alternative maryhill

HT 0-1.

Really doesn't sound like we played much football there - didn't hear Blackie's name mentioned with any reference to creativity or build-up play, and Imrie seems to have been pretty anonymous too, whereas both were very effective last week. Several references to Duncan carrying an injury and being below-par - maybe Brew shoud be thinking about bringing Rooney on early and moving Cowie back, with Black sitting in a bit more, provided he can time his tackles. May also be a case for introducing Wilson for Mcbain quite early if we don't start creating more.

Shame Duff seems to have been culpable for the goal - we're crying out for confidence in central defence, and i hope it doesn't affect him too much. Sure we can come back though - I predicted a 3-2 win and maybe the goal will open the game up and I'll be proven correct.

@rse

Ah - for some reason the link the Rebel posted works for me. Now tuned in.

County seem to be turning their season around! 2-0 up already...

Im having trouble getting game on line is anyone having the same problem.

Dont normally have any bother, can any one help.

Don't know if I'm being thick, but I can only find either the open all mikes programme or the Rangers game through the BBC website. My computer doesn't seem to want to connect to Scotty's link, so I'm making do with the open all mikes stuff.

Rebel - not sure of the Hamilton line-up (same as Monday's is as much as I know), but the full ICT line-up is:

Either Cowie or Imrie may be supporting Barrowman up front, and Imrie played down both the right and the left at different times last weekend, so I'm not sure that the formation I've posted is exactly correct, but the personnel is.

I think your right, and in order to address the issue, anyone representing Scotland should have to grow a dodgy beard and/or moustache and large sideburns. Anyone failing to do so will be provided with sticky on ones.

Oddly enough, Paul Hartley, one of the players chosen to model the strip, usually has all three but appears to have shaved them off for this shoot. Or perhaps they were 'sticky on' all along and blew off in a stout west-coast breeze...

Strangely glad if that's true about him starting on the bench as I feared we might risk a 4-4-2 in order to accommodate him and that would have been a mistake IMO.

Not overly upset to see Duff coming in either, but it kinda suggests that Djebi-Zadi isn't shaping up as we might have hoped and highlights the need for another Central Defender.....we shall have to wait and see I guess.

Yeah, I predicted he'd start on the bench on the merged Rooney thread. Makes a lot of sense - the players made last week's formation work really well because of Barrowman's willingness to hold his position and the support Imrie and Cowie offered him. 1 up front isn't necessarily negative. Also might not be fair to throw Rooney in the day after his arrival with everyone waiting to see what he can do. Hope he gets at least 20 minutes in the 2nd half though, as long as the game's going to plan.

According to Sportsound, Rooney starts on the bench and Jamie Duff makes debut - I assume a straight swap for Granty, with the rest of the line up the same as last week.

edit: Scotty (added lineups)

Same feelings as most other posters - this is a bold bit of business which suggests the club is being more ambitious in building for the future. Really hope it pays off for us. It's also nice to be taken slightly by surprise (ie by the permanent deal & length of contract), as every potential piece of club business appears to have been prevaricated over in full public view in the past couple of years.

Will be interesting to see what Brew's tactics are for tomorrow - was he intending to stay with one up front against Hamilton, and will this change now? Gut feeling is Rooney may still start on the bench.

Tenner says he gets sent off on Saturday.

The night out in Aberdeen was a corker afterwards

Looking forward to the new term next monday and seeing a lot of Dons supporting staff and pupils!

Looking forward to the new term? Don't get carried away, Ross...

I think that you may not have appreciated my drift. To back the team ya have to back Brew. It is going to be very interesting to see how we fare and how the spirit develops this season without the distracting side show of over favoured Eastern European mercenaries.

But if Brew does not learn from his mistakes last season and continues to make howlers - then we can criticise fairly - IMHO it should be based on performances this season rather than historical perspectives.

Excellent point. There's nothing to be gained by continuing to criticsie or express doubts now a new season has begun. Yesterday was a promising start for Brew: his tactics were correct, the team looked motivated and worked tirelessly, it wasn't just long ball stuff and two of his signings (Imrie and Barrowman) were among the stand-out performers.

