TRF Front Page Archive August 2001

These items have appeared on the TRF homepage and we wouldn't want to deprive you of anything that we have posted, so browse away.

29th March - Being about as old as most of the players on show (well, as Martin Buchan at least) OBE took himself along to the 40's 50's & 60's night at the Queen's Hotel yesterday. Taking part were Archie Baird, Fred Martin, Bob Wishart, Eddie Turnbull, Jimmy Wilson and Martin Buchan along with hosts Buff Hardie and Jack Webster. All that and dinner too.

What a great night! The whole audience sat in rapt attention as these legendary members of the AFC Hall of Fame (and if you don't know any of their names, you are not a true Red) spoke about their times with the Dandies and their football careers in general. It was a fantastic mixture of wit, humour and nostalgia that gave everybody there a real lift. The chance to see and hear guys who did so much to build up the post-war history of the Dons was far too god to miss, it's only a shame that it couldn't have been recorded in its entirety. If you missed it, you might at least get a chance to sample the flavour of the night, because the BBC had a film crew there as part of their compilation of a documentary about our club and its players. That'll be televised in May, something else to look forward to in this hectic year.

There's going to be another one of these events in September, with players from the 70's 80's & 90's and if it is remotely as good as light night, you'd better get in on it early coz chances like that don't come along every day - once a century, indeed.

27th March - If you didn't go to Pittodrie for the Hamburg match last night you missed out on a treat. These challenge matches are often a bit of a yawn, but this one was a good game of football with great goals at both ends of the park. Hamburg are a very good side, even with some of their front line away on international duties and playing against them can only have served to help with the development of our own team. Paul Sheerin again showed what a great signing he is by getting the Dons off to a scoring start but his strike also served to get the Hamburg players geed up. The small group of visiting fans had been got at by a couple of demented huns who had them trying out sectarian songs, but fortunately the local ploddery heaved the huns and their offensove flags out and the tone of the songs changed. Hamburg have the second biggest traveling support in Germany and they are a pretty noisy bunch too. Unfortunately too many of our own regulars stayed away so over all the atmosphere wasn't up to much but that wasn't the fault of the players on the park.

This was a worthwhile workout for the Dandies and a great change from playing against the usual hammer throwers fielded by most SPL teams. Let's hope that it helped keep them tuned up and ready to get stuck back into domestic action down at Livingston a week on Saturday.

The press corps stand by to have another go at AFC

21st March - Over the past thirty years, the Redz have built up a decent record against German opposition at Pittodrie and that includes two victories over Hamburg in European competition. Next week's game isn't a UEFA match, but it is none-the-less an important one in the development of Stevie Paterson's team. We are watching a metamorphosis going on at Pittodrie and the management team need every possible chance to work with their players in match conditions, it allows them to test their tactical ideas and assess whether or not the players can make them work on the park. Some players will learn from playing against a top German side - even in a semi-competitive match - and some won't, but they will all supply the manager with information that he needs to help him decide if he wants to keep or replace players. For that reason at the very least, the game next week is worthwhile.

Fan leaders are calling for people to turn up at Pittodrie in numbers for the game and TRF supports this sentiment. The need for us all to rally round and back the boss is as strong as it was the day he arrived - stronger, even. Let's hope that there is a big and noisy crowd on a fine spring evening and that the Dandies can do to Hamburg what they did in the eighties. It would be a tremendous sign of progress.

18th March - Like everybody else associated with AFC, The Red Final is determined to show absolute solidarity with Steve Paterson in his fight to overcome a serious problem in his personal life. The decision of the board to give the man a chance to set himself straight is the right one and there is no doubt that he is still the guy to lead us to a better footballing future. He has a strong management team around him, the players have been responding in the right way to what has happened, the fans have thrown themselves behind him. The atmosphere is right to see the boss through.

What we have to be careful of is, in being so supportive, we don't end up creating extra, unnecessary pressures and adding to the problems. We have to look on this situation as being one that we are all in together and so spread the load and show the rest of football that Aberdeen FC and its supporters have the combined strength to deal with anything thrown at us and that we believe in taking care of our own. It may have slipped past the notice of many people, but the Supporters Trust and Supporters Association issued a joint press statement in response to the Pele story and this is a positive step that the two organisations should follow up on and work hard towards coming together more often and even in the end becoming a single, very potent organisation.

