Aberdeen chairman Stewart Milne has revealed that informal discussions have already taken place with top English clubs about the possibility of Aberdeen joining their league. And Milne, who believes that Aberdeen could move south within three years, insists that they would be regarded as most welcome additions to the English Premiership. "I have said publicly in the past that I see people all the time in England," Milne told BBC Radio Scotland. "Nothing formal. There have been no structured meetings, but I meet chairmen and chief executives in England and Scotland.
"I would say that - without exception - the people I have spoken to in the English Premier League relish the idea of Aberdeen coming to join them in some way. "My personal view is that things are certainly going to change in British football - not just in Scotland but in England too.
"There is quite a lot of thinking about the restructuring of both of the top leagues in Scotland and England. "Aberdeen will certainly be present whenever that decision is finally made."
Milne admits that it is still too early to approach the game's governing bodies but is confident that they will willingly receive the proposal.
"The line we should go to Uefa and Fifa with is a solution rather than a problem," said Milne. "Perhaps it will take two or three years, but our job is to go to Uefa and say this is a solution to a problem we think is pressing and we would like your blessing to do so."
Meanwhile, Aberdeen's major shareholder Martin Gilbert has re-iterated his opinion that the Dons' future lies in the English Premiership. The Bonnie Loon fae the west end of Aberdeen, said that it was "inevitable" that Aberdeen will be playing in the Premiership in the near future. 'There is just no proper competition from the likes of Dundee Utd, Motherwell and the two diddy teams from Glasgow'. Would the Premier League be better with Aberdeen in it - I'd like to think so. That's progress - for everybody, " he added.
Gilbert also played down the widely-held belief that Uefa would not sanction the switch. "I don't think Uefa are looking at boundaries," he added.
He added: "This is not an anti-Scottish agenda. It is a question of whether Scottish clubs fly the Scottish flag in their own back yard or further afield."
When he left Mr Gilbert said 'Get it up yi, yi Weegie minks'.
The big puzzle for TRF yesterday? Not so much the defeat, but the fact that only 12000 souls turned up at Pittodrie to see the game. Not much reward for the Redz there then. What exactly will they have to do to get a decent sized home crowd? The away support has been dazzling so why are the punters at home not getting down there in bigger numbers? Holding off in case the improvement turns out to be a flash in the pan? Puleeze! The Northeast public need to play their part, every person who clicks through the turnstiles at Pittodrie is making a contribution in both moral and financial support and the more that do it, the more chance we have of enjoying the revival we all crave.
A belated happy birthday.....
24th September 2004 - The loss had to come some time but the fact that we have had such a long spell without a defeat doesn't really make it any less disappointing, especially when it is the huns that we lose to. It would have to be that Pricksen that scored what was ultimately the decider! The loss of a number of key players to injury, Heikkinen, Diamond, Clark, and Whelan, as well as Stewart and, by half-time Craig, meant that options were limited. Despite there being reasonably well experienced cover, we were certainly lacking in firepower according to available accounts. Which brings me to my second point. The BBC didn't have the radio rights to the match which meant that exiled Dandies such as myself were unable to hear or see the match. I don't know whether those with BBC Digital outwith Scotland receive the football matches broadcast on BBC Scotland. Under the SPL the matches were blacked out. I don't know if there is a similar deal with the SFL for league cup matches as I don't have digital. I had to rely on text commentary from the BBC and despite what they said, my page didn't automatically refresh after two minutes. It was a case of "Attacking throw-in taken by McNaughton resulting in open play" followed by "Verbal and physical attack on laptop screen and mouse button by Captain Sweaty resulting in sore finger and frustration at computer industry." Anyway, here's hoping that some of the injured Dons can recover for the visit of Hibs. We need to keep the wee teams in third place and below from thinking they can challenge the top two.
Captain Sweaty.
A comment about referee Charlie Richmond, he had a generally decent if slightly home biased game and he was right to stop play in the second half when Lilley felled poleaxed one of his team mates, but he was bang out of order near the end of the match when Adams was knocked over on the track. The Killie defender (forget who it was) kicked Adams in the nuts; naturally Adams tended to curl up in a bit of pain. Had a policeman had been near he could have pressed assault charges, it was that blatant, but Richmond ran forty yards to tell him to get up and get on with it, even though he must have had a decent view of the incident and the linesman must has seen exactly what happened. A less good natured traveling support could have reacted very badly to that and it would have been the fault of the officials.
Thank goodness all the road trips have come to an end for a while, now let's get on with filling Pittodrie and backing the Dandies to make sure they stay on their toes and up the top end of the League. C'mon you Redz....
Of course it would have been better all round had United opened the gates earlier than 2:00 p.m. but that would have cost them a few quid more in wages and hey, they were going to make megabucks out of us anyhow. Probably something like £90,000 of hard earned Aberdonian cash flowed into the Tannalice coffers thanks to our visit - not to mention whatever they rake off from pie sales and suchlike, but they weren't going to risk a couple of hundred quid to ensure that people got into the ground early and with minimal fuss.
