RiG

I'll be heading along to the Motherwell game in a wee while. Hopefully Vigurs is there so I can boo him.

Is Graeme Shinnie ever going to be know as just Shinnie? I keep adding Graeme on thinking that we have Andrew as well.

Probably something of interest to Aberdeen based ICT fans but our youth team is playing in this years tournament again. http://www.aberdeensportsvillage.com/denis-law-soccer/fixtures-results/ They play Aberdeen on Thursday 18th @ 12:00 at Kings then Motherwell on the same day @ 19:00 with their final group game on Friday @ 15:00 against Sunderland. Worth going along to see some of our future stars (hopefully).

The easiest, and best, option is just to score direct from the corner. That would save a lot of hassle.

I pronounce his name as Ben but whatever.

I agree with Chris. It's great going to the grounds of wee teams and coming away with a solid win at the end of 90 minutes. We did it last year as well.

What are sweaty rustlers? They sound pretty kinky so maybe they would like a mankini.

Some of these posts look awfully familiar to ones I made on Tiwtter during the game! Anyway, a good workout for the guys. No disrespect to Keith but they were blowing out of their backsides after about 30 minutes. Usual 4-2-3-1 set up for us meshing into a 4-4-2/4-4-1-1 as the game went on. Pretty solid backline with Esson, Meekings, Warren and Shinnie all in from the start. Cooper did well at right back. Vincent and Polwarth (Polworth?) filled the Draper / OTJ roles well and protected the back line whilst taking the ball from defence and spreading it to the wide areas for Ross and Greenhalgh to get involved. We used the wide areas a lot in the first half I felt and there was a real desire to work the ball wide rather than attack through the middle. In the second half there were multiple changes which I can't remember. One of the most obvious was Ross pushing right up front with Mckay for a while and the two linked well . Indeed Ross played the "Shinniesta" role very well indeed. The one two he played with Mckay was sublime and he played some smashing through balls during the course of the game. Keith seldome threatened although Brill had to deal with a couple of decent efforts in the second half. Some of our goals were really well worked. The Mckay one from good link up play with Ross in the second half was brilliant, Ryan Christie displayed predatory instincts to finish off his chances, Warren scored a typical Warren goal (rising to meet a cross and bulleting a header into the net). Felt for the Keith keeper when he rushed out to claim a ball but seemed to let it run through his arms or between his legs and Mckay was on hand to finish it off. Mckay looked very sharp indeed considering it was the first match. Meekings and Warren looked rock solid at the back. Plenty of communication to let each other know where a runner was. Good day out topped off with some Ben & Jennys chocolate fudge brownie ice cream. Great stuff!

Anyway... I thought Greenhalgh looked decent against Keith. Yes it will be more of a test against SPL opponents but he displayed some good close control, a fair bit of pace and skill down the left hand side. Solid opening performance from the guy and hopefully he can be an asset for us.

Disagree with a couple of things mentioned here. We started off with a 4-2-3-1 yesterday against Keith and ended up playing a 4-4-2 with Nick Ross teaming up with Mckay for a while as a front two. The style of football was much the same as last season. Plenty of good passing with a few long balls thrown in to release players into space. The long balls certainly were not our first option which was good to see. No disrespect meant to Keith but I don't think we should read too much into the match however there were some good signs from the guys and everyone seemed well drilled in their roles. Get the fitness up and I think we will be fine next season.

I'd need to check but I am sure pretty much everyone penalty Mckay took he went low to the keepers right.

Hello, Who is going to Keith on Saturday?

To be fair reading this forum shows the other side of the fickle football fan. I liked OTJ and thought he played well in our system and definitely contributed to our success last season. But he's gone and we move on. Some of the posts here reek of "Well now he's gone I don't think he was that good anyway".

He's left Livingston. I'll remember him for this Jimmy Ping of a strike.

I asked the SPL when the fixtures that would be screened on TV would be decided and I received a response in two minutes! Apparently they hope to have some news next week with discussions with TV partners still ongoing.

Doran and "Shinniesta" were exchanging banter on Twitter regarding Doran taking the number ten shirt. I see no reason why we are after Taylor again given we have Graeme Shinnie and we signed another left back recently. Unless G Shinnie is going to move into the middle of midfield or we just want extra cover down the left with Taylor.

Mackie hated playing with us on loan. Did he not continue to train with Aberdeen and then simply turn up with us on match day?

Wyness is probably the one that stands out as the most successful player to have initially come in on loan and even then he didn't that well when he first arrived. Certainly under Butchers lead we haven't had too many successful loan players although Golabart, who divides opinion, and perhaps Davies could be held up as more successful loan signings.

Footballer in being egotistical twat on Twitter shock.

I think Tade is an okay player but if he does leave your club your reaction is typically "Meh" and you shrug your shoulders. I'd imagine Saints fans are the same although apparently he said he was set to sign a one year extension with them but now he's away. Endearing behaviour yet again.

Unless I am missing something Cluj aren't in the Champions League. They finished 9th last season.

We've won two games on the opening day of the season, drawn one and lost five.

Really!? That's a bit crap. I guess there's still plenty of time to get some cheap bus or train tickets for most games though.

When do the TV companies get involved and start moving the fixtures about? I don't want to start buying bus or train tickets until I know for certain when the game will be on.