Aberdeen Back where it all began

[Mr_Grieves]

Aberdeen Back where it all began


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So FM2017 is here and after 3 years since my last run with the Dons its time to give them another run.
As my boss says about Christmas every year "This will be the toughest year yet" and with Scotlands standing in the world game i feel this may be a brash understatement.


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From 1970-1990 Aberdeen had 1 double digit loosing season. In the last 20 years we've had 1. My aim is to never loose that many games
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Fixtures
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Lucky for me i can just fit the key fixtures of our season into one shot. I was at our 1st game against Rangers since 2012 and the atmosphere & stoppage winner made its an amazing afternoon. We have 2 trips to Parkhead so a bit less cash in the coffers and a tougher route to the Championship group but surely since we've been top 6 for ages this would balance out assuming we reach the top 6.




Squad
View attachment 118376
For the SPFL the Aberdeen squad is pretty good. Rooney, McGinn & Hayes have led the team since McInnes took charge but seemed to fall flat in the big games, Except Hayes he's a monster. Our defense is better than ever. 6ft6 Joe Lewis has height and championship experience. Shay Logan & Graeme Shinnie will be reliable enough for the SPL i love Shay in this side. The center looks far more solid with newbie Anthony O'Connor joining Mark Reynolds giving me the comfort of having a DCR and a DCL. Once upon a Napoli target and club captain Ryan Jack is all we have to offer in the middle Craig Storie hasnt the talent now or in the future so this will probably be where i need to spend my spake 7k in wages. Jack along with Hayes the only player likely to survive my cull. The youth team is almost empty. Cammy Smith is on loan at Dundee Utd and should be a back up once he returns, same with Danny Rodgers while Daniel Harvie is still in the very early stages of development and the onyl player at the club with any potential future is Christian Antoniazzi a former Celtic youth player.


The reason i say cull is for 2 reasons. Yes this current squad could do a job and be built on to be a title challenging club but plain and simple long term you can not rely on SPFL quality players from start up to go anywhere. If we are to reach Europa Group stages never mind winning a champions league i have a time tested method of buying good young players under 18 and quickly developing them into the first team, not difficult as usually you can hit a good u19 player thats at least as good as the ones currently in a SPL team. We first need some success in Europe and at home to attract these guys so i'll slow down before i get too far ahead. Long story short Everybodys got a price.



Pre Season prices
View attachment 118375
Media put us in for a 3rd place finish behind the Old Firm. If i could have got 2,25 for celtic winning the league in real life i'd have bet the farm, or house as it is on Celtic. But this is FM so have hope it can happen!



As the youth team would suggest our future players are not bright. The youth facilities are the worst in the SPFL and will be my top target, usually i rush to build or expand a stadium but not this time. Scouting and coaching improvements are needed to help this happen but do we have the cash?

Jeez there only letting us have 3 coaches! Plenty spots in the u20 coaching team and we have only got 1 scout. The other 5 spots will be filled immediately

To get the side familiar with how we'll play as many friendlys as possible to get used to my style of play. From a few tests saves with Sheff Wed of all teams my tactic from last year still works reasonably well so we'll roll with that again, being flexible for opponents and players certain needs.




Previous Marriages
Last time i played as Aberdeen was in my Scottish journeyman game back in FM2014
http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/foot...ager-stories/157879-saving-scottish-game.html



The previous year i had what was undoubtfully my best save ever achieving a life long ambition of winning the Champions League not once but 4 times, the SPL 20 times, Scottish Cup 18 times in a save that lasted over 25 seasons. Along with the trophys I had the base of a solid squad of players based on a back 4 and goalkeeper that combined for 3336 appearances
Beating this is my aim!
http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/foot...u-thought-celtic-beating-barca-something.html




Adding to the challenge i'm also having a go at turning around Scotlands fortunes. In my 2012 save i took Scotland to 4 championships in 8 years but went out at the last 16 every time. I refuse to take a 4 Nations trophy as the best we can do!




