A Light In The North - Aberdeen FC

[Mr_Grieves]

That has to be the most mental first season ever! Well done!

 

[Sam91]

Absolute scenes!!

 

[Klippybo]

Typed - Aberdeen fans on the internet and went to images and not far down the page I find my cousin, his wife and his 2 kids lol

END OF SEASON POST

We did Ok this season as we just won the league, Betfred Cup and UEFA Cup lol. Undoubtedly this is my greatest achievement in over 20 years of playing FM or CM. Sure I have won more things in seasons but to win all that in the first season with a team like Aberdeen is unbelievable. Now as I have updated the database I don't know whether teams are weaker without their loan players but even with contracted players we should not be beating PSV, Sevilla, Man Utd or Leverkusen at this stage.

We stormed the league and tbh from Christmas onwards it was ours. Celtic continued to slip up and we began to put 4 or 5 wins together which really set us apart. Sure Hearts thumped us twice but we were unbeaten against Rangers and only lost against Celtic once in the league and we ended up winning the title with 3 games to go and by a whopping 16pts.

We scored 96 goals in the league but my main striker, Cosgrove, only scored 9!!! McGinn, McLennan and Palmer got into double figures but alongside Cosgrove May, Ferguson, Bryson and Hedges got above 5 while I had 9 other scorers and had 4 own goals.

We won the Betfred Cup by default really as both Celtic and Rangers got knocked out early doors while we played lower league sides before putting 5 past Motherwell in the semis and then thumping Hibs 4-0 in the final with Sam Cosgrove getting a hat-trick.

The Scottish Cup is a sore point though. Having put 6 past Kelty Hearts and 5 past East Fife with a narrow win over Morton in between everything was looking good as by then I didn't fear the Old Firm and had Celtic in the semis but as we played PSV a few days before my first XI were ****** and I had to play a backup side and despite going 2-0 up we crashed 5-2. I aim for revenge!!!

And then there was the Europa League where we played 23 games and scored 59 goals as we somehow won the tournament. We sailed through the 4 qualifying rounds with an aggregate score of 30-7 and then won all 6 group games against Austria Vienna, Ludogorets and Feyenoord.

When we drew Sevilla I thought that it was over (a recurring theme lol) but after winning 2-1 away and losing 1-0 at home we sneaked through on away goals. Rangers were up next and were dispatched 6-4 on aggregate and then it was PSV where after losing 2-1 away we got a late penalty to win 1-0 at home to win on away goals again.

Then there was the semis against Man Utd where after an incredible 2-0 win at Pittodrie we found ourselves 3-0 down and facing the inevitable but a last minute own goal by Ashley Young saw us progress on away goals yet again. In the final we faced Leverkusen and in a tight match we won 2-0 to crown my best ever season.

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LADBROKES PREMIERSHIP
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FIRST TEAM SQUAD

Goalkeepers - Joe Lewis was the main man and only missed 5 games throughout the season. I rejected an £8.5m bid for him in January but he was going nowhere until I find a heir to his throne.

Defenders - Shay Logan was immense at right back as he scored 2 and got 15 assists. Loanee Greg Leigh also impressed while Devlin and McKenna were impressive through the middle. Andrew Considine started over 30 games too and deserves a mention while Jack Grimmer was the only player to get sent-off for us.

Midfielders - Lewis Ferguson stood out with 17 goals and winning all the young player of the year awards yet he didn't make the SPL team of the year somehow. The teenager was a revelation and alongside the veteran Craig Bryson who netted 10 times they ruled the CM area. Paul Coutts and Dean Campbell also played plenty and impressed.

Connor McLennan got 19 goals from the RW as he rivalled Ferguson for the young player of the year while on loan Kasey Palmer got the same amount from AMC and has become a bit of a free-kick specialist although I cant see us being able to bring him back. Niall McGinn won a few of the player of the year awards and he was our top scorer in the league and he got 23 in total.

The likes of Frank Ross, Scott Wright (who scored 10), Armin Djerlek and Ryan Hedges all impressed when called upon this season.

Forwards - I won the league with 3 games to go, scoring 96 goals in all and yet my centre forward who scored 27 in all competitions only scored 9 in the league - how the **** does that work? Stevie May got 9 goals and apart from Bruce Anderson and Curtis Main who got a couple of goals each that was it as it seemed that my midfielders were my main goalscorers.

My Player of the Season - Niall McGinn
My Young Player of the Season - Lewis Ferguson

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PRE-SEASON AIMS

I have already agreed a couple of deals to go through and tbh I am just going to search the market for who I can bring in to make a difference at the best price. The problem I have is that surely last season was a one off? With Lewis, Logan, Bryson, Coutts, Considine and McGinn all being over 30 normally I would be shipping them out and I have Sam Cosgrove who only scored 9 league goals up front lol.

I will play it by ear methinks.
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[Klippybo]

PRE-SEASON

We are at the beginning of August so there is plenty of more deals to be done but I have been extremely busy as I have brought in 16 players and sold 9 with a few key players surprisingly leaving....

Club legend and the goalscorer of the first goal of in the Cup Winners Cup final in 1983, Eric Black, has joined my backroom team and joins former favourite Dons players Eoin Jess, Neil Simpson, Jim Leighton and Duncan Shearer amongst others.

This will be a long post with the screenshots of my new players so I better get on with it.

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PLAYERS OUT

The biggest sale was that of my goalkeeper Joe Lewis who joined Montpellier for an initial £8.5m rising to £10.75m. I had rejected a few bids and he was unhappy and upset some of my first team so I ended up accepting a later bid from Montpellier. He was the best keeper in the league so I had a tough job to replace him.

Niall McGinn is also gone. The Scottish Player of the Year, who scored 23 goals last season, joined Middlesbrough for £4.8m which is not bad for a 31y/o.

Craig Bryson joined Cardiff City for £425,000 despite being valued at £3m but being 32 and with his contract expiring at the end of the season I decided to cash in. Ash Taylor, Jack Grimmer and Stephen Gleeson have also gone to Sunderland (£500,000), Hibernian (£130,000) and Dundalk (£155,000) respectivelyas they were only backup players and I have brought in far better replacements.

Jai Quitongo joined Hamilton for £25,000 while Tomas Cerny joined Opava on a free transfer and out on loan went Stevie May who joined Kilmarnock for the season and a £425,000 fee.

Might be more to go in the future.

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PLAYERS IN

I signed 2 players in a matter of days for the same fee to break the clubs transfer record as I signed Greg Leigh permanently from NAC Breda and Stephen O'Donnell from Kilmarnock for £1.2m. Leigh was superb on loan last season and when looking at other left backs he was best value for money. O'Donnell returns to the club after being released as a youngster and he will compete with Shay Logan for the RB spot.

That transfer fee was then broken by the signing of Timothy Weah from Paris Saint-Germain for £2.7m. The American joins and with his attributes I hope he can tear the league apart.

£2.7m however is far less than my most expensive signing as I shelled out a whopping (for Aberdeen) £7.25m to bring in David Turnbull from Motherwell. The central midfielder has excellent technical abilities and at only 20y/o I hope that he will be part of the best central midfield partnership for both club and country with Lewis Ferguson.

