The Famous Aberdeen - Season 2022/23

[DrewDon]

 

[AFCDannyFTH]

If he actually told the Main Stand fans to f**k off at half time, on top of that performance it surely has to be the final nail in his coffin. 

Horrendous football, consistently shite excuses and a squad who are declining at a frightening rate.

McInnes hasn't looked interested all season. Time for a change and a fresh approach from someone who actually wants to be there.

[DrewDon]

I'm not convinced about Ojo and McGeouch together - similar players wanting to do broadly the same things and occupy many of the same positions. I think you pick one of them, almost certainly McGeouch, and have Ferguson as a combative, energetic number eight - I'm not sure he quite has the creativity or technical ability to play as the ten just now. We are crying out to sign a creative, technical number ten by the end of the month - we have been missing that type of player for a season and a half now. 

Edited January 23, 2020 by DrewDon

[Aufc]

I'm not convinced about Ojo and McGeouch together - similar players wanting to do broadly the same things and occupy many of the same positions. I think you pick one of them, almost certainly McGeouch, and have Ferguson as a combative, energetic number eight - I'm not sure he quite has the creativity or technical ability to play as the ten just now. We are crying out to sign a creative, technical number ten by the end of the month - we have been missing that type of player for a season and a half now. 

Like greg stewart.....[emoji102]

[Romeo]

Manager getting hounded out?

A fairly comfortable win over St Mirren at the weekend should see this all settle down.

[Melanius Mullarkey]

19 minutes ago, Aufc said:

 

Like greg stewart.....

 

No fat **** at Pittodrie.

(there’s enough in the dugout)

[tarapoa]

Today's Cormack Park schedule

1.    Delivery - practice hitting the first man with crosses
2.    Set piece drills – float as many corners as you can into the keeper’s arms
3.    Midfield creativity - how to effectively cut inside, then pass the ball backwards for a defender to hoof it away
4.    Set piece defending  – marking tall centre halves with 5ft 8 full backs
5.    Tactics – how to ‘nullify’ the opposition (and yourselves, and any atmosphere, and the will to live)
6.    Video session – choose a 7 star hotel for next year’s Dubai jaunt

[Guest Bob Mahelp]

I think we can officially put the 'we've lost our way' stamp on this season. 

Actually, not just this season. That's pretty much 18 months now we've been struggling to find our best starting line up and a set of tactics that will suit it.  

The spine of the team remains strong....Lewis, McKenna, McGeough, Ferguson, McGinn, Cosgrove..... all players that any side outside of the OF (and maybe even the OF) would gladly have in their team.  Where's it going wrong then ? 

Let's start at full back. Logan is a shadow of the player he was 3 or 4 years ago. Too often caught daydreaming (as last night), and obviously scared to commit forward....even when he does, his crosses are brutal. Combine that with big Andy on the left and we have virtually no pace or attacking input from the full-backs.....most of the time we have to sit in a rigid defensive 4. 

Midfield is the biggest issue. Ojo, McGeough and Ferguson are all talented players who do virtually the same thing. None of them seem to want to push on into the box and look for a through ball, or a shot, or a knock down. We have 3 central midfielders who literally only play in the centre of the field.  

Up front, big Sam is looking increasingly isolated. Last night he spent half his time wide on the half way line trying desperately to get closer to the ball,  and the other half trying to flick on long punts to nobody.  

McGinn tries hard on the left, but because there's nothing in front of him he's generally left with no option but to give a short ball back to Considine, and before you know it all momentum is lost. 

I'm not a 'McInnes out' man....I think he deserves a bit of leeway after all he's done the last 6 or 7 years. But we can't go on like this into next season.  He needs to find a way to get the best out of the decent players we have in the team, or give someone else the chance to do it. 

 

[DukDukGoose]

16 minutes ago, Bob Mahelp said:

I think we can officially put the 'we've lost our way' stamp on this season. 

Actually, not just this season. That's pretty much 18 months now we've been struggling to find our best starting line up and a set of tactics that will suit it.  

The spine of the team remains strong....Lewis, McKenna, McGeough, Ferguson, McGinn, Cosgrove..... all players that any side outside of the OF (and maybe even the OF) would gladly have in their team.  Where's it going wrong then ? 

Let's start at full back. Logan is a shadow of the player he was 3 or 4 years ago. Too often caught daydreaming (as last night), and obviously scared to commit forward....even when he does, his crosses are brutal. Combine that with big Andy on the left and we have virtually no pace or attacking input from the full-backs.....most of the time we have to sit in a rigid defensive 4. 