One of the biggest tests for the manager now will be the next league match - away to Livingston. No doubt, supporters of other clubs will fancy having a go at the boss to upset the team and try and gain some sort of advantage. Our players and fans who will be there in numbers must make sure that the opposition are given nothing to shout about. The team must draw on their personal strengths to dominate and win the game and our fans will respond by outsinging (not too hard a Livvy) the opposition and showing that the only thing that matters is the football.

16th March - We might not be leaping up the SPL table yet, but the change of management team has definitely started to work for the Dons. The rate of victories under Steve Paterson has increased over what we got with Uncle Ebbe in charge with a win rate of 27.27% compared with 21.05%. The SPL defeats are slightly worse, but other than when we played Dunfermline for Pele's first match, we have not taken any more fearful poundings and with a little good fortune might have beaten the Timz instead maintaining Ebbe's habit of losing heavily to them. Of course the new management team have not yet succeeded in overcoming the deficiencies of our strikers, but they are getting more goals from midfield and defence. Given time and patience there's no reason to doubt that they will get that sorted too.

We all knew that a change of management would find us in a spell of reorganising and rebuilding and that is what has been going on with the introduction of a couple of more mature midfielders to help the younger guys through. The fighting qualities of the reviving team are certainly there to see and although we can expect the odd setback, the signs are good for continued improvement. It's a shame that there's no longer a top six place to play for, because that would have been a big incentive, but pride is still at stake and the Dandies should strive to finish best of the rest. Let's all give Paterson, Shearer, Williams and Cooper by turning out in force for the last few games of this disappointing season and show them just how worthwhile it will be for them to get the AFC show back on the road.

10th March - Normally, TRF would prefer to have a good old gripe about the apparent logjam of fixtures hitting the Under 18 and Under 21 teams lately, but for this season only (hopefully) we see it as quite a fortuitous circumstance. The two teams were really toiling until the management changeout at the end of last year but now Neil Cooper has got his hands on things and already we can see an improvement. Better results are great, especially for the diehard group of Redz who turn out to see all these games when they are played in Aberdeen, but the most important aspect is that Cooper is getting a chance to work his coaching magic on the pitch as well as the training field. There is a real chance in this hectic spell for Cooper to get to know the younger players and to start influencing them for the better before what has been a pretty miserable season comes to an end. On top of that, there is that wee bit of icing in the shape of the SFA Youth Cup final to look forward to. Let's hope that the youth team get what they deserve - a chance to go out on the Hampden turf and contest a national final in the national stadium. We certainly don't want to have a trek to Dimbarton or Hamuleton, although the SFA are more than capable of playing the donkey yet again and sending us on a daft journey. Wherever the match is played - here's hoping for a significant turnout by the Red Army and a victory for the youngsters who should be the future of AFC.

3rd March - Everybody involved with or supporting AFC, except possibly some of the players, will have woken up, smelt the coffee and realised that we are heavily embroiled in a relegation dog fight. Each result from now till the end of the season will leave us all, except possibly some of the players, feeling cast down or uplifted until we know our fate. The loss of form by Falkirk and the dogged pressing on by St. Johnstone could yet see somebody dropping out of the SPL and the script seems to be written for the Saintees to step up in their place. For Aberdeen, the major worry is the complete unpredictability of how our players will perform in any match. All we have to go on is the track record of the season and we have lost far more games than we have won. Even when the Redz take the field against teams that should be beatable it is no guarantee that our boys will do the needful. Sadly, too many Pittodrie players seem to understand little of the club's plight and to care less. If you know your way about town, you can easily tell who they are, they are the ones showing off their flash cars and wearing their latest selection of designer clothes. They are the players who leave Pittodrie, not long after another defeat, laughing and joking and planning another night out on the town. They are the players who have a vastly overinflated sense of their own worth - no matter how much they are failing to earn their wages on the field of play.

Hopefully some of these guys will be brought crashing into the real world at the end of the season when they find that their services are no longer required and that other clubs don't want them either. Now is a time when players should be playing for the jersey and putting all their hearts and souls into getting the results that will ensure SPL survival. You have to feel huge sympathy for the new management team who are having to try and coax or cajole performances out of guys who can be arsed to give them or whose heads go down at the slightest setback. Maybe AFC needs to sign up a squad of grafters who will grind out results without the pretty play that the current prima donnas are capable of.

Prime importance must now be focussed on beating Motherwell on Saturday. Despite being in administration and having lost loads of experienced players, they are a side that just can't quite lie down and they are breathing down the necks of the Dons. If the Redz can go to Motherwell on Saturday and grab a win - by any means - then they will relieve a huge pressure on themselves and the club. If they lose again, then the mire deepens accordingly and the worse it gets, the worse it gets.

