What Exactly Changes If McGhee Goes?
Let's be honest, a result of the magnitude of Saturday's has been on the cards for the last 15 years. There is, clearly, an endemic problem within the walls at AB24 and has been for some time.
Managers have come and gone.
Players have come and gone.
The result?
No trophies in fifteen years.
No appearance at a cup final in ten.
A club that has finished in the bottom half of the table more often than the top.
The Calderwood era, no matter which way you look at it, merely papered over the cracks with expensive short-term purchases.
The McGhee era, to date, has blown these cracks into the open once more. Not many will argue that, on the face of it, this seasons squad is superior, player for player, to that which donned the famous red jersey last season. However, McGhee has left himself badly exposed by some strange dealings in the transfer market. The complete imbalance of the squad is plain to see and other teams have begun to exploit our complete lack of experience and ability in the full-back positions. Whilst McGhee can be absolved for blame when it comes to the horrendous number of injuries the squad has suffered to date, he is to blame for failing to have one experienced full-back on the books.
McGhee is to blame for some of the current failings at Pittodrie. There is no question of that.
But where do we go from here? Some of the more experienced players need to have a long, hard look at themselves and their role in all of this. Zander Diamond, once the jewel in the Aberdeen crown, has, regressed to a level befitting a Divison 2 or 3 player for the majority of this season. Indeed, when one is able to peer through their fingers at the lowlights from Saturday afternoon, he is culpable for at least his shirt number in goals conceded. Diamond and the likes of Mackie, Young and Langfield have all been involved in some of our club's worst on-field performances. Perhaps it is, finally time for these individuals to make way?
What about those higher up the food chain? Since Saturday night the silence from Pittodrie's head honchos has been deafening. Whilst there has been good work, undoubtedly, carried out at board level to steady the ship of debt and reinvigorate the youth setup there is little evidence of any real ambition, leadership or drive beyond the occasional press release surrounding the proposed new stadium at Loirston Loch.
A cynic may suggest that the board are now solely concerned with ensuring that the relevant boxes are crossed whenever HBOS pop their heads around the door than crosses being finished on the football pitch. Yes, Aberdeen Football Club is a business. Its prime business, however, is football. Its prime customers are the supporters. It feels that has been forgotten in the boardroom at Pittodrie.
So do Milne, et al take the easy option and sack McGhee within the week?
Probably. Indeed, McGhee painted the picture of a dead man walking in his press conference this morning.
Is it the right thing to do?
I'm not 100% convinced either way at the moment. The list of potential candidates is frighteningly bad. Do I even trust the current board to make the right appointment?
No.
Will we be back here in 18 months time?
Probably.
No matter what, as McGhee said today - we, the fans, are the most important piece of this club.
We must continue to support the jersey whether or not we agree with those wearing them or those managing them.
Tchocky
We Must Support The Manager
I am 110% behind McGhee as long as he is manager of Aberdeen.
I'm far from happy at the way our season has gone so far as are all the Red Army but to put all the blame solely on to McGhee is well off the mark. He has assembled a decent squad with funds available to him and all his signings have done reasonably well, bar Bombscare Ifil.
Remember the squad he inherited with the likes of The Ghost (Gary McDonald) and Mark Kerr? Yes, McGhee has made mistakes and I am not saying he is perfect, but folks - let's get real. Who do we get in to do a better job on the funds he has had to work with? Bring back Jimmy Calderwood? John Collins? Derek Adams? I think not!
The result at the weekend is a total embarrassment to Aberdeen Football club and we should never have to endure a 9-0 defeat at the hands of either of the Old Firm in Glasgow. I am still absolutely raging about it and the way I felt after the game was, that's it, I'm not going back!
But what do we do? Boycott the Inverness Caley Thistle game? Protest outside the stadium, sack McGhee and give him his £200K compensation or whatever it is, then have to pay more money to the club of whoever we bring in because there are no managers currently unemployed who would do a better job?
Let's not all point the finger at McGhee, and instead let's get along to Pittodrie on Tuesday night and support the manager and our club when they need it most.
Dandys1903
Why Single McGhee Out?
Of course he shares the blame for what happened on Saturday and he has had the guts to say so along with his captain who badly let us down, but why is Mark McGhee the only one being targeted since the Celtic game?
Why don't the board resign?
Why doesn't Diamond do the right thing & go? And the rest of the under achievers who are hanging on for dear life.
What exactly is Willie Millers's job there? What is a "director of football"? Do we need one at AFC?
One thing we need to be clear on here is that we can never expect to beat the Old Firm regularly ever again, as long as the club will only pay the wages of players who regularly lose to clubs like Hamilton, Motherwell, Killie, St Mirren... need I go on? Inverness Caley Thistle are fast becoming a club we now fear. These are all clubs that we would normally "look down on" in terms of where we should be in the league.
We could have lost 1-0 on Saturday, or 2-1, we would still have come away with no points, what reaction then?
I think it is actually pretty disgusting the way the press are treating him at the minute, they have completely taken him out of context when he said it was still 3 points regardless.
Okay, we are embarrassed by the score, but don't forget European "giants" regularly go to Parkehead and fail in a big way by their own standards. And it was a freak score.
You could argue that he has picked the squad for this year, but not entirely, some of them were there before him and he signed who he could with the money that he was given.
It's true that a lot of other players could have been signed, but they simply don't want to come and play for Aberdeen for whatever reason - mostly it will be wages.
It's time we had a reality check here. Stop demanding the manager's head every time we have a bad result, as we will have a good few more with this club.
The players have to step up and suck it up, they have to come and apologise to the fans. The players are the ones who are also getting payed to do a job, they don't do their job on the day, they don't do what is asked of them, they lose a bit of form on the day, manager's fault? No.
The players let him down, he has been warning them for a long time that they are not doing what is asked of them, what they are capable of doing, and this was the kick in the behind they all sorely needed!
For the club to even think about sacking the manager at this point in time would lose me as a lifelong supporter forever, when they kept another manager not so long ago after missing a game because he was drunk!
Allymac
Aberdeen-Mad - written by the fans for the fans. Together we can make a difference.
