bdu98196

Seen a few clubs including the Dons linked with Irvine so RC may be looking at Rankin, also Aberdeen really lack any midfield steel so it may be them. If anything I think its least likely to be us. While he was DUtd's best player this season, we already have plenty cover in that area with Tansey, Draper, Vigurs, Wedderburn (although they may both go as out of contract) and if he is fit Foran as I don't think he has the legs for playing upfront anymore - unless we consider Tansey or Draper is leaving? For the money I'd expect Rankin to be on I'd like to see us try bring in 2 or 3 youngsters we can develop than 1 player towards the end of his career.

The above sums it up excellently, however the more time has passed and I've thought about it and seen how Raven has been out of the picture rightly or wrongly for the last few months, I do want to see more of Horner. I've been critical of him at times defensively especially when he made the 2 mistakes when we drew 2-2 with DUtd earlier in the season, but he does contribute well going forwards and gets into the box and dangerous areas. Devine while making mistakes has been overall steady, he is prone to the odd error but I do wonder if this is partly due to the changes around him, we have played Horner, Warren, Meekings, Termarco & Williams in various combinations this season and I'm not convinced that Fon Williams commands and organises the defence like Brill used to - last year Devine came in with a settled Raven, Warren, Meekings, Shinnie combo around him and I think its fair to say looked very comfortable at this level. I'm not sure of the solution going forwards as Meekings isn't the best at crossing and definitely performs much better at CB alongside Warren, but then where does Devine fit in - as above he is young and a player I think has shown enough that we should keep to try develop - perhaps having a settled configuration around him will help? Not having enough cover around the park is a concern though and if Raven is a high earner and his salary can be better used to bring in a couple of youngsters as cover or shore up the top end of the park then its a means to an end hopefully. We do have a lot of under performing players or those brought in who haven't stepped up but these were gambles and cover for injuries - with the budget next year reverting back to 'normal' levels then trimming is inevitable - its a shame as I think Raven can do a job for the next 2 years and play at this level but Horner/Meekings/Devine are at an age where they will only get better whereas sadly Raven will inevitably fade. I'll be disappointed to see him go but I do hope that Yogi appreciates what he has done at the club and gives him a game on Sat so the fans can show their thanks - its the least he deserves.

Brill Tokely Warren Munro G.Shinnie Wilson Draper C.Christie Robson A.Shinnie Wyness Subs - Brown, Meekings, R.Christie, Tansey, Watkins, Bingham, Dargo

As seen plenty this season we lacked cutting edge to break down a team who were happy to sit deep. After the early DUTD goal they played with 10 behind the ball using ofere as the target to knock balls down to runners like mcjay and Murray - it's and tactic we should know though as we did that last year ourselves. Under pressure their defence looked suspect but too often our final ball was poor either crosses from Josh who sadly isn't a right back or balls inside with players picking the wrong pass. Why is storey caught offside so often, every game - I know he plays the line but with his pace it shouldn't be so common as we see it 5 or 6 times a game against us but seldom see our defence move with a decision against the opposition. The substitution were odd, why mutumbo wasn't hooked I don't get as he contributed little and looks like a luxury player with his lack of tracking and ball winning. We kept raven on the bench when he could have been on to deliver crosses from the right as Josh was struggling and unless Roberts was injured he was our most creative player so why hook him for foran? We lacked fight and times and really need and few guys to follow the example from draper of how to fight for the ball.

If last night was his interview then probably not

Fon WIlliams Horner Warren Meekings Tremarco Draper Roberts Polly Tansey Mutumbo Storey I'd like to see Horner get a few games before the season ends to see if he can fill the RB position if Raven isn't staying as I believe we need Josh in the middle alongside Warren.

Billy Mckay is under contract at Wigan til summer 2017. Its likely that Wigan will want a fee or loan him out again.

Hibs may yet look for another manager as its looking highly likely they will 'Hibs' it in all competitions this year.

I see DUtd have released Dow & Spittal both players who have at times displayed skill and looked like they may be prospects to come good. Personally I'd like to see us try take a chance on them and I'm sure combined the salary would be less than a player like Rankin who I don't think we need.

