CoveRangers1922

Any other players incoming? Are we the only L1 side who doesn't have a loanee on their books? Would really like a striker and winger. Logan Chalmers would have been an awesome addition but rightly chose full time Caley who are fighting for a title push in the Championship. I feel we have cover at RB, LB, CB, CM. Leighton and Leitch don't fill me with confidence as cover and Ola is like a white Rhino (very rarely seen). Reynolds incoming means Jevan's game time is probably limited.

We managed to compete with Hibs for the majority of the match and although they had substantially more shots and 60% of the possession we managed to play as well. I'd like to think, on our day, we could threaten teams in the lower half of the premiership and cause an upset. Hopefully Sons are turning the corner with the targeted new signings, winning the EF game and running Dundee close. I'll be down at the Rock next weekend no doubt.

Thought as much. Stock would need to be a bit higher and many would classify it as a risk. Dundee would be looking for someone very proven at Prem level.

If, or when, McPake goes I do wonder if Hartley will be in the frame or has he had his time at Dundee and they'd look elsewhere?

Didn't expect that. Know they are struggling and their confidence is undoubtedly low but sounds like with 11 men you might well have caused an upset. Frustrating as a fan seeing indiscipline hamper your chance of a result.

Narrow loss but valiant effort against Prem opponents. Same scoreline as against the Dons last season. How were Dundee?

Ah Bronsky, kinda expected that after his game as trialist last week. A few new faces in recently. Expecting a tougher game next week than when we last met the Sons at the Rock.

Who's incoming? See the pen on the Sons twitter page?

Free Saturday for me so going along to Spain Park (Zone 3). Not sure if that's home or away end. 876 will be their record crowd. Seen BoD a few times over the years and they are a decent side with some talented players. As said by others they would compete at the very top end of the HL. Going along to see Raith more than BoD. Expect a comfortable away win, about 4-1.

Some really solid performances, particularly defensively. Yule was outstanding in the middle too. Mitch did all he could and had a couple of good chances, especially the one when we were on top for about 10-15 minutes after the break. He needed Rory alongside as he was isolated up there. A Rory of 5-10 years would have been even better! 5,800 or thereabouts was the attendance. Hoped for far more but Thursday night and on tv scuppered that somewhat.

Agree with both of your points and what some have echoed in here about our fan base. Currently it's lacking in numbers and it would be inferior to all in the Championship but when we were in L2 I believe we had the highest average crowds. People of Aberdeen in my opinion would welcome a second team in the city playing at a high level. A high level I'd classify as Championship and above. Some will always just be Aberdeen fans and never set foot at Balmoral, some might come to both us and the Dons and some who went to Pittodrie as there wasn't much alternatives might switch allegiances. There's no hatred between the sides; not so far as we're not seen as a competitor. I always thought that the more we continued to establish ourselves and rise, the more fans would come and I'd stick by that although COVID stalled the attendances. Conversely if we have tough times the inverse is true. Really difficult to know with certainty where our ceiling is or where the future of the club lies. A sharp rise on the field but we need to ensure we promote our club, get people coming to the games, build our ground and image. Arbroath doing it admirably. We hope to achieve along the lines of what former HL sides Caley (who were part of a merger) and County have done and steer away from the disaster that Gretna ended up as. 3 years ago we were playing against Keith, Huntly, Locos, Wick etc in the Highland League. We had players who could clearly play at a higher level (a lot of them are still with us) and higher investment that all others in the league. No club at that level has a big fan base. Most, but by no means all, supporters of these clubs are very local to the area or families of players or people involved in the club. Some of these clubs have supporters who regularly watch other sides. Sure it's the case in the Lowland League as well. For new SPFL clubs like us it unfortunately probably takes success, and will take time, to build a true and substantial fan base. It's definitely a predicament that will face clubs rising through the pyramid. Championship is full of established clubs so no doubting if we get there it will be a challenge and getting to the next step might never happen. Think today we could compete with most clubs there but doesn't take much decline or mismanagement to move back down a level..

Credit to him, looked fairly solid which he hasn't in the few appearances he made at the start of the season. Distribution wasn't the greatest but was competent and didn't look out of place.

Gourlay, credit to him, was alright last night and turned in a respectable performance in goals. A few dodgy kick outs but handled everything else with competence. Missing McKenzie wasn't an issue in the end. Scott Ross was brilliant at RB and provided good cover for the missing Shay Logan Last night though I thought Harry Milne was exceptional as he always is. Outstanding performance. Certainly wouldn't have looked out of place in the Hibs starting XI Just missing that strength in depth which is obvious and fully expected given we are a L1 side.

Valiant effort to be fair given we were missing a few key players. Defensively we looked tight and had a couple of decent chances of our own through Mitch. Legs definitely went in the 2nd half of extra time. Wasn't to be. Could be done avoiding some of the big boys next few years. Rangers and Hibs both away 2 years on the trot in the 4th round.

Yes definitely agree with that. Such a big occasion for the club. Would have loved to seen us full strength and offer more in the match especially going forward. With the players we're missing it's been a commendable performance so far but capable of much more.