We Are Dross

[SAFandthedons1983]

Just joined on here, was on the bbc 606 and wasnt sure whether would bother joining another, but need to vent to fellow dons.

 

We are absolute dross, and i wish CB would just accept that. He is forever talking about how things will develop etc etc. We admire his honesty when he admits we were poor, and rightly so. However, i question his judgement when he implies we played poorly, but are capable of better. We are not.

 

Friends of mine who support other SPL teams (and not the OF) are amazed whenever they watch a dons game by just how poor our players our. We like to have a bit of banter of course about each of our teams superiority, and about how rubbish the SPL is in general, but they are genuinely appaled by the stifling display of mediocrity. No other club in the SPL gets either 1) such poor fare to watch, or 2) such a poor return proportional to the money the club spends, or 3) in my opinion, such a poor return in general.

 

Hibs last weekend summed it up. We are lucky they are just as bad. But probably not for too long- there are signs that Calderwood is being told that he must deliver better, whereas ive heard nothing to suggest CB is in the same boat. And they have a couple of decent players they can call on.

 

It is not just what is on the field and in the dugout though- our club is rank rotten top to bottom. I understand theres being some good work being done with youth development- i'll leave that out as i dont know too much about what is going on at that level. I do know that most of the kids who have tried to make the step up havent done so successfully, and currently for all we trumpet it only Fyvie, Pawlett and Jack look to have any future at the club. Of those three, i think only Jack is really making progress- this may be unpopular, but Fyvie, for all he has alot of talent, does not seem a better player to me now than he was this time last year. Pawlett flatters to deceive- the odd great 20 minutes intersperse the tepid offerings usually on display (though not entirely his fault when hes deployed in the centre).

 

Moving on from my rant into my fantasy world where i have control of AFC- first step is to not lengthen the contract of a single player at the club, excepting the 3 mentioned above, Foster (but only for the right sum) and maybe Arnason (if he continues to impress).

 

after that, i would look at guaranteed revenue- season ticket sale (based on a figure that 75% will renew- maybe overly optimistic, i know), and TV money. The yearly wage bill should not exceed over 75% of that amount. The extra pays the interest to the bank and if theres any left over it pays off debt.

 

Any money made from attendances, cup runs etc will be put into a player fund for the manager- half for wages, half for transfers, or however he feels appropriate. No player should earn more than 3% of the clubs guaranteed revenue stream.

 

Scrap the expensive signings (maybe there is no fees, but the guys we sign from England, or indeed anywhere, nearly always command considerably higher wages than other SPL teams.)

 

Change the contracts offered so players contracts are in line with normal working contracts- if they breach them, they can be sacked without having to pay up the total sum.

 

Make it clear to the manager that he will be sacked if football being played is deemed by the board to be insufferably dull. It does more damage by the amount of supporters it puts off than good for being able to nick the odd 1-0.

 

Subject managerial signings made 'through contacts' to alot more scrutiny. The club should have scouts for finding players, and trust them. If they cant do their job, sack them. the 'managers contacts' have produced the likes of Dave Bus and Jerel Ifil- and i cant think of a single good signing made attributed to this form of scouting. Maintain links with other clubs absolutely, and if the manager hears something good about a player he should be allowed to check it out, but the scouts must be allowed to observe and report as well.

 

save save save and get one of the plastic grass pitches they use in the Russian leagues- i dont know how much they cost (anybody?) but Pitoddrie is almost never in good condition. Plus we could save on groundkeeping/pitch relaying costs etc.

 

Rant over, time to get ready for the pub and more ranting, enjoy your night guys.

[Big Man]

Welcome to the forum friend.

 

When will you be submitting the final draft of your dissertation for the degree of Phd?

 

 

[fatshaft]

 

 

We are absolute dross, and i wish CB would just accept that.

Aye, good idea min, I think he should stop trying too, just turn up and pick up his wage packet every week without any thought of actually earning it. In fact, maybe he should move his office to Marischal college, and save the pretense completely!

[Old Wing Stand]

Just joined on here, was on the bbc 606 and wasnt sure whether would bother joining another, but need to vent to fellow dons.

 

We are absolute dross, and i wish CB would just accept that. He is forever talking about how things will develop etc etc. We admire his honesty when he admits we were poor, and rightly so. However, i question his judgement when he implies we played poorly, but are capable of better. We are not.

 

Friends of mine who support other SPL teams (and not the OF) are amazed whenever they watch a dons game by just how poor our players our. We like to have a bit of banter of course about each of our teams superiority, and about how rubbish the SPL is in general, but they are genuinely appaled by the stifling display of mediocrity. No other club in the SPL gets either 1) such poor fare to watch, or 2) such a poor return proportional to the money the club spends, or 3) in my opinion, such a poor return in general.

 

Hibs last weekend summed it up. We are lucky they are just as bad. But probably not for too long- there are signs that Calderwood is being told that he must deliver better, whereas ive heard nothing to suggest CB is in the same boat. And they have a couple of decent players they can call on.

 

It is not just what is on the field and in the dugout though- our club is rank rotten top to bottom. I understand theres being some good work being done with youth development- i'll leave that out as i dont know too much about what is going on at that level. I do know that most of the kids who have tried to make the step up havent done so successfully, and currently for all we trumpet it only Fyvie, Pawlett and Jack look to have any future at the club. Of those three, i think only Jack is really making progress- this may be unpopular, but Fyvie, for all he has alot of talent, does not seem a better player to me now than he was this time last year. Pawlett flatters to deceive- the odd great 20 minutes intersperse the tepid offerings usually on display (though not entirely his fault when hes deployed in the centre).

