29th October 2003 - What a pleasant surprise it is to turn on one's internet connection and see the vidiprinter
on the bbc's Sportsound page record goal after goal for the Dons for a change. I turned it on just after the second
Simpsons episode had finished on Sky fully expecting the score to still be 0-0. Oh what joy I felt when the latest
cable read Aberdeen 2-0 Brechin C (Scott Booth
Aberdeen). The chaps in red obviously felt the need to restore some pride after the latest obligatory humping at
kraphead and the really
disappoingting loss to the arabs the week before. Only so much pride can be restored by beating up on lower league
opposition however. Especially since by all accounts it was their keeper that kept the score in single figures.
Confidence in the team is at a very low ebb. (Its great that we can now use the word ebb in our pieces with out exposing ourselves to accusations of cheap tabloid style punnery) This was proved by the sub 4000 crowd for Brechin's visit. Granted, Brechin aren't the most attractive draw but in years not so long past we could have pulled in more than double what we did last night. The defeats at kraphead and Pittodrie obviously played their part but I can't help thinking that these lowering crowds are the result of fans being unable to see a way out of this slump for the club.
This is hardly an earth shattering revelation but let us consider the recent history. Since 94-95 when the troubles
began to manifest themselves in our league position, things have got better only to get worse again. After we amazingly
rallied round and avoided the drop, we won the league cup and finished third. Then things went to pot again, humiliating
results, manager sacked, new man takes over, a few decent results (3-2 win against tims at Pitters) rot sets in
again, he gets sacked, caretaker takes over, spirit and results improve slightly, he gets sack, New, foreign guy
takes over things get really bad, start to improve a bit, cup finals, fourth place in league,
credible show against German side in Europe, rot sets in again, manager leaves, new guy takes over, things improve
slowly, are looking good for a while and start to go badly again.
That run on sentence, possibly the longest in the Western world, brings us more or less to where we are today. If things start to improve and we start winning regularly at home and occasionally on the road, with a few draws thrown in for good measure, then great. But as soon as we start playing well and players prove their worth and have to be sold before they leave on a free, we are back to square one. Youngsters come through to the first team, don't perform as well as they should and everyone says give the team time, they're young and all we've got and can get. By the time they've gained their experience and started to perform its off to the upper echelons of English Division one with pittance if anything in return.
We are becoming stuck in a viscious circle which many fans can't see a way out of which is why, after a period
of great loyalty, when we were taking 3000 to Rugby Park on a Wednesday in December when we were bottom of the
league under Skovdahl, fans are starting to wonder when they can see victories that they can truly shout about.
The 5-0 win was a good result. The players have salvaged some pride. They now need to continue to salvage some
pride and see off Motherwell on Saturday. Sooner or later Partick are going to start to win. Fortunately it is
unlikely to be this weekend as they are at iprix. As much as we don't want to see the huns win, we don't want to
see Partick get a boost either. Furthermore, we can't afford to fall adrift ourselves. The season is still
salvageable. The well game will close out the first third of the pre-split season. Nothing is decided, even partick
are not doomed yet. However, the team cannot afford to wait any longer to start showing some consistantly good
performances over a sustained period. The fans are becoming impatient.
The players that have been at the club for a few years need to start to prove themselves. This means the likes of Tiernan, Rutkiewicz, Mackie, Clark and Esson. They are not automatic first picks but they have had longer at the club than the newer players to establish themselves as capable spl regulars. It is these chaps who need to step up and provide real competition for places not only to the starting 11 but to the younger guys coming up behind them. Untill a way is found to clear the club's debts and attract new and more generous sponsors and investors, the playing staff must begin to perform well regularly. Miller, Aitken, Miller, Hegarty, Skovdahl, and Paterson can't all be bad managers.
So, well done for the league cup win chaps but don't rest on this. It is 98% certain that we will draw the huns or tims away in the quarterfinals. We can't have three favourable home draws in a row against lower league opposition. After all we're not glaswegian and don't play in blue. There is probably a rule in the SFL/SFA/SPL/BLT rule book about it. Up the Dons.
