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.

People don’t quit their jobs because they’re not good at them. That’s what the sack is for. People quit their jobs because they are unsatisfied with the conditions in which they are required to work.

The sudden decision of Ebbe Skovdahl to call time on his reign as Dons boss has pretty much caught everyone by surprise – the anti-Ebbe rumblings had barely risen above a murmur – and has certainly posed more questions than it answered.

In many ways this is the first time Ebbe has been under pressure since he accepted his long-term challenge – we can ignore the ridicule with which the opening months of 1999-2000 was met in the papers. The first three seasons were marked by continual, if unspectacular, progress, and this season represents the first real decline. One thing we thought we could count on from Ebbe was that he wouldn’t chuck it at the first sign of problems. So what’s going on?

Well you can ignore the excuse of a ‘fans revolt’ for starters. By far the majority of the AFC support remained firmly on Skovdahl’s side, and that will be borne out in what will doubtless be a somewhat unreal atmosphere in Tannadice’s away enclosure tomorrow. That’s not to say that Skovdahl did not have his critics, nor that those who still sing his name agree with all of his actions and decisions, but that dissent which was evident – though it has undeniably increased in volume of late – could not credibly qualify as a ‘campaign’, nor even ‘unrest’. Nevertheless, TRF has little doubt that the Red Army will get the blame for Ebbe’s resignation, notwithstanding the fact that many in the media have given the impression that they don’t rate the man anyway. [It was hard for the tabloids to accept that it wasn’t the Dons fans’ fault that Alex Smith was fired by Dundee United.]

It’s also been rumoured that the manager was the victim of a player mutiny. Also unlikely – virtually without exception the current squad are either Skovdahl buys or loons who have never played under any other coach. Maybe it’s wishful thinking but I don’t see many of the team as the sort of people who would turn against a manager rather than work with him to get things right. In any case, they are at least as responsible as Ebbe for the recent poor form, so it’d be bloody rich for them to start throwing stones.

I don’t buy the ‘jumping before pushed’ story either. The vote of confidence may be notorious in football but I believe the AFC board was, and still is, fully behind Skovdahl. It was only months ago that Milne told the Dane that he had a job for life (this month’s happenings have proven last December’s TRF 48 editorial somewhat right on that score). Again, like the fans, they may not have been enamoured of the recent results, but they certainly weren’t interested in firing him at this juncture. If nothing else it gives them more work to do, the club in upheaval this close to the January transfer window.

It seems that, for the most likely explanation, we need only examine the wording of Skovdahl’s leaving speech. "The constraints facing AFC, like other clubs in Scottish football at this time," quoth the erstwhile Pittodrie coach, "make it difficult for me to take the team further." In other words, the iron grip of the old farm over the SPL (Ltd) has taken another indirect casualty. It doesn’t take a Roswellian conspiracist to link this slightly cryptic statement to the continuing inability of Scotland starlet Russell Anderson to sign a new contract. The retention of Anderson and club skipper Darren Young seemed such a foregone conclusion that the club was all set to reveal the signings weeks ago. The interminable delay is clearly indicative of serious disagreement between the parties to the deal. It’s implausible that Skovdahl saw himself as the stumbling block and fell on his sword – the men who he made captain and vice-captain have no axe to grind with the boss. What is possible, though, is that AFC has decided it cannot afford to keep these players and is set to sell Ebbe’s crown jewel in January; rumours already abound of Anderson’s impending departure. The "constraints facing AFC, like other clubs in Scottish football at this time" are quite simple – we have no money. This makes it difficult for Ebbe "to take the team further" when AFC has to sell his best (highest earning) players to balance the books. Who would blame the man for getting pissed-off if told he was to lose one of the foundation stones in the fortress he hoped to build? It’s been said here before but the Dons squad is worth more collectively than individually, and if the dam is allowed to break then the other promising Dons would be forgiven for feeling betrayed by the promises of big things to come and taking their own twenty pieces of silver. I hope I am wrong, but I suspect that Ebbe’s exit will be swiftly followed by that of Russell Anderson.

Ebbe may never have been the greatest manager in the world, but he did not do a bad job. Wherever the club goes from here, even if it takes the sensible route of Eric Black or Steve Paterson, the presence of Skovdahl at Pittodrie will be missed.

