Diamond Scot

Just remember that next time everybody is adament that im a Rangers fan lol

Personally I think its a combination of a few things. In no particular order. 1) The OF have alot more of the ball in the opposition half so its natural that they will get more pens and conceede less pens. 2) There is a natural subconscious to be swayed when 50,000 fans shout for something compared to say 7,000. 3) Refs err on the side of caution when it comes to the OF. Ie make an error against St Mirren and its forgotten about quickly. Make an error against the OF and its a huge issue in the media etc. This will naturally make refs lean towards the OF in a 50/50 call. 4) The non OF teams are somewhat submissive / complient to the OF and the league. Nobody rattles the cage or challenges authority in any type of thought out way. This will again naturally result in refs / authorities taking the path of least resistence. 5) A number of refs will support or have leanings towards the OF. Although ive never really fully bought into this as it follows that if you have 3 Celtic fans and 3 Rangers fans being refs that the Rangers ones would give decisions against Celtic as much as for Rangers so in theory this would balance out. My big gripe with Scottish football is the other clubs refusing to stand up to the OF / SPFL / SFA. I mentioned practical things they could do in the cup final allocation thread. In relation to Sunday they could write to compliance officer to get Cantwell a 2 game suspension. They could also ask for written reasons why the penalty was given. They could then post the responce on their own website. Of all clubs did this everytime then there would be much more "evidence" to challenge the dodgy decisions that we are seeing. The clubs need much more of a joined up approach. Im sure the OF and west coast media would call it petty etc but its far beyond time that clubs started ignoring that and represented their own fans.

The block isnt relevent imo. As you said the tug (foul) starts before the block so the block cant be used as a reason why its not a penalty. Its not a penalty because the tug is not at the extreme end of the scale along with Goldson not going to get near the ball. These are the criteria setout by the refs and reiterated only last week but simply havent been followed. Aberdeen should be asking for clarity on these points. Focusing on the block takes away from the real points imo.

Ferguson was a good player, as were Brown and McGreggor however Ferguson had the potential to be great. And you become great by challenging yourself, to playing with and against better players week in week out and at the top end of European competition. Do you think Robertson becomes the player he is now by staying at Dundee Utd or McGinn at Hibs? Ferguson left Rangers too late, immedietly regretted it and couldnt wait to get back up the road to have his home comforts. Be a big fish in a small pond. All the best players play in the best leagues. Its just the way it is and has always been.

He did and by his own words stated that he regretted it within a week. He had options to stay south with clubs like Newcastle being talked about but he just wanted to come back "home".

I have zero time for Robinson but under what law can / should he be arrested? Its a slippery slope imo. Watch him like a hawk and then the minute he steps out of line, arrest him with zero tolerance but he has to do something illegal 1st. There are provisions already in the law where parties can apply to have an order in place to prohibit somebody attending a function / approaching a person. As far as im aware these werent sought or in place.

There is scope in the rules to give Cantwell a 2 game ban. Aberdeen should be showing some teeth and writing to the compliance officer to enforce it.

What number would you say was regular for a team likely to get relegated? Bearing in mind the golden boot ususually only gets around 22 for the top sides.

I dont think theres a massive gap between the players but I still think talent wise Ferguson was a good bit better. Especially when he broke through. Im pretty sure he won Blackburns player of the year when he was there and that was him with his heart not in it. Ultimately he is another wasted talent so I suppose if you are factoring in mentality McGinn is better. I know its a bold claim about Hickey, he wont get anywhere near the assists but thats not really his game. This comment has to be taken in context but Robertson hasnt actually won a huge amount of trophys. He has basically won every big trophy once. Is it stretching the imagination to say that Hickey might win a couple of prem / top 4 league titles and a champions league with a few domestic cups?

Brown was better than McGreggor. I think you would struggle to find a Celtic fan who would disagree. McGreggor is a very tidy player but Brown raised the game of others around him and was a very good player himself. Similar to Roy Keane but obviously not at the same level. Ferguson was a brilliant midfielder who was only held back by his inability to move away from Glasgow. If Ferguson had real ambition he could have easily have played for a top 6 club. I think Hickey will win more than Robertson and also be regarded as a better player when they both retire. If you look at Hickeys physique he is very similar to Bale at the same age. I think he will add a few yards of pace to his game and as I say it wouldnt surprise me if he signed for a Man City / Bayern Munich standard.

I havent seen the story but just from reading the above I find it hard ti believe that English police have the power to lift / move on somebody for who they are rather than what they are doing. Regardless of how other people might feel.