Captain Sweaty.
Who knows, maybe we'll just find the vital spark to get a victory tomorrow, but if we don't the Redz are more likely to keep the sympathies of the waverers than if they meekly lie down and roll over. Every game that we play is important, they always should be, but some can become more important than others. Bugger the Evening Depress and its babyish campaign over some survey, bugger the officials of so called fan organisations who can do nothing but carp and moan, if the Dandies get a couple of victories under their belts they will all be forgotten and everybody knows it. Those same critics will be happily back on the bandwagon once the Dons go on the winning trail so it is really up to the players. Get out there and scrap for every loose ball, claw your way to victory and if you pick up a couple of yellow cards on the way, so what? Let the opposition know that you're there. Come on Ewe Redzzzzz!
The problems that AFC are going through/putting us through are deep seated and almost geriatric in their longevity, but that's no reason to go mad about it. Of COURSE we all want to see the Redz doing better - preferably much better - nothing would make the Red Army happier. But let's look at Saturday's game and compare it to the stuffing that we got from Livingston. Against the arabs, Aberdeen had the bulk of the play, albeit they were short of ideas around the 18 yard box, but they didn't collapse like they did against Livvy, they lost because of a defensive blunder and might have pulled it back at the death. But they didn't. Against Livingston they were never going to pull the game back so we can see a difference - an improvement, even. Not much to write home about, but there's nothing to panic about either.
Most of the sides that the Dons have played against this season have been no great shakes and but for one twist of fate or another, results could have gone the other way. There are still only seven points between us and Dundee in third place - so the glass is half full folks, not half empty. We still have plenty to aim for this season and given heaps of backing and encouragement they CAN move up the league AND they can get on a decent cup run (or two). On the other hand, if we keep piling on the abuse every time the slightest thing goes wrong they will more likely struggle - especially at home. There's enough negativity from the press without us adding to it. We have to ask ourselves - do we want our team to go in the right direction or not? If we do then why the fuck do they get torrents of slagging when it goes pear shaped? Nobody is going to snap their fingers and make the Dandies a great side overnight, but given solid backing and encouragement, Pele can guide them to a better level.
Think back to the famous 'Spirit of 95' - we went through what seemed a hellish season, but once the fans really got behind the team we went on a roll that earned us a play-off place in the nick of time and followed up by hammering Dunfermline twice in the play-offs. Remember? Okay then, which was the best approach from the terracing? The stick of the carrot?
It's really, really hard to put up with so many bad results, but if you analyse this season's performances dispassionately, you'll start to realise that there have been spells in every match where the Dandies have played good to excellent football. What they have rarely managed to do is keep it up over a long enough spell in the games. Against Kilmarnock they managed it and even though they lost to Dundee United they put up a hard working performance - they lacked the urgency that the enemy showed, but they still worked hard and might have gained more than they did.
Let's all do our bit to create a positive and supportive atmosphere for our players and give them every chance to do the biz for us. Otherwise, what's the point of calling ourselves supporters?
Press Release - 16 October 2003
Clubs and communities make united stand against racism
Europe's biggest ever series of anti- racism activities in football kick-off today. Fans, professional clubs,
community groups and players from across the UK will take part in the national anti- racism week of action.
The extended week is being launched today to take place between the 16 and 28 October. Over 500 activities will
take place over the 12 days across the country.
Highlights will include:
o Every professional club in England and Wales will hold anti-racism activities at home games over the next two
weekends.
o Community groups will be celebrating the history of black, Asian and other ethnic minorities in the game through
events in local communities. Over 35 groups will be drawing on 'Community Chest' grants awarded by Kick It Out
and the Football Foundation to deliver larger projects.
o Fans groups will be involved in leading many activities, including distribution of a new fanzine United Colours
of Football 4.
o Secondary schools will be involved in a competition in which pupils will be asked to write an interview with
one of six selected black or Asian players, from the past or those still in the game.
