Where Are We Going?

[rossafc92]

Serious question.

 

Yes, things are better than they were. Yes, we have a talented group of players. Yes, we have a manager who knows what he's doing (well, most of the time).

 

But where are Aberdeen FC going?

 

We won't win the league. Is another season of 2nd place and no significant cup progress acceptable?

 

Despite only being in the wake of this most recent disappointment, I find myself thinking towards next season already.

 

Is this as good as it gets? Has McInnes maxed out? 2013/14 into the Euro games of 2014/15 felt like, in the main, a constant upward curve. I can't help but feel like things have plateaued since.

[Sonoftherock]

Serious question.

 

Yes, things are better than they were. Yes, we have a talented group of players. Yes, we have a manager who knows what he's doing (well, most of the time).

 

But where are Aberdeen FC going?

 

We won't win the league. Is another season of 2nd place and no significant cup progress acceptable?

 

Despite only being in the wake of this most recent disappointment, I find myself thinking towards next season already.

 

Is this as good as it gets? Has McInnes maxed out? 2013/14 into the Euro games of 2014/15 felt like, in the main, a constant upward curve. I can't help but feel like things have plateaued since.

 

It's definitely a good question and some food for thought.

 

We've definitely plateaued. Tactically I believe McInnes has been found wanting on too many occasions. He's unable change things up during a game and in general doesn't seem to have a developed a plan B. A number of SPFL managers, working under tighter budgets, have figured him out. I don't personally think McInnes has it in him to move us forward from here. However, I don't believe we're going to get any worse, any time soon. As Aberdeen fans, what are we happy with?

 

He's done a great job to get us to this stage however... and we've got to remember that we're Aberdeen football club - a provincial SPFL team. Could we do better than McInnes? We all know from decades of painful experience that we could certainly do a helluva lot worse!

 

Definitely a good time to take stock.

[Coddie]

Third?

[strachanmcgheegoal]

He has built a side that is unrecognisable from 4 years ago. He has (not quite) filled a stadium with a better all round experience. I am like you concerned that he does seem to have maxed out but equally I don't want the board to go mad on a Bernard or a Hignett. I accept he's been most cunting unlucky with cup draws. His biggest failing though is not having a decent squad rotation and certainly no sign of youth progression. Stick with him for me obviously but he, himself, needs to address that weakness. He's going to have to now of course!

[Guest milne_afc]

No Stadium

 

No training ground

 

No youth system

 

No bloody good etc/

[Dusk( 2 Stars )Don]

#AFC are out the corupt cup

[BWG]

I knew this would be a loss. The lack of bottle in this side is pathetic. Aside from the League Cup win and a couple of performances against Celtic, we have bottled every big game and thrown away every opportunity to progress as a team. We have the best manager we've had in decades, we've got one of the best Aberdeen sides for years but we've shown today why we're still so far behind the likes of Celtic. We so rarely batter teams despite the supposed firepower we posses in Rooney, McLean, McGinn and Hayes and we still lose 5-1 to the likes of St Johnstone. We simply don't have the killer instinct or mentality to win titles.

 

The frustrations are only compounded by the fact that the club are still without a proper training ground. We're still without a stadium fit for purpose and our youth system is little short of shite when you consider that Falkirk have made more from transfer fees in the last few years than we have.

 

Less said about the match the better. We were fucking horse shit today. Considine and Logan didn't even resemble anything close to professional footballers, although to be fair nobody stood out for me as a star performer. We seriously need to strengthen in this window. Fucking pathetic.

[The Lighthouse]

Interesting stuff.

 

We are are a "provincial SPFL team"....indeed.

 

Yet - Aberdeen is the 3rd biggest city in Scotland. We are not a "diddy" team or from a wee town.....

 

I like to think we have better mentality than the poisonous OF clubs but we should aspire to be better than where we are at the moment.

 

I don`t want to hound Deek - far from it - but we need to take a step back and think about this continuous failure in cup competitions. To be fair to him, we have been in this movie for a long time....

[Dynamo]

The cups are our best chance of silverware. And we've failed at the first hurdle the last 3 cups we've entered. Not good enough.

[RAZOR]

To come out and say he doesnt see any need in signing anyone during this window is fucking incredible.

[Tommy]

A fuckin shambles. Me an Jack are fuckin pissed off Derek, Get

It fuckin sorted.

My heid's gonna be fuckin thumpin in the morning but i'll teach

these fuckin pussies what AFC is all about.