At least there’s one bright spot. If Ebbe had jacked it in two days earlier, Alex Smith would have been available…

Pissed-Off Merkie 29th November 2002

24th November - Ebbe Skovdahl is putting yesterday's defeat down to the players not being motivated enough in the first half. Well, call this a naive view if you like, but isn't it his job to motivate them? Of course, as he says, the motivation has to come from within the individual players too, but he needs to be firing them up before they take the field and he needs to be doing it much more than he apparently is at the moment. He says that he and Gardner Speirs are "giving them every encouragement" before games, but encouragement isn't enough. The players need to be whipped into a lather of determination to hammer whoever they are going to play against and it shouldn't matter who it is either. The manager should have the whole team practically clawing down the dressing room door to get at the opposition. He needs to do that by working on whatever it is he believes motivates each individual player. If he can't do that, then we have a massive problem.

Against Partick Thistle, even with a few of our players out through injury or suspension (or wee jaunts to Belgium) we had a better team - player for player - on the park. Making noises about needing to sign one or two more guys is all very well, but we have a squad of players who are collectively better than most other squads in the SPL. Get the best out of them and they will wipe the floor with opponents. What's the missing ingredient? Motivation! Work on it!

21st November - The PR machine of the SPL (if it ever had one) must be utterly knackered. Just how may fixtures have been rearranged already this season to accommodate other games - be they league cup ties, European matches - or to satiate the BBC in its constant quest to show old farm v whoever? In times of crisis, football clubs normally start falling over themselves to be nice to the fans and to encourage them along to matches. This season, though, and perhaps because they are all in it up to their necks they don't seem to be bothering. Don't they realise that fans go to great lengths to organise their lives to try and see their team? Don't they realise that people swap shifts, book holidays and fall out with their families in the effort to make to to every game? Do the SPL care about this? Apparently not.

To some extent, clubs can be excused because they are bound by a contract with the BBC to play matches on Sundays to fit the broadcaster's schedule. However, the BBC should have decided at the start of the season which fixtures they wanted and stuck to the decision. After all, they are a PUBLIC SERVICE broadcaster and should give some consideration to their viewers (which they don't anyway because they are only interested, with one or two freak exceptions, in showing games involving one or other of the alleged Glasgow giants. No, not Partick Thistle or Queen's Park, the other ones. However, the SPL could have put a bit of planning into the fixtures at the outset to allow for the League Cup and Euro -involvement, but they didn't bother. Their fixtures list is a shambles even without the chopping and changing and whoever it is that is responsible should get his nuts squashed in a vice. Isn't the customer king in this sport/business? Apparently not so the dicking around with dates for matches continues and the fans can go whistle. (That's not what the author typed, but this is an ever so polite website).

21st November - Pissed off with Bisconti's buggering about? Concerned over Russell's head knock? Worried about our stuttering league form? Take a leaf out of OBE's book and spend a couple of hours reveling in AFC's past by getting hold of the Stand Free DVD and savouring a fantastic account of our history on film. This is truly a sterling piece of work and whilst it isn't a substitute for the books about the Dons, it is a great complimentary work that stands all the tests of content, value for money, red tintedness. Just remember that the video version, whilst great for the history, doesn't include the full Gothenburg footage and none of us should be without that.

Of course the TRF crew didn't get invited to the funcy Premier at the Belmont - we hear that even Ernie Winchester never got one - but we are still prepared to shamelessly promote this item. You'll never have a better chance to kill two big birds with the one wee pebble. You get a slice of history to watch and savour time and time again and at the same while you can help to chip away at the solution to AFC's financial difficulties. We'll say it again - this DVD is a MUST HAVE so get down to the club shoppie and grab a copy whiles you can.

17th November - The latest in the unending tournament against the old farm had one very important aspect to it. The reduced allocation of tickets to the visiting fans changed the atmosphere - for the better. With over 2,000 of them at Todders, there are still far too many but the change in the feeling surrounding the game and the much reduced volume of their singing made it a much better experience for the home fans. AFC deserves plaudits for taking such a bold step - especially bearing in mind the financial consequences. They also deserve to be rewarded by the fans who have been staying away from these fixtures. There are a lot of folk who have struck the old farm matches off their calendars in recent years but they may well be persuaded to return when they hear about the difference when the howling mob was shrunk and isolated by the belt of empty seats around them. The club should stick to its guns on this and play more games with a cut back visiting contingent and at the same time work to encourage their own fans to make up the numbers so that no financial penalty is suffered. The onus is also on the supporters to respond positively and turn up for these and other games in enthusiastic and noisy profusion. Aberdeen is a team that to succeed needs to include the fans, so come on Red Army. Reward the Dons - Pack Pittodrie.

