Posts Tagged: mark mcghee

Meat Pie — 1 Comment
16
Jan 10

New Manager Syndrome

Jimmy Calderwood didn’t get off to the best of starts as he tries to rekindle his managerial career – his Kilmarnock side went down 3-0 at home to Motherwell.

We often hear about the effect that a change of manager has on a side. For many trigger-happy chairmen, it’s the main reason why they sack their current gaffer. The theory is that a new manager supposedly propels a side to new heights of motivation and victory. So, did you ever wonder if there really is such a thing as “New Manager Syndrome”? How did the current crop of SPL managers fare in their first games in charge?

Well, wonder no more. Continue reading →

The Game — Comments Off
15
Sep 09

Mince

Falkirk 0-0 Aberdeen

Alrighty. First, the positives.

We kept another clean sheet, Jamie Langfield made a series of stunning saves to keep us in the game while at the same time staking his claim on a regular appearance in a Scotland jersey. For most of the time, we looked comfortable playing 4-4-2 and our defence looked solid enough, even with Diamond still out.

Our youngsters Pawlett, Paton, Fyvie and Maguire looked good when they came on, and Sone Aluko, a late replacement for Paton, showed some flashes of the sort of form and skill he’s capable of.

On the downside, 4-3-3 is clearly not going to work with the level of players we have now. In midfield, McDonald and Kerr had nightmare games leaving young Frazer Fyvie without much help when the ball was in that part of the field. Up front, Mackie and Miller just don’t seem to have that killer finishing touches that is needed at this level.

Last season I had a certain degree of confidence in Calderwood’s ability to sort it out (and he did), yes this season I’m just not getting the same vibe from Mark McGhee. Let me be clear: I was perfectly happy with Calderwood. I’ve gone on record as saying that after four years of Calderwood, we had possibly the best Aberdeen side we’ve had for some time.

The biggest loss over the summer, Severin, I felt had been adequately replaced with McDonald and Kerr. Aloku gave us pace up the wings that we’ve been lacking, while Charlie Mulgrew became a competent dead-ball specialist. With a bit of investment, I reckon the Dons would have finished 3rd or 4th and, more importantly, finally reached the promised land: Hampden, in March or May.

Since McGhee has taken over, Aberdeen have lost a lot of the momentum from seasons past. Watching the Dons last night was dreadful: players who couldn’t pass a ball more than a few yards (Foster, Kerr, even Ifil), a midfield that was overrun and by-passed with long balls when we where still playing 4-3-3 and a front pairing (Miller and Mackie) that couldn’t hit a cow’s arse with a banjo.

And yes, it’s probably down to the tactics. What else could it be: this is, after all, pretty much the same side that finished 4th last year. Anyone who has played the hugely popular Football Manager series of games knows that changing tactics comes with some degree of risks as your players struggle to adapt to their new positions and responsibilities.

Aberdeen’s game plan seems to involve taking the ball out of defence, hoofing it as far up the park as possible and hope that it reaches one of your outnumbered team mates up front. What ever happened to playing the ball calmly out of defence? Nine times out of ten, hoofing the ball up the park just results in loss of possession.

It’s early days yet. We’ve only played 4 games, in which we’ve lost just once (against Celtic), beat Hamilton and drew the other two. Our rivals for top 4 finishes are not exactly setting the heather alight either: Hearts are below us, Hibs lost to Hamilton at the weekend and we fully expect Motherwell and Dundee United to do their usual and implode soon enough.

But the worrying thing is that we’ve played three teams from the bottom half of the league: Motherwell, Hamilton and Falkirk. Next Saturday St Mirren come to town, but then the real challenges arrive: Rangers and Killie away, then Hearts and Dundee United at home, before finishing October at Hibs; in between we have a potential banana-skin fixture against Dundee in the Cup.

I’ve got this season down as one of transition, in that I expect some poor performances along the way. But I do expect McGhee to drop the 4-3-3 until we get rid of the deadwood and bring in players that – if he persists in playing 4-3-3 - can actually play that formation and that can put the ball into the net without too much bother.

Oh, and Willie Miller out.

Asides — Comments Off
14
Sep 09

Preview: Falkirk v Aberdeen

About a year ago – give or take a month – these two sides met for the first time in the League.

Back in October 2008, both Aberdeen and Falkirk had gotten off to a poor start, winning two games each and unable to string enough results together to get themselves out of the bottom half of the table. Indeed, going into this game on the 18th of Octber, the calls for Jimmy Calderwood’s head after a run of four defeats had already started, with Aberdeen rooted firmly at the bottom of the table. Falkirk where immediately above them on goal difference.  Like the Dons, Falkirk’s season did not start particularly well either, with four defeats in a row until wins over Hearts and Hamilton got their first points on the board.