Got to say the tactics and motivation looked excellent yesterday. It took the team about 10 minutes to find their feet and Aberdeen had slightly more of possession (exaggerated to 20 minutes by Tangoman post-match). At first we seemd to lack a little width, but as soon as Imrie started getting the ball in wide positions, we dominated. Cowie provided most of the support for Barrowman, but occasionally he dropped deeper and Blackie pushed up. This flexibility, and the fact that we pressed Aberdeen really hard when we didn't have the ball, meant they couldn't really pin us down and couldn't develop any fluency in their own play.

If this is a formation we are going to use regularly, then Barrowman looks tailor-made to play on his own up front. He's a classic goal-hanger, hardly dropped back at all yesterday, but he was constantly looking for the ball, dragging the defenders around with him and received the ball well with his back to goal. Also seems to have reasonable pace, although it was difficult to judge how much skill he has beyond sticking the ball in the net.

As for the rest of the team: thought Imrie's workrate was superb and he showed a few flashes of great ball control at speed. Definitely looks most effective as a winger IMO - he looked genuinely dangerous on a few occasions; Cowie saw less of the ball than he did for much of last season, but he still worked really hard, closing down opponents and creating options for his team-mates; Duncan was superb in the second half in particular when we had to defend a bit more - read the game excellently, making important interceptions and tackles and not misplacing too many passes; Hastings for me deserved more than the 3 stars most supporters have given him. Now and again he let attackers in behind him a little too easily (as did Tokely on the other side, but like Duncan he made some vital interceptions in the second half and also showed an aggressive streak which I've never seen before in him and which seemed to wind up the Dons players; McGuire didn't do a great deal wrong but he really does lack the dominance in the air that we've missed since Dods left - as someone else pointed out, he's prone to let the ball bounce and then misjudge it, and another thing which irrritates me is his tendency to barge into the backs of players when he's challenging for a kick-out, thus giving away free kicks.

Yesterday wasn't a perfect performance - not enough fluency from midfield to front and still a tendnecy to let opponents in too easily at the back - but the fight from the players was superb, the tactics and formation were well thought-out and effective, and although there was some long-ball stuff, there were also some genuine attempts to play the ball on the ground and build patiently. Early days, but I'm more confident than I was 24 hours ago,

I don't think Black should be pushing forward either....again, we have others who are better at that than him, and I think he is better as an out and out central midfielder linking back to front, or as a defensive midfielder.

Do you not think Black mistimes a few too many tackles to play as our deepest midfielder? Maybe I'm doing him an injustice based on times I've seen him, but against quicker players he's tended to slide in late a bit too often - this has contributed to his poor disciplinary record IMO. I'd prefer to see Duncan mopping up behind him and passing short for Black to do the link-up work.

Possibly I've also got a blind spot where McBain is concerned, but I'd rather see Imrie and Cowie as the wide players with McAllister given his chance alongside Barrowman up front. Last season's defence should probably get one more chance - maybe McGuire will miraculously recover his "new Willie Miller" potential of ten years ago. So:

Wilson as an early sub with Cowie going central if that midfield isn't working.

Don't see why a 6 month limit should put the club off - if he is the next Stokes and gets us a few goals before January, that could go a long way to keeping us up. Would also mean we wouldn't be paying a % of his wages for a full year. 6 months might buy us time to bring Wood and McAllister on a bit.

I am of the belief we could definitely do with a centre half but... Jamie Duff was superb against Burnley when he came on for McGuire, he had Akinbiyi in his back pocket and Akinbiyi (incase you haven't seen him) is very quick and a giant of a player

I think if I was in charge a centre half would have been priority as soon as the transfer window opened but maybe Brew has seen enough in Duff to think he has what it takes.... just a thought

... also, clubs try to look for players at the end of the transfer window to avoid paying an unnecessary 2/3 weeks of wages, not saying that's what Brew is up to but it could explain why the Rooooooney transfer is being delayed to the last possible moment

That crossed my mind too. Brewster might well be holding his fire to see how the likes of McAllister and Duff perform if they're given chances in the early games. He was able to bring in players at the last minute last season when he had to, after all - although I'd prefer better signings than McGuire and Malkowski this time around. If that what he's doing, though, it's a risky strategy for the sake of a few quid.