13th November - TRF 53 - a cartoon special - hits the dubs on Saturday morning when the Dandies line up to face the penalty-free huns at Todders. Recent home form has to be cast aside along with all the mental baggage that our manager and team have built up about playing both halves of the old farm. The Dons have managed to get themselves on a bit of a slide lately and they really need to get a confidence building win under their belts. Who better to do it against than our bitterest rivals? Not possible? Everything in football is possible - they need to play at their very best perhaps and at their most determined and with utmost spirit and self belief, but they can grab a victory on home turf. What a launch pad that would be in the quest to restore self respect and stop any prospect of serious decline in its tracks. It wouldn't do the bookies any favours either. Just go for it!

9th November - After a relatively good start to the season - away from home at least - the Dandies managed to get themselves into the top half of the SPL and looked good to consolidate. Since then though, mainly thanks to dreadful home form, they have dropped back into the lower half and look like they are under threat from Kilmarnock and Livingston. Even ignoring the old farm, you have to be asking why it is that a team that can pull better crowds than all of the others and pays its players more that all of the others can't put up more of a fight and a better performance than most of the others. The answer has to lie in the hearts and minds of the players. Collectively they have the ability to outplay most other teams but it just doesn't seem to be in their heads to do it right now. This is a problem of motivation and it needs to be sorted out quick. The manager always has a game plan, he always has loads of information available for the players about the opposition, but when things go wrong neither they or he seem to know what to do about it. We have all seen matches at Pittodrie where the players come out looking like they are spending the day at the seaside instead of going out to battle for points. They need to be much more stirred up at the start of matches and in particular they need to forget about the crap fed to them by the media on the subject of the Glasgow gruesome twosome and get stuck right in wherever and whoever they play against. 9th November - We warned you folks. We have now removed our forum from this site due to lack of use. Thanks to the people who contributed to it. What discussion that went on was of a much greater quality than the juvenile babblings in some other places. We acknowledge that there are lots of alternative places to put your views on display and where yo will get much more response (be it worthwhile or worthless) so we'll leave this particular activity to others.