Midfield is the biggest issue. Ojo, McGeough and Ferguson are all talented players who do virtually the same thing. None of them seem to want to push on into the box and look for a through ball, or a shot, or a knock down. We have 3 central midfielders who literally only play in the centre of the field.  

Up front, big Sam is looking increasingly isolated. Last night he spent half his time wide on the half way line trying desperately to get closer to the ball,  and the other half trying to flick on long punts to nobody.  

McGinn tries hard on the left, but because there's nothing in front of him he's generally left with no option but to give a short ball back to Considine, and before you know it all momentum is lost. 

I'm not a 'McInnes out' man....I think he deserves a bit of leeway after all he's done the last 6 or 7 years. But we can't go on like this into next season.  He needs to find a way to get the best out of the decent players we have in the team, or give someone else the chance to do it. 

 

Was with you until the last paragraph. This is his team. Every single player in that squad is someone he has signed to a contract. 

[logie skid boys]

6 minutes ago, Bob Mahelp said:

I think we can officially put the 'we've lost our way' stamp on this season. 

Actually, not just this season. That's pretty much 18 months now we've been struggling to find our best starting line up and a set of tactics that will suit it.  

The spine of the team remains strong....Lewis, McKenna, McGeough, Ferguson, McGinn, Cosgrove..... all players that any side outside of the OF (and maybe even the OF) would gladly have in their team.  Where's it going wrong then ? 

Let's start at full back. Logan is a shadow of the player he was 3 or 4 years ago. Too often caught daydreaming (as last night), and obviously scared to commit forward....even when he does, his crosses are brutal. Combine that with big Andy on the left and we have virtually no pace or attacking input from the full-backs.....most of the time we have to sit in a rigid defensive 4. 

Midfield is the biggest issue. Ojo, McGeough and Ferguson are all talented players who do virtually the same thing. None of them seem to want to push on into the box and look for a through ball, or a shot, or a knock down. We have 3 central midfielders who literally only play in the centre of the field.  

Up front, big Sam is looking increasingly isolated. Last night he spent half his time wide on the half way line trying desperately to get closer to the ball,  and the other half trying to flick on long punts to nobody.  

McGinn tries hard on the left, but because there's nothing in front of him he's generally left with no option but to give a short ball back to Considine, and before you know it all momentum is lost. 

I'm not a 'McInnes out' man....I think he deserves a bit of leeway after all he's done the last 6 or 7 years. But we can't go on like this into next season.  He needs to find a way to get the best out of the decent players we have in the team, or give someone else the chance to do it. 

 

Some good points Bob . And we’ll happy with what I’ve seen Mcgeough  . Quality player but is totally wasted with no runners in front of him.  Mcinnies has 5 months to give us  big improvement especially in performances . I can take a defeat if we shown we want win a game but what we are watching every week is soul destroying .  It’s been 18 months this .  . A packed red shed against Killie might be his nail in coffin if it’s usual performance . . The message will be loud and clear .  . The only positive just now is. he knows he’s under pressure and there ain’t no  Mr Milne to run to .  .

[Dons_1988]

16 minutes ago, Bob Mahelp said:

I think we can officially put the 'we've lost our way' stamp on this season. 

Actually, not just this season. That's pretty much 18 months now we've been struggling to find our best starting line up and a set of tactics that will suit it.  

The spine of the team remains strong....Lewis, McKenna, McGeough, Ferguson, McGinn, Cosgrove..... all players that any side outside of the OF (and maybe even the OF) would gladly have in their team.  Where's it going wrong then ? 

Let's start at full back. Logan is a shadow of the player he was 3 or 4 years ago. Too often caught daydreaming (as last night), and obviously scared to commit forward....even when he does, his crosses are brutal. Combine that with big Andy on the left and we have virtually no pace or attacking input from the full-backs.....most of the time we have to sit in a rigid defensive 4. 

Midfield is the biggest issue. Ojo, McGeough and Ferguson are all talented players who do virtually the same thing. None of them seem to want to push on into the box and look for a through ball, or a shot, or a knock down. We have 3 central midfielders who literally only play in the centre of the field.  

Up front, big Sam is looking increasingly isolated. Last night he spent half his time wide on the half way line trying desperately to get closer to the ball,  and the other half trying to flick on long punts to nobody.  

McGinn tries hard on the left, but because there's nothing in front of him he's generally left with no option but to give a short ball back to Considine, and before you know it all momentum is lost. 

I'm not a 'McInnes out' man....I think he deserves a bit of leeway after all he's done the last 6 or 7 years. But we can't go on like this into next season.  He needs to find a way to get the best out of the decent players we have in the team, or give someone else the chance to do it. 

