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Even less of a title race with the return of Rangers

Guest DAVIDB69

By Guest DAVIDB69
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Guest DAVIDB69

Guest DAVIDB69

Posted
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Weren't the media telling us these last few years that how much better it was going to be with Rangers back , title race will be back etc.

Last couple of seasons Aberdeen hung around till a springtime collapse.

Yet the early signs point Celtic being too far in the front by about Christmas and the so called "title race" being over by then despite Rangers being back

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Elixir

Elixir

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Think we'll finish second this season. We don't play Celtic again until the end of January so it would be nice to try and keep it close until then or maybe a little longer. Can't see it being much of a "challenge" in the end, though.

Shame we conceded that late goal on the opening day as our start in the league would have been even more ideal.

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bennett

bennett

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As dons said Celtic are miles ahead of the rest, Rogers has them firing on all cylinders. We've got Aberdeen in two weeks which is a huge game for us, we have to compete with them and hearts.

 

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WaffenThinMint

WaffenThinMint

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27 minutes ago, Dons_1988 said:

I would say it is.

Celtic are miles ahead of the rest.

Based on what I've seen so far of us I would say hearts will probably finish 2nd.

Scott Sinclair, Moussa Dembélé and Leigh Griffiths. Have any of the latter two playing in a domestic match with Sinclair & it's going to be a very tough job to see them dropping many points this season. Sinclair and Dembélé are a joy to watch - not merely a matter of skill but work ethic, professionalism & determination to play till the final whistle.

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DC92

DC92

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Compared to last season I'd say we're much better off in terms of attacking options and potential scorers and we look stronger in central midfield Kitchen and a rejuvenated Cowie. That said, we don't really have a reliable goalscorer and with Rherras looking unconvincing at left-back and an inexperienced keeper I wouldn't be surprised if we get sucker-punched a few times this season, as we almost did today. We'll need to improve away from home as well.

Rangers bizarrely wasted their budget on past-it "big name" players and Warburton doesn't seem to have a clue how to fit them into the team. They're still a bit of an unknown quantity because they could still find a way of playing that gets the best out of the likes of Barton and Kranjcar but that doesn't look like it's going to happen any time soon. They might look a bit better if they just revert to the way they played last year but considering they didn't really get close to our points total from two seasons ago I wouldn't say that's a terrifying prospect.

Aberdeen have the look of a team who've peaked under McInnes. Their style of play doesn't seem to have changed much over the last couple of years and it looks like more and more teams have sussed them out in an attacking sense. Their summer signings strike me as those of a manager trying to pad out his squad rather than to take it to the next level. They're still in with a shout for 2nd but I can see this being McInnes' last season.

Celtic are miles ahead of all three.

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Dons_1988

Dons_1988

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Aberdeen have the look of a team who've peaked under McInnes. Their style of play doesn't seem to have changed much over the last couple of years and it looks like more and more teams have sussed them out in an attacking sense. Their summer signings strike me as those of a manager trying to pad out his squad rather than to take it to the next level. They're still in with a shout for 2nd but I can see this being McInnes' last season.



Pretty fair assessment.

The idea wasn't to pad out the squad though it was to give us more depth and alternative options in the way we play as we have been one dimensional last few seasons.

For whatever reason that hasn't quite come to fruition yet, although I do think there is more to come from us.

My biggest concern is the lack of intensity to our play just now. Everything was so flat for long periods today. If we upped the intensity I feel like we have the players to hurt every team in the league barring Celtic.
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DC92

DC92

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4 minutes ago, Dons_1988 said:

 


Pretty fair assessment.

The idea wasn't to pad out the squad though it was to give us more depth and alternative options in the way we play as we have been one dimensional last few seasons.

For whatever reason that hasn't quite come to fruition yet, although I do think there is more to come from us.

My biggest concern is the lack of intensity to our play just now. Everything was so flat for long periods today. If we upped the intensity I feel like we have the players to hurt every team in the league barring Celtic.

 

 

"Pad out the squad" was probably the wrong choice of words. All I meant was that most of the players signed seem to either be not as good/at the same level as what you already have. I get that the likes of Stockley and Storey add something a bit different but if you were picking a strongest team it'd still probably look almost the same as it did last year. There's nothing necessarily wrong with that but, like you say, it doesn't seem to have made your play any more dynamic so far.

I think motivation is likely to be the biggest problem. Last year the goal was to win the league, however unlikely that might have been. What is it this season? To finish in the same position you have for the last two seasons? That seems like a bit of a comedown and if the players feel the same way it's not really surprising that the intensity has dropped. That's the main reason I think McInnes could be in his last season, I think he might find it difficult to give them a renewed sense of purpose and he'll decide he's done as much as he can.

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Dons_1988

Dons_1988

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"Pad out the squad" was probably the wrong choice of words. All I meant was that most of the players signed seem to either be not as good/at the same level as what you already have. I get that the likes of Stockley and Storey add something a bit different but if you were picking a strongest team it'd still probably look almost the same as it did last year. There's nothing necessarily wrong with that but, like you say, it doesn't seem to have made your play any more dynamic so far.

I think motivation is likely to be the biggest problem. Last year the goal was to win the league, however unlikely that might have been. What is it this season? To finish in the same position you have for the last two seasons? That seems like a bit of a comedown and if the players feel the same way it's not really surprising that the intensity has dropped. That's the main reason I think McInnes could be in his last season, I think he might find it difficult to give them a renewed sense of purpose and he'll decide he's done as much as he can.



Yeah I think you're right re motivation and its seeping into the support too which our attendances reflect.

After Dundee away we have a cup QF against a bogey team and rangers at home in the space of 4 days. Massive few days in the season, go out of the cup and lose to them and I can see significant unrest in the terraces. Not necessarily from me but we have some drama queens in our support.
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Monkey Tennis

Monkey Tennis

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It could indeed be an ironic upshot of Rangers' "return".

Celtic have felt forced to up their game a bit and bring in a decent manager, while their gates have shown some recovery.  If Rangers aren't that good though, as they rely on ageing players, we're left with more of a procession than we've had.

Celtic might even manage a treble this season.  To my mind, that would be closer to Armageddon than anything we've seen these last four years.

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G-MAN

G-MAN

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Compared to last season I'd say we're much better off in terms of attacking options and potential scorers and we look stronger in central midfield Kitchen and a rejuvenated Cowie. That said, we don't really have a reliable goalscorer and with Rherras looking unconvincing at left-back and an inexperienced keeper I wouldn't be surprised if we get sucker-punched a few times this season, as we almost did today. We'll need to improve away from home as well.

Rangers bizarrely wasted their budget on past-it "big name" players and Warburton doesn't seem to have a clue how to fit them into the team. They're still a bit of an unknown quantity because they could still find a way of playing that gets the best out of the likes of Barton and Kranjcar but that doesn't look like it's going to happen any time soon. They might look a bit better if they just revert to the way they played last year but considering they didn't really get close to our points total from two seasons ago I wouldn't say that's a terrifying prospect.

Aberdeen have the look of a team who've peaked under McInnes. Their style of play doesn't seem to have changed much over the last couple of years and it looks like more and more teams have sussed them out in an attacking sense. Their summer signings strike me as those of a manager trying to pad out his squad rather than to take it to the next level. They're still in with a shout for 2nd but I can see this being McInnes' last season.

Celtic are miles ahead of all three.



He might not see out this season.

If Warburton goes, Derek wont be at Pittodrie.

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