absent friend

The basement price that Aberdeen paid for Sone Aluka must mean that there must be a big compensation clause to the seller. This has never been made public and I feel quite rightly. Why therefore should ICT alert the footballing world of the intricacies of their players contracts?

None so blind etc...... We have lose the same amount of goals as the league leaders!! We have scored HALF the goals of the league leaders! Think I see the problem and it may not rest with the defense. We are ONE win away from Fourth place - maybe Third place in two wins!! Half full or half empty, after Saturdays performance I find it difficult to understand so much negativity from 'fans'!

CMIB ''More or less what I said on in an earlier reply on this thread. Roscoe was 'absent without leave' for the second goal. As a right back, he just must cover the far post in this sort of situation. He provided no challenge to Loovens whatsoever. Although he's been a great servant to ICT over the years, I fear he is becoming a liability these days.'' Agreed Watched the match on Santanta and at half-time the summing up was ''Celtic getting no change out of the right back, Strachan will have to change tactics in second half. Clubs would love to have a player like that in their side, a great servant to the club'' Now you may see him as a donkey, not fit for purpose or whatever BUT some on here see him through different eyes and agree with the above Santanta comments. We would be worse off without him!!" RANT OVER! I was on here when Duff was at fault for a goal and voiced my feelings that McGuire would not have allow this to happen without greater effort been made. To show that I am not biased I would now place on record that on the evidence of this weeks time on the park, considering the opposition, Duff, in my opinion, must be one of the most exciting young players coming through at this time. Young guy, played with an old head!

Will this not be reflective of their belief that he is ICT through and through and therefore will not be subject to a transfer deal, be older when the deal runs out, maybe by then younger players will be pushing for his position and therefore he will be just as easy to deal with in 2 years time. Black however is different, I bet the Board would like a 5 year deal to enhance the sizable transfer fee that will, at some time, come our way but a long term deal is just wishful thinking on my part. Fraser's agent must realise that we now have a good keeper as backup and this must dilute his negotiating strength and I feel he will sign just to keep himself in the SPL and in the shop window unless some English club has made an approach.

From the above remark I assume you mean all the teams except the old firm as only 10 days ago(ish) we were 4th in the league.

Well, I for one don't always understand Brews tactics especially his late subs BUT I am not seeing the training all week, don't know the players strengths and weaknesses like he does nor can I tell if they are carrying an injury. HOWEVER, this is getting like Celtic park, subs and players on the bench are due to personal conflict within the camp as can be seen from the above. If he is hooking for personal reasons it is high time that the teams below us did the same thing so that they could enjoy our, not too lofty, position but better than theirs! Back on track,..... yes we are doing better than I expected .....but then I believed all the posters, before the season kicked off, that told us we are the new Gretna and doomed to the lower leagues! Yes, I know, the season is not over yet so that saves some posting.

I am so surprised at the lack of criticism of the defense on Saturday. Our young defender makes a bo-bo, we lose a goal, we lose the game, little fuss on here. If Mcguire was the culprit, the board would be humming with calls for his head. It would appear some players can do no wrong and some players can do little right, according to the posters. To put an inexperienced defender up against Wilkie & Co was a wrong decision but that is easy to say in hindsight. However, as a seasoned pro, I feel sure Mcguire would have managed to grab Wilkie by the goolies, ankles, bellybutton or somewhere to provide some degree of resistance for his goal, although I do accept that he is a big guy and outjumping him would be difficult.

I saw a young 15 year old make history last night as the youngest player ever to play in England, or youngest since they stopped putting children up chimneys. So his manager must take the view that if they are good enough, why not. It is interesting to watch how Arsenal have not taken this view but have introduced their young jewel much slower into the first team. I suppose it depends on the physical make up of our lad as you do not want him injured/burnt out due to an early introduction to the first team but a taste as a late sub could allow CB to assess his potential at that level.

I do think that had Ian signed for a central belt team, he would be in the Scotland setup. As per the Dodds thinking, nothing very much that is good happens up here with our team, however that is a blessing in disguise as we may hold him for a wee while yet. He is, imo, destined for a bigger stage once his apprenticeship is over. Brew took him to task and we can see the difference on the park, he still goes in like a terrier BUT walks away without protest. It was this protest that made the referees take action in a lot of cases in the past . He may have walked away from a foul, but not without miscalling the ref, his next foul was followed by a card. Referees are only human and we would all do the same if some little s..t gave us a hard time and we had the opportunity to shut them up. Those days are gone. Ian is almost the end product now and it will not be long before the big boys come calling and he will get the recognition he deserves, however, as we need the cashflow, we have to be realistic and hope that we can fill his position from within or by good scouting/signing from without, so that we do not lose too much skill by his waygoing.