Launch events are taking place today in London and Sheffield. In London 'Moving On Up' will feature an interactive
discussion with role models including Arsenal legend Paul Davis, Gary Beadle of East-Enders (plays Paul Trueman),
Martin Offiah, the former GB rugby league player, Shovell of pop group M-people and young Arsenal ladies and England
footballer Aman Dosanj. The event will be presented by Aasma Mir of 5- Live.
The stars will be answering questions and offering practical advice to young inner city Londoners to help raise
aspirations and tackle exclusion.
Lord Herman Ouseley, chairman of Kick It Out today welcomed the activities,
"The range and breadth of both community and club based activities taking place during the week are a testament
to the good work going on in football with communities traditionally excluded from the game.
"The message from this year's week of action is that we need to fend off complacency and keep up the ongoing
battle against racism through education, positive engagement and by working in partnership. This way will be the
way in which we can bring equality to life."
For further information on events taking place during the week of action please
contact Leon Mann on 020 7 684 4884 or 07736 009 116
Long-term readers of The Red Final may remember a feature run in early editions
by the name of the Evening Express Predictions League. Some sad old anorak at TRF Towers would be sent out every
Friday to buy the EE and see what the esteemed hacks of Lang Stracht were saying about the weekend's games, from
which could be compiled the table of what the Premier Division would have looked like had their random guesswork
turned out to be 100% accurate. This had to be discontinued for reasons of good sense, for the Evening seemed unreceptive
to the idea that the Dons could ever achieve less than full points and Willie Miller's virtual team had streaked
away with the 1993-94 EE League title by Christmas.
However, even Aberdeen Journals would struggle to put up a convincing argument for the current band of charlatans
winning more often than not, particularly now that wilfully wrong predicting skills on their behalf costs them
the price of a case of beer to some regular of one of the city's smoke-filled below-stairs fleshpots. So allow
us to reintroduce to you, the Evening Express Predictions League, 2003/04…
The opening weekend of fixtures saw a shock result as regular rollovers Kilmarnock came home from ibrox with a
Friday point. rangers followed up this opening disappointment by failing to beat Aberdeen in week 2, and an immediate
inquest was called for as they found themselves trailing early pace-setters Hearts. True to form, the huns got
nasty and wheeled out the big gun - noted old farm sympathiser Stewart McKimmie.
The former Dons skipper taking over the mantle of EE fortune-teller from a series of lifestyle columnists and work-experience
coffee makers seemed to signal the end of any hopes the likes of Hearts and Dundee may have had of mounting a title
challenge. Who now would bet against the V-signing ex-radio summariser awarding the huns and tims as many points
as their feckless real-life opponents?
Yet McKimmie was to furnish us with the biggest shock of the season so far in week 6, when rangers, distracted
perhaps by the exhaustive attention paid to the tabloids' European predictions champions league, slumped to a shock
defeat at the hands of the impressive Jambos, now the only undefeated side in the league.
The stubborn refusal to be realistic about Aberdeen remains, but now it is in hopefully predicting draws in the
full knowledge that we'll probably lose again. This point-by-point progress has seen the Dons start solidly, permanent
fixtures in the top six. TRF is hopeful that, as the season wears on, improved performances on the field will lead
to more confident predictions of success off it, and by the split the Dons may be challenging for a place in Europe.
Keep an eye out for updates on the EE Predictions League in future issues of TRF.
The Evening Express Predictions League
| P | W | D | L |
Pts. |
|
| Celtic | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 21 |
| Hearts | 8 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 18 |
| Rangers | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 17 |
| Dundee | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 12 |
| Aberdeen | 8 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 11 |
| Dundee United | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 10 |
| Dunfermline | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 10 |
| Kilmarnock | 8 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 10 |
| Livingston | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 10 |
| Motherwell | 8 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 |
| Hibernian | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 4 |
| Partick Thistle | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 3 |
10th October 2003 -
Exclusive!