[The Lighthouse]

Is there any merit in saying - fuck this we`re out of the cups let`s go for the league with serious intent.

 

Can we persuade the wigster to get the piggy bank out and have real go at a piss poor Celtic...?

[Dave Bus]

When we go behind in a game we usually go onto lose

[Guest milne_afc]

Shut up, Dave.

[G31DON]

When we go behind in a game we usually go onto lose

 

One thing i will say for McInnes is that unlike before he came if the team goes 0-1 down the match isn't over like it used to be under previous managers. Apart from today obvs.

[360]

Bunch of fucking babies.

 

Let's face it, this is the best AFC team that we will likely see for years. Judging by the comments on the match thread, we, overall do not deserve such a good team.

 

We need to get over ourselves and realise that we are not in a bad place overall. We, as a whole, are worse than Celtic fans in terms of expectations and turning on the players, we'll be far worse off when our "fans" force King Del and Docherty out of the club.

 

Then what?

[Dal Riata Don]

It's a knock-out cup competition accept it.

 

Where are AFC going - where can we go?

 

Stop living in 1983.

 

Second in the league is as good as it's ever going to get - we can't compete with Celtics budget and that's that. They seem happy with their shit manager but he's only there as the cheap option to ease their debt until/if sevco become a force again.

 

The early run in Europe this season was wonderful but look at who pit us oot - speaks volumes as to our actual status.

 

This is a great time to be an AFC fan on and off [no debt-I'm proud of that] the pitch - let's enjoy it.

[Chewie37]

Well judging by what DM usually says, hopefully he'll learn from the result and have an eye on changing some things. He's not stupid, I reckon he has an idea of what he needs to improve and for next season he must have a couple,of targets that he thinks he can get in. I'm sure he was playing a psychological card with the media and his own players by saying he doesn't need anyone in during January. If we get a Lee Richardson in, we win the league

[newcastlered]

It's a knock-out cup competition accept it.

 

Where are AFC going - where can we go?

 

Stop living in 1983.

 

Second in the league is as good as it's ever going to get - we can't compete with Celtics budget and that's that. They seem happy with their shit manager but he's only there as the cheap option to ease their debt until/if sevco become a force again.

 

The early run in Europe this season was wonderful but look at who pit us oot - speaks volumes as to our actual status.

 

This is a great time to be an AFC fan on and off [no debt-I'm proud of that] the pitch - let's enjoy it.

 

I don't understand this point. What's our status other than runners up in the SPFL? Do you really think Shkendija, Rijeka or Kairat had ever heard of Aberdeen before the draw? Kairat were actually a good team and had a shitload of money. Doesn't say anything apart from your point about not competing with larger budgets.

 

On the topic where do we go from here? More of the same, maybe sevco will make second place more interesting next year but yeah seasons over. Why the players couldn't get up for the cup is beyond me.

[ericblack4boss]

Where we go depends on the expectations of, the players, the management, the board, and the fans, and from the people that post here, the latter's desire and expectations are very different to the three before,

We believed that we could have a run at the title, yet the noises coming from the club are very different,

I believe that the players, the board, and management are happy to be second in the league, and to win a cup every 2-3 seasons, and if they are happy with that, and believe that is success for Aberdeen fc, then that's fine.

But not with me,

We have reach a plateau, and maybe, just maybe, that this is as far as mcinnes wants, or can take us. He is maybe very happy to coast along with players who are happy to do likewise,

Perhaps it's us fans than should change our expectations, because I can't see mcinnes changing things quickly.

[Abramdon]

Sadly, I think that Derek has taken us as far as he can. We have clearly plateaued. This season is likely to be almost identical to the last one. Out of the cups early and second in the league. Mathematically we can still win the league. We have 17 games left, two against Celtic. In my opinion we need to win both Celtic games and 13 out of the other 15 to win the league. Its possible, but I just can't see it happening. I think that in years to come we will look back at this season as a huge missed opportunity to win the league against a shit Celtic team with a shit manager. We screwed ourselves by losing all those games in October. We could easily finish with a lower points total than last season, especially if we keep playing like we did in the last 3 games.

Derek is clearly a vast improvement on the 20 years of shit managers who preceded him. He has well documented faults - he is hit or miss in the transfer market, his tactics are predictable as are his substitutions and his substitutions rarely make any difference to the outcome of a game - but he is SPFL manager not Pep Guardiola. Could we realistically do any better? I doubt it. We have got to keep the faith and hope for decent cup draws next season.