 

This is basically where I am. The nucleus of the team is fine for chellenging for Europe but we really lack in some key areas.

Full backs is crucial, Shay offers no threat these days and he basically sold us down the river last night...again. I love Considine but when we need to break teams down he isn't a good option at full back.

The front 3/4 is just poor. The lack of guile, creativity, pace, intensity is chronic. Sam's been great but because of his size we just resort to trying to hit him constantly. I like all our first choice midfield individually but as you say it needs more of someone running in behind or picking some more incisive passes.

Just going 4-4-2 does not make us a bigger goal threat. It's clear Mcinnes sees the glaring issues we have, particular in forward areas. Let him get some bodies in over the next week and let's see.

[DukDukGoose]

3 minutes ago, Dons_1988 said:

This is basically where I am. The nucleus of the team is fine for chellenging for Europe but we really lack in some key areas.

Full backs is crucial, Shay offers no threat these days and he basically sold us down the river last night...again. I love Considine but when we need to break teams down he isn't a good option at full back.

The front 3/4 is just poor. The lack of guile, creativity, pace, intensity is chronic. Sam's been great but because of his size we just resort to trying to hit him constantly. I like all our first choice midfield individually but as you say it needs more of someone running in behind or picking some more incisive passes.

Just going 4-4-2 does not make us a bigger goal threat. It's clear Mcinnes sees the glaring issues we have, particular in forward areas. Let him get some bodies in over the next week and let's see.

Really? Last night he didn't make a sub until the 68th minute. When he made the sub he made no change to the tactical set up, just moved a couple of players from one position to another. On the 81st minute he decides to change the set up. It was clear to everyone in the stadium we needed to change what we were trying to do after 15 minutes. 

Almost every week he comes out and says he isn't happy with the display. This has been going on for about 12 months. We continue to play the same way. By the beginning of the second half the fans were booing the long punts up the park.

We have the third biggest budget by far. We have the third highest manager salary by far. The results and the product are poor. People can't give tickets away to watch us for free.

[Dons_1988]

6 minutes ago, Merkland Red said:

Really? Last night he didn't make a sub until the 68th minute. When he made the sub he made no change to the tactical set up, just moved a couple of players from one position to another. On the 81st minute he decides to change the set up. It was clear to everyone in the stadium we needed to change what we were trying to do after 15 minutes. 

Almost every week he comes out and says he isn't happy with the display. This has been going on for about 12 months. We continue to play the same way. By the beginning of the second half the fans were booing the long punts up the park.

We have the third biggest budget by far. We have the third highest manager salary by far. The results and the product are poor. People can't give tickets away to watch us for free.

His ability to change a match and his ability to see where the squad lacks quality are different things.

[DrewDon]

2 hours ago, Aufc said:

 

Like greg stewart.....

 

Touché. I should probably add 'mobile' to my list of demands, too. I'm not asking for much - just one of the best players in the league, ideally. 

[DukDukGoose]

1 minute ago, Dons_1988 said:

His ability to change a match and his ability to see where the squad lacks quality are different things.

The squad doesn't lack quality. The manager has built a squad that can't play the type of football he wants to play. As I posted earlier, he has signed every player there to a contract.

During the European games McInnes was talking about the players he had signed for this season. We played fast football with the ball being played on the ground. His own words were "the fans will have seen the type of football we want to play this season".

By St Mirren away we were resorting to aimless long punts up the park. That's on him.

[Dons_1988]

4 minutes ago, Merkland Red said:

The squad doesn't lack quality. The manager has built a squad that can't play the type of football he wants to play. As I posted earlier, he has signed every player there to a contract.

During the European games McInnes was talking about the players he had signed for this season. We played fast football with the ball being played on the ground. His own words were "the fans will have seen the type of football we want to play this season".

By St Mirren away we were resorting to aimless long punts up the park. That's on him.

I'm not absolving him of responsibility. Of course I'm not. He put together this team, but building a team in one summer isn't an easy task. Our best team under him he inherited a solid nucleus and he added to it in each window culminating in the 16/17 team that won an historic w/o Celtic treble.  I think he resorts to shite football because he doesn't trust what's out there to play ambitious, attacking football and leave us exposed at the back. Keep it solid and try and nick it from set pieces or battering our way through.

The squad does lack quality, it really does. Full backs and in the creative areas are badly lacking. Little pace, little creativity, little intensity. I don't look at any one of our creative players and think there's much more to come from them that Mcinnes isn't getting. Maybe Mclennan but he has to prove he has it first.

