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And so the whole damned show begins again. Are we downhearted? No!
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Dons In Decent Merchandising Shock! Take a trip to the new AFC Shop with TRF (TRF's annual positive piece) Well, once again the ever-changing frontage to the ticket office has been demolished, rebuilt and reopened, this time as the much trumpeted AFC Shop. Amazing to think that since the new Dick End was opened in 1993, the ticket office has been substantially altered on no less than three separate occasions, but let's not get sidetracked - we've got shopping to do! First impressions? Well, it's quite smart actually, as shops go. Plenty of room, a reasonable range of merchandise, and even what looked to be a couple of changing rooms to try on your over sized sark. They looked like changing rooms anyway; they may well have been lavvy cubicles for lager laden punters unable to queue any longer for their RDS briefs (there's even one with a 'staff only' sign!) Anyway, onto the merchandise. Let's get the positives out of the way first. For those who deplore the over priced one season wonders that are replica football tops, there are a couple of timeless alternatives to buy instead, with the introduction of AFC retro tops. Yes! Someone at last has spotted this obvious gap in the Dandies' market. For ageing punters like OBE (You're getting on a bit yourself, you cheeky get - Young at Heart Ed), you can now buy a 1976 'Jarvie' Admiral style top, complete with the stripe down the left breest. If that's too far into the past for your liking then you can jump forward four years and select the 1979-80 championship Adidas V-neck / plain red effort. They're not made by Admiral or Adidas of course, but they look the part, and I for one would rather shell out £25 for a timeless classic like one of those two than £40-odd for a shirt that will be out of date 12 months from now. Of course, the current shirt is on sale too (no sign of the away one though), and pretty smart it is too. However, it's the 1980 one for me! There are other bits of casual wear on sale too, and various bits of Le Coq garb, so it's worth a look. I would still like to see a bit more imagination go into the merchandising though. How about posters and prints of a long and glorious past? A framed print of Willie Miller's 1985 Championship goal celebration would look good for starters, I think you'll agree. How's about a t-shirt with "Watson… OOH the bar!" on the front and "Scanlon… YES!" as a back print? Put your minds to it AFC, the possibilities are endless. Oh aye, and would it be too much to ask this year to print up some Christmas Cards? I for one would like revenge for the hun and tim cards that landed upon my desk from deranged colleagues last year. (By the way, if any of these ideas get taken on board, a small donation into my hipper will be very welcome, Stewart) Finally, I have one niggling concern. Nice as those huge windows on the shop front are - they brighten the place up no end - how long will it be before some opposition punter hurls something/one through it? Take note, John Morgan, and invest in some shutters! Fox Sake! Fray Bentos
	Never mind, TRF 45's at the printer and hits the street next Saturday as a wee welcome to the new season but not the huns. Watch out for your copy before the match. If you can't get to the game, send £1 to The Red Final, PO Box 368, Aboyne AB34 5LZ and we'll mail you a copy. For details of subscriptions see the TRF Store
18th July - Zero's been a naughty boy, swearing at a referee and what a song and dance about it. The sending off as a consequence was bad for the team right enough, but how often do you swear at referees during games? Umpteen times for sure. So do players and usually the refs give back as good as they get, knowing full well that they aren't in a convent or kindergarten. The term 'industrial language' applies on any football pitch wherever you go and if the referee swears fist then he shouldn't be surprised or bothered when the player swears back. The issue here should be about Zero kicking the ball away in the first place and getting a needless booking for his efforts. Once the first booking has been made, you might argue that the player is on borrowed time and any misdemeanour will see him slung off the park. Okay, sometimes the bookings can't be helped, but every player knows the risks of showing dissent and as professionals they should be able to exercise enough self control to void needless brushes with the match officials. As Ebbe has been at great pains to point out, a sending off leaves the Redz in a seriously weakened state and we just don't really have the players to cope with it. Let's hope Zero shapes up or he won't be making too many starts for the Dons this season.	Meanwhile, our totally biased and unfair coverage of Dandies' results has resumed on our fixtures page.