TRF has uncovered totally unsubstantiated rumours of a new proposal for relocating Pittodrie! Read all about it in next week's issue when it goes on sale at the Dundee United game. Also included, another chapter in the adventurous, yet seedy life of Rambo by Gordon Reid and more demented ramblings by Torryloon, Merkie, Captain Sweaty, Sir Claude Balls and many others. And all for a measly £1
8th October 2003 - Empty Vessels Make Most Noise - And the vessel making most noise lately has been the Supporters' Trust. Nothing wrong with that, some might say, certainly it is better to put pressure on the board than on the manager who is doing a good job in difficult circumstances. But what exactly is it that the Trust hope to achieve by repeatedly calling for the heads of Milne and Donald? If they were coming up with ready made replacements, at least for Milne, that would be a sheep of a different colour, but to offer no useful ideas on the subject seems utterly pointless and futile. All they are doing is building on the instability that already surrounds the Dons.
Could it be that the Trust spin doctors are well aware that they will get their names in the press if they come out with negatives? Very likely, after all, nobody in the media would want to give much space to positive stories about AFC. We have all learned THAT the hard way over the years. The latest attack looked more like a case of "kicking a man when he's down" than something designed to help the club along.
Certainly, we HAVE seen the Trust getting positive coverage - when they announced the launch of Reds Direct about six months ago - but that turned out to be a hollow promise too - there has been absolutely no follow up. What it did achieve, was for the Trust to restore its somewhat tarnished reputation while at the same time putting the kibosh on a plan that had been developing on the AFC chat site for fans to raise cash to help the manager sign players. That idea was dropped in favour of Reds Direct and now it looks like nothing is being done on that front even though the transfer window is now only a couple of months away.
The idea of having a Supporters Trust is a good one, it provides a vehicle for fans to channel their collective efforts into constructive supportive measures that will help the club forward. At present that is not what is happening. The people who run the Trust need to take a hard look at what they are doing and instead of posturing and flapping their gums, make their name the operative driving force and provide AFC with some meaningful backing. Aberdeen FC is probably surrounded by more politics than any club in Scotland and it shows. TRF has played its part in that, but always tries to be objective with its comments - let's all calm things down and save the passion and howling for the terrace - channeled against the opposition, not our own.
Nugget
5th October 2003 - Surely now that Dickov, Devlin and McCann are unlikely to make it for the Lithuania Game, Scott Booth must be drafted in. I have long argued that he is as good a forward as Scotland has had access to for the last decade but the selectors have ignored him recently on a number of occasions where his experience and skill would have served us well. Let us not forget that it was his goals against Finland and Russia that qualified Scotland for Euro 96. Had he been more involved, we might have qualified for Euro 2000. Booth is back in Scotland and starting to score goals and make goals for others yet still Vogts ignores them. One would think that being a part of the most celebrated German club side in the last decade as well as his experience of regular continental football, something that none of the other strikers can boast, would mean that a European coach such as Vogts would value what Booth has to offer.
It just goes to show you how much influence tommy burns and the like have over Vogts. When Vogts came to Scotland
he openly admitted that he knew nothing of the Scottish game and current Scottish players in general. Thus we can
only assume that he has
taken direction from tb and the rest of the ex infirm mafia that make up the Scottish coaching teams and SFA infrastructure.
Their criteria for selecting the Scotland team appear to be, if you are an old firm reserve, or a bland journeyman
who has a Scottish grandparent then you are good enough.
This I believe accounts for the majority of the passionless displays that we have seen in recent years. In the
past, Scotland teams would have been champing at the bit to go to the Faeroes or San Marino in order to be able
to show their skills and rack up a few goals. Granted the Faeroes, and San Marino to a lesser extent have improved
themselves in recent years, however there should still be no argument about the outcome of these matches. However,
Vogts pitches in old firm players whose commitment to the cause is
demonstrably questionable, with guys who aren't really Scottish when all is said and done, and wonders why we struggle
to rouse ourselves to score one, let alone 4 or 5 against the minnows.