It’s interesting then to see that these two sides should meet again under almost similar circumstances. Both are finding their new season as much of a struggle now as they did back then. Aberdeen have recorded only 1 win so far this season (against Hamilton) while Falkirk have yet to put a single point on the board.

Both sides are under new management, and both managers are under pressure to begin delivering results. With only 4 points from 3 games so far, Mark McGhee knows that the sort of form his side is showing needs to be turned around quickly to win back critical and increasingly vocal sections of the Aberdeen support.

The Aberdeen gaffer, who 25 years ago today scored twice against Icelandic outfit Akranes as Aberdeen opened their defence of the Cup Winners Cup, also knows that the fans expect more from the team, especially as this is pretty much the same side that finished fourth last season under Jimmy Calderwood.

Despite the fact that Falkirk are already being touted as potentially relegation candidates along with another struggling side, Hamilton Accies (who lost 3-0 to Aberdeen two weeks ago), for Eddie May and Falkirk, the signs of improvement are beginning to show themselves.

Defeat against Rangers is pretty much a given these days, and Hibs are always a tricky side, but in all those games, and especially in the 2-1 defeat at Dundee United in the last SPL game played before the World Cup qualifiers, the Bairns enjoyed some good spells; it’s obvious that there’s a lot of potential at Falkirk.

Aberdeen will want to put the disappointment of their last league game against Motherwell behind them – a game in which they had no shots on goal – and get their season back on track with a convincing win. Falkirk will be wanting to move away from the bottom spot in front of their home crowd and get their season off to a start.

Falkirk (from): Olejnik, Barr, Scobbie, Twaddle, McLean, Lima, McNamara, O’Brien, Arfield, Flynn, Finnbogason, Finnigan, MacDonald, Mitchell, Marceta,Lynch, Allison, Wagenaar.

Aberdeen (from): Langfield, Foster, Ifil, Considine, Mulgrew, Kerr, Crawford, McDonald, Pawlett, Duff, Fyvie, Aluko, Miller, Mackie, Maguire, Nelson, Young,Paton, Megginson, Hansson, Grassi.

Front Page — 2 Comments
24
Aug 09

Jim Leighton leaves Aberdeen

Mark McGhee has had a tough time since he took over at Aberdeen.

Unable to bring in the players he wants, getting off to a poor start in Europe as well as in the League, he’s certainly been thrown in at the deep end.

In his search for a squad with which he can survive his first season at Pittodrie, a raft of trail players came and went. A few survived – Jerel Ifil will be joined by Italian defender Davide Grassi who signed on Saturday, while goalkeeper Stuart Nelson joined from Norwich.

None of these signings, while needed, have been particularly impressive, but given McGhee’s limited budget it is probably the best that Aberdeen can achieve at the moment.

In the last few weeks, there have been hints emanating from the club that players will need to be sold before new players – expensive players – can be brought to Pittodrie. In particular, Zander Diamond has been linked with moves to Celtic and Charlton Athletic, while Lee Miller has been a target for Hearts and Middlesborough.

That none of these transfers eventually took place, with Celtic denying interest in Diamond and both Hearts and Middlesborough dropping their pursuit of Miller, it was perhaps at first sight not unsurprising that Aberdeen announced the departure of former player and former goalkeeping coach, Jim Leighton.

When I first heard the news, I was shocked, but then emotion gave way to reasoning. Leighton, a long time servant of the club was probably an expensive overhead, the wages saved in his departure going towards the funding of better players. Leighton, one of the heroes of Gothenburg, and a veteran of the great Ferguson years fell on his sword for the good of the club.

But today it’s emerged that Leighton did not leave, but was sacked by the man with whom he was part of that great period in the club’s history.

It’s a hard call to have to have made. Leighton, like Willie Miller and Mark McGhee, is a legend at the club. 382 appearances in two spells for Aberdeen, covering a period from 1978 to 2000, his playing career coming to an end in the Scottish Cup final of 2000, when an injury after 3 minutes ended his participation.

Leighton followed Ferguson south to Manchester United in ‘88, but his spell there was a largely unhappy and forgettable one, resulting in a rift between the two men that Leighton to this day will not reconcile. He had spells at Dundee and Hibernian, before returning to Aberdeen in ‘97 to resume his playing career.

A regular in the Scotland line-up and a member of the Scotland Football Hall of Fame, Leighton was easily the best keeper Aberdeen ever had (and that includes fan favourite, Theo Snelders).