I dont think our squad is much better now than in 2008 however the main difference is the formation and style that Clarke has implemented. In 2008 we setup to be hard to beat, hit on the counter and score from set pieces. That helped us against the likes of Italy and France but was a major crutch when playing lower seeded teams. Purely as players both Ferguson and Brown were light years ahead of McGregor and dare I say it probably McGinn however Clarke has found a role for McGinn that plays to his strengths and others cover for his weaknesses. If McGinn was still playing in the 1st bank of 2 (ie where McGreggor and Gilmour play then he would have very mixed fortunes with Scotland as per alot of his initial caps. Credit to Clarke and McGinn though, he is now a huge player for us and now plays in a similar position for Villa. I think Hickey will go onto become our best modern era defender. Defensively he is solid, comfortable with both feet. He just needs to work on attacking side of game and a top top club will snap him up.

Never a penalty kick for 2 main reasons if the rules are actually being applied. 1) There is a very minimal pull, the type you see at most corners 2) And this is the big one, when the pull is only slight the ref is meant to consider whether the player was likely to have got to the ball. They froze the screen for the ref at the point Goldson fell over and he was nowhere near where the ball was going. Robson baging on about Lammers block is stupid and actually detracts from the argument he should be having. And why Cantwell isnt booked for a clear dive that the ref must have thought was a clear dive is beyond me.

Famous last words but I fancy Airdrie to beat St Johnstone at home. We will be able to knock the ball about on our pitch. Get your money on the diamonds.

He is better than all of them apart from Hickey. Its not even close.

I know Christie is sometimes listed as a forward in the squad releases but in reality he is an attacking midfielder the same as McGinn, Armstrong and Ferguson. With a 23 man squad I really cant see Clarke taking more than 3 strikers given we only ever play with one up top. Dykes, Adams and one other. At the moment id bet that being Shankland but he is by no means certain. A good few of the names you mention are attacking mids / wingers. I think they are more likely to be competing for those roles that the sole striker ones.

In terms of purely watching the game ive found south stand upper to be really good. For many years home games used to be kilt, pub etc but last few since ive had kids its been drive and straight to the game. Its not better or worse, just different although I defo dont add to the atmosphere anymore

This is pretty much my experience although the main "singing section" always seems to be right at the corner of west and north stand. I wonder if thats where some supporters clubs get there tickets. I was North stand for years but last couple of campaigns ive moved to south. Actually like sitting and taking abit more of a relaxed attitude now but theres not singing etc

Aberdeen have been royaly shafted here and most fair minded football fans would agree. The "ends" thing is probably small fry however its an obvious indicator of the bigger problem. My question is why dont the other clubs do anything about it? Every season its the same thing, with just a different team. No other club seems to care until its them again even though its probably happened to them within the last 5 years. Are fans raising this at AGMs etc. Why dont fans groups put pressure on their own clubs by threatening to boycot shirt sales or certain matches etc? As others have said, if a large number of non OF clubs got together and said that unless certain guarentees were put in place then they would withdraw from the competition then something would get done. Not least because the sponsor of the tournament wouldnt stand for it, especially if the OF drew each other in an earlier round and the only other teams left were low end Championship for example. The league cup is the perfect competition to take a stand. No european place, disruption to how the format works (ie if some teams pulled out at group stage and others pulled out having already got a bye)

Not this season as far as im aware. I dont think he has played 1 minute this season and im pretty sure previous years early games were McLaughlin in goal. McCrorie only got a look in at the end of last season.

Id rather have him in the squad than McCrorie. He isnt getting regular 1st team action but has played 3 times and at least made the move to attempt to get some football. McCrorie shouldnt be rewarded for lack of will / ambition to play 1st team football.

We look organised defensively however unable to move the ball into midfield or keep it when not in our own half.

Theres no question that those playing this break arent of the same quality but even in the games with Robertson etc we look poor when playing a 4. Specifically remember away in Isreal and some others. We seem disjointed but also the midfield appear incapable of providing the cover. Every single one of our centre backs look significantly better as a back 3.

Gks: Gunn, whoever is Hearts GK, Kelly Defenders: Robertson, Tierney, Hickey, Patterson, Hendry, Porteous, Hanley, Cooper, McKenna Mids: McGreggor, Gilmour, McLean, McTomminay, McGinn, Armstrong, Christie, Ferguson Forwards: Adams, Dykes, Shankland Think this will be the squad. Cant see the need to take more than 3 strikers when we only play 1 up top. Either Jack or McLean will go. We need a holding midfielder on the plane.

Has the waterfront idea been abandoned?