Records


Aberdeen Top 10 all time appearances
1 Alan Grangier 928
2 Willie Miller 797
3 Matthias Klein 697
4 Alex McLeish 693
5 Bobby Clark 595
6 Stewart McKimmie 559
7 Jose Henrique 554
8 Lee Chalmers 538
9 Jim Leighton 535
10 Ali Msakni 498



Aberdeen Top 10 all time Goal Scorers
1. Matthias Klein 668
2. Ross Douglas 273
3. HARPER, Joe 205
4 Stelios Tsaousakis 241
5 Federico Lopez 185
6 ARMSTRONG, Matt 155
7 HAMILTON, George 153
8 Jose Henrique 150
9 Cosmin Manea 182
10 Matheus Micael 149



Scotland Top 10 all time appearances
1 Jack Connolly 159 - ACTIVE
2 Lee Chalmers 143 - ACTIVE
3 Ben McIlroy 141
4 Callum Dickson 131
5 Alan Granger 131 - ACTIVE
6 Darren Fletcher 120
7 Andrew Robertson 119
8 Martin Neil 117
9 Callum Paterson 114
10 Oliver Burke 108



Scotland Top 10 all time goal scorers
1 Jack Connolly 122 - ACTIVE
2 Leigh Griffiths 63
3 Ross Douglas 56 - ACTIVE
4 Oli Burke 34
5 Denis Law 30
6 Kenny Dalglish 30
7 Adam Frizzell 25
8 Hughie Gallacher 23
9 Laurie Reilly 22
10 Ian McLaughlin 20



-----Aberdeen Running Trophy Count-----
20* SPL
20* Scottish League Cup
18* Scottish Cup
3* Champions League
3* World Club Cup


-----European Efforts-----
Europa League group 3rd - 2016/17
Europa League Q/F - 2017/18
Europa League Last 32 - 2018/19
Champions League S/F - 2019/20
Champions League Group Phase - 2020/21
Champions League Q/F - 2021/22
Champions League Last 16 - 2022/23
Champions League Q/F - 2023/24
Champions League Last 16 - 2024/25
Champions League Q/F - 2025/26
Champions League winner - 2026/27
Champions League Last 16 - 2027/28
Champions League winner - 2028/29
Champions League Last 16 - 2029/30
Champions League Q/F - 2030/31
Champions League winner - 2031/32
Champions League Q/F - 2032/33
Champions League Runner Ups - 2033/34
Champions League Runner Ups - 2034/35
Champions League Q/F - 2035/36
Champions League Q/F - 2036/37
Champions League Runner Ups - 2037/38



-----Scotland History-----
World Cup 2018 2nd Round
Euro 2020 2nd Round
World Cup 2022 - Failed to Qualify
Euro 2024 2nd Round
World Cup 2026 - Semi Finals
Euro 2028 Group Phase
World Cup 2030 - Runner Ups
Euro 2032 - Semi Finals
International League 2033 - Runner Up
World Cup 2034 - Runner Ups
Euro 2036 2nd Round
International League 2037 - Winners
World Cup 2038 - Semi Finals

​

 

[jordalicious]

Yes! Will be following this!

 

[Mr_Grieves]

Pre Season review 2016/17


Great early progress has been made. Squad has more depth, and plenty good results in the Europa qualifiers and friendlys




Season Targets
SPL - Top 2
Scottish Cup - Win
League Cup - Back up players till later stages
Europa League - Group phase, board target not mine


Celtic are still far too strong to challenge for the title unless Rodgers & there strike force all leave in January they should win the league but under no circumstances can Rangers finish ahead of us. I'd hope to go after the Scottish cup while a League cup run will depend on our European adventures, if there are any. Board expect us to get to the group phase of the Europa league, i suspect they've been smoking something to think that.




Pre season friendly's
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Man Utd were the only side to beat us but progression was shown with a draw to Tottenham before thumping a back up Leicester team. As expected we beat Queens park and got a solid 3-1 against a Championship side Rotherham.




Europa Results
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Armenian's Shirak were beat with back up players in both legs. The first team appeared to thrash Genk in Belgium before putting in a very dodgy performance at Pittodrie against Stromsgodset but after a dressing down they went goal crazy in Norway to set up a playoff tie with West Ham.




