Pre-season friendly - Saturday, 24th July 2010
Lamb Ground, Tamworth
Aberdeen took on Tamworth in markedly different conditions than they had faced Dunfermline during the week, with temperatures in the mid 20s and with a decent pitch to play football on.
The Dons were rocked by the news that Scotland squad goalkeeper Jamie Langfield dropped a pot of boiling water on his foot on the team coach, meaning he was mincing about on crutches before the game. Such an injury really fills you with confidence for the chances of him making a blunder-free start to the season as and when he returns.
In his absence Mark Howard started in goals, with Mark McGhee fielded a strongish-looking back four, with Andrew Considine continuing his rehabilitation from injury by starting at left back, captain Zander and Ifil in the middle and new signing Rory McArdle continuing at right back. Centre midfield was comprised of Yoann 'Axel' Folly, Fraser Fyvie with young Clark Robertson and Rickaldinho aiming to provide support and pace from the flanks. Up front new signing Josh Magennis was paired with the infuriating Darren Mackie.
I say infuriating because there was further evidence of the good and the bad of the Dazzler yesterday. In the second minute, he skipped away down the right and found Josh Magennis who showed a good degree of composure to find the bottom corner of the net after his first attempt was blocked - 1-0 Aberdeen with the first real attack of the match.
There was a feeling that this may be the first of many going by the ease with which Tamworth had been carved open, with their defence looking susceptible to pace and the long ball in ther early stages. However, Tamworth settled into the game and it was they that started to play some good one and two-touch stuff in the middle of the park as they looked to get back on terms. There was definitely an element of trying harder to compete with their hosts, with a couple of hard and slightly late challenges riling Fraser Fyvie in particular. Nevertheless, Tamworth were enthusiastic, fit and looked to play a fair degree of football.
Although Tamworth had the better of the early 20 minutes, nothing really tested the Dons rearguard. Considine looked slightly off the pace as is to be expected, and could maybe have done a better job of standing up to his man who did find some early joy against him. Zander however swept up everything that did get past either Consi or Ifil, who had a reasonably calm start to the match by his standards.
Zander continued to impress – organising his defense, winning everything in the air particularly from defensive set-pieces and generally looking composed and calm in everything he did. My only criticism of him – and it is more an observation of the system we played - is that we might be better-served with him in a marking role due to his strengths in those areas, but this may be unlikely given the absence of a Russell Anderson figure and the need to strengthen other areas first.
The ball was played pretty directly when we did try and build up a head of steam, with Josh Magennis the obvious and slightly overused option. Slightly frustrating watching Darren Mackie standing hands on hips instead of coming short, but to fair to him he did pick up a fair amount of second balls from the flick-ons.
Aberdeen did start to dictate the game a bit more from the half way stage of the game, with a flowing passing move involving 'Axel' Folly, Clark Robertson and FF ending with Magennis heading over from the Dazzlers cross.
Ricky Foster was replaced in the 31st minute by Ryan Jack although it looked more precautionary than anything. The game got a bit scrappy towards the end of the half, highlighting the ongoing lack of quality in midfield for the Dons. 'Axel' Folly did look composed on the ball when he did have it and rarely misplaced a pass, but he does not seem the combative type to get the ball in the first place.
It is also quite clear that Fraser Fyvie is not the man to win aerial challenges, nor should he be asked to. For all the talk of Hendrie (and Hartley) over the last week or so, neither is likely to fully support the obvious talents of Fraser Fyvie without the addition of a more physical presence into the engine room. A Roberto Bisconti figure would be ideal either instead of or hopefully alongside Hendrie. We won’t score many goals if we don’t have the ball.
Half time and the travelling Dons fans enjoyed a pint in the Tamworth social club within the ground which was a welcome and novel event. Indeed many may have wished they had had another pint as Tamworth scored shortly after the restart, a corner from the left being nodded in at the back post for 1-1.
The goal was at the other end of the pitch so it might be a little unfair to suggest the scorer was sub and trialist Jim Collins man. He was one of five half-time changes with Mitchel Megginson partnering him up front, and Bebo and Paton on the right and left flanks respectively. Ryan Jack moved to left back as Consi was taken off with Scott Bain replacing Mark Howard in goals.
The second half thereafter was a far more open affair, with a good degree of football being played by the Dons who started to find space more easily. Paton and MM were direct and combined well down the left, but for me the standout of the second half was a lean looking Chris Maguire, whose touch and delivery from the right were excellent and suggested a man playing with confidence and belief after a successful loan spell last season. These players combined to good effect when MM was put through on goal but he was just forced wide when rounding the goalkeeper and his shot was eventually blocked.
There were a good few chances for the Dons thereafter and most of them fell to Jim Collins. At first look, he is the absolute double of £100k failure Tommy Wright, but has a greater degree of ability. He is very much a target man and not the fastest, but looked reasonably adept with the ball at his feet. He had two shots blocked as he began to try to impress, and then contrived to head over from one yard with the goalkeeper well beaten. Despite that, a bit of Gazza-esque ball juggling on the edge of the box ended up with him volleying just over thereafter, so he certainly didn’t hide. While he looks a decent player, he also looks quite similar in style to Josh Magennis, so I think the club should allocate whatever funds available towards a more experienced poacher.
Despite a far better performance in the second half, the match finished all-square in front of a crowd of 734, of which about 400 were Dandies. Plenty to improve on admittedly but excellent performances from Zander and Bebo in particular. From what I’ve heard Williams and Hendrie will be good additions if secured, while I’d suggest Folly and Collins might not be the players to spend our stretched budget on. Let's hope McGhee can sort out the centre midfield issue soon though, as that will largely define our chances of success this season.
Scottorae
Aberdeen-Mad - written by the fans for the fans. Together we can make a difference.
