John Blutarsky

I'd say centre pairing of Conny & Gabby with Aaron M at RB. Jordan Mc moved to holding mid. Either that or Mark Kerr as a straight swap for Ozzy.

Prescient, your Ladyship.

Not a free agent, he was banking on a move to another English club that he didn't get. Can't find an article that references it.

So far as I remember Archie said that we would be back in for the unidentified England based striker who wanted to wait until the English transfer window closed (24 hours later) for a preferred move to an English based club that didn't materialise.

An established SPL side, good crowds and a league cup. I'll 'ave that. According to their fans their poor finish last season and start to this season was due in large part to a change of playing style to punting long balls to Thomson. I really do hope we pump them Saturday if only to hear Super Dan doing his referring to himself in the third person. That is comedy gold.

Half past two. (Coat's on!)

FWIW, a few Dons fans I spoke to after the game said that so far we are the only team that hasn't come and parked the bus. Whilst I don't like shipping four goals - it should be no surprise to anyone that watched St J in the old first that a McInnes side would be hard to score against and clinical in their finish - I'm pleased that we played our game. The possession stats suggest that our mid wasn't as bad as is being suggested, we did test Langfield and Higginbotham almost made him look a bit of donkey with that long shot from the re-start. Could've have been different going in at half time as well had Gabri got his shot on target early on. Don't know why he didn't take any of the free kicks, he has a powerful shot.

Aye, put out a weakened side and cede a few places and get less money. That wouldn't be muppetry in the least.

Strange that ATS has never represented Scotland at any level. Left sided players with pace and a touch of skill are rare enough. He also played a substantial number of first team games for Montrose and Thistle before reaching 21, something that Wotte advocates tirelessly (or tiresomely if you follow him on Twitter). Is it another case of the SFA walking the walk but only watching and selecting from the establishment.

Cheers. Sounds like a plan.

Just happen to be working up there beginning of next week. Is there anywhere in particular folks will be taking a pint pre & post match?

File under 'dull but worthy.' another good example of how far behind the new media the mainstream has fallen.

Didn't realise that Lydia, or Laura Fraser who plays her, is from Glasgow.

Squad rotation. Gives squad players a chance to show themselves/get game time and it means Archie has an even chance to field his preferred 11 for the league. I expect that if McMillan was fit SOD would also have been left out as would ATS if we had cover for that position. The risk of ET and pens must also have been a factor in resting players. The input of the physio and conditioning coach might also have played a part in identifying who to rest. These things weren't so much of an issue in the first div.

Sometimes it's also a basic lack of ability to read a game and reverting to spouting tired clichés along the lines of 'so and so is honking' or suggesting a loan spell in the gulags.

Samson, Boyd reportedly on c £150k a year, I expect that they are bankrolling the majority of Gardyne's wages, a player who IMO was instrumental in turning round K*ll*e's fortunes on Saturday.

most likely some of them did but so did many others that were redeveloped throughout the 80's and 90's. it was more to do with utopian planning. back to the match, just watched highlights of K*ll*e v ITC and whilst there defending looks shambolic at times they do look capable of bothering Fox. Gardyne, a player I wish we had signed, looks capable of creating chances.

Grady apart, don't see anyone in that team who would get into the current side. Even the King was at the end of his career.

Football is big in most cultures. A perception amongst minorities that Scottish football is followed almost exclusively by white males with an enthusiasm for alcohol could just about explain the relative lack of supporters from certain backgrounds in the grounds or at the boozers. That's not to say they don't support football. Regarding players, there is evidence that British clubs do not cast the net wide, recruiting in working class estates in the main. I read that, sons of professional players aside, Peter Crouch is the only British player in the top tier in England whose family were white collar workers. What all that means is that it must be very hard to integrate if you're in the minority.

The stats on BBC suggest that completely different is not needed. Possession was evenly split which is perhaps an indication that we didn't succeed at our favoured style of play. Obviously, their ability to punish defensive errors and our inferior shots on target separated the sides. There's also a suggestion that we didn't make the best out of the number of free kicks Aberdeen conceded which strengthens the argument that Forbes should've started. I wonder as well just how many free kicks would have been awarded by a ref who would have been more inclined to punish tackles from behind and with 'studs-up.' It wasn't just us that MacInnes did his homework on.

Johnston will set his side out to stifle our style of play, much like he did in the Ramsden's final and probably not a million miles away from how MacInnes had his (well) organised side on Saturday. Won't be easy.

Smoke bombs are self-explanatory really, flares are trousers with wide bottoms that were popular in the 1970's and, so I am told, remain popular in the north east. It's easy to imagine that appearing 40 years behind the times would indeed cause embarassment.

i did meet two cycling Jags pedalling out the '77 earlier in the summer (on separate occasions). i suppose it's a similar experience for OF supporters meeting each other at the Sheriff Court.

Surprised that Polis Scotland have stated their opposition right away. I would have thought they might want to screw more money out of the game by upping the numbers of rozzers at matches in the name of crowd control.

Saw the team training there a few times a couple of years back and I believe it's one of the facilities that they still use.