It is the same with the games against the Baltic countries. Okay, they too have developed considerably over the years but we should still be able to put a team out against them that has a better than 50% chance of winning. It has taken Vogts too long to recognise the talents of the likes of McFadden and Fletcher and Rae. They should have been playing more than they have been. Surely now Booth must be drafted in at least as cover given that Miller won't be 100%, Thompson is out, and Crawford doesn't always perform. However, he won't be. Again, Vogts will ignore anything Aberdonian.
After Scotland's interest in Euro 2004 is over (The playoff stage at the latest) Vogts should decide what his very best 23 is. Then he should draw up a shortest of experienced and young players who might be drafted in should any of his experienced 23 decide they no longer want to play or get life threatening rib injuries. For Berti's information, this is the 23 he should initially pick:
GKs: Douglas, Gallacher, Alexander
Defs: Pressley, Anderson, Dailly, Webster, Naysmith, McNaughton, Ross
Mids: Ferguson, Williams, Rae, Cameron, McNamara, McFadden, McCann, Fletcher, Stewart
Fwds: Booth, Thompson, Crawford, Hutchison
Reserve List: Jess, McManus, Maloney, Caldwell S, McGuire, Murray I, Brebner, Dickov
Captain Sweaty - Advocate for Scotland
Not everybody was on top form in this game, but enough of them were up enough to make the difference - even Mackie looked more like his old self when he came on. Now the players need to have a look at how they gained this win and use the experience to make sure that they add to it against the mouldy oranges in two weeks time. It would be better if the game was coming sooner, but would you rather be waiting after a good win such as we had or the embarrassing home defeat that they suffered?
Of the players who were still not firing all all cylinders, McGuire had only just come back after a couple of games absence but did okay, but is it only TRF or does anybody else think that our Phil has a hint of the wimp about him? Sheerin was another player who looked a bit happier playing further into the middle but he has still to find his feet this season. Eric looked a bit slow, even for him and his extended absence hadn't done too much for his understanding with his team mates as he and others were too often after the same ball. Still, a couple more games will see him more switched on. The last one for a mention here is Zdrilic, he is beginning to clock up a bit of a sequence of games now and with a goal to his credit yesterday he should be building up his form and confidence - he did some good tracking back yesterday, but he still needs to work on his anticipation and passing. It'll come.
The best thing about yesterday was that it was one in the eye for the doomsayers who are always quick to jump on the Dandies when anything goes wrong. Let's not get too excited yet either though, we are still a point behind Kilmarnock, but if results go our way in a fortnight we can overhaul them and Livvy and start to look a wee bit more respectable.
3rd October 2003 - I fully stand by what Keith Wyness said about the news reports last Sunday that claimed Steve Paterson was on the verge of getting the sack. Tabloids today wield enough power to say almost anything they like and get away with it because they know that recourse to legal action against them is only likely if they are dealing with an organisation with more money than them. The story was no doubt concocted by some wee glaswegian shit of a tabloid hack who revels in anything that could be destabilising to AFC.
Stability is of course what we need and one of the reasons behind my not calling for Ebbe's head when results
started to go bad again. However things happened the way that they happened and we have a manager who seems to
be popular with most people right now. However, his recent team selections are as baffling as any formation or
tactic that Ebbe employed or didn't as the case sometimes was. As has been pointed out, many of the players that
Paterson has signed since his arrival seem immune from being dropped after poor
performances although today finally saw the dropping of McQuilken and Hart for the Killie trip after their recent
displays. I believe up until now, Paterson has not wanted to drop the players that he signed in case this was taken
as an admission that he had perhaps made a mistake in signing them. This has led to McGuire, Tiernan, McNaughton,
Deloumeaux and Mackie being squeezed out of the starting 11 and sometimes out of the squad altogether. Fair enough,
none of them have set the heather alight but then neither has anyone else. Perhaps now that SP's first anniversary
is coming up, he feels that he can now drop his signings for loss of form reasons.