Agreed, its a great achievement and brings positive hope to all teams and fans. After reading that the following has happened with titles elsewhere - Celtic 5 in a row, same as Juventus, Bayern Munich 4 in a row, Basel 7 in a row, PSG 4 in a row, its refreshing to see an alternative winner in any leagues these days - while in England there have been some different winners the league is dominated by 4 clubs (Man U, Man C, Chelsea, Arsenal - other than Blackburn nobody else has won a title there in almost 25 years) . In Scotland we are slated for having a duopoly however how is elsewhere in Europe different. Leicester city have shown that a team of players who work hard, are well organised and want to play for success and not just money can achieve - it should be a lesson to all in football and provide inspiration to all teams even those up here like Hearts and Aberdeen that it is possible to break a dominance and overcome the financial gap. The positive for Leicester has to be that they are now set for direct qualification into the Champions League group stages and a £150m plus windfall where they can potentially build on the success or at least retain the players. Its inevitable that some may get picked off by large offers from the clubs that buy success these days but there should be a more even playing field for Leicester to compete - it would be a shame to see them go the way of Blackburn, or even its possible to draw some similarity with ourselves where success and over-achievement provides a platform for players to become the targets for bigger clubs and end up with a big rebuild job and decimated squad.

Billy Mckay is still contracted at Wigan til 2017, so they may want to either loan him out again next year or sell him - in which case its unlikely we can afford either option unfortunately.

DUtd fans have all but given up hope, even for the Dundee derby many aren't going - even if DUtd win the derby the travelling support for Fri will be small, if they loose it might be non-existent. Combine Friday night KO time, people having work etc, the away fans having given up, the home club having patchy attendance at best, wouldn't be surprising to see this as a sub 2k crowd unfortunately.

Considering there has been talk on this thread and others of Doran re - signing then you seem to be the only user who had a problem with the missing hyphen, so to clarify it's expected that Doran will sign a new contract. Fisher - based on his limited contribution whether injured or not he has failed to prove himself at this level so far, you may disagree but does being injured for 6 months make an ideal candidate to offer a new deal when he hasn't shown he can play SPFL level? Mckay stats - must be good to have time to research that, doesn't change the statement that he has struggled to get a run going scoring goals sporadically - plus if he fails to score tomorrow the stats at DUtd will be worse than ICT or do you class his time at DUtd a success? Winnall on loan or otherwise if he had been ready and proved capable at the level required he would have had more game time, hence 2 appearances only. He is an example of a gamble which never worked for us but has elsewhere.

This the same under 20's that are bottom of the development league http://spfl.co.uk/development-league/

Goodwillie, a player with a reputation for getting in trouble when he was at DUtd and elsewhere, punted out of Aberdeen due to his lazy attitude, he is also barred from most of the pubs & clubs in town - all that while being one of the Dons highest paid players. Hasn't done anything of not on his loan period. His work ethic and attitude don't suggest he is the sort of player we should be signing, I'd rather use the money he'd want to try fine 2 young hungry strikers either down south or look at others being released. Any Considine

Players like Dani Lopez were a gamble, we got players injured during pre-season last year so some were stop gap signings with limited success - as much as I'm not a fan Vigurs has been good as has Mutumbo in flashes, however the bigger concern isn't the cheap, available, emergency signings but the likes of Wedderburn & Horner who were specific targets and are struggling to step up. Moving to DUtd IS a step up, we are a club with a smaller fan base and budget, just because they are below us in the league that doesn't make them unattractive much like Hibs and The Rangers. Last Sunday night I passed Yogi on the A9, presumably going back home to his family - I have no idea how many times a wk he makes that trip but I know that even occasional journeys frustrate me so can only imagine a few trips a week will drain your sanity. Although Yogi signed a longer contract that doesn't mean his family and personal life should be less important than his professional - if he got offered a good profile job closer to home, I think he'd take it, any one of us would. In some aspects I criticise Hughes, but its important to try look beyond just the obvious and try understand the bigger picture, yes mistakes are made but we have also had success. A few years ago we had a transition when some stalwarts were moved on and some fans thought the club would implode and die, then after a few years we had our most successful ever periods of 2 consecutive cup finals including winning one and entering European football. After making it onto the radar in the media and for other clubs we have had key players poached or leave for better prospects/finances so are yet again in transition - Yogi needs to change his negative attitude in the press and playing style but still deserves backing to see what he can do next year and where he can take us.