I brought in 3 Celtic players too! Jack Hendry joined to replace Ash Taylor for £725,000, Lewis Morgan joined for £325,000 to challenge for the LW spot and Ryan Christie returned to the club on a free transfer. All 3 should have a big part to play for us with Christie coming in to compete with Djerlek for the AMC spot.

I also poached 3 Hearts players in the shape of Harry Cochrane (£150,000) and Anthony McDonald and Chris Hamilton (£100,000 each) to add some depth to the squad. Cochrane will get a few games this season but the other 2 will be with the reserves.

Finn Ecrepont and Tom McIntyre joined the club permanently after being on loan. McIntyre cost £475,000 and will be my 4th choice CB while Ecrepont is still only 17y/o and cost £20,000.

Regarding the goalkeeper situation I brought in Zander Clark from St.Johnstone for £300,000 which is a decent deal and he replaces Cerny as backup. After I signed him I sold Lewis so I had to go searching for another one and somehow I brought in Bayern Munich keeper
Christian Fruchtl for only £275,000!!!

Finally I brought in regen midfielder Martin Kerr from St.Mirren for £56,000 and 17y/o Croatian midfielder Marko Bulat on a free transfer.

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SQUAD

At the moment I see my first XI as this.....

GK - Fruchtl
DR - Logan
DC - McKenna
DC - Devlin
DL - Leigh
MC - Ferguson
MC - Turnbull
AMR - McLennan
AMC - Djerlek
AML - Hedges
ST - Weah

Its really only the LW spot that I am unsure about and I may look to strengthen there. However I do have Lewis Morgan and Scott Wright waiting in the wings (no pun intended lol).

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AIMS FOR THE SEASON

Win the league and after the only failure of last season the Scottish Cup!!!
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[Mr_Grieves]

Christie does a job on the wings too. Hitting a 7.49 ave this season

 

[Klippybo]

Drew Jarvie
1972-82
Forward
386 apps, 130 goals

Jarvie joined from Airdrie for £72,000 and at the time became the clubs record signing. He won 2 trophies while at the club. He also won 3 caps for Scotland.

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AUGUST

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v
Aberdeen 2 (Turnbull 16, McKenna 71)
Celtic 2 (Griffiths 38, Forrest 77)

Lineup - Fruchtl, Logan (O'Donnell), McKenna*, Devlin, Leigh, Ferguson, Turnbull, McLennan (Morgan), Djerlek, Hedges, Weah (Cosgrove)

A tough start to the season but a decent point I suppose. David Turnbull scored on his debut which is a good sign.

--

v

Motherwell 0
Aberdeen 3 (Turnbull 6, 86, McLennan 90)

Lineup - Fruchtl, Logan, McKenna, Devlin, Leigh, Ferguson, Turnbull*, McLennan, Djerlek (Christie), Hedges (Morgan), Weah (Cosgrove)

David Turnbull returned to haunt his former club here. He scored direct from a free-kick early doors and then killed the game off with a fine finish from the edge of the area late on. Connor McLennan wrapped things up in stoppage time.

--

UEFA European Super Cup

v
Aberdeen 3 (Devlin 42, Hedges 56, Campbell 98)
Atletico Madrid 3 (Vitolo 24, Griezmann 90, Lemar 119)
AET - Aberdeen win 4-3 on penalties)

Lineup - Fruchtl, Logan, McKenna, Devlin, Leigh, Ferguson (Campbell), Turnbull, McLennan (Morgan), Djerlek (Christie), Hedges*, Weah (Anderson)

What a match!!! Atletico were rewarded an early penalty but Fruchtl saved it however they quickly took the lead as they battered us in truth however we levelled against the run of play when Devlin took advantage of their keepers mistake.

In the 2nd half we took the lead thanks to MOM Ryan Hedges and when they had Filipe Luis sent-off the match was all set for us but Griezmann levelled in the last minute. So into extra-time we went and Dean Campbell put us back in front from the edge of the area and all we had to do was hold on but yet again we conceded in the last minute.

Then it was the Christian Fruchtl show as he saved Atletico's first 2 penalties to make it 3 for the match and although Bruce Anderson missed for us Scott McKenna stepped up to win us the trophy.

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Betfred Cup 2nd Round
v

Hamilton Academical 0
Aberdeen 2 (Djerlek 72, Cosgrove 90)

Lineup - Fruchtl, Logan, McKenna, Devlin, Leigh, Ferguson, Coutts (Campbell), McLennan, Djerlek*, Hedges, Weah (Cosgrove)

We dominated throughout here but it took us a while to get the goals. Timothy Weah continued his awful run of form here and Sam Cosgrove came off the bench for him to score and put pressure on him.

--

v

Hibernian 1 (Mallan 90)
Aberdeen 2 (Weah 4, McLennan 16)

Lineup - Fruchtl, Logan, McKenna, Devlin, Leigh, Ferguson, Turnbull (Coutts), McLennan, Djerlek, Woodburn (Hedges), Weah

Ben Woodburn made his debut on the left wing here but didn't do much. Timothy Weah got his first goal for us.

--

v

Kilmarnock 0
Aberdeen 3 (Djerlek 1, Woodburn 10, Turnbull 90pen)

Lineup - Fruchtl, Logan (O'Donnell), McKenna, Devlin, Leigh, Ferguson, Turnbull, McLennan (Christie), Djerlek*, Woodburn, Weah (Cosgrove)

A nice convincing victory. Ben Woodburn got his first goal for us but it was Armin Derlek who ran the show.

--

SUMMARY

The first month of the season was extremely tough but we came through it with flying colours. In the league we got a point at home to Celtic and then won our next 3 games away from home to see us top of the table.

In the Betfred Cup we beat Hamilton away and have been drawn at home to Rangers in the quarter-finals and our exploits in Europe continued as we edged out Atletico Madrid on penalties to claim the European Super Cup. Our Champions League draw has not been too kind though as we will play Dortmund, Inter and Standard Liege.

I made 2 more signings during the month with Ben Woodburn coming in on loan from Liverpool and Aidan Fitzpatrick joining from Partick Thistle for £100,000. Woodburn I think will be my left winger and hopefully can make as big an impact as Kasey Palmer did last year while Fitzpatrick (who just joined Norwich for £350k in real life) joins my reserve squad.

I still have a day or two in the transfer window to work my magic lol so we shall see what I can do but I am fairly happy with my squad.

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
DAVID TURNBULL

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LADBROKES PREMIERSHIP

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[Klippybo]

HAS AITOR HERRERA'S SUCCESSOR FINALLY BEEN FOUND??

I have had dozens of saves since my first ever Athletic Bilbao save where I got my best ever regen in a youth intake Aitor Herrera. I don't need to go in to what happened with him etc but I have yet to find a successor but I think I finally have years later.

On deadline day I was trawling through some squads just checking out teams randomly but when I clicked on the Scotland U21 squad I saw they had a 16y/o striker playing for Hearts and then when I saw his screenshot I was bowled over and had to have him.