Once inside, what was it like? They let far too many fans into the Shed end for a start. It was clear that there weren't enough seats for everybody who got in there and loads of punters were left standing out side the shed, up on the corner near a pylon. They were leaning on precariously placed barriers that from a distance didn't look up to they job they were no being asked to do. There are already lots of stories of bad experiences emanating from amongst those who got into that part of the ground, including a few who left early because the stewards would do nothing to help ease their plight. Annoyingly, it was evident that there were some empty seats in the Main stand, surely it would have been possible to move some fans into those? They wouldn't have minded the walk.
Then there was the bizney with the tickets. People were being handed tickets at the turnstiles and many thought that they should be sitting at the seats designated by the tickets. In fact, though, the policy was that you could sit anywhere. Surprise, surprise, there were quite a few completely unnecessary heated discussions about this.
Surely the answer to the majority, if not all, of the problems encountered yesterday would have been to make the match all ticket. Apparently this was too much trouble for Dundee United whose only interest was to soak the maximum possible profit from the day.
As for the game, well they don't really change over the years do they? Cheating, diving, niggling, conniving, mouthy gits, just as they were ten twenty and thirty years ago. What a great tradition for their tiny band of supporters to treasure. From the moment that Mackie was assaulted in direct line of site of the stand side linesman, you could see the way the game was going to be and it lived up to that expectation. Little wonder that they are held in such contempt by all Redz. Need we go on?
Yes, for the first time ever we have the TRF FANTASY CUP 2005!!! A chance for you and your fellow Dandies to take each other on via the ultimate test of fantasy football management. Teams will be pitted against each other in a straight knockout competition. Only the last manager left standing will be able to stand above his fellow sheepshaggers as his team is crowned the TRF FANTASY CUP 2005 CHAMPION!!!
HOW TO ENTER
The TRF Fantasy Cup 2005 is FREE to enter. Simply pick your team of eleven players (4-4-2 formation) from the list of players provided, and e-mail your Fantasy XI, together with your team name and manager's name, to TRF's resident anorak at red_wig@hotmail.com
HOW TO PLAY
- Managers must select a team of 11 players from the list of players provided.
- Each team must contain one goalkeeper, four defenders, four midfielders and two attackers.
- EACH TEAM MUST CONTAIN THREE ABERDEEN PLAYERS, and NO MORE THAN TWO PLAYERS from any other club.
- Please note that there are NO OLD FIRM PLAYERS to choose from!
- All teams must be submitted no later than 31 October and once all teams have been submitted, the preliminary and first rounds of the cup will be drawn.
- Once all teams have been selected, and the deadline has passed, there will be NO TRANSFER OF PLAYERS. If you want to make a change after then... well, tough!
- Dates for fixtures will be chosen after all teams have been submitted, but before the preliminary and first round draws will be made (so that no manager may gain an advantage from knowing the dates of the fixtures before selecting their teams, you sneaky lot).
SCORING
- Any player who takes part in a match for 45+ minutes will be awarded 1pt. The player must have appeared in both halves of that match.
- Goalscorers (other than those that score an og) will be awarded 3pts.
- A player who assists a goal will be awarded 1pt. Those players qualifying for an assist will be the last two players to pass the ball before (but not including) the goalscorer, and a player who wins a penalty that is successfully converted by another player.
- A goalkeeper or defender who keeps a clean sheet for 45+ minutes will be awarded 2pts. The player must have appeared in both halves, and his team must not have conceded a goal for the entire time he was on the pitch.
- If a goalkeeper or defender keeps a clean sheet and plays for the entire match, he will receive an additional 1pt.
- If a team loses a goal, each goalkeeper or defender on the field of play at that time will receive -1pt for every goal conceded.
- A yellow card will result in -1pt, while a red card will result in -3pts. Two yellow cards will result in a total of -3pts, regardless of whether the referee can be bothered to send you off or not!
- If ANY player is sent off, they will receive -1pt for every goal their team concedes after they have been sent off.
- Finally, ALL +VE POINTS SCORED BY DONS PLAYERS COUNT DOUBLE!!!
PRIZE
The winner of the TRF Fantasy Cup 2005 will receive a five star extravaganza of a prize!!! Details are sketchy at the moment, but rumours that they will get a shottie of OBE's leather jacket have been strenuously denied by the veteran hack. Most of all though the winner will get a sense of great pride and bragging rights among his fellow Dandies.
So what have you got to lose? SIGN UP TODAY!!!