Home Return to archive Index

29th March - Being about as old as most of the players on show (well, as Martin Buchan at least) OBE took himself along to the *40's 50's & 60's* night at the Queen's Hotel yesterday. Taking part were Archie Baird, Fred Martin, Bob Wishart, Eddie Turnbull, Jimmy Wilson and Martin Buchan along with hosts Buff Hardie and Jack Webster. All that and dinner too. What a great night! The whole audience sat in rapt attention as these legendary members of the AFC Hall of Fame (and if you don't know any of their names, you are not a true Red) spoke about their times with the Dandies and their football careers in general. It was a fantastic mixture of wit, humour and nostalgia that gave everybody there a real lift. The chance to see and hear guys who did so much to build up the post-war history of the Dons was far too god to miss, it's only a shame that it couldn't have been recorded in its entirety. If you missed it, you might at least get a chance to sample the flavour of the night, because the BBC had a film crew there as part of their compilation of a documentary about our club and its players. That'll be televised in May, something else to look forward to in this hectic year. There's going to be another one of these events in September, with players from the *70's 80's & 90's* and if it is remotely as good as light night, you'd better get in on it early coz chances like that don't come along every day - once a century, indeed.
27th March - If you didn't go to Pittodrie for the Hamburg match last night you missed out on a treat. These challenge matches are often a bit of a yawn, but this one was a good game of football with great goals at both ends of the park. Hamburg are a very good side, even with some of their front line away on international duties and playing against them can only have served to help with the development of our own team. Paul Sheerin again showed what a great signing he is by getting the Dons off to a scoring start but his strike also served to get the Hamburg players geed up. The small group of visiting fans had been got at by a couple of demented huns who had them trying out sectarian songs, but fortunately the local ploddery heaved the huns and their offensove flags out and the tone of the songs changed. Hamburg have the second biggest traveling support in Germany and they are a pretty noisy bunch too. Unfortunately too many of our own regulars stayed away so over all the atmosphere wasn't up to much but that wasn't the fault of the players on the park. This was a worthwhile workout for the Dandies and a great change from playing against the usual hammer throwers fielded by most SPL teams. Let's hope that it helped keep them tuned up and ready to get stuck back into domestic action down at Livingston a week on Saturday.
The press corps stand by to have another go at AFC
21st March - Over the past thirty years, the Redz have built up a decent record against German opposition at Pittodrie and that includes two victories over Hamburg in European competition. Next week's game isn't a UEFA match, but it is none-the-less an important one in the development of Stevie Paterson's team. We are watching a metamorphosis going on at Pittodrie and the management team need every possible chance to work with their players in match conditions, it allows them to test their tactical ideas and assess whether or not the players can make them work on the park. Some players will learn from playing against a top German side - even in a semi-competitive match - and some won't, but they will all supply the manager with information that he needs to help him decide if he wants to keep or replace players. For that reason at the very least, the game next week is worthwhile. Fan leaders are calling for people to turn up at Pittodrie in numbers for the game and TRF supports this sentiment. The need for us all to rally round and back the boss is as strong as it was the day he arrived - stronger, even. Let's hope that there is a big and noisy crowd on a fine spring evening and that the Dandies can do to Hamburg what they did in the eighties. It would be a tremendous sign of progress.
18th March - Like everybody else associated with AFC, The Red Final is determined to show absolute solidarity with Steve Paterson in his fight to overcome a serious problem in his personal life. The decision of the board to give the man a chance to set himself straight is the right one and there is no doubt that he is still the guy to lead us to a better footballing future. He has a strong management team around him, the players have been responding in the right way to what has happened, the fans have thrown themselves behind him. The atmosphere is right to see the boss through. What we have to be careful of is, in being so supportive, we don't end up creating extra, unnecessary pressures and adding to the problems. We have to look on this situation as being one that we are all in together and so spread the load and show the rest of football that Aberdeen FC and its supporters have the combined strength to deal with anything thrown at us and that we believe in taking care of our own. It may have slipped past the notice of many people, but the Supporters Trust and Supporters Association issued a joint press statement in response to the Pele story and this is a positive step that the two organisations should follow up on and work hard towards coming together more often and even in the end becoming a single, very potent organisation. One of the biggest tests for the manager now will be the next league match - away to Livingston. No doubt, supporters of other clubs will fancy having a go at the boss to upset the team and try and gain some sort of advantage. Our players and fans who will be there in numbers must make sure that the opposition are given nothing to shout about. The team must draw on their personal strengths to dominate and win the game and our fans will respond by outsinging (not too hard a Livvy) the opposition and showing that the only thing that matters is the football.
16th March - We might not be leaping up the SPL table yet, but the change of management team has definitely started to work for the Dons. The rate of victories under Steve Paterson has increased over what we got with Uncle Ebbe in charge with a win rate of 27.27% compared with 21.05%. The SPL defeats are slightly worse, but other than when we played Dunfermline for Pele's first match, we have not taken any more fearful poundings and with a little good fortune might have beaten the Timz instead maintaining Ebbe's habit of losing heavily to them. Of course the new management team have not yet succeeded in overcoming the deficiencies of our strikers, but they are getting more goals from midfield and defence. Given time and patience there's no reason to doubt that they will get that sorted too. We all knew that a change of management would find us in a spell of reorganising and rebuilding and that is what has been going on with the introduction of a couple of more mature midfielders to help the younger guys through. The fighting qualities of the reviving team are certainly there to see and although we can expect the odd setback, the signs are good for continued improvement. It's a shame that there's no longer a top six place to play for, because that would have been a big incentive, but pride is still at stake and the Dandies should strive to finish best of the rest. Let's all give Paterson, Shearer, Williams and Cooper by turning out in force for the last few games of this disappointing season and show them just how worthwhile it will be for them to get the AFC show back on the road.

