A day of the week

*Dusts off Blog*

Well.... It seems the Dons have been so magical this season I haven't even felt the urge to update.

Yes, another season of complete mediocrity punctured by relegation flirts and the odd mauling or 5 by Celtic (shudder).

Still, at least we have a manager in now who may have a clue about football. Lets hope he gets the appropriate funds to build a more consistent squad and add some experience.

Season stats:

9th Position

Played 38

Home
Won 6
Drawn 2
Lost 11
For 22
Against 21

Away
Won 5
Drawn 3
Lost 11
For 17
Against 38

Goal Difference -20

Points 38

SIMPLY STUNNING!

Oh goody! I've got a hangover and the footy is a 12.30pm kick off. Oh goody, it's those unwashed minks Celtic yet again. Oh Goody, my phone/buzzer are going off and it's only 10am!

Yes, my cousin Stuart arrived early. I was still drunk, had very little sleep and was in no way excited for this upcoming match. Note to self, I really must quit drinking. But not today, oh no! The only thing that was going to prepare me for the forthcoming match, was another beer. And so off to the golf club we toddle. A quick refresher later and trying to avoid as much of the unwashed hordes as possible and we sidle into the 'theatre of dreams' (yes, perhaps i'm still drunk now) and settle down for the glorious day of football ahead.

One positive aspect was no need for a jacket today. It was sunny AND warm. Yes, I know, this is a rarity for the 'deen so we all took the opportunity to bask in the glorious sunshine.

And to be the fair, the first half of the match was almost as glorious. Maguire opened the scoring, heading in from a Mulgrew free kick. He should have scored another 2 in the first half, missing a glorious chance early on with a lob when clean through on Boruc.

It all went horribly, horribly wrong just on the stroke of half time (as always seems to be the case against the tatties). A woeful Considine own goal and the teams go in on level terms.

Surely the second half would see us come out fighting? Don't be so silly, Celtic are all over us, score another two terrible goals (with Considine the culprit for both) and it's all over. That being said, the referee did us no favours throughout the game awarding every 50-50 decision to Celtic. Not to mention the fact he didn't show any cards for Celtic players after a series of bad fouls, but produced one for youngster Pawlett after his first foul. Reaction here.

And to compound matters, Dundee United scored a last minute winner to effectively end our chances of Europe next season. Disaster. We now have to win at Tanadice this coming Thursday, I certainly can't see it....

Celtic. Parkhead. The usual story. 2-0. Dross.

I'm not really going to say much more. Wasn't at the game. Didn't listen to it. Don't really give a shit. 'Highlights' are here for anyone that cares. I certainly don't.

Next up, Celtic. Again. At home. Lets hope we fare better. We certainly couldn't be much worse.

Well. What can I say? That was a turn up for the books! 4 goals (yes, I did just say that) against the Tims. When was the last time that happened? Frank McDougal. He scored all 4 that day... we spread them out a little yesterday though (it would be rude not to).

I was confident all week that we'd get some sort of result in this game. I thought perhaps a sneaky 1-0 or 2-1 win given the decent run of form we'd been on of late. We almost got a full turnout of season tickets too.... almost. 5 of the ticket owners present.... one day it'll happen, perhaps the Rankgers game next Saturday.

So, we head down towards the stadium, past the hordes of weird looking people with no teeth, weird shaped faces and an even weirder dress sense. A motley crew and no mistake. Once the stench had left my nostrils I grabbed myself a chicken pie and a wee bovril to ward off the cold and took my seat... ready for a routine Dons win... or something along those lines.

The first 10 minutes did not look good for us. Celtic were all over us. Oh dear. Slowly but surely we worked ourselves into the game however. Aluko in particular was menacing down the left and whipping in some wonderful crosses (more on that aspect of the game later).

We finally took the lead around the half hour mark with a wonderful goal from Gary McDonald. The ball broke to Duff on the left wing, he turned well and put a great ball towards the back post, McDonald pulled off his marker and planted a great header beyond Brown into the top corner. No chance. YES!

Oh wait... but it's Celtic. I forgot. Straight up the park. Goal for Brown. Dreadful marking. Jesus wept... we've seen this before all too often. Time to roll up the sleeves and get on with it.

But wait... hark, what's this? 2-1 the Dons! A wonderful ball from Kerr, the Celtic defence are static and in steps an unmarked Duff to volley past a helpless Brown in the Celtic goal. First Dons goal for the local boy, and what a cracker to open his account. Half time, all is well.

Into the second half, and what do we do? You guessed it. Sit deep and defend our lead. BIG mistake, especially against Celtic. They throw everthing at us, and what happens? You guessed it. Equaliser, Scott McDonald (the swine). Here we go, a late Celtic winner, just like at Parkhead earlier in the year.

We seem to be made of sterner stuff right now however. We seem to roll our sleeves up and go for it. And it pays off, big style. A free kick is whipped in by Mulgrew and Diamond throws himself headfirst at it and the ball arrows into the top corner. Then the ref blows for a foul on Mackie. Then it's disallowed. Then it's a penalty to us. No wait, it's a goal! Come on Dons, hold on for a well deserved 3 points.