GOALKEEPERS
ABERDEEN: David PREECE
DUNDEE: Derek SOUTAR
DUNDEE UNITED: Tony BULLOCK
DUNFERMLINE: Derek STILLIE
HEARTS: Craig GORDON
HIBERNIAN: Simon BROWN
ICT: Mark BROWN
KILMARNOCK: Alan COMBE
LIVINGSTON: Roddy McKENZIE
MOTHERWELL: Gordon MARSHALL
DEFENDERS
ABERDEEN: Phil McGUIRE, Kevin McNAUGHTON, Russell ANDERSON, Zander DIAMOND, Michael HART, Scott MORRISON
DUNDEE: Barry SMITH, Tom HUTCHINSON, Lee WILKIE, Stephen McNALLY, Jonay HERNANDEZ, Callum MacDONALD, Bobby MANN, Brett SANCHO
DUNDEE UNITED: Mark WILSON, David McCRACKEN, Alan ARCHIBALD, Scott PATERSON, Paul RITCHIE, Chris INNES
DUNFERMLINE: Greg SHIELDS, Scott WILSON, Andrius SKERLA, Scott THOMSON, Richie BYRNE, Andy TOD, Aaron LABONTE
HEARTS: Alan MAYBURY, Patrick KISNORBO, Steven PRESSLEY, Kevin McKENNA, Andy WEBSTER, Robbie NEILSON, Jamie McALLISTER, Neil JANCZYK
HIBERNIAN: Gary SMITH, David MURPHY, Gary CALDWELL, Colin MURDOCK, Ian MURRAY, Steven WHITTAKER, Jonathan BAILLIE
ICT: Ross TOKELY, Stuart GOLABEK, Darren DODS, Stuart McCAFFREY, Grant MUNRO, Richard HASTINGS, David PROCTOR
KILMARNOCK: James FOWLER, Garry HAY, David LILLEY, Gordon GREER, Freddy DINDELEUX, Shaun DILLON
LIVINGSTON: David McNAMEE, Goran STANIC, Oscar RUBIO, Emmanuel DORADO, Scott McLAUGHLIN, Will SNOWDON, Gus BAHOKEN
MOTHERWELL: Martyn CORRIGAN, Steven HAMMELL, Steven CRAIGAN, David PARTRIDGE, David COWAN, Paul QUINN, William KINNIBURGH, Chris HIGGINS
MIDFIELDERS
ABERDEEN: Scott SEVERIN, Steve TOSH, Markus HEIKKINEN, Derek ADAMS, Chris CLARK, Fergus TIERNAN, Scott MUIRHEAD, Richard FOSTER
DUNDEE: Steven ROBB, Neil JABLONSKI, Mark FOTHERINGHAM, Garry BRADY, Chris HEGARTY, Dougie CAMERON, Iain ANDERSON
DUNDEE UNITED: Derek McINNES, Mark KERR, Grant BREBNER, Barry ROBSON, Stuart DUFF, Karim KERKAR
DUNFERMLINE: Darren YOUNG, Barry NICHOLSON, Gary MASON, Derek YOUNG, Gary DEMPSEY, Simon DONNELLY
HEARTS: Phil STAMP, Neil MacFARLANE, Stephen SIMMONS, Joe HAMILL, Robert SLOAN, Michael STEWART
HIBERNIAN: Stephen GLASS, Kevin NICOL, Guillaume BEUZELIN, Kevin THOMSON, Dene SHIELDS, Alen ORMAN, Jay SHIELDS
ICT: Roy McBAIN, Barry WILSON, Richie HART, JUANJO, Russell DUNCAN, Liam KEOGH, Darran THOMSON, Paul McMULLAN
KILMARNOCK: Gary McDONALD, Gary LOCKE, Eric JOLY, Steven MURRAY, Rhian DODDS, Peter LEVEN, Steven NAISMITH
LIVINGSTON: Steven BOYACK, Burton O'BRIEN, Jason DAIR, Craig EASTON, Richard BRITTAIN, Stuart LOVELL
MOTHERWELL: Brian KERR, Scott LEITCH, Phil O'DONNELL, Kevin McBRIDE, Jim PATERSON, Shaun FAGAN
ATTACKERS
ABERDEEN: Steven CRAIG, Darren MACKIE, John STEWART, Noel WHELAN, Fernando PASQUINELLI
DUNDEE: Glen Atle LARSEN, Bobby LINN, John SUTTON, Steve LOVELL
DUNDEE UNITED: Collin SAMUEL, Jim McINTYRE, Billy DODDS, James GRADY, Andy McLAREN, Jason SCOTLAND
DUNFERMLINE: Noel HUNT, Craig BREWSTER, Billy MEHMET, Derek LYLE
HEARTS: Dennis WYNESS, Mark DE VRIES, Paul HARTLEY, Ramon PEREIRA, Graeme WEIR
HIBERNIAN: Garry O'CONNOR, Derek RIORDAN, Stephen DOBBIE, Scott BROWN, Sam MORROW
ICT: Steven HISLOP, Graham BAYNE, Bryan PRUNTY, Craig McMILLAN
KILMARNOCK: Kris BOYD, Craig DARGO, Danny INVINCIBILE, Allan JOHNSTON, Gary WALES, Colin NISH, Paul DI GIACOMO
LIVINGSTON: Colin McMENAMIN, Jim HAMILTON, Derek LILLEY, Mark LIBBRA
MOTHERWELL: Scott McDONALD, Richie FORAN, Alex BURNS, David CLARKSON, Kenny WRIGHT