Jack and McGinn are the main players out of contract at the end of the year but i'm saving the contract renewals till after the transfer window in case we have some more moves to make although this Villa offer for Jack had scared me

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Showed no sign of wanting to leave but the board agreeing to sell him for £1.9m. After this i was most grateful for the next feature of being able to reason with the board when they accept a bid and on this exchanged they agreed not to sell the club captain.




Aberdeen Transfers


3 players join and Callum Morris leaves on loans


In


Diego Poyet MC
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Son of Gus and former Charlton player of the year before moving to West Ham and deciding to play for Uruguay u20s after playing for England u18s. Sadly it was all down hill from there and West Ham loaned him for a few season before getting let go in the summer. He joins Aberdeen to get his career back on track after getting no interest down south




Fede Vico AMC
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Made his name at Cordoba as a teenager in the Spanish second division becoming a regular in 2011. A move to Anderlecht made for a familiar story of a move not working out and then failing to find work again. Aberdeen will offer him a chance like Poyet to make a name for himself playing off Adam Rooney


Diego Seoane DRL
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My final addition so far is a case of best free player standing. Will be back up for Graeme Shinnie & Shay Logan and if he gets a run in the team hopefully it will be enough for a team to make a bid on him so we can get some money for him in the end.




Other Transfers
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Nothing of note around the world or in the SPL. Real Madrid flop Julien Faubert signs for St Johnstone while Dundee pull off some moves that will remind younger readers of the Ivan Bonetti days.



Starting 11
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Nothing too far from reality. Poyet plugs the hole in midfield, Don't rate McLean and Vico also goes right into the starting 11 again i dont rate McLean who as i write this just scored two goals to win the real life game at Inverness today....



​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

August


Adam Rooney's stunning start seen him get called up to the Irish national side where he makes a scoring start
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Fixtures



St Johnstone 0-1 Aberdeen
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Adam Rooney struck after 8 minutes and that was all that could split two sides that were quite evenly matched over the 90 minutes. We lost Niall McGinn on the half hour after a nasty challenge he will miss about a month of action. Despite rotating the squad through the Europa Qualifiers we still ended this game quite tired but when thats the biggest complaint from your first league game as a manager then happy days.



Betfred Cup 2nd Round
Aberdeen 3-1 Ross County
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My first cup game at Pittodrie and Ross County were no match for a mostly reserve team line up. Miles Storey scored his first Aberdeen goal, the joined Niall McGinn in getting the rest of August off with a injury. Old man Considine and perhaps under rated Kenny McLean made the game safe. McLean winning man of the match less than a week after i wrote him off. Nice work kid!

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We Will be going all out against Hamilton in the Q/F now that Celtic are out i'm making us favorites
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Aberdeen 3-0 Hearts
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This was our best performance so far against one of the few teams that could be challenging us for 2nd spot. Adam Rooney stole the show and got the match ball for his efforts. Ryan Jack is showing why Villa's £2m offer was not enough as we head into the West ham game on top form and full of confidence.



Europa League Play Off
Aberdeen 2-1 West Ham
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4 nights after putting the SPL on notice against Hearts we get a stunning victory against English side West Ham. Payet, Carroll Feghouli and the rest were all at Pittodrie so its not like the usual West Ham Europa League team and there two attacking changes Turkish star Tore and Italian international Zaza shows how hard they were pushing to get back into the tie. Adam Rooney of course gave us a lead for less than a minute as James Collins immediately equalised for the hammers. Into the second half and Fede Vico made his first major impact at the club blasting home a effort with some assist from the wind to put us ahead. We learned our lessons from the first half and battened down the hatches for the last half hour but were never under any major pressure. I dropped Poyet back into DMC to deal with former club mate Andy Carrol who went off with a 6.6 rating for his efforts while Poyet got a yellow card putting him out of the 2nd leg.



Aberdeen 2-0 Partick
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Much like the Ross County match this game was buried in much bigger fixtures and required 9 changes, only the Europa suspended Poyet & Joe Lewis survived and it as goals from two players that have featured the least so far this season. Stockley was stuck behind Storey on the bench but with him out of the way the big English man took his rare chance for a start as did u20s star player Scott Wright who along with sub McKenna will try and make a impact off the bench through the rest of the season.