[DukDukGoose]

12 minutes ago, Dons_1988 said:

I'm not absolving him of responsibility. Of course I'm not. He put together this team, but building a team in one summer isn't an easy task. Our best team under him he inherited a solid nucleus and he added to it in each window culminating in the 16/17 team that won an historic w/o Celtic treble.  I think he resorts to shite football because he doesn't trust what's out there to play ambitious, attacking football and leave us exposed at the back. Keep it solid and try and nick it from set pieces or battering our way through.

The squad does lack quality, it really does. Full backs and in the creative areas are badly lacking. Little pace, little creativity, little intensity. I don't look at any one of our creative players and think there's much more to come from them that Mcinnes isn't getting. Maybe Mclennan but he has to prove he has it first.

So he needs to stop signing footballers to play his hoofball style. In that case why should we let him sign a couple of more players in this window? He's spoken about signing creative players. We had James Maddison here and he didn't have a clue how to use him.

Full backs I'll give you, although Leigh is injured.

Hedges, McLennan and Gallagher all have pace. If they are given the ball 50 yards from goals with players around them then they'd have a better chance of showing off what they can do. As it stands we play a 50 yard ball in the general direction of our isolated striker. We are then looking to win the second ball and attack from there. The area is congested with opposition players because they know what we are going to do. Lewis wa getting dogs abuse last night because he was looking for this ball every time, despite having four players in front of him with loads of space.

McGinn lacks pace but still has the ability. He can't play the early cross because he as no one to give the ball to. This means he has to cut back and then cross. By this point the box is crowded with opposing defenders.

[Dons_1988]

1 minute ago, Merkland Red said:

So he needs to stop signing footballers to play his hoofball style. In that case why should we let him sign a couple of more players in this window? He's spoken about signing creative players. We had James Maddison here and he didn't have a clue how to use him.

Full backs I'll give you, although Leigh is injured.

Hedges, McLennan and Gallagher all have pace. If they are given the ball 50 yards from goals with players around them then they'd have a better chance of showing off what they can do. As it stands we play a 50 yard ball in the general direction of our isolated striker. We are then looking to win the second ball and attack from there. The area is congested with opposition players because they know what we are going to do. Lewis wa getting dogs abuse last night because he was looking for this ball every time, despite having four players in front of him with loads of space.

McGinn lacks pace but still has the ability. He can't play the early cross because he as no one to give the ball to. This means he has to cut back and then cross. By this point the box is crowded with opposing defenders.

Hedges doesn't have pace (relative to a winger) and I'm not convinced he's that good. I said this to you not long back and he's done nothing to change my mind there. Mclennan also isn't that quick. Gallagher is quick but he really isn't a great footballer at all.

Mcginn has the quality but we can't be relying on him alone and his quality is diminishing.

You can use the Maddison example but Mclean, Christie were both successes. You're not giving a balanced scorecard here. Just because I don't want him sacked doesn't mean he isn't pissing me off. He is, but I have a level of trust in him still.

[DukDukGoose]

23 minutes ago, Dons_1988 said:

Hedges doesn't have pace (relative to a winger) and I'm not convinced he's that good. I said this to you not long back and he's done nothing to change my mind there. Mclennan also isn't that quick. Gallagher is quick but he really isn't a great footballer at all.

Mcginn has the quality but we can't be relying on him alone and his quality is diminishing.

You can use the Maddison example but Mclean, Christie were both successes. You're not giving a balanced scorecard here. Just because I don't want him sacked doesn't mean he isn't pissing me off. He is, but I have a level of trust in him still.

McInnes described him as a pacey winger when he signed him though. He's definitely looked quick when he's been given the chance to run at people. McLennan is definitely quick. Gallagher I will agree with you there.

McLean played deeper but was a fantastic player. We're looking for McGeouch to fill a similar role. Christie was brilliant but was usually used wide. Maddison was clearly better than both though and we didn't use him to anything near the potential.

Would Christie fit the system we are playing at the moment?

[Dons_1988]

36 minutes ago, Merkland Red said:

McInnes described him as a pacey winger when he signed him though. He's definitely looked quick when he's been given the chance to run at people. McLennan is definitely quick. Gallagher I will agree with you there.

McLean played deeper but was a fantastic player. We're looking for McGeouch to fill a similar role. Christie was brilliant but was usually used wide. Maddison was clearly better than both though and we didn't use him to anything near the potential.

Would Christie fit the system we are playing at the moment?

The current system is driven by the players we have.