29th January - Last week, it was time for the Glasgow press to dust off their favourite old chestnut in the build up to a huns v Dandies match and wheel out a variation on the Simmie/Durrant story. Strangely they failed to recall other incidents that put a slightly different slant on the ongoing hate-hate relationship between the two clubs, that they so love to foster. Couldn't be to help sell newspapers could it? The other side of the story should be told so let's start with the day that cherry, cheeky, chirpy Sally McMoist stove in Theo Snelders cheek bone back in October 1990, with his raised boot in a sliding tackle at Pittodrie. That was an easily avoidable incident which the press made light of because Sally was such a cheery, chirpy, lovable wee chap who wouldn't harm a fly or ever seek to cause trouble.
Much, much worse though, was the assault by Willie Johnston at Ibrox on John McMaster. The poisonous toad stamped on McMaster's throat and went back to have another go as the Dons' player lay choking on the ground. It took prompt action by physio Roland Arnott to make sure that the cynical attack didn't turn out to be even worse than it was. After that, for as long as Johnston was a player, the press never mentioned that frenzied moment in the build up to any rangers v Aberdeen match. Strange, isn't it?
No attack by one player on another can be justified, no matter what the circumstances. Nor should the press continually attempt to capitalise on it afterwards. Still, it would be that wee bit harder to keep the circulation up if editors didn't allow this provocative style of journalism. And who knows, maybe they'll get a few spin-off stories when they have worked fans into a lather and engineered fighting between rivals, or worse.
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WHERE ARE THEY NOW? - The Northern Light historical update |
| Number 1 - Ally Ross - A nefarious TRF contributor (identity withheld to protect the guilty) has been given the dodgy task of trawling the many seedy tabloids that taint the nation's newsagents. In the course of this dangerous mission, it has been discovered that one time TNL contributor Ally Ross, 89 of no fixed has fallen on hard times and is now writing for The News of The World. It is not known what brought the wacky pen-jockey to this sorry state, but his former colleagues are distraught to learn that he now suffers under the appellation of Britain's No. 1 Couch Potato. Worse, the lad is professing to have the hots for the flat chested , blonde barmaid, Mel from East Enders. In memory of happier and more respectable times, we reproduce a short extract from one of Ally's inspired TNL pieces where he deals with the social life of Pittodrie legend Ian Porteous. The antlers have no connection with Mr. Ross who is a Leo Sayer fan. |
Up for the Cup!
A full turn out of Pittodrie directors is expected at Alloa on Saturday
On Monday morning the AFC Shareholders Association put out a press release announcing that their committee was proposing to members that the Association be converted to a Supporters Trust so that all fans and sympathisers could become stakeholders in the Dons. The idea is incredibly simple and there are already umpteen similar Trusts up and running in England. Unfortunately for AFCSA Charlie chose to write a story for Monday's Evening Express that was not only absolute nonsense but also contrived to confuse the hell out of anybody who read it. He also tried to create a conflict between the Club and the AFCSA that doesn't exist. The problem lies in the "news" about Willie Miller. Chas claims that he is going to work for the Club in some capacity relating to a trust that Dave Cormack wants to set up - this is not true. Willie went on BBC Radio Scotland this morning and told the listening punters that he has committed himself to being a trustee of the AFC Supporters Trust and that the trustee role is not too demanding, all he and the other trustees will be asked to do is ensure that the people operating the Trust keep to the constitution and rules, besides which, Willie believes that the Supporters Trust is a good idea. This is the simple truth.
There is truth in the story that Dave Cormack wants to set up a charitable foundation and the AFCSA thinks his idea is a great one. It is all about raising money through local businesses that will be used to do things like bring top quality coaching to Northeast schools and to help under privileged kids to get to games at Pittodrie. This is quite different from the Supporters Trust which is all about inclusion of individuals and will have no direct linkage to businesses. In fact, the AFCSA think that Dave Cormack's one is sound and deserves to go ahead and be successful. Equally, there has been positive reaction from the Pittodrie boardroom about the Supporters Trust.
Joey Harper's column in the Tuesday evening Express is sheer piffle and doesn't merit any discussion. Just remember that it is crap.
Of course the stories have grains of truth in them, and they are written in such a way that a scandal is built up, but when you read what the players have actually said, there is next to nothing in it. Di Rocco is saying that he was surprised about the drinking and dietary habits of Scottish players because they are different from those of players in France. What is wrong with that? The statement is true, especially on the issue of drink. Dons' supporters are often complaining about one player or another being out pubbing and clubbing on the eve of matches. They have always done it and it doesn't make sense for a professional athlete to be doing that. Good pros certainly wouldn't. As for diet, well, it has improved immensely over the years, but the Scots as a nation have a poor diet so it is hardly surprising to read about the players scoffing stodge and fat. If they had an ounce of brains they would look after themselves properly - they are certainly offered good advice by the club but most of them seem to ignore it.