Europa League Play Off
West Ham 2-3 Aberdeen
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Going into this game i was a bit lost on what to do as the score may suggest neither side were too sure on how to defend. Our problem was the manager. Starting out brave and bold by going attacking which was fine till West ham took the lead in the game and in the tie. At this point i channeled my inner Jose and went for a siege mentality counter attacking game that seen our wingers take the game by the scruff of the neck with Hayes dribbling past half the West Ham defense in the style of a man who should be in the Premiership every week. Wes Burns and Rooney added goals in quick succession to put the game beyond West Ham before Zaza got a late consolation but it was too late and Aberdeen have shocked the World by making the Europa League Group phase



Celtic 1-0 Aberdeen
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Ahhh. Back to earth with a bang. This was at least a game too far for this squad who put on a spirited performance at parkhead against the title favorites. After spending pre season worrying about there 4 headed monster of a strike force, they added Maxwel Cornet from Lyon on loan it was non of the above but young midfielder Callum McGregor who got the only goal of the game. Its only August but how important could this be in May?




Table
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Hear all about it Rangers are top of the table. 1-0 wins & late late goals got them there but bigger test await them as the autumn progresses. Inverness are right on our tails and as fate would have it we play them & Rangers in September.




Europa League Draw
When the draw was made There was 2 groups i wanted to avoid and a group that there was no way in **** i wanted to be any part of and by the laws of football manager i think you all know where i ended up.......

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Had this actually happened games vs my favorite team Man Utd and trip to Roma and Denmark would have been a dream but in my first year with a save is a different kettle of fish.




Transfer deadline day
Little action around the world but at Aberdeen we sold starting center back Mark Reynolds to Sheffield Wednesday for £1.1m with that cash i hoped to pick up several of the top free agents but they almost all rejected me leaving em out of time to get a replacement in before the registration window shut. Still Consie & Ash Taylor will have a big job stepping up in the Europa league.



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[Mr_Grieves]

Scotland
September Fixtures




Scotland Squad
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We'll play the same style as at Aberdeen except i think the wingers will play far further back and more defensive




World Cup Qualifier
Slovenia 3-2 Scotland
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A far more entertaining game than were used to with Scotland. Leigh Griffiths scored the opening goal and happy days seemed here again. Slovenia had other idea's as man of the match to be Birsa got 2 goals in a minute to give them the lead. A 3rd goal after the break seemed to settle things but learning from his club side on his debut Ryan Jack got us back in the game but it was too little too late and we made a loosing start,



Friendly
Scotland 4-1 Estonia
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This week we had a experimental side and they played a lot better than the game that mattered. standard Scotland leaving this match with more questions than answers




World Cup Table
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Only Malta's in a worse spot than us but its very early days.



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[TheCelticKid]

typical scotland, good luck mate. would love to see u do well with scotland

 

[Mr_Grieves]

typical scotland, good luck mate. would love to see u do well with scotland

Im guessing from your name that you dont have the same hope for Aberdeen

 

[TheCelticKid]

Im guessing from your name that you dont have the same hope for Aberdeen

obviously dont like seeing anyone overrule celtic but i hope u can improve the scottish game in ur save and hopefully with some help from celtic the league coefficient will improve getting more teams in

 

[Mr_Grieves]

obviously dont like seeing anyone overrule celtic but i hope u can improve the scottish game in ur save and hopefully with some help from celtic the league coefficient will improve getting more teams in

Its a big help that both Edinbugha teams are in the Europa Group stage. Shame is that out of the 4 Scottish teams Hearts have 1 win, Hibs 1 draw the rest of the games all defeats

 

[AldoKemp-1]

Pity no one else in Scotland could replicate europa success in reality! great start & good on Ryan Jack for his Scotland goal. Just find someone to replace Hanley please lol!

 

[Mr_Grieves]

Pity no one else in Scotland could replicate europa success in reality! great start & good on Ryan Jack for his Scotland goal. Just find someone to replace Hanley please lol!

Not so fart there. This is not real life. In FM Grant Hanley has his uses in FM for Scotland. Decent stats for his position despite in real life being utterly hopeless

 

[Mr_Grieves]

Not so fart there

Typo of the year candidate?

