It had been far too long since the glory days of the 80's for the long-suffering supporters of Aberdeen. Delight at the appointment Mark McGhee, one of those responsible for the previous success, soon turned to despair when after only 2 short weeks he walked away from the job after his suggestion of changing the strips to green and white hoops was rejected.
A new answer was needed - the board decide to surprise everyone by naming Aberdeen born and life long fan Neil Mackie as the man to take them forward.
(Ok, I've just read another Aberdeen story has started - didn't see that coming, but will be interesting to see how we both go)
_____________________________________________________________________________
So, the first decision - where did my ambitions lie. As it turns out it didn't matter - whether I went for continental qualification, title challenge or league winners my budget was the same. I plumped for the easy option.
Next - my basic formation. I've always felt that wingers were a bit of a luxury for a struggling team - I wanted ball winners in the middle to hit the ball through to strikers up front. In another life I'd tried a tactic called 4-3-3 city and this was the one I decided to shape my team around.
The controversial decision was made to sell Aluko. He was seen as a cult hero already in these parts and a legend in the making despite his young age and short time at the club. He was however a sellable asset and with no money at all to spend, and no place in the team, he was also very expendable. The others to be offered out were Derek Young, Stirling Smith and Peter Pawlett.
The free agent market was flooded with quality, and trawling round some of the South American national teams revealed even more talent without a club. Relying on big money coming in I bid for Cristian Mora, Ebi Smolarek, Sol Campbell and Steven Appiah.
The next few days were spent scouting free agents, and waiting for offers to come in. They came in quickly, which was very pleasing. Out went:
(all figures in UK pounds, but since I live in China my computer has no pound sign)
Derek Young - Bristol Rovers - 250,000
Sone Aluko - Sheff Utd - 3,000,000 + 20% of profit from next sale
Stirling Smith - Ipswich - 500,000
Peter Pawlett - Sunderland - 1,400,000
This was a very tidy little sum, and allowed me to amass quite a treasure chest. I put most of it into my wage budget in order to convince the big guns to come to me. They didn't..... Mora was refused a permit, Appiah to Racing Club S.A.D., Smolarek to Le Mans UC 72 and Campbell to Hearts. Well, hopefully I'd be able to make Campbell regeret his decision a little further down the line.....
By this time a lot of other free agents had already found clubs, and I desperately needed a good DM. My scout in Europe had picked up on a youngster by the name of Markel who had fallen out of favor at Real Sociedad. A swift 700,000 bid followed, as well as a contract offered to Theo Lucius - a free agent who could cover the DM slot while also sorting out my RB problem. He had been released from Feyenoord and was willing to jump across the North Sea to provide some much needed experience to my club.
__________________________________________________________________________
(Ok, that's it for now, I have played about 6 games into the season, but need to go to work so will update later and try and include a screen shot or three.)
---------- Post added at 09:35 AM ---------- Previous post was yesterday at 09:25 AM ----------
So, the bids were in, and the scouts were still scouting. All I could do was wait to see how events transpired - it was time to turn my attention to the friendlies. Would my squad adapt to the 4-3-3 with ease, or were their troubles ahead? To be honest, with my biggest game being away to Leeds, and all the rest scattered around lower league Scottish teams I was hoping I could play any formation and still be successful.
Friendlies:
Livingston 1 - 3 Aberdeen (Miller 3)
Queen of the South 2 - 2 Aberdeen (Miller, Stewart)
Ross County 0 - 2 Aberdeen (Miller, Mackie)
Raith 1 - 2 Aberdeen (Miller 2)
Aberdeen 6 - 0 GH Academy (Miller 3, Hansson, Devany Paton)
So, the first 5 friendlies were a huge success, the only blip being QOS managing a comeback in the last 10 minutes after I subbed on most of my youth players. Lee Miller was performing amazingly well in the central striker role with my other strikers rotating around him.
The only problem was - still no new player - It was the 22nd of Jul, I had a Euro Qualifier on the 30th, and still no player for my DM position although Mark Kerr had performed well so far.
Step forward Theo Lucius - he finally agreed to the contract and became the first signing of the Mackie Revolution. Granted, he is more of a natural RB, but he could slot into the DM role until I could scout out a player, or Markel agreed to come.
We had a weeks rest before out first competitive game of the season. For Aberdeen any tie in Europe is tough, and we had been drawn against Dinamo Tbilisi of Georgia. We were favorites, but also very aware that it could go horribly, horribly wrong.
The week passed quickly - I dealt with some pressing issues with my back room staff (mainly sacking most of them and replacing them with other unemployed but slightly better coaches). There was no further transfer activity though - perhaps I need new scouts as well.
Thursday 30th July 2009
Euro Cup 3rd Qualifying Round, Leg 1
(Screenshot will appear here later once my computer stops being difficult)
Aberdeen 4 - 2 Dinamo Tbilisi (Stewart 2, Miller, Paton)
An excellent victory - ok, so the opposition scored 2 away goals, but I have a 2 goal lead as well. If I kept things tight in Georgia I had another round to look forward to.