[minijc]

Mcinness' reluctance to trust in 'bit part' players is costing us when we are level or behind in a game, I'm sure I'm not the only one who could accepot a defeat if all options were explored and it looked like each player gave their all, yesterdays performance was as gutless as it's ever been, no heart or fight shown when it was really needed, no options off the bench to roll the dice and try change the direction of the match, these things are happening far too often now, he claims that he's happy with the squad but there is no way he can be and we need atleast 2 players in now to get us 2nd in the league. Hearts aren't a very good side, neither were St Johnstone when they beat us in the semi nor were dundee or Dundee united when they beat us in the cup we just lacked fresh ideas which the managers of those teams know and have exploited. Not sure what the future holds for us but failure to secure second spot in this terrible league should see him being moved on.

[Reed or deed]

@@Tommy

A fuckin shambles. Me an Jack are fuckin pissed off Derek, Get

It fuckin sorted.

My heid's gonna be fuckin thumpin in the morning but i'll teach

these fuckin pussies what AFC is all about.

Roid nomination.

 

Calm down min , you're just far too angry. ??

[Byrne Baby Byrne]

Mcinness' reluctance to trust in 'bit part' players is costing us when we are level or behind in a game, I'm sure I'm not the only one who could accepot a defeat if all options were explored and it looked like each player gave their all, yesterdays performance was as gutless as it's ever been, no heart or fight shown when it was really needed, no options off the bench to roll the dice and try change the direction of the match, these things are happening far too often now, he claims that he's happy with the squad but there is no way he can be and we need atleast 2 players in now to get us 2nd in the league. Hearts aren't a very good side, neither were St Johnstone when they beat us in the semi nor were dundee or Dundee united when they beat us in the cup we just lacked fresh ideas which the managers of those teams know and have exploited. Not sure what the future holds for us but failure to secure second spot in this terrible league should see him being moved on.

This is what's annoying me with McInnes as well.

 

Same formation and generally the same team every week. No changes when things go badly, other than Ash Taylor up front for the last 5 minutes which never does a thing. Pawlett has come off the bench and done a great job a few times recently but no danger of McInnes dropping McGinn, Hayes or McLean regardless of their form

[Guest the shepherd]

As most have stated already Aberdeen definitely have came to a crossroads. Thankfully though we are at the only point in the season were we can change this by getting in players of a standard that will allow for progression again. Surely after yesterday's excuse of a 'performance' constructive action has to be taken. Transfers must take place in this transfer window or we are in endanger of stagnating.

[Abramdon]

As most have stated already Aberdeen definitely have came to a crossroads. Thankfully though we are at the only point in the season were we can change this by getting in players of a standard that will allow for progression again. Surely after yesterday's excuse of a 'performance' constructive action has to be taken. Transfers must take place in this transfer window or we are in endanger of stagnating.

 

Totally agree but can we get players of the required standard in January? When you look at what we had left on the bench at the end of the game yesterday it is clear how thin our squad really is. Brown - a decent enough reserve goalie. Robson - over the hill. Smith and Storie - not good enough. Quinn - maybe he should start the next game. Not good.

[RAZOR]

It's a knock-out cup competition accept it.

 

Where are AFC going - where can we go?

 

Stop living in 1983.

 

Second in the league is as good as it's ever going to get - we can't compete with Celtics budget and that's that. They seem happy with their shit manager but he's only there as the cheap option to ease their debt until/if sevco become a force again.

 

The early run in Europe this season was wonderful but look at who pit us oot - speaks volumes as to our actual status.

 

This is a great time to be an AFC fan on and off [no debt-I'm proud of that] the pitch - let's enjoy it.

I thought you were just weird but it turns out you're a complete idiot.

 

2nd in the league is as good it will get? Jesus wept!

[Guest the shepherd]

 

Totally agree but can we get players of the required standard in January? When you look at what we had left on the bench at the end of the game yesterday it is clear how thin our squad really is. Brown - a decent enough reserve goalie. Robson - over the hill. Smith and Storie - not good enough. Quinn - maybe he should start the next game. Not good.

We have managed to attract a good standard of player to the club when we were riddled with debt so no reason why cannot do so again and get an even better of standard of player to our club when we are debt-free unless the negotiation/selling skills of management are not of the required standard.

[vanderark14]

I thought you were just weird but it turns out you're a complete idiot.

2nd in the league is as good it will get? Jesus wept!

I stopped reading when the zoomer mentioned 1983

[The Neep]

Well on that performance we certainly won't frighten the Celtic board into a massive spending spree in the current window.