 

[Mr_Grieves]

September




Fixtures




Aberdeen 0-0 Inverness CT
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The first game i managed to go to this season in real life. I was hungover and tired after watching the old fim game & Manchester derby however i think this was harder to watch than the real game that had a similar outcome



Europa League
Man Utd 5-0 Aberdeen
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This was by a long way the most painful result so far. Man Utd got a early lead and just kept hammering us. The goals just wouldnt stop as Man Utd showed no remorse on my Europa league group phase debut. West Ham perhaps were playing to loose as Man Utd were several levels above those performance and it looks like we will have to rethink our strategy for playing these giants after Mata and Mikhitaryan ran us ragged



Dundee 1-1 Aberdeen
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A European hangover or not this is our 4th game in a row without a win. Rooney looked like he had us on the way to a win and after taking the lead into the second half we failed to take our chances to put the game to bed, McGinn especially let the side down as El Bakhtaoui grabbed a point with a late goal.


Betfred Cup Q/F
Hamilton 0-1 Aberdeen
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After a run of big games the players were knackered and needed a rest. Taking there opportunity Peter Pawlett set up Jayden Stockley to score the only goal of the game at the half hour point. Fears of us throwing away a lead by not taking our chances were at a minimum as Hamilton looked toothless at best going forward and the cup run takes us to the Semi finals


Where we'll face highland rivals Inverness CT. Favorites Rangers were knocked out by lower league Dunfermline
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Aberdeen 6-1 Rangers
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Here's your highlight of the season. This sort of result in our first game against Rangers in 5 season can only be topped with silverware and even that may be a exaggeration. Early goals from Kenny McLean and Johnny Hayes gave us a half time lead. Rangers played a bit better after the break pulling a goal back through Waghorn but that just made us mad. There goalkeeper Fotheringham scored a O'G and 2 more goals in the next 15 minutes had the match won. Jordan Rossiters red card made the victory even sweeter and the stoppage time goal from home town boy Graeme Shinnie was the cherry on top. Celtic also beat Rangers in there last match but there still hanging on along with over half the league



Europa League
Aberdeen 0-3 Roma
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Through the first half it really looked like we were onto something as we were holding our own against the Italian giants. Right from kick off however a different Roma team came out to play. Dzeko scored his first right from the break and took his other two chances to secure a big win for Roma and a sign that in Europe we're still not capable of parking the bus. Any long shot dreams of qualifying are over and out already and we'll need to beat Midtjylland to have any hope.



Kilmarnock 0-1 Aberdeen
McGinn
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From a full house at Pittodrie in Europe we go to one of the worst teams in the country. Only 4512 fans showed up, 892 from Aberdeen the club have no money no support and a team there league needs to see get relegated to make this league better. As it was our last game before the International break i went for my strongest team and it was Niall McGinn finally getting back to top form with the only goal.






SPFL Table
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Well we left quite a few points on the table but came through the month top and 3 points clear. Motherwell and Celtic tie on 2nd but the Bhoys will join us at the top if they win there game in hand. Dundee, Rangers, Hearts & Inverness are all right on our tail as the league is taking its time to take shape. Kilmarnoch & Hamilton cut adrift at the bottom already.






Europa League
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Nothing close to a shock so far as ourselves and the Danes have been pushed aside. Hearts (3) points and Hibs (1) sit 3rd in there groups.



​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

Scotland
October Fixtures


Only change in the squad is Jamie Murphy coming in for injured Tom Cairney




World Cup Qualifier
Scotland 2-0 Lithuania
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We get some points on the board in what was a very skittish performance. Both goals from Matt Richie crosses for Leigh Griffiths. This match was must win with our toughest match of the year up next




World Cup Qualifier
Slovakia 0-2 Scotland
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We totally make up for the result against Slovenia by grabbing a shock win against the defensively sound Slovakians. Chris Berra in for the injured Grant Handley nodded the opening goal after 20 minutes helping us play a counter attacking game from then on. The Slovaks couldnt break us down and Leigh Griffiths was in the right place to tap home the goal that made the 3 points safe and get our qualifying campaign on the road.




