Stephen Glass

[pieandbovrilman]

I don't agree with the get rid of Joe Lewis thing. I agree he's not had the best season, but there aren't many better keepers in the league. For me, he's our best keeper since Kjaer. Tougher to replace than some think IMHO.

I’d keep Lewis but I’d appoint someone else as captain after the summer.

[pieandbovrilman]

If you have a very decent standard of players then you can do as you please in Scotland. We at Aberdeen unfortunately don’t have the players who can carry out what Glass is wanting. The ones who are still under contract are a big concern because players like Considine and Lewis have run their race and need moved on.
We need a whole new fresh impetuous injection into our squad for next season. Players who can handle what demands are thrown at them. These type of players won’t all come cheap....Dave Cormack will seriously need to spend to accumulate or we will be in difficult waters too quickly next season.

We do need a clear out of players in the summer but I’m not entirely convinced that going on a big spending spree is going to be the answer.

How have St Johnstone managed to win a trophy this season and now be in with a very realistic chance of completing a double after knocking out Rangers on a fraction of our budget ?

I think the mentality around the club is the biggest problem and it will change when you have the right personnel in place but it’s not all about spending big to change overnight .

[RED_JOHN]

We do need a clear out of players in the summer but I’m not entirely convinced that going on a big spending spree is going to be the answer.

How have St Johnstone managed to win a trophy this season and now be in with a very realistic chance of completing a double after knocking out Rangers on a fraction of our budget ?

I think the mentality around the club is the biggest problem and it will change when you have the right personnel in place but it’s not all about spending big to change overnight .

Cormack stated we would be aiming to win every competition we enter in Scotland so if he is genuine then we will need to spend. My point being that even though St.Johnstone have won a cup they are doing absolutely nothing in the league. Good players demand good wages, we have no choice but to get a few if we want to progress as a club. The influence good players have on the younger players will reap rewards in the future.

[Donanddusted]

Cormack stated we would be aiming to win every competition we enter in Scotland so if he is genuine then we will need to spend. My point being that even though St.Johnstone have won a cup they are doing absolutely nothing in the league. Good players demand good wages, we have no choice but to get a few if we want to progress as a club. The influence good players have on the younger players will reap rewards in the future.

I have no idea how our chairman's personal finances have fared this last year or so but given the club's limited financial resources currently, I would be surprised if we go on a big spending spree in the summer.
I also don't think any other financial backer will wish to "dig deep".

It's going to be a case of finding bargains and frees who can add value to the squad, as far as I can tell.

We probably have to turn over more or less a first team of players and who in the current climate is going to fund that to the degree that brings substantial improvements in each position?

Glass is going to be expected to make a "silk purse out of a sow's ear."

I hope I am wrong but it would be a pleasant surprise.

[pieandbovrilman]

Cormack stated we would be aiming to win every competition we enter in Scotland so if he is genuine then we will need to spend. My point being that even though St.Johnstone have won a cup they are doing absolutely nothing in the league. Good players demand good wages, we have no choice but to get a few if we want to progress as a club. The influence good players have on the younger players will reap rewards in the future.

I agree we need to bring in a better standard of player than we have had in recent years if we are to be serious about aiming to win every competition.

I’m skeptical about splashing loads of cash , it wasn’t that long ago Cormack was pleading poverty and raising genuine concerns about the clubs financial position.

We need to get the balance right here , Scott Brown should be a good start . Hopefully the boy Gallagher from Motherwell and a decent striker and we try and get some of the younger players into the first team.

I agree with a previous post that things could get very messy quite quickly if Glass Is given a free reign of Cormack’s cheque book and things don’t work out.

I’m right behind Glass and I really hope he succeeds BUT he’s a novice boss that’s the bottom line. He is a well rated and respected coach but he’s an inexperienced manager at this level . We need to be very careful things don’t spectacularly back fire here .

The rest of this season is a free pass , I agree with that ...partially . That’s 2 draws and a defeat in his opening 3 games with a goal difference of -3 . I think he’ll have to do a bit better than that in the last 3 games of the season to inspire confidence heading into next season.

[Red Zone]

I don't think we will go mad but I expect to be pleasantly surprised by how much Cormack spends on the team. It has been clear for a while he wanted rid of McInnes so he was always going to plead poverty to avoid giving McInnes any more money to waste on defensive midfielders and centre backs. Let's remember we have raised £5M from selling players in the last 12 months plus are due £2M (?) from covid insurance receipts so that should cover any shortfall from lost income due to covid in the last year. I have no idea how much wages we will have available to spend once we stop spending loan fees and wages on Kamberi/Hornby/Hendry/Hoban/Taylor/Logan/Leigh/Devlin and maybe McGinn and Anderson but that must be a fair bit of budget to spend without any new spending from Cormack. When you add on the extra amount Cormack is willing to spend to make sure Glass has as much chance as possible to be successful (to justify Cormack's selection of Glass) I think we will comfortably have the third highest budget in Scotland. It then comes down to how good Glass is in identifying the right signings with the money he has to spend.

It is clear Glass will be more willing to play younger and therefore cheaper players so I think we will end up with a squad of several well paid and hopefully much higher calibre new experienced players plus a bunch of younger players that will play regularly like Ramsay and MacKenzie. When you combine that with a willingness to play a more attacking high press game I think there is cause for confidence in next season

[bucky1973]

You don't always have to spend on players it is possible to improve players by giving them excellent coaching
To play a high pressing attacking style of play will require fitness levels that are off the charts and every single player in the squad buying into the work ethic associated with playing that way
Can Glass get a squad motivated to work harder than any of them have ever worked before is the great unknown

[Jussi]

It's true , but we don't seem to have a development department.
eg. Mckenna still could only pass the ball with one foot when he left us.

Not just fitness , but composure , self belief , anticipation , movement etc..

[donsdaft]

Things are going to change.

Obviously, we are not in the market for the world's best striker and I can't see us signing Kevin de Bruyne anytime soon.

But we can coach players to be better.

As said above, two or three really committed experienced guys* and a talented group of youngsters could do wonders.

We'll need some patience but apart from the s'hitfest which follows any defeat, I think Dons fans in general will be happy watching the team improve.

* Scott Brown fills the bill




Edit: I foresee a few new loans (young English forwards ) but we desperately need to get away from the loan thing.

[Don_Corleone]

The mentality is instilled by the manager, but I think it also requires a good spread of players with a determined, winning attitude throughout the team. I don't think we have any players like that currently, apart from maybe Ferguson. The players don't have high enough standards - mediocrity has become acceptable. That's the biggest thing that needs to change.

A lot of the players we have aren't good enough AND don't have the right mentality. That's a dreadful combination and no amount of coaching is going to make a significant difference to that. Take someone like McLennan, or Kennedy - they are never going to be coached into players good enough to win us trophies. They have very limited ability and terrible attitude. There's no point keeping players like that - they've nothing to offer and they're never going to improve.