So I put in an enquiry and was willing to use all of my remaining £6m to get him and they came back with a counter offer of under £150k with clauses so I got rid of the clauses and had £160,000 accepted and he agreed to join as a key player and get paid £4k a week.

INTRODUCING CRAIG GIBSON!!!!!

What a player. Just look at his attributes. He has played 15 games for Hearts and scored 7 goals which I was surprised at as I hadn't noticed him before but I honestly think he will be the best player in the game. He just had his 17th birthday and he will be my main striker (sorry Weah and Cosgrove) and I think the save now has a key figure to focus on much like Aitor was in my Bilbao save.

One question though? Does he qualify as Aitor's successor as he was bought in and not signed through a youth intake?
​

 

[FM_TNSSO]

That kid is incredible!!!

 

[Klippybo]

Brian Irvine
1985-97
Defender
383 apps, 40 goals

Signed from Falkirk, Irvine's best moment at Aberdeen was when he scored the winning penalty in the 1990 Scottish Cup final against Celtic. He also won the League Cup that year which were his 2 major trophy wins while at Aberdeen. He won 9 caps for Scotland and went on to play for Dundee and Ross County.

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SEPTEMBER

​​

v
​​Aberdeen 3 (Christie 24, McLennan 30, Gibson 58pen)
Livingston 0

Lineup - Fruchtl, Logan (Taylor), McKenna, Devlin, Leigh, Ferguson (Campbell), Coutts, McLennan*, Christie, Woodburn (Hedges), Gibson

A comfortable victory. Ryan Christie put us in front with a stunning long range strike from 30 yards and then McLennan made it 2. When we got a penalty McLennan was due to take it but I changed the taker to young Craig Gibson and my young regen striker converted to get a debut goal. Innes Cameron then got sent-off for them.

Greg Taylor - a deadline day signing - also made his debut here but unfortunately Shay Logan got injured and will be out for 2-3 months.

--

UEFA Champions League Group A

v

Aberdeen 2 (Djerlek 12, Gibson 52)
Borussia Dortmund 1 (Bruun Larsen 45)

Lineup - Fruchtl, O'Donnell, McKenna, Devlin (Hendry), Leigh*, Ferguson, Turnbull (Coutts), McLennan, Djerlek, Woodburn (Christie), Gibson

Getting wins against top class European opponents seems to be the norm for us now but I still think this is a great result. Craig Gibson got his first goal in open play for us as he beat their keeper to the ball to nod home the winner and apparently become the youngest scorer in the Champions League - he is breaking records already!

--

v
Aberdeen 4 (Ferguson 30, McLennan 50, Gibson 60, Nesbitt 87og)
Hamilton Academical 1 (Miller 73)

Lineup - Fruchtl, O'Donnell, McKenna, Devlin, Leigh (Taylor), Ferguson, Turnbull, McLennan*, Djerlek, Woodburn (Hedges), Gibson (Weah)

The highlight of this match was the crazy own goal from 40 yards that gave us our 4th goal. Never seen anything like it.

--

Betfred Cup Quarter-Final

v
​​Aberdeen 4 (Weah 34, Djerlek 48, Foderingham 57og, Cosgrove 84)
Rangers 0

Lineup - Fruchtl, O'Donnell, McKenna*, Devlin, Leigh (Considine), Ferguson (Campbell), Coutts, McLennan, Djerlek, Woodburn, Weah (Cosgrove)

Rangers seem to be a really poor side and we put 4 past them here despite having Logan injured and 3 players (Turnbull, Gibson, Taylor) cup tied. Note to self - do your domestic transfer deals earlier lol.

--

v

Rangers 0
Aberdeen 1 (Woodburn 16)

Lineup - Fruchtl, O'Donnell*, McKenna (Hendry), Devlin, Leigh, Ferguson, Turnbull, McLennan (Hedges), Christie, Woodburn, Gibson (Weah)

Back to back wins over our fiercest rivals - not bad. Gibson picked up a knock and in truth we were fortunate to win this game.

--

SUMMARY

Another excellent month was had as we introduced my regen sensation Craig Gibson into the team and he paid us back with 3 goals including a winner against Borussia Dortmund. Domestically it already looks like it will be a 2 horse race as ourselves and Celtic have broken away and we will face each other in the Betfred Cup semis too.

Beating Rangers twice was great too.

Regarding the transfer window, apart from Gibson, I signed 2 more players. Greg Taylor comes in from Kilmarnock for £2m while Connor Smith joins from Inverness CT for £100,000. Taylor will compete with Greg Leigh at left back and at 21y/o he has a bright future in front of him. Smith goes into my reserves.

Here is a screenie of the top deals in the SPL....

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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
CONNOR MCLENNAN

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LADBROKES PREMIERSHIP
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Celtic beat Rangers in the first Old Firm game of the season
​

 

[Klippybo]

Eoin Jess
Midfielder/Forward
1988-96 & 1997-2001
380 apps, 94 goals

Jess was a wonderful talent and Aberdeen received their highest ever fee when Coventry City bought him for £2m in 1996. He had so many fine moments from scoring 4 past Dunfermline in a game to showing up Paul Gascoigne in a cup semi-final. He won 3 major trophies with the Dons and earned 18 caps for Scotland, scoring twice.

<font color="#000000"><font size="4"><span style="font-family: palatino linotype">[video]https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=eoin+jess+youtube&view=detail&mid=5FAD99A 65DC353563B3C5FAD99A65DC353563B3C&FORM=VIRE[/video]

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OCTOBER

UEFA Champions League Group A
​​

v

​​Standard Liege 0
Aberdeen 2 (Weah 68, McLennan 80)

Lineup - Fruchtl, O'Donnell, McKenna, Devlin, Leigh (Taylor), Ferguson, Coutts, McLennan*, Christie, Woodburn (Hedges), Gibson (Weah)

It wasn't until I made my triple substitution that we kicked into life here and got the goals to win the game with Timothy Weah coming on to get the crucial opener.

--

v

Heart of Midlothian 0
Aberdeen 2 (Weah 51, Turnbull 74pen)

Lineup - Fruchtl, Hamilton, Hendry, Considine, Leigh, Campbell (Cochrane), Turnbull, Weah*, Djerlek (Bulat), Hedges (Morgan), Gibson

Hearts are our bogey side so when I seen that half of my side are ****** I was very worried but my players did a fine job although we were helped when they had Haring sent-off in the first half. Hamilton and Cochrane (both ex Hearts) and Bulat made their debuts.

--

v
​​Aberdeen 4 (Turnbull 7, 24pen, 68, Gibson 48)
St. Johnstone 0

Lineup - Fruchtl, O'Donnell, McKenna, Devlin, Leigh, Coutts (Campbell), Turnbull*, McLennan (Weah), Djerlek, Woodburn (Christie), Gibson

David Turnbull has been excellent for us so far and he grabbed a hat-trick here, one from open play, one from a penalty and his hat-trick goal was a free-kick.