It is perhaps crass to discuss who would succeed SP at this point although I have heard the subject aired amongst Dons fans. Perhaps it would add fuel to media fires about possible management change and we certainly don't want to aid the hacks in destabilising the Dons. However, if results continue as they are(And Trips to Rugby Park, Kraphead and a home tie with a more confident looking Arabs would suggest they will) the question will arise again. I for one hope SP can sort it out. I am fed up with constant managerial change which brings with it mass clear outs and mass influxes of players which inevitably leads to inconsistency on the park.
Here we go then, if SP did get the sack, who would the front runners to take over and what would be the SPs?
Duncan Shearer --Pro, Fans hero. Con, too closely involved with current failures.
James Jeffries -- Pro, decent track record at Hearts and Kilmarnock. Con, another dour character.
Neale Cooper -- Pro,, Fans hero. Con, has had issues whilst a football manager in the past.
Jim Leishman -- Pro, ???? Con, Smug fanny.
Mark McGhee -- Pro, Former player. Con, thinks he has bigger things ahead.
"Insert former player or other SPL manager here " Pro, Con,. Lets hope it doesn't come to this for
some time yet.
Why oh why could Abramovitch not be a little more adventurous with his philanthropy?
We broke the unbeaten run at Dens this season now let us see if we can do the same at Rugby Park.
Probable Starting line up at Kilmarnock:
Preece,Anderson,McGuire,McNaughton,Deloumeaux, Heikkinen, Tosh, Sheerin, Booth, Zdrilic,Mackie.
Subs:Muirhead, Hinds, Hutton,Clark,Diamond.
Potential Headlines involving Dons Players:
"Hutton Inquiry"- If he has to fill in for an injured Preece and doesn't do well.
"Clark should have Kent better"- If he is involved in a scuffle.
"Diamond in the rough"- When the weegie press find out how good a player he is.
"Hinds sight is a wonderful thing"- If he starts games and scores goals. "Hinds shite"- If
he doesn't. "Load of old Tosh"-Self explanatory
"SHEERin delight"- " " .
"Bird (Insert any adjective,noun or verbs to do with waterfowl, or other winged creatures)
"Hart attack" Self explanatory.
"Hart Bypass"- When he gets dropped
"Hart Foundation" if he starts a charity or switches codes to WWF Wrestling. etc...
Captain Sweaty. (Bored)
1st October 2003 - Partick Thistle need to grow up a bit. The simmering feud between the Jags and Dunfermline
has all the hallmarks of the petty slanging match involving Livingston and Aberdeen last winter. It is a shame
Thistle descend to this because in all other respects (not just because they will probably spare the Dons relegation
this season) they are a welcome addition to the SPL.
Thistle’s Alan Dick (no jokes please) is threatening to lodge a complaint with the SPL and the SFA because the
pitch on which the Pars beat his side on Saturday isn’t made of grass. He also reckons it’s unlikely that Partick
will agree to revisit Albert Square later in the season if the plastic is still in place.
Dick thinks it’s unfair that Dunfermline Athletic play on a different surface than the other 11 teams in the league.
Whether he would still have been moaning had the Jags won the game is open to debate.
Let’s face it, Partick haven’t beaten anyone – even Peterhead – in 90 minutes this season. They even lost to Aberdeen
for fuck’s sake. It takes some imagination to suggest that playing on plastic was all that allowed Dunfermline
to get the better of Gerry Collins’ disorganised team.
What Dick really meant to say was ‘Craig Brewster said some nasty things about us so I’m going to say some nasty
things about them’.
If Partick felt that playing on an artificial pitch gives a team such an ‘unfair’ advantage then maybe they should
have applied to UEFA for the grant themselves. They’ll need every edge they can get if they want to avoid being
bottom come May. In any case Dick’s point (steady) loses validity when you take into account the concerns raised
over potential injuries caused by the surface – given that Dunfermline will play at least nine times as many matches
on plastic as any other team they’re far more likely to suffer.