A last minute McGuire header would be good. 1-0, just imagine the headline. Former Don comes back to haunt and make history.

odds must be a 1,000,000 to 1

Don't think my heart will stand it if it's still 0-0 after 89 minutes - I'll be waiting for Lovell to teleport in from Grangemouth, pull off his Falkirk strip to reveal an Aberdeen shirt and stick the ball under Mikey

Rory to start and score for me - the sooner he gets off the mark, thebetter his chances of making it this season, IMO. If not Rory, then Barrowman.

I think referees should be fairly paid. However, unless we are going to go down the route of salaried full time referees who are accountable for their decisions, and whose performances are closely monitored, then a raise from ?575 to ?1000 for a top level match is ludicrous.

I used to think full time referees might be a good thing - and it still may be depending on the actual ref - but after witnessing one of the most inept performances from a full time official that I have ever seen this past weekend at the Toronto FC V FC Dallas game I wonder.

I do have some sympathy for refs in that it usually takes them quite some time to progress from their local association where they referee amateur or welfare league games for ?20 or ?30 a pop to running the line at non-league games for a little more, to reffing these games and then through the grades required to ref in the 3rd, 2nd, 1st and then the Premier and beyond. It does take dedication, it does take discipline and many may not make it, but you could say the same thing about players or anyone else in a job where they have to reach a certain level before promotion to the next one. That sympathy disappears when you hear of demands like this and the potential to hold the national sport and the fans of that sport to ransom.

I've thought for some time that having a pool of full time referees in Scotland might be a good thing, and this dispute has convinced me even more. The duties of the job could surely be expanded to include training of up-and-coming referees, a personal skills development programme and some form of ambassadorial work for scottish football or promotion of health and fitness, for example in schools.

Although referees do have a difficult job and work hard to get where they are, I still feel the fees being quoted are too high for what is currently very much a part-time job, carried out mostly, it would appear, by men who have well-paid main jobs. Inevitably, refereeing must impinge on their main jobs to some extent. For example, a friend and fellow teacher works alongside an SFA Grade 1 referee. This guy apparently gets a fair amount of time off for various refereeing commitments and there is some degree of resentment among the staff who are asked to cover his classes. I imagine this resentment would increase if they felt he was being paid ?575 per game and still looking for an increase on top of his teacher's salary.

By making the job full time for, say, a pool of 15-20 referees, the SFA would prevent the possibility of the posts being filled by men who might be compromising both their main jobs and their refereeing skills; they would allow greater scope for training and development, thus (hopefully) improving the standard of refereeing in Scotland; and they would also be job creating and spreading the wealth a bit (my woolly socialism has always been a bit outraged that lawyers and teachers and ministers are being paid for their hobby when others could be given a full time job instead).

Will be there. Meeting my Dons-supporting brother pre- and post- match so will get the alternative view quickly. Already braced for barely-suppressed smugness, but maybe, just maybe, it'll be my turn this time...

Was hard to tell because we were defending for the most of the first half, second half we were playing direct football because we were trying to get the equaliser...

Black & Duncan were struggling to pass the ball 10yrds so didn't really leave any other option than hit the ball long

Ta. Same old, same old from Russell on the passing front, then? Not encouraging about Black, though. At least he didn't lamp anyone. Or did he?

I like it.

I got 2 change my name!

.

We still know who you are...

Had an excellent alcohol feuled weekend in Lancashire....

I think we have enough to avoid relegation but I'm not sure whether we'll improve on last season without a couple more signings.

First half was dire and we were lucky to only let in 2. First goal was entirly Rossco's fault, Burnley's left winger cut inside onto his right foot, skipped over Tokely's meagre attempt of a challenge and curled the ball past Ikey with an excellent finish.

2nd goal was a catalogue of errors, first of all Tokely lost out on a 50-50 with the left winger who must have weighed as much as Kate Moss.... Elliot then managed to cross the ball, which was intercepted by Hastings at the back post who should have then cleared the ball but instead tried to control it giving Blake from Burnley the chance to tackle and cut back the ball for Eagles' debutant goal. A complete mess, I don't think I've ever seen an ICT defence in such diseray.... embarrassing!!

Burnley had more chances than I'd like to count in the first half....