--

UEFA Champions League Group A
​​

v

Inter Milan 2 (Politano 12, Luiz Felipe 89)
Aberdeen 2 (Gibson 8, Bastoni 46og)

Lineup - Fruchtl, O'Donnell, McKenna, Devlin, Leigh (Taylor), Ferguson, Turnbull, McLennan (Hedges), Djerlek (Christie), Woodburn, Gibson

I should be annoyed that we conceded a last minute equalizer but in truth Inter deserved it as they had 2 goals disallowed.

--

Betfred Cup Semi-Final
​​v

Celtic 2 (Mulumbu 28, Ajer 83)
Aberdeen 3 (McLennan 45pen, 65, Woodburn 90)

Lineup - Fruchtl, O'Donnell, McKenna, Devlin, Leigh, Ferguson, Coutts (Campbell), McLennan*, Djerlek (Christie), Woodburn, Weah (Cosgrove)

We reach the final thanks to Ben Woodburn's last minute winner in a thrilling match. When Ajer levelled for them I feared the worst but Woodburn popped up to finish at the back post to send us through to the final.

--

v
​​Aberdeen 2 (Turnbull 17pen, Campbell 64)
Ross County 0

Lineup - Fruchtl, O'Donnell, McKenna, Devlin, Leigh, Coutts, Turnbull (Campbell*), McLennan, Djerlek, Woodburn (Hedges), Gibson (Weah)

--

SUMMARY

We keep on going and had another unbeaten month and all is good as we have opened up a 3pt gap at the top of the table. David Turnbull and Connor McLennan have both been in excellent form and are leading our charge this season.

In the Betfred Cup we got a last minute winner to defeat Celtic in a 5 goal thriller to reach the final against Motherwell and in the Champions League we are sitting pretty with 7pts from 3 games.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
DAVID TURNBULL

--

LADBROKES PREMIERSHIP
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​

 

[Klippybo]

Darren Mackie
1999-2012
Forward
365 apps, 68 goals

Mackie was a quick forward who had some great moments like a winning goal at Parkhead in the Scottish Cup against Celtic and his winning goal away to Dnipro in the UEFA Cup to put Aberdeen into the group stages.

--

NOVEMBER

v

Dundee United 0
Aberdeen 4 (Gibson 45, McLennan 47, 58, Devlin 71)

Lineup - Fruchtl, O'Donnell, Hendry, Devlin, Leigh (Taylor), Ferguson (Campbell), Coutts, McLennan*, Christie, Woodburn (Hedges), Gibson

The New Firm are reunited in the top division and we put Dundee United in their place here with a convincing victory. Ryan Christie had a goal disallowed so it could have been more.

--

UEFA Champions League Group A

v

​​Aberdeen 1 (Gibson 42)
Inter Milan 2 (Asamoah 18, Nainggolan 52)

Lineup - Fruchtl, Hendry, McKenna, Devlin, Leigh (Taylor), Ferguson, Coutts (Campbell), Hedges, Djerlek, Woodburn (Christie), Gibson

This is a disappointing result as we were the better side throughout but they were clinical and made us pay. We are level on 7pts with Inter and Dortmund have 6pts so its going to be tight.

--

v

Celtic 0
Aberdeen 3 (McKenna 16, Woodburn 32, Turnbull 89pen)

Lineup - Fruchtl, O'Donnell, McKenna*, Devlin, Leigh, Ferguson (Coutts), Turnbull, McLennan, Djerlek (Christie), Woodburn, Gibson (Weah)

Boom!!!! We go to Celtic Park and thump the hosts to move 6pts clear. McKenna scored with a ferocious finish while Woodburn looped in a header for the 2nd and Turnbull's 10th of the season came from the spot.

--

v
​​Aberdeen 4 (McKenna 12, Coutts 19, Devlin 79, Woodburn 90)
Hibernian 2 (Horgan 13, Slivka 21)

Lineup - Fruchtl, O'Donnell (Logan), McKenna, Devlin, Leigh, Ferguson, Coutts*, McLennan (Weah), Djerlek (Christie), Woodburn, Gibson

Going into this game we had a run of 6 consecutive clean sheets in the league but that was destroyed here against Hibs.Fortunately we won the match and Shay Logan returned from injury too.

--

UEFA Champions League Group A
​​

v

Borussia Dortmund 2 (Alcacer 24pen, 52)
Aberdeen 0

Lineup - Fruchtl, O'Donnell (Logan), McKenna, Devlin (Hendry), Leigh, Ferguson (Coutts), Turnbull, McLennan, Djerlek, Woodburn, Gibson

We just didn't perform here and got what we deserved. We now hope that Dortmund get something against Inter and we beat Standard Liege if we are to go through.

--

SUMMARY

Domestically we were on fire this month as we won our 3 league games, scoring 11 goals in the progress with the highlight being the 3-0 away victory over Celtic. We are 6pts clear at the top of the table and have won every game since the 1st game of the season.

In Europe we suffered 2 defeats and things are out of our hands as we are behind Inter due to them having the better head to head record.

We kick off next month with our attempt to retain the Betfred Cup!

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
SCOTT MCKENNA

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LADBROKES PREMIERSHIP
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--

SCOTLAND APPOINT ME AS THEIR NEW MANAGER

Steve Clarke got the bullet as Scotland finished behind Italy, Slovakia and the Republic of Ireland in their qualifying group so I jumped at the chance to manage Scotland.

We have some fantastic young players like my very own Ferguson, McLennan, Turnbull and of course Gibson not to mention the likes of Tierney, Robertson and Fraser. We really need a keeper though and I am desperate to convince Angus Gunn to represent us.


​

 

[Klippybo]

John Hewitt
1979-89
Forward
363 apps, 89 goals

When John Hewitt scored after 9 seconds against Motherwell in the 2rd round of the Scottish Cup in 1982 little did he know that he had set Aberdeen off en route to their greatest ever achievement the 1983 Cup Winners Cup. Fittingly his greatest moment came in the final when he scored the winning goal against Real Madrid in extra time. Hewitt won 10 major trophies while at Aberdeen.

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DECEMBER

Betfred Cup Final
​​v

Motherwell 1 (Tanner 54pen)
Aberdeen 2 (Ferguson 22, Cosgrove 81)

Lineup - Fruchtl, Logan (O'Donnell), McKenna, Devlin, Leigh*, Ferguson, Coutts, McLennan, Christie, Woodburn (Wright), Weah (Cosgrove)

We retain the Betfred Cup in a tough match against Motherwell. They had an equaliser disallowed late in the 1st half and the match was an even one but we won it when Sam Cosgrove scored with a diving header. He hasn't had much opportunities this season but he took his chance here.

--

v

Livingston 1 (Cameron 40)
Aberdeen 3 (McLennan 1, 88, Coutts 5)

Lineup - Fruchtl, Logan, Hendry, Devlin (Considine), Leigh, Ferguson, Coutts, McLennan*, Christie, Woodburn (Hedges), Gibson (Weah)

Connor McLennan was denied a hat-trick as he had an earlier goal disallowed.

