully said striker will be in place before our trip to St Mirren next weekend.

So not the flying start we had last season (but look how that turned out) but we need to remember that it is a marathon and not a race.

So in all I am disappointed with the 0-0 draw and the missed chances but pleased with the build up play and attitude of the team.

I would also like to mention Ricky Foster who got a hard time in one of the pre season games for going on loan to Rangers last season, he played well and had a few chances, he looked like (as someone on twitter said) a man on a mission.
Ricky was also voted man of the match Keep up the good work Captain Foster.
I was also impressed with Josh Magennis, our new signing’s impressed also. I don’t think we had a bad player in the team today.

Stand Free

>Aberdeen finish a terrible season on a high.

>This has been one of the worst season for a long time, but Aberdeen ended the season on a high with a 3-1 win over Hibs in Edinburgh.

I kind of had a feeling that we might win this game, We seem to be Hibs bogey team this season having now beaten them 3 times out of 4.

Aberdeen’s player of the season Chris Bebo Maguire scored a 2 minute double in the second half to secure the points after Big Josh magennis had equalized .

Although it was a nice way to end the season it only papers over the cracks, but every Aberdeen fan knows the major task Craig and Archie have ahead of them in the summer.
A number of players will be moving on and we need to replace them with players who are better if we want to move forward.

If Maguire stays and continues to grow as a player then he can form a lethal partnership with Scott Vernon. If Bebo goes then we have to find a player who can score goals and also feed vernon.
No disrespect to the guy but I don’t think Darren Mackie is that player. He gives his all and is a good back up to have but I don’t think he should be one of our main strikers.

Big Josh is also a good back up to have and if he continues to improve maybe in a year or 2 he can be the main man.
Micheal Paton is one player who has just not improved over the last few years and I would shed no tears if he was to move on.

Aluko will be missed with his speed on the wing, on his day he can be a great player but other days he can be frustrating, reminds me of Eion Jess in some ways.

We will find out in the coming weeks and months who is staying, who is going and who is coming in. Should be an interesting break.

Now lets enjoy the summer, no break from football for me, still got Columbus Crew playing in the MLS and the USA playing in the Gold Cup.

Stand Free

>Where will a victory come from?

>Today’s game against St Mirren was a chance for Aberdeen to say sorry to the fans that did turn up  for the terrible season and thanks for sticking by us.

Instead we got another inept performance, I hardly remember hearing the St Mirren goalkeeper mentioned, to be fair Jamie Langfield was not really put under any pressure, but St Mirren took one more chance than we did and are now guaranteed SPL football next season.

I am just happy that we did have that purple patch when Craig Brown and Archie Knox came to Pittodrie as those point picked up then saved us from relegation.

With one more game to play, against Hibs this Saturday, who would bet against St Mirren leapfrogging us and leaving us 2nd bottom when the season is complete.
I really cannot see where a win is going to come from.

So what now? We have a few players out of contract, so there may be some changes over the summer , but will the players who come in be any better than those departing.

What will the management team be thinking? Will next season be their last when their contracts run out or will they stay to see  the job complete.
If they are going to retire are the board actively looking for Suitable replacements or are they going to wait until 2 weeks before the start of the 2012/2013 season.

These questions will all be answered in the next twelve months.

As for us fans the majority will return to spend their hard earned money following the Dons or in my case another years Subscription to Red TV, but some I fear will find other more entertaining ways to spend their Saturdays.

Stand Free

>Is it over yet?

>This week the news has been filled with stories about the shooting and killing of Osama Bin Laden, I think a more subtable punishment would have been to capture him alive and make him sit and watch DVDs of every Aberdeen game this season.

2010/2011 has just been torture for us long suffering Dons fans and it got no better this afternoon.
I have been lucky that due to work commitments and being away for the day last Saturday, I have not heard much of the last couple of games, hence why no blog for a few weeks.
But today I was not so lucky.

The team seemed to be on their summer vacations already, lack of effort and commitment to the cause was evident. St Johnstone were far from being great but they could easily have won by more  than two goals .

It is a worry, these last couple of home games might just be the deciding factor for some whether they return to Pittodrie next season or not, Craig Brown has a massive job on his hands rebuilding this summer.

The one highlight of today’s game was the return of Fraser Fyvie who has missed most of the season through injury, He came on as a second half sub and although he really did nothing of note, just getting a game in the first team will boost his confidence and in the long run his fitness.

So this time next week it will be over and we can relax for the summer.

Stand Free

>Tempers Boyle over as Dons are Well done.

>It is good to be back after a two week break since Aberdeen’s last game.
Since I last blogged shot Shy Scotland were defeated 2-0 by Brazil in London, the USA had a credible 1-1 draw with Argentina only to then lose to Paraguay and Columbus Crew finally scored a goal from open play and won their first game of the new MLS season.
But back to the Aberdeen game

This game was a must win if we were to have any realistic chance of getting into the top 6 this season.
We started really badly and I don’t think Randolph had a save to make in the first half, in fact they could have had Rudolph in goals and we  would  not have scored in the first half.

We seemed to step it up a bit in the second half but the finishing was poor.
We scored near the end to set up a nervy finish for Motherwell but in truth it would not have been deserved had we taken something from the game.

The biggest talking point was the bust up between Motherwell Chairman John Boyle and Aberdeen Manager Craig Brown in the tunnel after the full time whistle.
As the two went to shake hands Boyle said something to Brown and Brown chased after him.
After the Old Firm game where McCoist and Lennon went at it, I would have hoped Brown would have shown more sense, but sometimes in the heat of the moment we all do things we should not.

Anyway back to the game itself, I was disappointed with the performance by Aberdeen and really fear for the game against Celtic at Hampden in a couple of weeks, If they play like that it could be another Long trip home  for the Dons fans.
We need to start winning the midfield battles and getting the ball to our strikers, no service means no goals.
The defensive mistakes need to stop, we had a run of clean sheets and now it is as if the defence has forgotten the basics once again.

We now face a tough trip to Saint Mirren in midweek, a venue we were luck to escape with a draw on our previous visit. Lets hope we can get back to winning ways and build up some confidence so we can end a very poor season on a high.

Stand Free