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People don’t quit their jobs because they’re not good at them. That’s what the sack is for. People quit their jobs because they are unsatisfied with the conditions in which they are required to work. The sudden decision of Ebbe Skovdahl to call time on his reign as Dons boss has pretty much caught everyone by surprise – the anti-Ebbe rumblings had barely risen above a murmur – and has certainly posed more questions than it answered. In many ways this is the first time Ebbe has been under pressure since he accepted his long-term challenge – we can ignore the ridicule with which the opening months of 1999-2000 was met in the papers. The first three seasons were marked by continual, if unspectacular, progress, and this season represents the first real decline. One thing we thought we could count on from Ebbe was that he wouldn’t chuck it at the first sign of problems. So what’s going on? Well you can ignore the excuse of a ‘fans revolt’ for starters. By far the majority of the AFC support remained firmly on Skovdahl’s side, and that will be borne out in what will doubtless be a somewhat unreal atmosphere in Tannadice’s away enclosure tomorrow. That’s not to say that Skovdahl did not have his critics, nor that those who still sing his name agree with all of his actions and decisions, but that dissent which was evident – though it has undeniably increased in volume of late – could not credibly qualify as a ‘campaign’, nor even ‘unrest’. Nevertheless, TRF has little doubt that the Red Army will get the blame for Ebbe’s resignation, notwithstanding the fact that many in the media have given the impression that they don’t rate the man anyway. [It was hard for the tabloids to accept that it wasn’t the Dons fans’ fault that Alex Smith was fired by Dundee United.] It’s also been rumoured that the manager was the victim of a player mutiny. Also unlikely – virtually without exception the current squad are either Skovdahl buys or loons who have never played under any other coach. Maybe it’s wishful thinking but I don’t see many of the team as the sort of people who would turn against a manager rather than work with him to get things right. In any case, they are at least as responsible as Ebbe for the recent poor form, so it’d be bloody rich for them to start throwing stones. I don’t buy the ‘jumping before pushed’ story either. The vote of confidence may be notorious in football but I believe the AFC board was, and still is, fully behind Skovdahl. It was only months ago that Milne told the Dane that he had a job for life (this month’s happenings have proven last December’s TRF 48 editorial somewhat right on that score). Again, like the fans, they may not have been enamoured of the recent results, but they certainly weren’t interested in firing him at this juncture. If nothing else it gives them more work to do, the club in upheaval this close to the January transfer window. It seems that, for the most likely explanation, we need only examine the wording of Skovdahl’s leaving speech. "The constraints facing AFC, like other clubs in Scottish football at this time," quoth the erstwhile Pittodrie coach, "make it difficult for me to take the team further." In other words, the iron grip of the old farm over the SPL (Ltd) has taken another indirect casualty. It doesn’t take a Roswellian conspiracist to link this slightly cryptic statement to the continuing inability of Scotland starlet Russell Anderson to sign a new contract. The retention of Anderson and club skipper Darren Young seemed such a foregone conclusion that the club was all set to reveal the signings weeks ago. The interminable delay is clearly indicative of serious disagreement between the parties to the deal. It’s implausible that Skovdahl saw himself as the stumbling block and fell on his sword – the men who he made captain and vice-captain have no axe to grind with the boss. What is possible, though, is that AFC has decided it cannot afford to keep these players and is set to sell Ebbe’s crown jewel in January; rumours already abound of Anderson’s impending departure. The "constraints facing AFC, like other clubs in Scottish football at this time" are quite simple – we have no money. This makes it difficult for Ebbe "to take the team further" when AFC has to sell his best (highest earning) players to balance the books. Who would blame the man for getting pissed-off if told he was to lose one of the foundation stones in the fortress he hoped to build? It’s been said here before but the Dons squad is worth more collectively than individually, and if the dam is allowed to break then the other promising Dons would be forgiven for feeling betrayed by the promises of big things to come and taking their own twenty pieces of silver. I hope I am wrong, but I suspect that Ebbe’s exit will be swiftly followed by that of Russell Anderson. Ebbe may never have been the greatest manager in the world, but he did not do a bad job. Wherever the club goes from here, even if it takes the sensible route of Eric Black or Steve Paterson, the presence of Skovdahl at Pittodrie will be missed. At least there’s one bright spot. If Ebbe had jacked it in two days earlier, Alex Smith would have been available… *Pissed-Off Merkie 29th November 2002*
24th November - Ebbe Skovdahl is putting yesterday's defeat down to the players not being motivated enough in the first half. Well, call this a naive view if you like, but isn't it his job to motivate them? Of course, as he says, the motivation has to come from within the individual players too, but he needs to be firing them up before they take the field and he needs to be doing it much more than he apparently is at the moment. He says that he and Gardner Speirs are "giving them every encouragement" before games, but encouragement isn't enough. The players need to be whipped into a lather of determination to hammer whoever they are going to play against and it shouldn't matter who it is either. The manager should have the whole team practically clawing down the dressing room door to get at the opposition. He needs to do that by working on whatever it is he believes motivates each individual player. If he can't do that, then we have a massive problem. Against Partick Thistle, even with a few of our players out through injury or suspension (or wee jaunts to Belgium) we had a better team - player for player - on the park. Making noises about needing to sign one or two more guys is all very well, but we have a squad of players who are collectively better than most other squads in the SPL. Get the best out of them and they will wipe the floor with opponents. What's the missing ingredient? Motivation! Work on it!
21st November - The PR machine of the SPL (if it ever had one) must be utterly knackered. Just how may fixtures have been rearranged already this season to accommodate other games - be they league cup ties, European matches - or to satiate the BBC in its constant quest to show old farm v whoever? In times of crisis, football clubs normally start falling over themselves to be nice to the fans and to encourage them along to matches. This season, though, and perhaps because they are all in it up to their necks they don't seem to be bothering. Don't they realise that fans go to great lengths to organise their lives to try and see their team? Don't they realise that people swap shifts, book holidays and fall out with their families in the effort to make to to every game? Do the SPL care about this? Apparently not. To some extent, clubs can be excused because they are bound by a contract with the BBC to play matches on Sundays to fit the broadcaster's schedule. However, the BBC should have decided at the start of the season which fixtures they wanted and stuck to the decision. After all, they are a PUBLIC SERVICE broadcaster and should give some consideration to their viewers (which they don't anyway because they are only interested, with one or two freak exceptions, in showing games involving one or other of the alleged Glasgow giants. No, not Partick Thistle or Queen's Park, the other ones. However, the SPL could have put a bit of planning into the fixtures at the outset to allow for the League Cup and Euro -involvement, but they didn't bother. Their fixtures list is a shambles even without the chopping and changing and whoever it is that is responsible should get his nuts squashed in a vice. Isn't the customer king in this sport/business? Apparently not so the dicking around with dates for matches continues and the fans can go whistle. (That's not what the author typed, but this is an ever so polite website).
21st November - Pissed off with Bisconti's buggering about? Concerned over Russell's head knock? Worried about our stuttering league form? Take a leaf out of OBE's book and spend a couple of hours reveling in AFC's past by getting hold of the Stand Free DVD and savouring a fantastic account of our history on film. This is truly a sterling piece of work and whilst it isn't a substitute for the books about the Dons, it is a great complimentary work that stands all the tests of content, value for money, red tintedness. Just remember that the video version, whilst great for the history, doesn't include the full Gothenburg footage and none of us should be without that. Of course the TRF crew didn't get invited to the funcy Premier at the Belmont - we hear that even Ernie Winchester never got one - but we are still prepared to shamelessly promote this item. You'll never have a better chance to kill two big birds with the one wee pebble. You get a slice of history to watch and savour time and time again and at the same while you can help to chip away at the solution to AFC's financial difficulties. We'll say it again - this DVD is a MUST HAVE so get down to the club shoppie and grab a copy whiles you can.
17th November - The latest in the unending tournament against the old farm had one very important aspect to it. The reduced allocation of tickets to the visiting fans changed the atmosphere - for the better. With over 2,000 of them at Todders, there are still far too many but the change in the feeling surrounding the game and the much reduced volume of their singing made it a much better experience for the home fans. AFC deserves plaudits for taking such a bold step - especially bearing in mind the financial consequences. They also deserve to be rewarded by the fans who have been staying away from these fixtures. There are a lot of folk who have struck the old farm matches off their calendars in recent years but they may well be persuaded to return when they hear about the difference when the howling mob was shrunk and isolated by the belt of empty seats around them. The club should stick to its guns on this and play more games with a cut back visiting contingent and at the same time work to encourage their own fans to make up the numbers so that no financial penalty is suffered. The onus is also on the supporters to respond positively and turn up for these and other games in enthusiastic and noisy profusion. Aberdeen is a team that to succeed needs to include the fans, so come on Red Army. Reward the Dons - Pack Pittodrie.
13th November - TRF 53 - a cartoon special - hits the dubs on Saturday morning when the Dandies line up to face the penalty-free huns at Todders. Recent home form has to be cast aside along with all the mental baggage that our manager and team have built up about playing both halves of the old farm. The Dons have managed to get themselves on a bit of a slide lately and they really need to get a confidence building win under their belts. Who better to do it against than our bitterest rivals? Not possible? Everything in football is possible - they need to play at their very best perhaps and at their most determined and with utmost spirit and self belief, but they can grab a victory on home turf. What a launch pad that would be in the quest to restore self respect and stop any prospect of serious decline in its tracks. It wouldn't do the bookies any favours either. Just go for it!

