Stewart Milne has been busy, apparently, dispensing with deadwood and cleansing the club, getting ready for a bright new future. Five people have been removed from the board and amongst them was One Willie Miller. Aberdeen chairman Stewart Milne: "The news has come as a surprise to Willie and he was obviously disappointed." To which Miller responded, with an eerily despondent echo: "I am very surprised and disappointed at the chairman's decision." Unity – you can’t buy it. In these dark times, it’s good to see everyone connected with Aberdeen singing from the same hymn sheet. The rueful Miller went on to say: "I leave with a heavy heart." In his defence, the departing legend has a long history of failing to distinguish between the words “heart” and “wallet”. In a day of gleeful face-to-face stabbings, “four other directors - Martin Gilbert, Hugh Little, Ken Matheson and Chris Gavin - are departing along with Miller,” the BBC notes, with “businessman George Yule [being] appointed to the new role of executive vice-chairman.” The BBC continues: …..Milne said Mr Yule was a welcome and necessary addition. Mr Yule is president of Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce. Mr Milne said: "I am extremely pleased that George, who has a wealth of contacts and experience in all sectors, has agreed to come on board at this absolutely crucial time in our history. He added: "Clubs have always faced challenges which vary in nature and gravity, none more so than what lies ahead over the next few years.” Those last words - the stuff about “this absolutely crucial time in our history” and about facing challenges “which vary in nature and gravity, none more so than what lies ahead over the next few years” - appear to have tipped some internetty Aberdeen football boards into a fever of dramatic speculation. Is Stewart Milne preparing the way to utterly shaft the fans and vote “yes” to a new club entering the SPL, they wonder? Was Miller ousted because he wrote a piece the previous day saying that Rangers should be killed off? (I haven’t seen this article, I’m merely repeating – in a steady, sober and cosily attractive manner – some of the things being said.) Is Milne simply being clever and starting to prepare for an era without any form of Rangers? (There has to be a real risk that Rangers fans won’t have any team to support anywhere at all, ever – so it would make sense to factor this into the equation, if needs be.) Were members of Aberdeen Asset Management involved in a dodgy EBT scheme and it’s best for them to jump ship now before having the focus turned on them? Is this why they’re selling up (or being booted out) and moving on? Or is this just a case of streamlining, as stated, and there’s nothing to see here, move on? Sheep on sheep action, tearing each other apart limb from flossy limb. It’s great, if you like really pointless stuff – and speculation is almost always pointless. Wee Stewarty has a brain, a fact often overlooked as we marvel at his distracting hairpiece, and he’ll need to use it very, very wisely in the days and weeks ahead – this much, at least, seems certain.