So, my first month in management was over. A fairly successful time so far, with the only disappointment being the lack of new faces. I still wanted a natural DM, and another striker up front. The scouts were out but most players didn't see their future in the granite city.
A new answer was needed - the board decide to surprise everyone by naming Aberdeen born and life long fan Neil Mackie as the man to take them forward.
(Ok, I've just read another Aberdeen story has started - didn't see that coming, but will be interesting to see how we both go)
_____________________________________________________________________________
So, the first decision - where did my ambitions lie. As it turns out it didn't matter - whether I went for continental qualification, title challenge or league winners my budget was the same. I plumped for the easy option.
Next - my basic formation. I've always felt that wingers were a bit of a luxury for a struggling team - I wanted ball winners in the middle to hit the ball through to strikers up front. In another life I'd tried a tactic called 4-3-3 city and this was the one I decided to shape my team around.
The controversial decision was made to sell Aluko. He was seen as a cult hero already in these parts and a legend in the making despite his young age and short time at the club. He was however a sellable asset and with no money at all to spend, and no place in the team, he was also very expendable. The others to be offered out were Derek Young, Stirling Smith and Peter Pawlett.
The free agent market was flooded with quality, and trawling round some of the South American national teams revealed even more talent without a club. Relying on big money coming in I bid for Cristian Mora, Ebi Smolarek, Sol Campbell and Steven Appiah.
The next few days were spent scouting free agents, and waiting for offers to come in. They came in quickly, which was very pleasing. Out went:
(all figures in UK pounds, but since I live in China my computer has no pound sign)
Derek Young - Bristol Rovers - 250,000
Sone Aluko - Sheff Utd - 3,000,000 + 20% of profit from next sale
Stirling Smith - Ipswich - 500,000
Peter Pawlett - Sunderland - 1,400,000
This was a very tidy little sum, and allowed me to amass quite a treasure chest. I put most of it into my wage budget in order to convince the big guns to come to me. They didn't..... Mora was refused a permit, Appiah to Racing Club S.A.D., Smolarek to Le Mans UC 72 and Campbell to Hearts. Well, hopefully I'd be able to make Campbell regeret his decision a little further down the line.....
By this time a lot of other free agents had already found clubs, and I desperately needed a good DM. My scout in Europe had picked up on a youngster by the name of Markel who had fallen out of favor at Real Sociedad. A swift 700,000 bid followed, as well as a contract offered to Theo Lucius - a free agent who could cover the DM slot while also sorting out my RB problem. He had been released from Feyenoord and was willing to jump across the North Sea to provide some much needed experience to my club.
__________________________________________________________________________
(Ok, that's it for now, I have played about 6 games into the season, but need to go to work so will update later and try and include a screen shot or three.)
---------- Post added at 09:35 AM ---------- Previous post was yesterday at 09:25 AM ----------
So, the bids were in, and the scouts were still scouting. All I could do was wait to see how events transpired - it was time to turn my attention to the friendlies. Would my squad adapt to the 4-3-3 with ease, or were their troubles ahead? To be honest, with my biggest game being away to Leeds, and all the rest scattered around lower league Scottish teams I was hoping I could play any formation and still be successful.
Friendlies:
Livingston 1 - 3 Aberdeen (Miller 3)
Queen of the South 2 - 2 Aberdeen (Miller, Stewart)
Ross County 0 - 2 Aberdeen (Miller, Mackie)
Raith 1 - 2 Aberdeen (Miller 2)
Aberdeen 6 - 0 GH Academy (Miller 3, Hansson, Devany Paton)
So, the first 5 friendlies were a huge success, the only blip being QOS managing a comeback in the last 10 minutes after I subbed on most of my youth players. Lee Miller was performing amazingly well in the central striker role with my other strikers rotating around him.
The only problem was - still no new player - It was the 22nd of Jul, I had a Euro Qualifier on the 30th, and still no player for my DM position although Mark Kerr had performed well so far.
Step forward Theo Lucius - he finally agreed to the contract and became the first signing of the Mackie Revolution. Granted, he is more of a natural RB, but he could slot into the DM role until I could scout out a player, or Markel agreed to come.
We had a weeks rest before out first competitive game of the season. For Aberdeen any tie in Europe is tough, and we had been drawn against Dinamo Tbilisi of Georgia. We were favorites, but also very aware that it could go horribly, horribly wrong.
The week passed quickly - I dealt with some pressing issues with my back room staff (mainly sacking most of them and replacing them with other unemployed but slightly better coaches). There was no further transfer activity though - perhaps I need new scouts as well.
Thursday 30th July 2009
Euro Cup 3rd Qualifying Round, Leg 1
(Screenshot will appear here later once my computer stops being difficult)
Aberdeen 4 - 2 Dinamo Tbilisi (Stewart 2, Miller, Paton)
An excellent victory - ok, so the opposition scored 2 away goals, but I have a 2 goal lead as well. If I kept things tight in Georgia I had another round to look forward to.
So, my first month in management was over. A fairly successful time so far, with the only disappointment being the lack of new faces. I still wanted a natural DM, and another striker up front. The scouts were out but most players didn't see their future in the granite city.
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