Scottish Cup semi-final, Hampden. Deus in adiutorium meum intende. Domine, ad adiuvandum me festina…… This is it, the day of reckoning. I can barely stand the waiting, although the game kicks off at 12:15 - which means there's not long to go now, under two hours. Is this kick-off time fair on those fans who will travel from Aberdeen and farther north, I wonder? It seems a bit arbitrary. Then again, holding a semi-final between two east coast teams in the south side of Glasgow seems fairly arbitrary, as well. (The sooner they build a gleaming new national stadium in Perth, the better.) The game is being shown live on BBC Scotland, the natural televisual home of Scottish football, so that’s nice, although it'll be something of a miracle if the ground is full. We'll see. Isaac Osbourne, Peter Pawlett and Yoann Folly are out, as they always seem to be, but the side ought to remain unchanged from the one that so heroically and majestically (and arousingly) crushed Dundee Utd last week. We remember your words to the disciples: Ask and you shall receive. Seek and you shall find. Knock and the door shall be opened. Trusting in your infinite goodness and trusting that you always keep your promise, we now ask this intention which we pray in the (lapsed) silence of our hearts…..please, please, please can you see to it that Aberdeen beat Hibs today and advance to the Scottish Cup final? Fank you, baby Jesus. Fank you, The Queen. Prediction: Jesus 2 Hibs 0
Just passing time as we wait for The Big Event….. In his recent letter to those Scottish Premier League clubs who seek to change the inherently unfair, anti-democratic voting structure of the league, Ralph Topping, chairman of the SPL, said: “I have spoken to one of our live broadcast partners who is concerned about current uncertainties with Rangers and who at the time of our conversation was anxious to learn more about recent talk of clubs resigning en masse from the SPL.” Never mind the fact that he took it upon himself to write such a letter - I'm sure I'll get to that another time - but has there really been talk of clubs resigning en masse from the SPL? I must have missed it, unfortunately, but I sincerely hope that it’s true, because this is exactly what the other clubs should be doing. Please God let it happen. In other (BBC) news: Aberdeen captain Russell Anderson: "I know how much everyone associated with the club wants the team to do well. It's been a long time since we have had any sort of success. Hopefully, we can give them a result that they will be delighted about." Hibernian manager Pat Fenlon: "It's important we don't get too focused on winning the Scottish Cup; it's about winning the semi-final. It's really important we focus on the job in hand. It's a massive game for us and there are a lot of prizes at stake." I'm sure there must be a case for banning football people from talking before - and possibly after - games. It's so very painfully rare that they ever say anything interesting. Why am I being troubled by such crushing cliches? What does it add to the world? And don't get me started on ex-players who have newspaper columns, never mind the gaggle of illiterates that Sky assembles in the studio. I need coffee. It'll calm me down.
Jesus. I thought the game was on BBC One Scotland. That's because on the BBC website it says "Coverage: Live on BBC One Scotland". So you can understand my reasoning. But it's not, it's on BBC Two Scotland. The teams are on the pitch, Craig Brown is making his way to the technical area, Hampden is far from full, and we're off....
Oh my God. 1-0 to Hibs. What on earth were the defenders doing? They just evaporated. Stunning. Edit: Hello, ST.
Here's hoping. They're showing the goal again. It's simply unbelievable. They just switched off - or failed to switch on - completely. A brutal start.
btw, some reading for half time, I think you'll appreciate it. http://www.theonion.com/articles/you-will-suffer-humiliation-when-the-sports-team-f,10804/
Come away to ****, Aberdeen, this is ****e. Get into these capital ****-suckers and stop ****ing around like a gang of hirpling hobo-spastics. This is abysmal. And try to string together more than three passes at a time, please. Sorry. It had better be good.
Right, half-time. That was horrifying. It’s like the team have never played together before; a gang of neds handed football strips and given a crash course in the basics – pass it to someone else in a football strip, lads, doesn’t matter what colour it is, we’re all here to play together – and then left entirely to their own witless devices. Consolation: it can surely only get better in the second-half. Edit: Dev - beauty. That actually made me laugh. I had always wondered where you got your signature from....
first time on the aberdeen board ...be gentle with me.................half time already ? I keep messing up this time difference thing.