--

v
​​Aberdeen 1 (Turnbull 87)
Kilmarnock 0

Lineup - Fruchtl, Logan, McKenna, Devlin, Taylor, Coutts (Campbell), Turnbull*, Hedges, Christie (Wright), Woodburn, Gibson (Cosgrove)

This game seemed destined to end in a draw but we got the win when David Turnbull fired in a free kick with only a couple of minutes left.

--

UEFA Champions League Group A

v

​​Aberdeen 3 (Gibson 18, McLennan 40, Ferguson 51)
Standard Liege 0

Lineup - Fruchtl, O'Donnell, Hendry, Devlin, Leigh, Ferguson*, Campbell (Cochrane), McLennan, Djerlek, Hedges (Morgan), Gibson (Cosgrove)

We needed to win and hope Dortmund got something against Inter and both things happened so we go through to the knockout stages. Gibson also missed a penalty.

--

v

Hamilton Academical 0
Aberdeen 7 (McLennan 11, Woodburn 12, 29, Brownlie 13og, Turnbull 37, Cosgrove 78, Cochrane 84)

Lineup - Fruchtl, Logan, McKenna, Devlin, Leigh, Campbell (Cochrane), Turnbull, McLennan*, Djerlek (Christie), Woodburn, Gibson (Cosgrove)

An amazing 7 goal victory but Ben Woodburn missed 2 penalties in an attempt to complete his hat-trick so we could have had 9. Harry Cochrane scored his first goal for us.

--

v
​​Aberdeen 1 (Turnbull 85pen)
Rangers 0

Lineup - Fruchtl, Logan (O'Donnell), Hendry, Considine, Leigh, Ferguson, Turnbull, McLennan, Christie, Woodburn (Weah), Gibson (Cosgrove)

That's 16 wins in a row in the league now as David Turnbull's late penalty won us the match. I am delighted with this win as we were without a few players. Gibson hasn't scored in 6 games and a row now in the league which is a worry but on the other hand David Turnbull has scored in his last 7 league games.

--

v

St. Johnstone 0
Aberdeen 3 (Campbell 38, 65, Weah 90)

Lineup - Fruchtl, Logan, McKenna, Devlin, Leigh, Campbell*, Coutts (Cochrane), Hedges (Christie), Djerlek, Woodburn, Gibson (Weah)

St. Johnstone recently sacked Tommy Wright and are bottom of the table and we piled on the misery here. Hedges had a goal disallowed while Gibson still continues to struggle in front of goal.

--

v
​​Aberdeen 1 (Hendry 90)
Heart of Midlothian 0

Lineup - Fruchtl, Logan (O'Donnell), Hendry*, Devlin, Taylor, Ferguson, Turnbull, Hedges, Christie, Morgan (Wright), Gibson (Weah)

Our winning streak seemed to be coming to an end here as 10 man Hearts had Djoum sent-off early in the 2nd half but Jack Hendry popped up in stoppage time to win us the game. Gibson earlier had a goal disallowed.

--

v

Ross County 0
Aberdeen 5 (Weah 1, Turnbull 14, 90pen, McLennan 62, Christie 77)

Lineup - Fruchtl, Logan, McKenna, Devlin, Leigh, Ferguson (Coutts), Turnbull*, McLennan, Djerlek (Christie), Hedges (Morgan), Weah

We end 2019 in fine style with a 5 goal thrashing of Ross County. Djerlek had a goal disallowed while they had 2 men sent-off in the 2nd half.

--

SUMMARY

December saw us play 9 games in a very busy month and we managed to win all 9 to move further clear in the championship race, retain the Betfred Cup and go through in the Champions League.

Domestically we are nearly untouchable and this month saw us score 5 past Ross County and 7 past Hamilton and we also beat Rangers and we end the year 8pts clear with a game in hand.

We won the Betfred Cup after a 2-1 win over Motherwell although the final wasn't as plain sailing as I thought it would be. In the Scottish Cup we have a tricky tie away to Hibs.

In Europe we thumped Standard Liege to go to the knockout stages in the Champions League and we will play Lyon in the next round.

Things are all going great. Craig Gibson has been struggling for goals but I have faith in the lad. He got injured before the Ross County game and Weah came in and scored but I will stick with Gibson.

As for the January transfer window I have 2 regens coming in but I don't know if there will be much activity. If I sell someone then I may bring a new lad in but that isn't definitive.
--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
CONNOR MCLENNAN
​​

--

LADBROKES PREMIERSHIP
​​

St. Johnstone appoint Derek McInnes as manager
Motherwell sack Stephen Robinson

​

 

[Klippybo]

Bert MacLachlan
1914-27
Defender
358 apps, 16 goals

McLachlan was signed from Aston Villa and ended up spending 13 years with Aberdeen although the first world war interrupted his career. He represented the Scottish League XI and was Aberdeen's captain.

--

JANUARY

Scottish Cup 4th Round
v

Hibernian 1 (Kamberi 3)
Aberdeen 4 (Gibson 25, Christie 49, Morgan 73, Turnbull 80)

Lineup - Fruchtl, Logan, McKenna, Devlin, Leigh (Taylor), Ferguson, Turnbull*, Weah (Morgan), Christie, Woodburn (Campbell), Gibson

I feared the worst when we went behind but I needn't have worried. Gibson needed a goal badly and he got one here when he robbed their keeper - the lucky break he needed.

Hibs sacked Paul Heckingbottom immediately after the game.

--

v
​​Aberdeen 3 (Woodburn 5, Morgan 65, Campbell 79)
Dundee United 0

Lineup - Fruchtl, Logan, McKenna, Devlin, Leigh, Coutts (Campbell), Turnbull, Christie (Morgan), Djerlek*, Woodburn, Gibson (Cosgrove)

Gibson badly needs a league goal and he got one here but it was disallowed for offside.

--

v
​​Aberdeen 0
Celtic 0

Lineup - Fruchtl, Logan, McKenna, Devlin, Leigh, Ferguson (Campbell), Turnbull, Christie, Djerlek, Woodburn (Morgan), Gibson (Cosgrove)

Having won 20 league games in a row this is a disappointing result especially since yet again Craig Gibson had a goal disallowed. We have kept 8 clean sheets in a row in the league now.

--

v

Motherwell 1 (Tanner 1)
Aberdeen 4 (Hedges 9, 45, 63pen, Woodburn 46)

Lineup - Fruchtl, Logan, McKenna, Devlin, Leigh (Taylor), Ferguson, Turnbull (Campbell), Hedges*, Djerlek (Christie), Woodburn, Gibson

When Motherwell ended our clean sheet record in the first minute it only conspired to anger my players and we won 4-1 with Ryan Hedges coming into the side and grabbing a hat-trick.

--

SUMMARY

January saw us draw with Celtic to end our long winning streak but I cant complain too much with us being 8pts clear with a game in hand at the top of the table. In the Scottish Cup we thumped Hibs and have been rewarded with a tie away to Hearts in the next round.

The transfer deadline ends on the 1st of February and we have a game that day so I may have more transfers to tell you about but this is what I have done so far.....

Outgoing to Motherwell for £1.6m (despite not having a manager at the time) is Scott Wright. Wright did well last season but just couldn't get a game this season so I was happy to sell him on. He played 29 games for me and scored 10 goals.