10th March - Normally, TRF would prefer to have a good old gripe about the apparent logjam of fixtures hitting the Under 18 and Under 21 teams lately, but for this season only (hopefully) we see it as quite a fortuitous circumstance. The two teams were really toiling until the management changeout at the end of last year but now Neil Cooper has got his hands on things and already we can see an improvement. Better results are great, especially for the diehard group of Redz who turn out to see all these games when they are played in Aberdeen, but the most important aspect is that Cooper is getting a chance to work his coaching magic on the pitch as well as the training field. There is a real chance in this hectic spell for Cooper to get to know the younger players and to start influencing them for the better before what has been a pretty miserable season comes to an end. On top of that, there is that wee bit of icing in the shape of the SFA Youth Cup final to look forward to. Let's hope that the youth team get what they deserve - a chance to go out on the Hampden turf and contest a national final in the national stadium. We certainly don't want to have a trek to Dimbarton or Hamuleton, although the SFA are more than capable of playing the donkey yet again and sending us on a daft journey. Wherever the match is played - here's hoping for a significant turnout by the Red Army and a victory for the youngsters who should be the future of AFC.
3rd March - Everybody involved with or supporting AFC, except possibly some of the players, will have woken up, smelt the coffee and realised that we are heavily embroiled in a relegation dog fight. Each result from now till the end of the season will leave us all, except possibly some of the players, feeling cast down or uplifted until we know our fate. The loss of form by Falkirk and the dogged pressing on by St. Johnstone could yet see somebody dropping out of the SPL and the script seems to be written for the Saintees to step up in their place. For Aberdeen, the major worry is the complete unpredictability of how our players will perform in any match. All we have to go on is the track record of the season and we have lost far more games than we have won. Even when the Redz take the field against teams that should be beatable it is no guarantee that our boys will do the needful. Sadly, too many Pittodrie players seem to understand little of the club's plight and to care less. If you know your way about town, you can easily tell who they are, they are the ones showing off their flash cars and wearing their latest selection of designer clothes. They are the players who leave Pittodrie, not long after another defeat, laughing and joking and planning another night out on the town. They are the players who have a vastly overinflated sense of their own worth - no matter how much they are failing to earn their wages on the field of play. Hopefully some of these guys will be brought crashing into the real world at the end of the season when they find that their services are no longer required and that other clubs don't want them either. Now is a time when players should be playing for the jersey and putting all their hearts and souls into getting the results that will ensure SPL survival. You have to feel huge sympathy for the new management team who are having to try and coax or cajole performances out of guys who can be arsed to give them or whose heads go down at the slightest setback. Maybe AFC needs to sign up a squad of grafters who will grind out results without the pretty play that the current prima donnas are capable of. Prime importance must now be focussed on beating Motherwell on Saturday. Despite being in administration and having lost loads of experienced players, they are a side that just can't quite lie down and they are breathing down the necks of the Dons. If the Redz can go to Motherwell on Saturday and grab a win - by any means - then they will relieve a huge pressure on themselves and the club. If they lose again, then the mire deepens accordingly and the worse it gets, the worse it gets.