 

Moving on from my rant into my fantasy world where i have control of AFC- first step is to not lengthen the contract of a single player at the club, excepting the 3 mentioned above, Foster (but only for the right sum) and maybe Arnason (if he continues to impress).

 

after that, i would look at guaranteed revenue- season ticket sale (based on a figure that 75% will renew- maybe overly optimistic, i know), and TV money. The yearly wage bill should not exceed over 75% of that amount. The extra pays the interest to the bank and if theres any left over it pays off debt.

 

Any money made from attendances, cup runs etc will be put into a player fund for the manager- half for wages, half for transfers, or however he feels appropriate. No player should earn more than 3% of the clubs guaranteed revenue stream.

 

Scrap the expensive signings (maybe there is no fees, but the guys we sign from England, or indeed anywhere, nearly always command considerably higher wages than other SPL teams.)

 

Change the contracts offered so players contracts are in line with normal working contracts- if they breach them, they can be sacked without having to pay up the total sum.

 

Make it clear to the manager that he will be sacked if football being played is deemed by the board to be insufferably dull. It does more damage by the amount of supporters it puts off than good for being able to nick the odd 1-0.

 

Subject managerial signings made 'through contacts' to alot more scrutiny. The club should have scouts for finding players, and trust them. If they cant do their job, sack them. the 'managers contacts' have produced the likes of Dave Bus and Jerel Ifil- and i cant think of a single good signing made attributed to this form of scouting. Maintain links with other clubs absolutely, and if the manager hears something good about a player he should be allowed to check it out, but the scouts must be allowed to observe and report as well.

 

save save save and get one of the plastic grass pitches they use in the Russian leagues- i dont know how much they cost (anybody?) but Pitoddrie is almost never in good condition. Plus we could save on groundkeeping/pitch relaying costs etc.

 

Rant over, time to get ready for the pub and more ranting, enjoy your night guys.

 

I think you've already been in the pub mate !!

[OneBeboMaguire]

an aberdeen team which played like the hibs team of 2004 would be bliss to watch, unbelievable football!

[Jazzer_Bett]

Good coherent post, hopefully results pick up starting tomorrow or I will begin to doubt Mr Brown myself-Fallon better be good or it will work against him big style.

[Crossbow]

Very good, well thought out post.

 

You can't have anything to do wth the current Pittodrie or SPL structure.

 

AFC have lost the vision that the team once had.

 

The beautiful game.

[SAFandthedons1983]

A well thought out post (basically a more eloquent way of saying much of what I tried to say the other night) and I especially agree with these bits, although I suggest perhaps Milsom and Osbourne have been found and recommended through contacts I suggest our signing policy shouldn't be based solely upon contacts. Proper scouting has to be the way ahead, to help any AFC manager in the future also.

 

Nicking the odd 1-0 isn't enough either, we should have a philosophy, we should stick to it and we should look for managers who embrace said philosophy. Think Hibs 2004 and to a lesser extent, Kilmarnock 2011.

 

Welcome to the forum

 

 

cheers for the positive feedback, but got to disagree about Milsom and Osbourne. They were signed through managerial contracts to my recolleciton, and i dont rate either.

 

Milsom looked good for a couple of games when he signed. The boys got pretty good technique- i dont odubt in the training ground he pings balls about very accurately. But come game time and he is petrified of possession if theres an opponent within 20 yards of him. He punts it away, tries unnecessary crossfield balls, always always always goes down the lines with his passes. He rarely, if ever, looks for a simple pass to feet. His tackling is poor, and he is too slow to make up for that with covering back on himself. Average at best- for most teams in the SPL he'd be nothing more than back up. But we pay him a salary that no team outside the OF would dream of giving to a back-up player.

 

Osbourne is pretty much the same, sans technique. Hes getting alot of good feedback because he commits to the challengem and does it well. But he is positionally all over the place- he offers the defence very little protection because whilst he launches into tackles, he does this all over the pitch. The only way we get good use out of him is if he stays very central, and offers himself as a barrier to opposition centre mids who set up in front of the defence looking for a space to get the ball through. Again though, even if he could do this well, he'll be taking home alot more money than alot of alternatives who could do the job just as well.

 

Thought we were lucky yesterday that we got either goal, and fortunately Killie seemed to go to pieces a bit after that. But where did the goals come from? no guile, skill, subtlety involved.

[Sandafc]

cheers for the positive feedback, but got to disagree about Milsom and Osbourne. They were signed through managerial contracts to my recolleciton, and i dont rate either.

 

Milsom looked good for a couple of games when he signed. The boys got pretty good technique- i dont odubt in the training ground he pings balls about very accurately. But come game time and he is petrified of possession if theres an opponent within 20 yards of him. He punts it away, tries unnecessary crossfield balls, always always always goes down the lines with his passes. He rarely, if ever, looks for a simple pass to feet. His tackling is poor, and he is too slow to make up for that with covering back on himself. Average at best- for most teams in the SPL he'd be nothing more than back up. But we pay him a salary that no team outside the OF would dream of giving to a back-up player.

 

Osbourne is pretty much the same, sans technique. Hes getting alot of good feedback because he commits to the challengem and does it well. But he is positionally all over the place- he offers the defence very little protection because whilst he launches into tackles, he does this all over the pitch. The only way we get good use out of him is if he stays very central, and offers himself as a barrier to opposition centre mids who set up in front of the defence looking for a space to get the ball through. Again though, even if he could do this well, he'll be taking home alot more money than alot of alternatives who could do the job just as well.

 

Thought we were lucky yesterday that we got either goal, and fortunately Killie seemed to go to pieces a bit after that. But where did the goals come from? no guile, skill, subtlety involved.

 

Stopped reading that after you said you dont read Osbourne.