Table
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Amazingly Slovenina are the last unbeaten team and they face England in November in a battle for top spot. The England side will have to do far better than they did in Malta where they sneaked a 1-0 win.



​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

October


We get a huge cup win against Inverness to book us into the first final of the domestic season
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Fixtures




Aberdeen 1-2 Ross County
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Loosing to Man Utd or Roma is kind of part of the course. Loosing to Celtic is a shame but still no upset but loosing at home to Ross County after being 1-0 ahead with most of the team had a break over the international break. I can only hope the dressing down that was given at full time can inspire a angry performance against Midtjylland


Europa League
FC Midtjylland 2-2 Aberdeen
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Once again we were our own worst enemy after leading 1-0 at half time. Kenny McLean once again proving me wrong with the opening goal. At the other end Joe Lewis decided to take up juggling across his own goal mouth to get Midtjylland back in the game and with 10 minutes to go winger Rilwan Hassan who should have been sent off looked to grab the winner. However in the last 10 minutes we got that angry response i was looking for with sub Miles Storey grabbed a season changing goal in stoppage time. It might not be enough to secure a top 2 place but 3rd will probably depend on our next game at Pittodrie


League Cup S/F
Inverness CT 0-5 Aberdeen
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Strange result considering this was one of our worst performance of the year in a cup semi final. Adam Rooney didnt even steel the show with his 2 goals but Graeme Shinnie's hattrick of assist got him man of the match as we get to a cup final at the first chance.


Hamilton 1-3 Aberdeen
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With Celtic only 3 days away the starting players needed a break and bottom placed team. Jayden Stockley took the opportunity to score the first two goals and a Remi Matthews o'g had the game over in th first half hour.


Aberdeen 3-4 Celtic
View attachment 117426
What a event we had here. I've already mentioned my fear of Celtics strike force and it was at the back of my mind when Shay Logan put us 3-1 up on the hour. A lot had happened before we got there most of it a stunning start with both wingers Hayes and Burns scoring in the first 15 minutes. Celtic captain and mr "i dont want to return to international football in this save" Scott Brown pulled one back for Celtic leaving the game on a knife edge going into the break. Into the second half and we kept the pressure up and wing back Shay Logan should have put the game beyond the champions. Sadly this tale has a however as Dembele got a goal back within a minute before super sub Mex Cornet equalized and then heartbreakingly in the 92nd minute scored the winner. To say im heartbroken is a understatement. I was so mad i turned the game off for the day after this game knowing how big it could turn out to be come the end of the season.






SPFL Table
View attachment 117425
The Celtic result really kicked us square in the balls in more ways than one. From tied at the top all the way down to 3rd as Hearts jump us as well. Hamilton and Killie are the worst squads and look set to fight over bottom spot. Would not mind seeing them go down and 2 of Falkirk, Hibs and Dundee Utd return to the SPL




Europa League
View attachment 117423
We were luck to grab a draw so we'll need a win the home leg against the Danes then hope Man Utd or Roma lose and then beat the looser of that game and hope for miracles as if thats not asking for enough already



​

 

[Milleg9]

how the **** are you getting 60% possession eery game! impressive good story so far though

 

[Mr_Grieves]

how the **** are you getting 60% possession eery game! impressive good story so far though

I didnt expect it to work as well as it did against the Man Utd's and Roma's of the world but its not all positive.

The formation is basic and structured so everyone knows where everyone is, may look at making it more fluid as that how i like to play. The team are told to attack every defensive phase of the game. Close down the keeper, Maximum closing down off the other team. A fit team can do this and my Aberdeen team is one of the fittest and quickest. We dont use the wingers too often and the width is Narrow so my Inside Forwards dont get lost on the wings keeping them all close to each other means there is always a passing option available and using shot passing means less risks are taken. This instructions still have clear flaws. I think the forwards need a bit more freedom and the defense is still leaking too many goals. Would rather see less conceded and have less possession. It doesnt win football game

 

[Mr_Grieves]

Scotland
November Fixtures




Squad
Phil Bardsley misses out with injury and is replaced with Ikechi Anya. Since Jamie Murphy keeps his place over Tom Cairney and we'll see how he gets on in the friendly against Ukraine and what should be a simple task over Malta.




