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[FT] Aberdeen 2 - 2 Rangers (Arfield 18; Jack 30)


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1 hour ago, D'Artagnan said:

Our inability to keep a clean sheet is proving to be something of an achilees heel for this team. Plenty of warnings throughout the season with some calamitous defending leading to the loss of unnecessary goals - game against Hamilton was the prime example. You have to wonder about the manager's wisdom/lack of experience chopping & changing our CH pairing mid season (Again)

When was the last time he didn't select Goldson and Helander?

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I forgot about the game last night as I was too busy working, so I woke up to something of a shock. Well, that's our breathing space gone now - we have to beat Keltic in our next meeting in the league. I'd happily trade the League Cup for that, though winning the latter will be a huge boost for either side.

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A couple of comments on last night. First half hour was outstanding. But it’s worrying that even when we are in cruise control we all know that we could lose it. They pull one back and somehow we know deep down our players aren’t going to cope well with this. They equalise and we all know deep down we aren’t winning the game anymore. Maybe I’m just a pessimist but there’s a mentality issue there and very poor game management despite having a lot of experienced heads in the side. They still had a huge amount of luck with that second goal, what are the chances the deflection would set him up for an open goal. 

 

Final comment, boy did we miss Barisic. 

Edited by DMAA
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Having slept on it, I woke up this morning quite concerned.  I know it's just one result, but there were some warning signs in that game.  Firstly, we rely too much on a small number of players.  Morelos, Kent and Jack need to play well against the tougher teams, or we just don't perform.  Last night we didn't have Jack or Morelos on form and although we still looked like winning in the first 30 minutes, as soon as it got tough, we didn't have our best players to pull us out of the rut.

 

Secondly, it worries me that we don't have an on the field leader who inspires the others around them to press the reset button after a set back.  So much for Davis, Goldson, Tav, Jack, etc.  None of them could be seen to be trying to take control.  They just looked at each other in bewilderment as the game started to unravel.  Gerrard looked utterly frustrated on the sidelines.  Had he been on the pitch, he knows he'd have been able to get a reaction from his team mates.

 

Finally, it really concerns me that we can be subject to these refereeing performances.  At the very least, Beaton is the most incompetent referee in the game.  If he's not, then it's something a lot more sinister.  The double standards were so obvious last night and I'm disgusted that he's now able to perform like that so blatantly and yet without consequence to him.  Our players lost that game last night, but Beaton appeared to do his best to create the right conditions for it.  He alllowed Aberdeen to drag the game into a hack-athon.  They committed foul after foul without any cards being shown.  In any other league in the world (even the old junior leagues) Cosgrove and Logan would have been sent off.

 

As I said at the beginning, I'm concerned.  We've got a mountain to climb now, despite it being only two points of a difference.  For me it also takes the shine off this weekend.  I'd rather have won that game last night than the cup at the weekend.  Now we have to wait for the league game against them which is one where all the pressure is now on us.

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Due to working commitments, I only read last nights comments on the German board and now watched the highlights.

 

Coming on here there seems to be some sort of over-reaction and character-assassination though.

 

First, given the opposition we face this month, we were and are bound to lose points. People should face that open minded. Obviously, given the recent form and how we started the game it didn`t exactly look on the cards last night. But its not like we haven`t seen it before, and worse, actually.

 

SG put Flanagan in as he expected a physical battle. Was it a bit hazardous? Well, Flanagan never let us down before, YET, his last competitive game was against Wrexham (with the Colts, 90 mins) on November 16th. His last competitive league game was on September 1st vs the Scum (90 mins) and in the EL on August 29th vs Legia.

 

That is partly down to Barisic`s good form, but also partly and more importantly down to SG not giving quite a few of our 2nd line players any game time.

 

IMHO, it is somewhat bizarre to come out with:

“We had experienced players making mistakes and we conceded a really poor goal for the second one – switching off from a throw-in and giving a throw-in away where we shouldn’t have given it away.

 

... downright criticising Flanagan for a miss-kick (which NEVER happens to anyone else). After not playing him for months, throw him in the cauldron that is the Sheep Pen? That is diametricallly opposed to saying he`d be strong enough to drop the captain if he has to, yet for weeks and despite Tav`s constant shortcomings in terms of defending - like last night at their second goal - he is an auto-pick. Likewise, it is not exactly glorious man-management, similarly to what he said after the Jones`incident.