I am a Rossco fan and, as I have stated on here in the past, it is the other team members that should be covering for him if he is assisting the attack and this does not always happen unless Wilson is on the park. I did notice on Saturday however that he was even adding his presence to the left midfield at one point and, as my viewing position meant that I was able to look past him at CB on the line, he,CB, was not yelling at him to return to the right side and this did surprise me. Maybe he was man marking the stand side linesman! I accept that we have competition for his place but as of now he is the best we have and indeed as has been mentioned above, he is in the firing line of many postings looking for an easy target, if things go wrong.

Really? I can't see that myself but if you've seen the thread fair enough. I wouldn't have thought that Brewster would be the name the Aberdeen fans would want there although I am sure they hold him in high regard for his job at Yinited Have not seen it myself but it was the result of a phone call from an Ultra and I have now phoned a golfing chum and he confirmed it BUT it was only stupid talk from a stupid poster! Anyway this lighthearted posting of mine took a funny turn as I was returning from a late lunch just now. My next door hairdresser, a bit like Digger of old, likes to know a'thin, as they say here - came out of the reception area to tell me that ''Your boy is comin' doon here, JC is oot'' I would imagine the original source could also have been that nonsense posting - what is it they say? - repeat a thing often enough and it becomes a fact. In fact I notice on here that it also works - 'CB has lost the dressing room' 'Unrest in the dressing room' 'Unhappy players in the dressing room' - Guess what? CB has a problem in the dressing room or maybe he hasn't and it is one big windup.

Rig, I am told it is on the Red Ultras site

Now it is not difficult, trawling through this threads, to realise that our manager does not enjoy the support of a number of contributors and at this point I am being kind, using enjoy. Well, I have just been informed that a solution has been found for the contributors, above mentioned - the disillusioned Dons fans want to replace Jimmy with BREW! Yes, I know it is only a few Dons fans overreacting but I would like to think that it is only a few ICT fans as well. So maybe (fantasy land) we will have the pocket billiard playing Jimmy and they will have our Craig and this will keep some happy and then.....it will start all over again!

I am NOT pro Brewster but I find the logic of anti Brewster statements or to be more precise the PELE return brigade in place of Brewster, to be difficult to fathom. Take the following two statements from the same person Caley D ''Whenever I start to lose faith in McAllister I just go along and watch the reserves and watch as he performs brilliantly and I go back to having that little bit of hope/faith that he will come good in the first team squad.'' ''.........or what Paterson did when he went to Aberdeen and I'd take either of those guys back in a flash. '' It would appear from the above statement that - Rory is not cut out for SPL football - at this time - a point I would agree with. However I would also make the point that, having watched his management in action in Aberdeen, Paterson is also unable to hack it in the SPL as his record shows. I have never heard/seen any Aberdeen supporter calling for his return. I feel that the passing of time must dull the senses and memories of ICT's rush into the SPL with all the good feeling that went with it, provide a belief in Paterson's managerial ability that does not stand up to scrutiny. If he was in any way as good a manager as is inferred on here he would be still in the SPL, managing some top club.... and, as for playing attractive football and not worrying about the results - go and tell that to the Falkirk fans!

I cannot see how any defender moving up the park does not leave a 'hole' in the defence unless...oh yes I've remembered, the manager has trained the rest of the team to move round into the 'hole' to provide cover. No, no, not Rossco he should go upfield, provide support, make assists AND be back in place at the same time to cover the 'hole' he left, according to the bulk of the 'supporters' on here.

As long as the players and their agents realise we are living in a different financial time, for paying players, now. Just look at Maybury, ex Aberdeen, half a dozen caps and no club just because he did not realise that times have changed or maybe he believed his agent that the grass was greener. I would hope that our players are sensible enough to see that 'a bird in the hand...etc.....'

If I am reading your contribution correctly, you are excusing a half hearted performance by our players. It is not half hearted money that is being payed by adults with children to come and see the game, it is not half hearted drivers that travel for many miles to get into the park and it is half hearted attitudes that will drive people off the seats never to return!! If the players cannot play in a position allocated to them by their manager why do they put on the jersey? Playing a game we all love AND getting good money for it and then being half hearted!! If that is the case better rid - they are a bad influence on the young players. It is not asking a player to change 'trades' - he is still on the field of play carrying out his role and every week, in the English Premier League, we see players playing a role that is alien to them, without any half heartedness and they could have a price tag on them that would buy all the playing staff in ICT - we are too wee to have prima donnas playing for us who feel they are better at tactics than their manager!!