A minute later. Free kick (again). Whipped in by Mulgrew (again). Diamond at the back post (again). GOAL! (again) 4-2 Aberdeen. Cue mad celebrations. I think we ended up about 2 rows down when that 4th goal went in. Absolutely amazing. Only one team was winning from that point on.

On watching the post match analysis when I got home one thing struck me. Gordon Strachan comes across as a bitter, bitter man. He can never hold his hands up and admit his team were well beaten on the day. All rubbish goals apparently, the pitch was useless too apparently. His glib remarks that used to be funny and refreshing when he was managing in England do little now to hide the fact he's struggling under the pressure of managing a big team. In fact they are no longer even funny, he just comes across as an arse.

All in all a wonderful day. Re-live it here in all it's glory. Roll on next Saturday and Rangers at Pittodrie. It's about time we pulled off an old firm double. Lets hope the boys (and the fans) are up for it. Until then....

Edinburgh. Saturday morning. No hangover, I feel great (Sunday morning was not so good however and I was, and still am, in the bad books). Anyway, I digress, that is a story for another time. The task in hand was the impending match against Celtic.

Today I am fortunate enough to have complimentary tickets for the game (courtesy of Jeff who works for Nike, cheers Jeff). The bad news they are in the Celtic end and i'm far from enamoured at the prospect of sitting amongst the hordes of one half of the 'great unwashed'.

Still, it's going to be Jimmy's last game in charge right? Regardless, we hop on a train at Waverly and make our way to the city of doom. It's a peculiar place Glasgow. Totally different to Edinburgh, and not in a good way I find. Once in Glasgow I always feel a little on edge, there is always something a bit nasty just bubbling under the surface.

We reach our fabled destination and head for a bite to eat in Waxy 'O Connors, which I must say was excellent. A quick beer later and some Merseyside action, we hop on a bus out to the tattie bowl. Now sure, some football clubs have a fraction of undesirables in their midst, but the Glasgow teams are littered with some of the most strange looking people on the planet.

The further towards Parkhead we venture, the more shanty town the scenery becomes. The boarded up bars, unwelcoming, fearful of having their non-existant windows panned in. The shell suits, the lack of dental hygiene, the sunken white faces, the weird close-together eyes, that irritating accent.

Not to mention the fact the bus was like a sauna. We arrive at our destination eventually and weave through the mass of sellic fans and into the Jock Stein stand. Fair play to Nike, we have nice padded seats in the very back row of the lower deck. I make the observation that Celtic Park is a lot nicer than the last time I was here (it was still all standing then), although it's fair to say it's still a shitehole.

And the atmosphere, let me tell you... there was.... nothing. Dead. Dull. The famous Celtic fans. Outsung the entire match by the small band of Dons fans who were a credit to us. With a plethora of flags, smoke and songs, we lit the otherwise dour stadium up. I felt so envious to have to sit and keep my mouth shut throughout the entire game.

The game itself? What can I say, well and truly robbed. As usual. The same old story. The first half was a non-event really, the Dons were passing the ball around well and the goal lost was a total shambles defensively (Foster and Kerr, oh dear). And it's not as if we weren't creating chances, Lee Miller in particular was giving the Celtic defence a torrid time.

The second half kicked off, Seve lost to injury and Mulgrew on in his place. Again, some excellent passing and movement from the Dons, highlighted by our equalising goal, which was an absolute cracker. Mulgrew finished it at the back post, volleying it through Boruc legs from a Lee Miller flick on. To say I was delighted would be an understatement, a totally different kind of celebration though, sitting there smiling to myself and listening to the unwashed volley out all sorts of abuse.

Our second goal was excellent too. Lee Miller (yet again) wins a free kick 30 yards out and up steps Mulgrew again to pop it in via the post. He races over to the Dons fans in celebration and all is good in the world (for a few glorious minutes anyway).

What is it about Celtic? We always lose late goals, yet whenever we take the lead we feel it's time to sit back and defend on our 6 yard line instead of continuing to play the same attractive 1 touch stuff. Two late goals (as usual) and the obligatory Mackie sitter missed and it's game over. Sadly, Mulgrew should have simply booted the ball out for the eventual Celtic winner, but decided to try and dribble round everyone. Final Score, Celtic 3 - 2 Aberdeen. Gutted.

I was furious when that 3rd goal went in, my phone almost getting thrown off the wall in fury on the way out of the stadium, the usual grey Glasgow rain lashing down to worsen my mood. Football, why do I bother.......

On reflection, I thought we were desperately unlucky and felt sorry for the players (and even Jimmy). I thought Mair, Duff and Miller were excellent. Kerr also had his best game in a Dons shirt so far. The sad fact however, is if we don't start picking up results soon then there is only one outcome. But surely, if we play like that against Hibs on Saturday, we'll hammer them.

Won't we.....?