Following his testimonial against Middlesborough in 2000, Leighton took up his position as goalkeeping coach. He was instrumental in bringing in French keeper Betrand Bossu, who joined the Dons after being released from Walsall. While the French shot-stopper had a good game against Rangers in one of the few appearances he’s made in the first team, that McGhee doesn’t rate Betrand Bossu is obvious when he brough in Stuart Nelson from Norwich as cover for Jamie Langfield.

Possibly this error of judgement on Leighton’s part, coupled with the possibility that Nelson was brought in over Leighton’s head may have lead to this decision. As a new manager looking to stamp his authority on the club, McGhee had decided he can do better with another goalkeeping coach/scout.

Somewhat unhappily, there are unsubstantiated rumours circulating the Aberdeen fans forums that Willie Miller refused to sack Leighton, resulting in a stand-off between Miller and McGhee. That McGhee won is clear, but, if true, does this signal the start of differences between the board and the management, and off-field distractions that affect on-field performances?

Time will tell, but whatever happened, it’s a mark of the man who took this brave decision, one that’s sure to fire up emotion from the older section of the Aberdeen support.

But at the end of the day, Aberdeen cannot afford to get sentimental about this.  The club needs to move forward, and ‘legend’ status does not, and should never, guarantee anyone a job for life.

Are you reading this Willie Miller?

In The News — Comments Off
12
Jun 09

McGhee to Aberdeen. At last.

The worst kept secret in the SPL was finally revealed this morning as Mark McGhee was unveiled today as Aberdeen’s 21st manager, bringing to an end a frantic week of negotiations, frustrating radio silence and much anguish from the Aberdeen support desperate to see their prodigal son return.

That McGhee was going to get the job was never in any doubt once it became obvious that Celtic where chasing Tony Mowbray, although that particular deal seems to be stuck at the same stage that Aberdeen’s was albeit for a slightly larger amount – £2m as opposed to £200k!

With rumours of a potentially large investment in the club doing the rounds, it remains to be seen just how much financial pulling power McGhee has to attract players to the club.

While he’s inherited a good squad from Calderwood, a central defender is needed to help out Zander Diamond in an Aberdeen back line that’s given up many soft goals this season. Mark Reynolds was a player that McGhee refused to sell to Rangers when they came calling, but perhaps he can convince the Scotland U21 to move to the north-east. Midfielder Stephen Hughes is available on a free transfer and would be a good replacement for Scott Severin should he leave (reports link him to Norwich and Peterborough United, the League 1 side currently managed by Darren Ferguson, son of Alex Ferguson), while two players of particular interest should also be John Sutton and Dave Clarkson, strikers who between them scored 26 goals last season and who would be a welcome addition to the sometimes flat Aberdeen attack of last season.

Motherwell’s search for a replacement started before McGhee had even signed for the Dons. Fan favourites, if not serious contenders for the post include Chris McCart, a former player and previously Celtic youth-coach, and Luc Nijholt, another former player who in the past has stated he’d love to coach Motherwell. Across the motorway there’s Billy Reid at Hamilton who might be persuaded to move to their rivals if he feels he cant do much more with the Accies, while Jim Gannon is available following his dismissal from Stockport County. He’s potentially a controversial appointment given his outspoken nature, but he has experience and is known for playing flowing attacking football, so he may fit in well at Fir Park. Lastly, there’s Jimmy Calderwood of course but whether he would consider Motherwell after leaving Aberdeen is doubtful. Former Hibs boss Mixu Paateleinen is also available.

One other job that yet needs to be filled is the one at Parkhead. Celtic continue in their hunt for Tony Mowbray’s signature, but there still appears to be a sticking point around the compensation that needs to be paid to West Brom should Mowbray move north. The seasons runners-up will be keen to sort out the appointment and get the transfer mill started, beginning with Simon Cox, the highly rated Swindon Town striker whose 29 goals had him top scorer in the Football League last season. Celtic are joined in the chase for the 22 year-old player by West Brom, Leeds and Leicester City.

Falkirk meanwhile will spend the weekend looking through a list of candidates; former Bairn and Hearts legend Stephen Pressley, as well as a coaching team of Neil McCann, Jackie McNamara and Lee Bullen,  recommended by former boss Hughes, are said to be amongst the favourites to succeed Hughes, who left Falkirk to become the new manager at Easter Road.

And for the Friday trivia: should Mowbray move to Celtic, there will currently be only three teams in the SPL not managed by a former player. Can you name them?