 

Then there is the Aribo - Arfield thing which (for a change) yielded a good goal and worked for the first half. But when things do not work any longer, instead of providing a spark and creativity input with Stewart or the enthusiasm of Halliday, we get the obvious Ojo in 77 (!!!) mins and Katic in 90? Which yielded nothing at all. We did Plan A and subbed like the usual Plan A. And we do it week in and week out.

 

SG is 38 and it might be termed heresy to say anything against his tactics and team selections. But we are not here as beginners  in the game and have seen it all before. There are things that could be handled differently ... and I know that people will come by and say that so far SG has gained us points and wins in doing it his way. At time you do wish that he would be more "hazardous" and open to change though. If things don`t work, change them. And not 10 mins before the end.

Edited by der Berliner
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2 hours ago, der Berliner said:

Due to working commitments, I only read last nights comments on the German board and now watched the highlights.

 

Coming on here there seems to be some sort of over-reaction and character-assassination though.

 

First, given the opposition we face this month, we were and are bound to lose points. People should face that open minded. Obviously, given the recent form and how we started the game it didn`t exactly look on the cards last night. But its not like we haven`t seen it before, and worse, actually.

 

SG put Flanagan in as he expected a physical battle. Was it a bit hazardous? Well, Flanagan never let us down before, YET, his last competitive game was against Wrexham (with the Colts, 90 mins) on November 16th. His last competitive league game was on September 1st vs the Scum (90 mins) and in the EL on August 29th vs Legia.

 

That is partly down to Barisic`s good form, but also partly and more importantly down to SG not giving quite a few of our 2nd line players any game time.

 

IMHO, it is somewhat bizarre to come out with:

“We had experienced players making mistakes and we conceded a really poor goal for the second one – switching off from a throw-in and giving a throw-in away where we shouldn’t have given it away.

 

... downright criticising Flanagan for a miss-kick (which NEVER happens to anyone else). After not playing him for months, throw him in the cauldron that is the Sheep Pen? That is diametricallly opposed to saying he`d be strong enough to drop the captain if he has to, yet for weeks and despite Tav`s constant shortcomings in terms of defending - like last night at their second goal - he is an auto-pick. Likewise, it is not exactly glorious man-management, similarly to what he said after the Jones`incident.

 

Then there is the Aribo - Arfield thing which (for a change) yielded a good goal and worked for the first half. But when things do not work any longer, instead of providing a spark and creativity input with Stewart or the enthusiasm of Halliday, we get the obvious Ojo in 77 (!!!) mins and Katic in 90? Which yielded nothing at all. We did Plan A and subbed like the usual Plan A. And we do it week in and week out.

 

SG is 38 and it might be termed heresy to say anything against his tactics and team selections. But we are not here as beginners  in the game and have seen it all before. There are things that could be handled differently ... and I know that people will come by and say that so far SG has gained us points and wins in doing it his way. At time you do wish that he would be more "hazardous" and open to change though. If things don`t work, change them. And not 10 mins before the end.

Agree with most of that. SG has made mistakes in all the games we have not won: 1. Team selection & tactics against them. 2. Tactics against YB when we should have taken the point by shutting up shop not going for the winner at 90 minutes, not using subs to kill time etc. 3. Last night, can anyone explain the subs? Stewart scores 2 on Sunday but Ojo gets on before him & Defoe. Katic for Kent?

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17 minutes ago, BEARGER said:

Agree with most of that. SG has made mistakes in all the games we have not won: 1. Team selection & tactics against them. 2. Tactics against YB when we should have taken the point by shutting up shop not going for the winner at 90 minutes, not using subs to kill time etc. 3. Last night, can anyone explain the subs? Stewart scores 2 on Sunday but Ojo gets on before him & Defoe. Katic for Kent?

Totally agree with the subs point. SG doesn't make enough of them or make them early enough for my liking. Last nights were just completely baffling to me. Does Ojo have to play some part of every game? To put him on before Stewart was just complete madness. Surely Defoe should have been introduced at some point too. Kamara was also there that could have freshened up the midfield.

 

Its all very well us saying we have a stronger sqaud - we undoubtedly have - but it means nothing if we don't utilise the bench

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