The other outgoing players were all loan deals and a couple of U18s left on free transfers.

Incoming was 4 regens. 2 Spaniards came in, Javi for £85,000 from Celta Vigo and Santiago Montero from Valencia for £350,000. Both are bright prospects and we shall see how they get on.

2 Scottish lads also came in as I brought in Ryan Welsh from Raith Rovers for £250,000 and Ross McKay from Motherwell for £150,000.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
BEN WOODBURN
​​

--

LADBROKES PREMIERSHIP
​​

David Moyes is the new Hibs manager
Aitor Karanka is the new Motherwell manager
​

 

[Klippybo]

Jack Hather
1948-60
Forward
353 apps, 104 goals

Hather was a winger from England nicknamed "The Hare". He won the league title with Aberdeen in 1955 and also won the League Cup in 1956.

--

FEBRUARY

v
​​Aberdeen 3 (Hedges 10, Turnbull 23pen, Hendry 45)
Livingston 1 (MacKay 88)

Lineup - Fruchtl, Logan, Hendry*, Devlin, Leigh, Ferguson (Campbell), Turnbull, Hedges, Djerlek (Christie), Woodburn (Morgan), Gibson

Craig Gibson has now gone 12 league games without a goal but he got 2 assists here so I am pleased with his performance.

--

v

Hibernian 0
Aberdeen 4 (Ferguson 12, 60, Gibson 33, 62)

Lineup - Fruchtl, Logan, McKenna, Hendry, Leigh, Ferguson*, Campbell, Hedges (Christie), Djerlek, Woodburn (Morgan), Gibson

Gibson finally scores in the league!!! He did miss an early penalty though but he bounced back and bagged a brace.

--

Scottish Cup 5th Round
v

Heart of Midlothian 3 (Ikpeazu 45, Djoum 63pen, Oko-Flex 75)
Aberdeen 4 (Christie 33, Gibson 55, Morgan 88, Woodburn 89)

Lineup - Fruchtl, Logan (O'Donnell), Hendry, Devlin, Leigh, Ferguson (Coutts), Campbell, McLennan (Morgan), Christie*, Woodburn, Gibson

What a tie this was. We were 2-1 up thanks to Christie and Gibson and then they had Peter Haring sent-off early on in the 2nd half and it should have been over but Gibson missed a penalty then they scored one and went ahead and we were in shock. However credit to my players they battered Hearts and got their rewards with 2 very late goals from Morgan and Woodburn to send us through.

--

UEFA Champions League 1st Round 1st Leg

v
​​Aberdeen 5 (Djerlek 5, Devlin 56, Hedges 58, Turnbull 83, Gibson 90+4)
Lyon 4 (Jemerson 4, Haller 42, 82, Fekir 90)

Lineup - Fruchtl, Logan (O'Donnell), Hendry, Devlin, Taylor (Considine), Ferguson (Campbell), Turnbull, McLennan, Djerlek, Hedges, Gibson

Crazy. Having just won a cup game 4-3 we go out and win the next one 5-4. Gibson had a goal disallowed again but he scored the winner 4min into injury time to my great delight. The 4 away goals is a worry though.

--

v

Kilmarnock 1 (Pavlovic 84)
Aberdeen 2 (Ferguson 45, 47)

Lineup - Fruchtl, Logan, McKenna, Considine, Leigh, Ferguson*, Campbell (Coutts), Morgan (Cosgrove), Christie (Cochrane), Woodburn, Weah

We were cruising here as we were 2-0 up and had over 30 shots but then they pulled one back and Shay Logan got sent-off shortly after and we were left hanging on to the win.

--

v
​​Aberdeen 4 (McLennan 2, 77, Ferguson 44, Turnbull 54)
Hamilton Academical 0

Lineup - Fruchtl, O'Donnell, McKenna, Devlin, Leigh (Taylor), Ferguson, Turnbull, McLennan*, Djerlek, Hedges (Morgan), Gibson (Weah)

In the 3 matches against Hamilton this season we have scored an aggregate of 15 goals. Ferguson has 5 league goals in his last 3 games and his goal here came after Turnbull had a penalty saved.

--

v
​​Aberdeen 3 (Hedges 24, 61, 90pen)
St. Johnstone 0

Lineup - Fruchtl, Logan, McKenna, Devlin, Leigh, Campbell, Turnbull (Coutts), McLennan, Djerlek (Christie), Hedges*, Gibson (Weah)

Ryan Hedges scored his 2nd hat-trick of the season here as we comfortably beat St. Johnstone.

--

Scottish Cup Quarter-Final
v

Clyde 0
Aberdeen 3 (Weah 18, 23, 85)

Lineup - Fruchtl, O'Donnell, Hendry, Considine (Crawford), Taylor, Campbell (Javier), Coutts, Hedges (Fitzpatrick), Christie, Morgan, Weah*

I think that this was the first time this season that I felt I could play a backup side and they did what was necessary. Crawford, Javier and Fitzpatrick made their debuts. Weah got his hat-trick after he converted a rebound from his own missed penalty.

--

SUMMARY

We won every game this month but that didn't tell all of the story as we had some thrilling matches. In the league we took care of business although the Kilmarnock game was a bit scary towards the end. In the Scottish Cup we had a thrilling 4-3 comeback win over Hearts and then knocked out Clyde to reach the semis.

As for Europe we came out on top of a 9 goal thriller as we beat Lyon 5-4 in injury time which sets us up for a huge occasion in the 2nd leg away from home.

Next month sees us have the all important youth intake. Fingers crossed!!!!

In other news Celtic lost to Falkirk in the cup so sacked Neil Lennon while Ross County sacked my former coach Barry Robson and replaced him with John McGlynn.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
LEWIS FERGUSON
​​

--

LADBROKES PREMIERSHIP

​

 

[Hampus Silverholt]

This save is nuts haha! Winning the Europa League, Super Cup, beating Dortmund and then that regen is just unbelievable! Can't believe you've got Aberdeen close to a Champions League quarter final in the second season!

 

[Klippybo]

Donald Colman
1907-20
Defender
346 apps, 1 goal

Colman was a defender who managed to earn 4 caps for Scotland. He is most famous for inventing the dugout and bringing it to Pittodrie. He was actually born with the surname Cunningham but changed it to Colman to hide from his family that he was playing football!

--

MARCH

UEFA Champions League 1st Round 2nd Leg
v

Lyon 1 (Traore 13)
Aberdeen 1 (Hedges 73)
(Agg: 5-6)

Lineup - Fruchtl, Logan (Taylor), McKenna, Hendry (Considine), Leigh, Ferguson (Campbell), Turnbull, McLennan, Djerlek, Hedges*, Gibson

Through we go as Ryan Hedges equaliser was enough for us. We had 2 goals disallowed from Gibson (again) and McLennan so I would have been gutted had we not made it.

