Dons Transfer Window Round-Up

For the third year in succession, there has been little movement of note to and from Aberdeen during the mid-season opening for player trade, and the diktat to boss Jimmy Calderwood has been 'to get players in, you must move players out'.

To this end, it was hoped that Kyle Macaulay, Jamie Winter, David Donald and Dyron Daal would be sent away from Pittodrie either on loan or a permanent deal, but of those only Macaulay found his services required.

With one out, there was room for one to come in and this had occurred in the weeks before the transfer window opened.

Craig Brewster agreed terms at the Dons in late December, officially signed on the 1st of January, made his debut on the 2nd, scored his first Dons goal on the 10th and got injured on the 13th.

So the official round-up of Aberdeen's January transfer activity boils down to this:

Craig Brewster
Unattached
Free

Kyle Macaulay
Peterhead
Undisclosed

Woohoo. However it may not be over quite yet. Calderwood will have his eye on any players not tied to a contract in the same manner as Gary Dempsey two years ago.

Although it didn't seem like a big signing at the time, Dempo was effectively brought in to replace Steve Tosh and he has gone on to make 56 appearances in the red shirt.

However he started life at the Dons on an amateur contract after being signed in March 2005, two months after the transfer window carefully slid shut.

Amongst the players in currently this situation are Tam McManus, the former Hibs, Dundee and Falkirk striker, and Charlie Miller and Robbie Winters, who are both in the process of terminating their contracts at Brann.

With the Dons squad looking threadbare, it would not be a surprise to see Jimmy pull a rabbit out of the hat in the coming months, particularly if any further injuries occur.

But for the moment Aberdeen will be relying on the same players that have brought the club to within a sniff of second place in the SPL in the first half of the season.