Facilities up and down the country have pitches similar to that in Dunfermline and I’m sure they’d be delighted
to lend themselves to an SPL club such as Partick Thistle if they want their players to ‘acclimatise’. But the
point of this new surface is that it provides a playing experience much closer to the real thing than was ever
possible before. It’s hardly like they’re playing on the moon.
Dunfermline could be the pioneers of a new era in football, where players in northern countries don’t have to slop
around on quagmires like we commonly see at Rugby Park and Tannadice come March. What they are doing is potentially
for the benefit of the sport as a whole and for Partick to seek to jeopardise that just because Craig Brewster
took exception to the Jags being bad losers is, well, being bad losers.
In a league where certain teams have historically been playing with different rules to everyone else, a revolutionary
pitch seems the least of our worries.
There is nothing in the SPL regulations to stop Dunfermline trialling the artificial surface. Just like there is
nothing in the SPL regulations to stop Falkirk playing in the top flight in someone else’s stadium…
P-O M
1st October 2003 - Aberdeen do not have much money to bring in new players. Steve Paterson has had considerably
less to spend on his squad than his five immediate predecessors. Each of those five managers was, in his own way,
incompetent. We lost a lot of games under Ebbe Skovdahl, some of them extremely heavily. Thomas Solberg cost three
hundred grand. The Dons haven’t won a trophy in eight years. Our chairman is a multi-millionaire.
All of these statements are true. But, in terms of the recent performances of Paterson’s Aberdeen team, they are
equally irrelevant.
Disregard how much Skovdahl, Hegarty, Miller (A), Aitken and Miller (W) spent on woeful players. That was in an
era before football realised that it was living way beyond its means, and Paterson is not competing with these
managers. He is competing against the likes of Calderwood, Williamson, Collins and Maximo, and none of them have
blank chequebooks either. The resources at Pele’s disposal are competitive in the SPL under current circumstances
– he is merely making them look insufficient first by ‘wasting’ so much on transfer fees which can have no return
and second by bringing in players who are not up to the task. It is ludicrous to suggest that the money spent on
Jamie McQuilken plus his wages could not have brought in a far superior left-back on a free – Dundee United (Archibald),
Dundee (Cowan), Motherwell (Dair) and Hibs (Edge) all managed this. I am tempted to suggest that Livingston (you
know who) have too. In fact Aberdeen, in Scott Morrison, had one already. Error-prone Hart was brought at relative
expense to a club that already had Anderson, McGuire, Deloumeaux, McNaughton, Rutkiewicz, Diamond and Jones on
its books, yet seems the only one guaranteed a game. Tosh is world class at shouting at folk but a limited footballer,
even more so now he is playing out of position on the right wing, yet he too seems immune from Paterson’s axe.
Even after discovering that Darren Mackie is really a winger, Paterson sticks with his signing, even when up against
a half-fit, there-for-the-taking centre-half forced out to full-back in Partick’s Kenny Milne. And the continuing
omission of Deloumeaux has gone beyond the professional and is now clearly detrimental to the team’s performance.
In short, when resources are tight, you must make best use of them. Anyone think that is happening at Pittodrie?
Seven of the 11 who embarrassed the club on Saturday were Paterson signings, another a callow youth prematurely
promoted beyond his ability. Only Preece, McNaughton and star man Anderson genuinely predate Paterson in the SPL.
This is his team and, pound for pound, he is getting very poor value for money compared to every other skint team
in the league with the possible exception of Dundee United. And by the time the two meet on October 18, who would
bet against even the Arabs having broken several points clear?
Many of the players currently on Aberdeen’s books are not good enough, but please don’t play the ‘but they’re all
we can afford and they didn’t cost as much as Kiriakov/Bernard/O’Neil’ card. These guys did not come for peanuts
and were not the best available at the price – every week our insolvent opponents prove as much.
There may well be reasons why Steve Paterson is the right man for the Aberdeen job. It is certainly way, way too
early to be pulling the trigger on him. But his apologists would do well to avoid the all-too-easy clichés.
P-O M