--

v

Rangers 1 (Jones 15)
Aberdeen 2 (Ferguson 30, McLennan 51)

Lineup - Fruchtl, Logan (O'Donnell), McKenna, Devlin, Taylor, Ferguson*, Turnbull, McLennan, Djerlek, Hedges (Morgan), Gibson (Weah)

Always nice to win at castle Greyskull as we beat 2nd placed Rangers and keep up our unbeaten league campaign.

--

v
​​Aberdeen 2 (McLennan 32, 66)
Motherwell 0

Lineup - Fruchtl, O'Donnell (Logan), McKenna, Devlin, Taylor, Ferguson, Turnbull, McLennan*, Djerlek (Christie), Hedges, Gibson

I dropped Shay Logan here as his previous 2 performances had been terrible. Lewis Ferguson had a goal disallowed.

--

v

Heart of Midlothian 0
Aberdeen 2 (Coutts 59, Cosgrove 90)

Lineup - Fruchtl, Logan*, McKenna, Devlin, Leigh, Coutts, Campbell (Cochrane), McLennan, Djerlek (Christie), Hedges, Gibson (Cosgrove)

A horrible match with not much happening so I am naturally delighted that we got the win especially since the muppet that is Craig Levein said he wanted to humiliate me before the match.

--

v
​​Aberdeen 6 (McKenna 2, Cosgrove 27, 48, 75, 88, Christie 83)
Ross County 0

Lineup - Fruchtl, Logan, McKenna, Hendry, Leigh, Campbell (Cochrane), Turnbull (Coutts), McLennan, Christie, Hedges (Woodburn), Cosgrove*

With Gibson injured and Weah away on international duty Sammy Cosgrove made his first league start of the season here and he duly scored 4 goals! This win secures Champions League football for next season and as such we have been given our transfer budget for next season - £20m.

--

v

​​Dundee United 0
Aberdeen 5 (Ferguson 28, 55, Logan 45, Christie 56, 74)

Lineup - Fruchtl, Logan, Hendry, Devlin, Leigh, Ferguson*, Turnbull, McLennan (Djerlek), Christie, Hedges (Woodburn), Cosgrove (Weah)

CHAMPIONS!!!!

What a way to secure the title. To win it with 5 games left is pretty decent and with 11 wins on the bounce and still being unbeaten we aren't done yet. Shay Logan got his first goal of the season.

--

SUMMARY

We had an excellent month here. We wrapped up the title in fine style as not only did we beat Rangers 2-1 away but we thrashed Ross County 6-0 and then Dundee United 5-0 to secure our 2nd title in a row. We have only drawn 2 out of our 33 league games and won the rest so its been pretty amazing so far.

We also reached the Champions League quarter-finals after edging out Lyon and we will play Napoli in the next round while in the Scottish Cup we have a semi-final tie against Falkirk so that's good.

As for the youth intake we got a couple of decent players with these 2 being the best.....

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
LEWIS FERGUSON
​​

--

LADBROKES PREMIERSHIP
​​

--

SCOTLAND

UEFA European Championship Qualifying Playoff Semi-Final

v

​​Hungary 1 (Kleinheisler 2)
Scotland 3 (Lang 25og, Ferguson 77, McGinn 89)

Lineup - Marshall, Fredericks, McKenna, Souttar, Tierney, Ferguson*, Turnbull, Forrest (McLennan), Armstrong (McGinn), Ritchie, Griffiths (McBurnie)

We are one game away from the finals. I gave Connor McLennan his first cap while Craig Gibson would also have debuted but he got injured.

Before the match I had decisions to make - Devlin or Souttar to partner McKenna? Tierney or Robertson at left back? McGinn, McGregor or Turnbull to partner Ferguson?

--

UEFA European Championship Qualifying Playoff Final

v

​​Greece 0
Scotland 2 (Griffiths 7, Armstrong 55)

Lineup - Marshall, Fredericks (O'Donnell), Devlin, Souttar*, Tierney, Ferguson (McGregor), McGinn, Forrest (McLennan), Armstrong, Fraser, Griffiths

We are off to Euro 2020!!!!

I am naturally delighted although very surprised that we had this opportunity to qualify in my first 2 games in charge. Michael Devlin got his first cap here.
​

 

[Klippybo]

Dave Robb
Forward
1966-78
345 apps, 99 goals

Nicknamed "Brush", Robb scored the winning goal in the 1976 League Cup final and also won the Scottish Cup while at Pittodrie. He also earned 5 caps for Scotland.

--

APRIL

Scottish Cup Semi-Final

v
Aberdeen 2 (Weah 4pen, Christie 6)
Falkirk 0

Lineup - Fruchtl, O'Donnell, Hendry, Considine, Taylor, Cochrane (Bulat), Coutts (Javier), Hedges (Fitzpatrick), Christie*, Morgan, Weah

I put my faith in my backups here and they did the job with Ryan Christie continuing his recent excellent form.

--

UEFA Champions League Quarter-Final 1st Leg
v

Napoli 1 (Dzeko 51)
Aberdeen 1 (Weah 63)

Lineup - Fruchtl, Logan, McKenna, Devlin, Leigh, Ferguson, Turnbull (Campbell), McLennan (Hedges), Djerlek (Christie), Woodburn, Weah

A good result as we avoided defeat and got the away goal. This seemed to be a match between two evenly matched teams so its all to play for in the 2nd leg.

--

UEFA Champions League Quarter-Final 2nd Leg

v
Aberdeen 2 (Djerlek 13, 59)
Napoli 0
(Agg; 3-1)

Lineup - Fruchtl, Logan, McKenna, Devlin, Leigh, Ferguson, Turnbull, McLennan (Hedges), Djerlek*, Woodburn, Weah (Cosgrove)

We reach the semi finals with a fine win over Napoli. Armin Djerlek only had 5 goals to his name before tonight so I was surprised to see him get the two goals here but I am naturally delighted. Hopefully he will kick on and get a few more.

--

v

Celtic 3 (Griffiths 15, Edouard 31, 43)
Aberdeen 2 (Gibson 74, Ferguson 78)

Lineup - Fruchtl, Logan, McKenna (Considine), Devlin, Leigh (Taylor), Ferguson, Turnbull, McLennan (Gibson), Djerlek, Woodburn, Weah

**** OFF!!!

We lose for the first time this season due to our horror 1st half show where my defence, uncharacteristically, shat themselves. 3-0 down at half-time I was livid and it was only when I made my subs that we got back into it but it was to no avail.

Ferguson's goal was our 100th in the league this season.

--

UEFA Champions League Semi-Final 1st Leg

v
​​Aberdeen 0
Arsenal 1 (Aubameyang 57)

Lineup - Fruchtl, Logan, McKenna, Devlin, Leigh, Ferguson (Cochrane), Turnbull, McLennan, Djerlek (Christie), Woodburn, Weah (Gibson)

Back to back defeats and this one was even worse than the last as this time we battered Arsenal but got picked off on the break. The tie is not over but it is uphill from here.

--

SUMMARY

A rare bad month. We did what was expected in the Scottish Cup as we beat Falkirk and will play Rangers in the final. In the league we lost our first game of the season to Celtic thanks to a horrendous first half display. In Europe however things went ok as we knocked out Napoli however despite dominating we lost our first leg against Arsenal in the semi final.