The statement from the club clarifies and adds the transparency we have been seeking but doesn't still align with the message from Yogi. There is another interesting article from the BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/36165670 - this suggests the public targets from Partick are now outwith our reach. If as suggestions around that Doran is about to resign, hopefully he can provide the missing creative spark, also given that Vigurs staying seems likely we are close to a starting 11. The comments about quality over quantity perhaps suggest that some of the 'emergency' signings due to our injury issues maybe on their way as they just haven't cut it at this level - Hughes, R.Williams, Fisher, Wedderburn are 4 that spring to mind - Roberts has disappeared so whether he is no longer in the plans or has agreed to go elsewhere its safe to assume he is gone and Mutumbo is really a player that's 50/50 - he has got better but will he make the grade longterm. The striker position is the huge concern, where to find that goalscorer? Is always a gamble - Storey started well but has faded a bit perhaps due to loss of confidence and also being out of position. We see Billy McKay scored goals for fun with us but at DUtd cant get a run going, we had Sam Winnall and he never looked anything like a player when here but is now top scorer in League 1 down south - somewhere a gamble has to be made because we cant afford a proven scorer unfortunately.

Disgusting its taken so long for justice to be partially served that those who should be held accountable are now at the wrong end of the age spectrum and given the British courts system, I would expect that many will die before being put in the dock.

People seem to forget that WE pay to attend the football which is meant to be entertainment. Each one of us pays towards the running of the club and therefore the players. If I go to the cinema, theatre or any other entertainment stream then it seems to be acceptable to comment on the quality, performance and maybe even the director or cast, same if I go for dinner I can criticise the food, service or even the management for staffing or service issues yet it seems to some that on here its not acceptable to comment on what we pay to see on the pitch or around the club. This is a fan forum therefore the correct platform to discuss and comment on issues, every opinion is valid whether agreed with or not by everyone - right now there are concerns about the lack of information, transparency and messages coming out of the club so we have a right to comment on these. If people think this can affect the club in a negative way, then I'd suggest that the club are the only ones to resolve this - surely its better to have a public platform with concerns which can be reviewed and addressed than people keep their discord private and just end up drifting away without the club having an understanding of reasons?

Given that Brill, Doran, Foran were all injured very early on and we had to bring in a keeper in Williams and cover in many areas across the park - R.Williams, Fisher, Hughes even the signing of Vigurs - are these players that if we never had the problems would have been here this season? I'm pretty sure the club increased the budget and dug into the 'rainy day; fund to ease our injury woes, therefore a reduction of budget for next season may not be anything more than going back to 'normal' levels.

Agreed, yet fans still complain and wonder why we don't have budget to offer new deals and improved packages to players? Strangest of all is that he got the full 90mins against Hibs in the cup without playing any time before or after and he was far from our worst performer that night.

2228 according to BBC wherever they got that figure from. Looking around at the vast empty areas all over, I'm shocked it was as high as that - unless we are counting security, officials and the playing squad to up the numbers.

TBH, I fully expect DUtd to part company with Mixu as he has done nothing at the club and taken them backwards from even the Jackie position, there is no doubt they are going down and in that case I would think they will come north looking for a new manager - but which one would get offered the job or want it more.

From the talk on Sportscene last night they brought up the Tansey to Aberdeen talk again, so perhaps this isn't going away and with the McInnes comments regarding more steel and fight in midfield required in the Dons team, we already know he is a Draper admirer so this may have growing foundations. After yesterdays game, I am starting to wonder if there is a rift between the 'senior' players and the manager starting to develop too. As I put on the matchday thread the behaviour of Foran, Raven & Warren is interesting and we know that those guys along with Draper, Meekings, Tansey and Esson are pretty close and more so pivotal to the club.

3rd goal I enjoyed, shame so many fans got impatient within the first few passes, but I thought it was great and eventually what Yogi is trying has come off, sadly its not often enough. If that was a bigger club Sportscene would have showed all the passes in the move, not the last 2 - but then we got less highlights time that Rangers, so what can we expect. Some points from the game Anyone notice that Richie has the last few games sat outside the dugout, rather than in it alongside Hughes, also yesterday he was joined by Raven? Also anyone else see how after Kilie scored and we were returning to the centre to kick off that Richie ran over (from his seat) to kick the ball back, granted it was only a few yards infield from the touchline but seems an odd thing to do considering the 4th official and Rice were both closer - was that to make a statement? There was also the incident where Yogi was clearly having a real go at Warren, considering he lost his man once and performed pretty solid throughout compared to Devine - it seems odd. Clearly Warren wasn't happy at this and the touchline exchange looked quite heated. Reading too much into this or is there a rift opening up at our club with Foran (others) and Hughes?