Second half and Brew must have ripped through the team because we started off with much more intent. McBain & Cowie switched flanks creating more oppertunities for Barrowman & Rooney. We were putting a lot of pressure on Burnley but no clear chances until Caldwell struggled to clear the ball, Barrowman used his strength to get infront of him and slotted the ball in the top right corner... great finish when other forwards might have gone for power. We were starting to have more luck playing direct with both Rooney & Barrowman giving the Burnley centre halves a good physical battle, the ball broke to Barrowman outside the box which he directed towards the top corner but it hit off the wrong side of the post. We had a couple of half chances after but nothing worth writing about

Negatives:

The first half

Tokely didn't look as though he could be @rsed

Hastings wasn't much better although he did improve in the second half

McBain is not a left winger, he looks far more comfortable in the centre of the park... he gets a nose bleed when he is relied on to create something

Black took far too long on the ball, Burnley sused that he was going to take an extra touch each time and he lost the ball on far too many occasions

Duncan's passing hasn't got any better

Positives:

Second half

I'm convinced Barrowman will score goals, he has excellent composure infront of goal but for a big lad he seems to go down a bit easy

Jamie Duff... the defence looked much more solid when he came on to replace McGuire, don't think he missed a tackle and had to mark Akinbiyi when he came on who has given a lot of Premiership defenders a horried time in the past

Rooney seems to be a decent player but was quiet for a lot of the game, he had a couple of nice touches and I think he has a few goals to contribute to the team this season

Munro, Cowie & Fraser gave decent performances

Thanks for so much info and analysis, Harry. One question:

Were we opting for the long ball again during the first half? ExiledICT's post suggested this and my heart sank when I read it. Given that nearly all our quality lies in midfield, I think we will go down if we start this p*sh again this season.

Aye, but i think Chris was the only person writing in that thing that had ever seen us play.

This is the Herald's take on our playing style:

"To his great credit, Brewster has cultivated a short-passing game which, when it works, can be aesthetically pleasing and very effective. His unflustered manner is central to such an approach, ensuring that he does not automatically revert to more direct tactics when the more intricate style isn't working."

F** me. The level of eedjitry among Scottish football pundits is something to behold. Did they also refer to Brewster's shrewd use of substitutes? Didn't sound like there was too much of the old "aesthetically pleasing short passing game" going on against Burnley.

1 out of 3 in the Sunday Herald have us going down, btw. Fair enough. No-one seems to think Killie are in much danger though. Is it unthinkable a Jim Jeffries team could be relegated?

No-one has any real idea how many goals he's worth. But as I've already posted on the "Brand New Strike Force" thread, if Brewster believes in him then he should get him in the team straight away and see how he does. His confidence should be high after pre-season and Aberdeen's defence is looking shonky.

Interesting post on P&B a few minutes ago suggesting Russell Anderson may be loaned to Hibs this season.

This would probably be a non-starter for two reasons: firstly, if it came to a contest between us and Hibs I suspect he would prefer a move to Edinburgh; secondly, we probably wouldn't be able or prepared to meet the percentage of his wages that Sunderland would want us to pay.

That said, it might still be worth making enquiries in case the Hibs move falls through.

NB should point out that Anderson scored an og in Sunderland's 2-1 defeat to Accies today...

I'd rather have Imrie and Barrowman than Niculae + Wood/Mcallister.

Apparently Imrie had a couple of good games towards the end of the season playing up front (neither of which I got to), but isn't he really more of a wide man, possibly a long-term replacement for Barry?

It might be heresy in the eyes of some supporters, but I'd be inclined to start with Barrowman and McAllister, based on pre-season performances. If McAllister is going to fulfil any potential he does have, then he needs games and support from the mangement and fans early. I suspect he's a confidence player, and there will arguably be less pressure on him if we give him his chance straight away than if we turn to him later on as a last resort if other combinations of players aren't delivering. If he's a disaster, then there will still be time to replace him with Wood or Imrie. Aberdeen probably isn't a bad game for him to start in - he'll be playing against his home town team and their central defence looks very ropey, especially if Diamond is still injured.

Ideally I'd still like to see us tie up Rooney or sign another attacker, but a defender is even more of a priority.