It's ironic, really, that players justify their demands for high wages by telling us that they have relatively short careers, because the way many of them go about living their lives after they have the fat contracts is probably enough to damage those same short careers and possibly shorten them. Did Di Rocco call it wrong? Don't think so.
As to Zero's comments, once again we have a player speaking the truth as he sees it. he is a guy who wears his heart on his sleeve and when he was upset during the Cup final he showed it. God for him, I say. I'd rather see players showing that they care about their part in the Dandies' fortunes. The question of other players not giving him the ball during matches is a bit greyer but if you think back over some of the games he has been involved in, you may well remember times when he was cut out by team-mates and you have to wonder about their attitude, not his. For sure, Zero sometimes looks as though he is sulking during a game, but that has probably been brought on by frustration and the fact that the guys round about him simply aren't thinking as fat as he is.
Charlie Allan tells us that Zero and the rest of the team have been getting on famously in Torremolinos, so maybe they have kissed and made up. It certainly sounds like this week away is doing a lot for team building and that is how it should be. let's hope that the traveling party come back full of beans (not literally) and ready to take on a cuff all comers. It'll make a nice change for them and for us long suffering fans too.
The Dons go through their paces in Torremolinos led by Stuart (Zimmerman) Hogg (arrowed)
| 13th January - OBE has just got round to adding "Images of Sport - Aberdeen Football Club 1903 - 1973" to his extensive
Dons' library so he is his view on this publication that popped surreptitiously onto the shelves last year. The first thought is that it is a curious period to cover, perhaps something to do with copyright on photos or maybe the number of pages available to the compiler? Who knows. The written content is fairly minimal, sticking mainly to brief pen portraits of players throughout the period, and does not add anything to what is already written elsewhere about the Dons. There are a lot of photos in the 125 pages, but even here most of them have been seen in Alastair Guthrie's "Pictorial History" from 1988 and Jim Rickaby's "A Complete Record". There are a few different ones though and this would probably justify the £9.99 for a serious Rudolph. One big surprise is that the book hasn't got one action shot of Joey Harper despite giving quite a bit of space to the Eddie Turnbull era nor is there anything on the famous Washington Whips of 1967 (surely worthy of a book all to themselves? For most people the best idea with this is to have a good look through before buying and if you don't feel it's a must then wait for it to be remaindered and then pick it up on the cheap. Hey! It's up to you. |
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9th January - It's an Omen! - Tonight's total eclipse of the moon, surrounded by that stunning red halo can only portend one thing at the beginning of a new century and a new millennium - The Dandies are on the way back! This will be a red century, make no mistake about it. The TRF Seer L. S. Pringle, has already been reading the chicken bones at Echt and has predicted that despite all odds the Reds, ably backed by a growing Red Army, will start to sweep all before them as the century gets under way. Look out Alloa, look out hunz, the Dandies are coming to get you and that's only this month. - L.S. assures us that the youthful Dons will rapidly mature into a lean, mean, fighting machine and football their way to glory in the foreseeable future. A future, incidentally, that doesn't include Stewart Milne and Ian Donald screwing up the club in the way they have managed in the past few years. Start thinking big folks and get that lucky white heather looked out because it'll all help bulldoze the mighty Aberdeen back to the forefront of Scottish and European football.
This message has been brought to you by the patrons of Kings Seat
Importantly, if some punters hadn't got the message about the shortage of cash in the Pittodrie coffers, they must surely have grasped the dodgy situation now. In the past there'd have been no hesitation over signing an influential guy like Di Rocco, now we're not even able to feed off the scraps at Sedan's table. Sedan is a town with a population about the same as Stonehaven - how does it manage to support a team challenging at the top end of French football? Can we learn from them?
The business about Fergie can be read in a few different ways, but TRF looks on it as a sign that there are now some people in the boardroom who are prepared to think big and outside their box (cheers Sparky) in their quest to improve our Club. Chances are that even the guys who were discussing this idea wouldn't have expected it to actually happen, but if they keep working this way and clear some of the deadwood from the boardroom at the same time we might start to get somewhere.
Fundamentally TRF would probably be against the idea of bringing anybody into Pittodrie by giving them absolute control. We have enough problems now when powerful elements follow their own agendas and block most attempts to change and modernise AFC. Football clubs need to be run by groups of people who are prepared to challenge and be challenged, that wouldn't happen if the person in charge was able to vote through anything they wanted. The Arabz had a chairman who had virtually absolute power and look where it got them. We mustn't let Aberdeen go the same way. Certainly try and bring in people of stature, but do it in such a way as to ensure that if the deal turns out to be a bad one there is some way out of it for all our sakes.
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The 21st Century is RED |