The Gordon Bennett appreciation society arrive at Pittodrie for their annual convention	AFC step up their efforts to bring in new players
	9th July - After the weekend claptrap of "Dons to Sign Doddsy" it's time to lay that ghost to rest. The diminutive forager would be a popular enough returnee to Pittodrie (which he didn't want to leave in the first place) but does anybody really think that we can afford him now? The guy can still command a substantial wage and you can bet your boots that he'll be looking for a good deal more than we can afford these days. Aside from the money, Ebbe has just given us a job description for a big forward that'll take the pressure off Robbie Winters and rummle up the opposing defences. Doddsy hardly fits that specification, busy though he can be around a penalty box. It's surprising that no English club has shown an interest in the wee hun, but maybe they prefer the big guys too. One thing is sure he's a wasted resource at Iprix and if the Dandies were to go for him (which they won't) there'd be a lot of happy Northeast punters and it would be a signal that there's still some ambition in our moribund boardroom.
	7th July - The TRF team are off the blocks early again this season and will have a new edition of the old rag, brim full of bile and spleen, ready for the visit of the huns on the 28th July. Be there or be elsewhere, but don't miss TRF 45. Any budding contributors should send in their efforts by 15th July, either to P.O. Box 368, Aboyne AB35 5LZ or by e-mail to editor@redfinal.com (publication not guaranteed - it depends on the quality of the piece and the editor's mood.
5th July - Well, here we are back on the signing trail with Roberto Bisconti (hereinafter known as Robby Biscuit-tin) signing up for two years (or is that one year with an option to sod off to Turkey whenever he wants?). Good, fine, let's hope he lives up to Ebbe's expectations and that the medics have got it right about his ankle. At least he's in time for pre-season training and should have a good chance to get to know his squad-mates before the big kick-off. Now, how about the others? Anybody got any rumours, or a wee inkling where we are supposed to find two half-decent forward players, preferably before the weekend? Answers on a post-card.... On another front, the Club has written to the shareholders about their Euro 2008 bid and their reasons for moving to Kingswells rather than staying at Pittodrie. Hopefully there will be a lot more explanation about the latter when they put in their bid to the SFA, because right now it's a bit flaky. Also in the letter was a mention that the Board had a constructive meeting with the Supporters Trust - presumably they'll be ensuring that Charlie Allan publicises this as much as the scandalous accusations that he leveled a few weeks back when he claimed that they were threatening the chances of the Euro-bid succeeding.	4th July - Okay, we've had enough whingeing and piping about Stavrum now. He's gone and that's how it is. So? We still have a squad of players at Pittodrie who were building up our confidence last season and who are reinforced by the return of Zerouali and Anderson. Losing Rowson was a bigger blow to me than Arild Goalscorer. Of course we still need more experienced players, maybe we'll even get one or two before the season starts, but there's definitely no need to be cast down in the dumps just because our Norwegian contingent has been cut by one third. Let's not forget that for all the goalscoring, Stavrum wasn't much of a fitba player and often shirked the tackles and got caught offside more times than Gordon Reid's had mince and tatties with a side serving of veg. Irrespective of this little local difficulty, Aberdeen are a team on the way back and the new season can't come fast enough for this battle scarred veteran. WE ARE THE REDZ and don't you forget it
2nd July - Are there any Arild Stavrum fans left out there? Probably not after his mad dash for Turkish gold and all the sweetmeats he can eat. He may have had a "get-out" clause written into his contract, but did it really allow him to just walk off without a by-your-leave? If this is the case, then whoever is in charge of sorting out the detail in the contracts should be dangled by the goolies from the highest corner of the Dick End. Wait, though, didn't the Chairman take charge of contract negotiations a while back? Can't honestly recall, but remember this was two years ago and a lot of management have passed over the Pittodrie scaffold in that time. The worst of this isn't so much Stavrum going, it is the pathetic amount of money we are going to get by way of compensation. Don't forget that we are talking about a guy that finished second top scorer in the SPL, playing for a team where the service to strikers was hardly top notch. Let's hope that the Club can squeeze more out of Besiktas, but history doesn't suggest that they'll manage. Stavrum and his new employers will get away with it and we'll be left scrabbling about trying to find another main man. There are those who think that AFC have known for a lot longer than the past couple of days that the striker was on the way out. This may be a cynical view, but there must certainly have been people at the Club who knew that there was a fair chance of it. Still, why publicise the facts when there are season tickets to sell? Hey, we have been promised three new signings this season haven't we? And don't forget that Anderson and Zerouali returning is just like getting two new players. One thing is sure, the pre-season optimism that has been welling up in the faithful has taken a massive knock and it is going to take something special to restore the situation and get the red Army clawing the doors down in their desperation for the new season to start.

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