Obviously the first thoughts are about yesterday's win over Gillingham. I thought we might have problems when I saw the team selection and formation as I don't regard JET as a central striker and playing Sam on the right wing. However, I was proved wrong in the first half as we comfortably dictated the flow of the game against a very ineffective Gillingham. The second half reverted to the standard pattern for almost all city matches this season as our possession dried up and we became bogged down by a determined effort from the Gills. Why oh why can we not play two halves of a match in the same manner? We remain inconsistent beyond belief but thankfully a cracker from Gillett won it for us. Gillet had a consistent game and mopped up in front of the back four; deservedly MOM. Other mentions to Frank Fielding, Brendan Moloney back in from the cold, and a welcome return from a bad injury by Stephen Pearson. We have missed him and as he regains match fitness, he should provide us with greater consistency in an area of the team where it is essential to defending and attacking. Even if we only get Liam Kelly back in by the end of March, both he and Pearson may become our saviours simply because of their experience and ability to operate defensively and offensively. I know this one win will not decide our fate but it has given us all some hope of a reprieve. And now to my view on another current thread about the situation that Derek McInnes finds himself in at Aberdeen and the recurring comments on this board about the standard of the SPL. Firstly I must state that I was and still am an admirer of DMc and I consider his record of success at both St Johnstone and now Aberdeen shows what a good manager he is. Considering what preceded him and what has happened since he left, most of us have come to realise that there is a malaise throughout our club which perhaps even SAF or Wenger could not have waved a magic wand to correct. But now to the reason I am writing this little bit in response to the comments like "Mickey Mouse League". While living in Scotland for two years at the end of the 1990's I watched quite a few SPL matches and I think some of the following points are not known or understood this far south. Yes the standard is not as good as the English Premier League! But it is on a par with The Championship. However the main difference is that in England with twenty four teams in the league and 92 available for cup ties, clubs in the Championship rarely play each other more than twice in a season. Thus teams and players do not necessarily know their opponents that well, whereas those in the SPL play each other three times in the League and are invariably drawn against other SPL teams in the two cups. So clubs can play each other up to four and five times a season. Therefore players are pretty good at knowing and being able to negate each other. This is where the tactical ability of the manager assumes a much greater importance than in England and DMc is proving yet again at Aberdeen that he has what it takes. I forecast that he will be back in England sooner rather than later and be succesful at a much higher level than Bristol City. The other burning question on my mind is whether I should go to Shrewsbury this coming Saturday, a town where I lived for nearly 10 years and spent many hours at the Gay Meadow when City were not playing or too far away for me to go. I'm undecided at the moment. Should I go or not?
That depends on your 'record' so far this season. If Cotts is w6 d6 and l6 what is yours Cidered? Then we can decide.