9th November - After a relatively good start to the season - away from home at least - the Dandies managed to get themselves into the top half of the SPL and looked good to consolidate. Since then though, mainly thanks to dreadful home form, they have dropped back into the lower half and look like they are under threat from Kilmarnock and Livingston. Even ignoring the old farm, you have to be asking why it is that a team that can pull better crowds than all of the others and pays its players more that all of the others can't put up more of a fight and a better performance than most of the others. The answer has to lie in the hearts and minds of the players. Collectively they have the ability to outplay most other teams but it just doesn't seem to be in their heads to do it right now. This is a problem of motivation and it needs to be sorted out quick. The manager always has a game plan, he always has loads of information available for the players about the opposition, but when things go wrong neither they or he seem to know what to do about it. We have all seen matches at Pittodrie where the players come out looking like they are spending the day at the seaside instead of going out to battle for points. They need to be much more stirred up at the start of matches and in particular they need to forget about the crap fed to them by the media on the subject of the Glasgow gruesome twosome and get stuck right in wherever and whoever they play against.	9th November - We warned you folks. We have now removed our forum from this site due to lack of use. Thanks to the people who contributed to it. What discussion that went on was of a much greater quality than the juvenile babblings in some other places. We acknowledge that there are lots of alternative places to put your views on display and where yo will get much more response (be it worthwhile or worthless) so we'll leave this particular activity to others.