DMAA

Had a wee read and there is a reasonable chance that we will be seeded and thus avoid the likes of Salzburg in the playoff. There is also an outside chance that we will only enter at the playoff stage, we just need the Champions League winners of this season to also win their domestic league (come on the Bavarians).

I must be bored so I decided check how much of a difference finishing first makes to who you can draw in the Champions league qualifying rounds by looking at this seasons rounds. You can get an idea from this below. Basically a bad draw and we could easily go out (Salzburg will be there again next season), but a good draw and it’s easy and only two games. League path is clearly harder and one additional tie that could go wrong. Champions Path Best Case 3rd qualifying round - Qarabag/Dynamo Brest Play-off - Molde/Omonia Worst Case 3rd qualifying round - Dinamo Zagreb Play-off - Red Bull Salzburg League Path Best Case 2nd qualifying round - Viktoria Plzeň 3rd qualifying round - Rapid Wien Play-off - Gent Worst Case 2nd qualifying round - PAOK/Besiktas 3rd qualifying round - Benfica Play-off - Dynamo Kiev

Just a repeat of what we’ve known for a long time, if we qualify for my the UCL we will finally overtake them financially. There is a very long way to go to achieve this. People forget it is still possible for Celtic to qualify for it next season and us not to. Sure, it doesn’t seem likely but you’re at the mercy of the draw and they will have a new manager and new team so who knows. Should be noted that we will get an easier draw as Champions though. (sorry @Rousseau)

Yeh, not a good time to play Ross County in that they are on a high at the moment.

If Scott Wright is coming at all, it would be good to get him this month.

He doesn’t deserve more starts because he started against St Mirren?

Well, those dropped points have been coming. Since Dundee United on December 13th we haven’t been playing well but have still managed to get full points every time until now (loss to St Mirren was in the cup of course). We have done very well to take so many points from those games but it is a bit worrying that we have gone 9 domestic games without recovering our form. Incidentally, we lost our form when we lost Jack. We were 4-0 up against Aberdeen when he went off on the 56th minute and that game ended 4-0 and we entered a period where I would say we have had less control. The loss of Roofe and Arfield more recently made dropped points far more likely too, Roofe in particular a player who we have relied on when the other forwards weren’t producing. As for the game itself, some credit has to go to Motherwell. Their new manager has them set up well and they did well to stop us building up attacks. But ultimately we only have ourselves to blame for not being able to beat possibly the worst team in the league at the moment. Balogun was caught out at the goal, bizarrely leaving his man in the 6 yard box to close down a man he didn’t have to close down, and even then he didn’t have the urgency he should have to rush back to cover his man, he seemed to continue watching the ball and didn’t get back in time to stop an easy finish that should never have been allowed to happen. Others should have done better too of course, I’m not discounting that. But I hope Helander is brought back in now because that has been coming from Balogun, there has been a slip up in a good number of games from him that he could have been punished for, despite otherwise good performances. Davis was excellent. His reading of the game/interceptions and passing were big positives. I’m a very big Aribo fan but he’s just struggling to make a impact consistently throughout the game. I still think he’s an important player and he did create a couple of wee chances, but we expect much more. A player who misses Jack I think. As for the front 3, Hagi hadn’t made enough of an impact but he was the most likely to make something happen and was hooked. I don’t know why Gerrard favours Kent and Morelos so much over him. And so much over Itten and Defoe. I just don’t get it. It was no surprise to see Itten do well when he came on yet again, and Defoe to come very close to scoring a very good goal in a short cameo appearance. These guys have earned more minutes on the pitch but they just don’t get them. Morelos didn’t have a bad game. He did have too many misplaced passes for my liking but if anything he came into it in the second half and was making more positive passes. Kent had one of his poorer games, running the ball out of play 3 times I think and his second touch a tackle far too often. Luckily Jack and Roofe are nearing returns but what does Itten need to do to earn an opportunity when the players playing ahead of him just aren’t doing it.

There’s always a case for the player who made or scored the goal but I’ve voted Davis too. Did so much well throughout the game and played with an urgency that many others didn’t.

@Rousseau, time to get your 55 tattoo done?

Scott Wright starts and the dandies are not happy. Hopefully a few bears post some good luck messages under the tweet to really rile them up, “Good luck Scott Wright WATP GSTQ”

The first time was a specific incident though that was well documented. The second time he was fine when he returned and started the game ahead of Kamara and others. He was injured during the game. It could just as easily have been a European game during the week.

He plays a handful of international games a year. It makes little to no difference at all.

I think you have to bear in mind that your stats are going to be a lot lower playing for a team who have only scored a pitiful 28 goals in 21 games, compared to our 59 goals. A couple of encouraging stats in there, a very high number of through passes, and a very high shot on target % despite having a very low number of shots.

Their fans certainly want him away now. They don’t want to see him play for them again, and any move now only benefits them financially. So for that reason part of me is happy to wait until the summer too.

Very unlikely much will happen in this window anyway.

Linked with Gustavo Hamer of Coventry.

He is a number 9 and he is best when he plays as a number 9. The false 9 or number 10 role just doesn’t suit his abilities. His standout ability is goalscoring.

I’ve given it to Morelos. Two goals which actually weren’t clear cut chances, they were the kind of finishes he was coming up with in 2019 and we just didn’t see in 2020. His general play was very good too, massive improvement. Long may it continue. That’s 3 in 3 games so hopefully he is turning a corner.

It’s a compilation of a lot of different stats, intended to put a number on overall impact on the team’s fortunes as I understand it. Not my favourite stat, it seems to favour attacking players disproportionately. Full breakdown is in the above tweet.

A thread on Scott Wright and stats. Basically, his impact at Aberdeen has increased drastically season by season. He also makes the point that his stats are dragged down by playing for Aberdeen. I’d need to see more of him play myself but it seems the only real worry here is his injury record which i believe is pretty bad.

Intrigued by this one. I need to see more of him. I know he was credited with bringing Aberdeen back into it when he came on against Celtic. Low risk and when we have the likes of Jones and Stewart surely on the way out soon it does seem a good option.

@26th of foot I heard the Bhoy in Corduroy was on STV last night saying Celtic hadn’t done anything wrong and football should be stopped. Quietly terrified of 55?

At half time against them, if I was asked which was more likely I would have said them winning that game 1 nil and us dropping points at Pittodrie. The opposite has happened and as a result we are 12 points clear of where they could be if they win their games in hand instead of 7. What a position to be in.

To be fair Lambert is normally ok. I remember he went totally against the Celtic narrative on demoting Rangers.