We go into the last month of the season with 2 aims - win the Scottish Cup and the Champions League lol.

NOTE - I forgot to add last month that Cesare Prandelli is the new Celtic boss.

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
ARMIN DJERLEK
​​

--

LADBROKES PREMIERSHIP
​​

​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

Ooft tough sledging after loosing the first leg at Pittodrie. If it was the other way around i'd fancy your chances

 

[Klippybo]

Jim Bett
1985-94
Midfielder
338 apps, 47 goals

Bett was a classy midfield player who was signed from Lokeren for £300,000. He also played for Rangers, Hearts, Dundee United and two Icelandic clubs. Both his sons were on Aberdeen's books and Bett won 2 cups with Aberdeen and also earned 26 caps for Scotland and scored 1 goal.

--

MAY

v
Aberdeen 3 (Weah 11pen, 17pen, 30)
Heart of Midlothian 1 (Findlay 4)

Lineup - Fruchtl, O'Donnell, Hamilton (Crawford), Considine, Taylor, Coutts (Bulat), Cochrane, Fitzpatrick, Christie, Morgan (McDonald), Weah*

Once again Craig Levein wanted to humiliate me apparently but in the end we dished out the humiliation as my backup side swotted them aside.

--

UEFA Champions League Semi-Final 2nd Leg
v

Arsenal 6 (Smith-Rowe 8, Ozil 12, Lacazette 26, Torreira 59, Nelson 88, Aubameyang 89)
Aberdeen 3 (Ferguson 13, McKenna 36, Hedges 83)
(Agg: 7-3)

Lineup - Fruchtl, Logan (O'Donnell), McKenna, Devlin, Leigh, Ferguson, Turnbull, McLennan, Djerlek, Woodburn (Hedges), Gibson (Weah)

Ouch. If you told me before the match that we would score 3 goals I would have expected us to be in the final but Arsenal were ruthless in front of goal and while they deserved their win the 4 goal aggregate margin is very harsh on my side.

--

v

Kilmarnock 0
Aberdeen 1 (Turnbull 53)

Lineup - Fruchtl, Logan, McKenna, Devlin, Leigh, Ferguson (Cochrane), Turnbull*, McLennan (Christie), Djerlek, Morgan, Weah (Cosgrove)

David Turnbull's free-kick got us the 3pts which takes us to 101 for the season.

--

v
Aberdeen 1 (Morgan 31)
Rangers 2 (Jones 7, Morelos 25)

Lineup - Fruchtl, Logan, McKenna, Devlin, Leigh (Taylor), Ferguson, Cochrane, McLennan, Christie (Campbell), Morgan, Gibson

Not good enough. I think that this is our first defeat against our biggest rivals and although we had more shots, possession etc we just didn't play well enough. Alfredo Morelos got sent-off in injury time.

--

v
Aberdeen 1 (Weah 27)
Hibernian 0

Lineup - Fruchtl, O'Donnell, Hendry, Considine*, Taylor (Welsh), Campbell (Coutts), Cochrane, Hedges, Christie, Morgan (Donaldson), Weah

--

Scottish Cup Final

v
Aberdeen 3 (Gibson 59, 108, McLennan 92)
Rangers 2 (Jones 50, Okaka 115)
AET

Lineup - Clark, Logan (O'Donnell), McKenna, Devlin, Leigh, Ferguson, Turnbull (Campbell), McLennan*, Djerlek (Christie), Woodburn (Hedges), Gibson

We complete the domestic treble here as we deservedly beat Rangers. Craig Gibson got a couple of goals while Connor McLennan's goal means he ends the season level with Turnbull as top scorer. Christian Fruchtl was away on international duty so Zander Clark came in for his debut.

--

SUMMARY

The season ends both well and disappointingly lol. Our exit in the Champions League hurt a bit and in the league we suffered our 2nd defeat of the season against the great unwashed however we gained revenge in the Scottish Cup final to get the treble.

That's about it really. I had to name my Scotland squad for the Euros (drawn against Serbia, France and England) and a Euro post will come but I also have my end of season post to do too!!!

--

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
TIMOTHY WEAH

​

 

[Klippybo]

END OF SEASON POST

Season 2 is over and it was another successful one. We won all three domestic trophies and the European Super Cup while we also reached the semi-finals of the Champions League. In the league we got over 100pts, over 100 goals and only lost 2 games to win the title by 13pts and we also claimed the Betfred Cup by beating Motherwell and the Scottish Cup by beating Rangers.

On the continent we defeated Atletico Madrid on penalties to claim the Super Cup and in the Champions League we finished 2nd in our group ahead of Inter Milan and Standard Liege to go through to the knockout stages where we then disposed of Lyon and Napoli before succumbing to eventual runners-up Arsenal.

Also happening was my appointment as the manager of Scotland and we got to the European Championships which will come soon.

--

LADBROKES PREMIERSHIP

Celtic beat Rangers on the final day to claim 2nd while I have never seen 7 of the 12 teams qualify for Europe!!! No idea how that happened. Ayr United will be in the top flight next year while lower down the ranks East Kilbride will join the football league at the expense of Albion Rovers.

--

SQUAD

Goalkeepers - Christian Fruchtl came in and worked wonders. Over 30 clean sheets and the 20y/o will be in between he sticks for years to come. Zander Clark is probably Scotland's best keeper and his sole game came in the Scottish Cup final. I may sell him in the summer for the good of his international career.

Defenders - McKenna and Devlin were the rocks at the back but this year I added more strength at full back as O'Donnell and Taylor came in from Kilmarnock to push Logan and Leigh and O'Donnell certainly impressed. Jack Hendry also came in and did well when needed.

Midfielders - Lewis Ferguson was immense again and PSG are watching him which is a worry. David Turnbull my record signing at £7.25m, had an incredible season as he was level top scorer with 21 goals and was the top scorer in the league all told. Connor McLennan matched Turnbull for goals from the RW while Ben Woodburn did OK on the left. Armin Djerlek was slightly disappointing as he only scored 1 league goal which is not acceptable. Ryan Christie, Ryan Hedges, Dean Campbell and Paul Coutts were my main backups and all did very well.

Forwards - I started the season with Timothy Weah as my main striker but then I discovered Craig Gibson and my 17y/o striker then became the main man. Gibson however was disappointing really as he only scored 7 league goals and 16 all told but he got plenty of assists and he is still learning. Weah ended up with 15 goals which was decent while Sam Cosgrove, top scorer with 27 last season, hardly played but did score 4 in one match and got the winner in the Betfred Cup final.

My Player of the Season - David Turnbull
My Young Player of the Season - David Turnbull
Donkey of the Season - Andrew Considine
Must Do Better - Armin Djerlek

--

AIMS FOR THE SUMMER

I will obviously be busy with the Scotland side but I have a lot of work to do. I have no agreed transfers coming in but I have agreed to sell 2 or 3 players while Ben Woodburn will be returning to Liverpool so a left winger is a must. I don't want to loan players in anymore as I think we should be above that so we shall see what I can do.


​