Friendly
Ukraine 2-1 Scotland
View attachment 117316
Just a fact finding friendly. Considering neither of these teams are the squads of 10 years ago when they were in the group of death for Euro 2008. Those were happier times. A first goal for Jamie Murphy supports his call up. Murray Wallace did well at the back but not well enough to drop Hanley and make AldoKemp's dreams come through.




World Cup Qualifier
Scotland 4-0 Malta
View attachment 117315
I think four goals is about the minimum you can respectably beat Malta by. Same margin of win as Slovenia & Slovakia got so no help in the Goal difference department either.




Friendly
Belarus 2-1 Scotland
View attachment 117314
Similar team that played Ukraine but far less tolerable a result. Made worse in my eyes that we were 2 goals down and needs some regular starters to get into the game. Still terrible result for our world ranking and confidence but on a positive it will probably be the end of any squad experiments we'll be a solid 11 in friendlys & competitive games going forward.






Table
View attachment 117313
Goodness its close at the top. Slovenia's great start continues with a draw against England meanwhile Slovenia's nightmare gets a bit rougher as they are beaten in Lithuania and are now 5th 6 points behind a playoff spot.



​

 

[Mr_Grieves]

November




We've caught up with real life at last its November. Dodgy performances still plague us but it was a good month as your about to find out




Fixtures




Europa League
Aberdeen 4-1 Midtjylland
View attachment 117254
If i was to tell you it was half as easy as the final score suggests then i'd be lying out of my ****. We did take the lead with Miles Storey doing the business out on the wing but the jitters we seem to suffer all to often struck again as the left winger Mikkel Duelund pulled the Dane's level right on half time. After a hour there was no sign of a breakthrough so we chucked Storey up front with Rooney and quickly had us in front. A immediate third from Storey his second put us clear and Ryan Jack put the icing on the cake before Anthony O'Connor got two bookings ad will be banned for the Man Utd game. Last thing we need with Ash Taylor already out till christmas


Partick 1-2 Aberdeen
View attachment 117253
A few players needed a rest 3 days after a hard slog in Europe and this time it was closer than i'm comfortable with. Rooney got back on the goals trail after a quiet few weeks but it took a Wes Burns strike to make it safe before Chris Erskine got a consolation.


Inverness CT 2-0 Aberdeen
View attachment 117252
Two biggest games of the season coming up and this is not how we want to walk into the games. Highland hoodo perhaps. There both doing there best to keep us away from Celtic.


Europa League
Aberdeen 0-3 Man Utd
View attachment 117251
We needed a result to stay in the competition and to no shock we were soundly beaten. First half we were holing our own with a Rashford strike all that was between us. Strangely from then till the 81st minute they sat back and let us take the game to them. Maybe they knew eventually we would tire and make mistakes as thats exactly what went down. 10 minutes to go Rashford got his second then a Considine O'G leaves us with a trip to Rome with nothing but a holiday.




SPFL Table
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So it looks like it may be a year to early to think about a title challenge as Celtic move 9 points clear after the first quarter of the season. Lazy defeats to ICT and Ross County need to be phased out. No Europa League or League cup distractions after the next post so time to refocus and push on.




Europa League
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Only a Midtjylland win at Old Trafford can keep us from a proud 3rd place.



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[Mr_Grieves]

Scottish League Cup Final 2016

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Will this be a prelude to how this Sunday will go for Aberdeen? Celtic might be a bit tougher than Dundee but lets check this one out!





Dundee vs Aberdeen
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Both sides line up very alike. Dundee put a bit more emphasis on defense, perhaps where we are going wrong?
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Dundee 0-4 Aberdeen
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Hope you didnt notice the spoiler in the formations pic. This was a game that we were in total control of from start to finish. Kenny McLean had us ahead and Rooney added a second right after the break. Captain Jack got a 3rd and it was take a breather from there. Kevin Holt got sent off for the Dens park boys and McGinn added a 4th. Couldnt have been more dominating had we tried.

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Gordon Strachan, the board and most importantly the local fanzine are all pleased with me. How happy will they be if we can win trophys regularly???

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