Can he not see... He needs men in where he has boys.. Munro will add strength and backbone to the defense and Esson will provide the maturity, not only in his goalkeeping but he will command the defense in front of him and will also build up the attack from his distribution of the ball. The confidence that can flow through a team if they are aware that the back is solid, allows the midfield to concentrate more on attack, instead of looking over their shoulder in case they are required to carry out defensive duties. If Brew does not see that, then I don't know what he is looking for. Perhaps Munro is not yet fit, perhaps Fraser has not had the mare of a game that warrants a move onto the subs bench but, I would contend, the end result of giving away goals does require addressing and quickly.

My memory is not that good either and it was late last night when I saw the highlights. The non rossco one! But he could also have been one of the culprits for the other one, as all the defenders appeared to be in a shambles when the ball came over. I take your point about the half way line in my rant but I was trying to emphasis his inability to be involved with the final marking if he was stuck out on the wing. Finally, I am a Gemini and we are allowed to exaggerate - so whats a few yards in a rant.

Now I only saw the Santanta highlights BUT Rossco - he passed the ball, from well within the opposition half, where he was obviously assisting the attack, to gain us the penalty,so this lambasted player did nothing of merit??? The winger skinned him on the half way line and left him for dead - now that's a new trick - I have never seen a winger beating a back for speed before - like only every game I have ever watched! Now the resultant cross passed across the rest of the defense, was missed kicked at right angles by Hamilton and then tapped in - BUT only Rossco, way out on the wing, was at fault! AYE RIGHT!! The defense was a shambles and at no time during this passage of play attacked the ball or moved to block the shot. Duff - load as much praise as you want onto the young lad but he was at fault 100% for the 2nd goal - he lost out on the duel for the ball and we payed the penalty - far too weak! Munro would have hoofed it out of the danger zone, one way or another.

What a wonderful problem!! This is one scenario we did not dream off even a few weeks ago! My solution? Start with the old heads and if there is any hint of bad timing in tackles, lack of understanding in play, or indeed just tiredness - whip the culprit off immediately and on comes the young Duff. Simple!

I don't think the Aluko case was a straight forward signing. The young lad was unhappy with his current position and had been very happy at Pittodrie, shared this by phone with Calderwood, who no doubt offered big Eck a way out. ?50,000 and then off back to Pittodrie BUT, I bet, big Eck will get the largest slice of any future move for the lad. He was a superb signing from what we have seen of him last season, just let's hope Rossco will stand on his toes, when we meet and we can then collectively state 'What a waste of ?50,000 - Thank God we did not sign him'!!

Frustrated you may be but you saw more shots on goal on Saturday than the total for the other 3 games. We either did something right in the front line or their defence was p... poor on the day - however, no other club, so far this year, Rangers, Celtic or Hibs have had as many shots on goal as ICT, against Falkirk! In fact we more than doubled Rangers total! Maybe the dressing room final direction, from Brew, is 'shoot on sight'

I feel that the ICT Cowies will always move on, we need the money to balance the books BUT I hope the club are able to maximise the return we get for them. We also seem to have overcome the loss of the talented players and are playing as a team and getting the results(Oh, I know it is early days yet!) We will always have a problem holding onto class, long term, due to our wage structure, geographic location and a degree of apathy re support. The lack of atmosphere must be seen by other clubs when they visit and be remarked on within the fooball fraternity, making a move here more of a challenge to any player who requires a degree of encouragement when on the park.(or indeed if reading this site offerings) We will attract the Barrowmans, Rooneys etc, hopefully moving on up and showcasing themselves in the SPL but we will always struggle to recruit, other than that. I would still have liked however, a signed defender from DUFC, at say 11.45pm last night!

I don't know what the problem is at home BUT at Pittodrie I was in the midst of the most superb atmosphere - yes, I know we were on a high due to the score - but the pi.. taking of the red ultras, by our wee support, was something to experience. I also experienced something similar at Easter Road, last year, when a relatively small following out sang and upstaged a larger Hibs, quieter, support. I think we should just bottle this type of away atmosphere and release it at ICT to wake up the slumbering brigade!