Exhilaration lands on hard plastic Rugby Park

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All of that exhilarating football from Tuesday lands on the hard plastic surface of Rugby Park on Sunday, as Celtic return to the ground which last year cost Brendan Rodgers his 100% trophy record in Scotland, then resulted in an even worse performance and defeat in the league.

This will be Kilmarnock’s first home game since their hilarious win over Newco.  Their three games on the road since then resulted in a win at Tynecastle, and defeats to Ross County and Dundee.

They have not lost at home since August, when St Johnstone thumped them 0-3 as Derek McInnes rested several players before their Conference League trip to Norway.  That record will be tested by the flowing fabulousness of the champions.

For Brendan, this will be a rare occasion when he has a full squad to choose from and no game to worry about for two weeks.  He may choose to leave Cameron Carter-Vickers’ knees on the bench, but otherwise, I expect a full strength team to start, and get the game won early on.

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333 Comments

  1. BRRB

     

     

    Wouldn’t normally watch but will stick that game on to see if he comes off the bench to sink Citeh.

  2. Back to Basics - Glass Half Full on

    DeniaBhoy @ 2:18 pm

     

     

    Cheers.

     

     

    Yes, based on country coefficients, no automatic qualification next season.

     

     

    Czech Republic beat us to it by a whisker.

     

     

    Hey ho. Old news. Spilt milk.

     

     

    As for 26/27 auto qualification based on this season’s results?

     

     

    IMHO … very tall order to catch Austria.

     

     

    Scotland on 31.3 / Austria on 33.0

     

     

    1.7 points doesn’t sound much … but country coefficients are calculated by dividing points won by clubs by the number of clubs from a country in UEFA competition.

     

     

    For both Scotland and Austria that is 5.

     

     

    5 x 1.7 = 8.5

     

     

    We have three teams left, they have four.

     

     

    Bottom line?

     

     

    Our three teams need to win 8.5 points MORE than those four Austrian teams across remaining games in Europe this season.

     

     

    Can’t see it.

     

     

    PS – actually gets harder for 27/28.

     

     

    Scotland had a very good year in 20/21 (8.5 points) which will fall off the country rankings calculations for 27/28.

     

     

    The next five countries ahead of us will see lower points tallies dropping off … as will EVERY country below us.

     

     

    Among the doom and gloom, it should be pointed out that an improving Celtic will be a tougher challenge for anyone in qualifiers.

     

     

    But the “jeopardy” is still there … makes strategic, next 3-5 years planning very tricky.

  3. The BBC really is neutral:

     

     

    Two Mini-Headlines:

     

     

    Rangers V Hearts:

     

    Can hosts narrow gap on leaders?

     

     

    Kilmarnock V Celtic:

     

    Can hosts surprise defending champions?

     

     

     

    :-)))))

  4. Tom McLaughlin on

    HT Aberdeen 0-0 Dundee

     

     

    Dons looking flat and Dundee missed a penalty just before half-time.

  5. I think we will have a team able to qualify for the CL.The rebuild is not just for this season.We will have been looking ahead to next summer.

     

    The cash we make from this year will certainly give everyone connected with Celtic a reality check.No more” This is what you could have won”.

  6. Tom McLaughlin on

    The Blogger Formerly Known As GM

     

     

    It’s on RED TV pay-per-view.

     

     

    Aberdeen requested a change of kick-off to show it live.

  7. Back to Basics - Glass Half Full on

    Turkeybhoy @ 6:25pm

     

     

    Agree we’ll benefit from this season’s squad rebuild.

     

     

    Trouble with qualifiers though is the removal of the luxury of building them up to peak from late September.

     

     

    He requirement to peak in August lengthens an already long season.

     

     

    Add to that, in even years there will international tournaments of some kind.

     

     

    Better players at Celtic increases the chances of them having to work every second summer.

  8. The Blogger Formerly Known As GM on

    HOT SMOKED on 9TH NOVEMBER 2024 6:15 PM

     

     

    The BBC really is neutral:

     

     

    Two Mini-Headlines:

     

     

    Rangers V Hearts:

     

     

    Can hosts narrow gap on leaders?

     

     

    Kilmarnock V Celtic:

     

     

    Can hosts surprise defending champions?

     

     

    …………………

     

     

    Once again the tax payer funded, supposedly objective/neutral/objective BBC Scotland can’t hide their hope, desperation and bias.

  9. 3 different goal scorers for Aberdeen….haven’t heard of any of them…all Thelin signings I guess….

  10. Matt gets the win for Brighton

     

    Maybe City not the ‘greatest team in the world’ any more

  11. bournesouprecipe on

    HOT SMOKED on 9TH NOVEMBER 2024 6:15 PM

     

     

     

    The BBC really is neutral:

     

     

     

    Two Mini-Headlines:

     

     

     

    Rangers V Hearts:

     

     

     

    Can hosts narrow gap on leaders?

     

     

     

    Kilmarnock V Celtic:

     

     

     

    Can hosts surprise defending champions?

     

     

    ………………………………………………………………………..

     

     

    Traditional Scottish coverage, and we should be eternally grateful it helped kill the original club 👍

  12. Matt just done what Matt does – great confidence booster after being ‘clugged’ in the first five minutes of his Brighton debut.

     

     

    Sorry to say I think David Gray will not be taking training on Monday morning.

     

     

    No doubt Hibs will look to Scandinavia after Thelin’s recent success 👀

  13. The Blogger Formerly Known As GM on

    Ha ha, from 2012, who has sacked more managers, Hibs or the huns?

     

     

    Basket cases both.

  14. THE BLOGGER FORMERLY KNOWN AS GM on 9TH NOVEMBER 2024 8:05 PM

     

     

    Willie Miller is a hun in sheep’s clothing.

     

     

    *mibbees so but like mcpish he never held back against them

  15. ” bournesouprecipe on 9th November 2024 7:41 pm

     

    HOT SMOKED on 9TH NOVEMBER 2024 6:15 PM

     

    Traditional Scottish coverage, and we should be eternally grateful it helped kill the original club 👍”

     

     

    I have often thought that as well.

  16. ” The Blogger Formerly Known As GM on 9th November 2024 8:05 pm

     

    Willie Miller is a hun in sheep’s clothing.”

     

     

    Interesting. I have always considered Willie quite fair.

     

    Obviously, he is pro the Dons but not in the same way that so many are pro-Huns.

  17. Its funny, Matt O’Reilly survived two seasons playing in Scotland where the refereeing is diabolical and yet got a bad injury in his first game, a Cariboo cup tie, against the Crawley cluggers, a ‘tackle’ for which the assailant did not get sent off, not sure if he even got booked. That’s his first EPL game, and he made a big impact from the bench. Hope the Fulhams, the Brightons and the Forrests of this world keep going through to the end of the season. And that Matt plays a big part in that.

  18. The Blogger Formerly Known As GM on 9th November 2024 8:05 pm

     

    Willie Miller is a hun in sheep’s clothing.

     

     

    ————-

     

     

    nope, nay , never.

     

     

    grew up supporting rangers, quickly turned to being a red as soon as he was there, incredibly complimentary of billy mcneills influence on his defending style, and often called danny mcgrain “truelly world class”

     

     

    watch the dons documentary about gothenburg, his disdain of all things hunnish is palatable.

     

     

    same as fergie.

     

     

    now big alex, he was a hun.

  19. best i can fin, more accurate to say his family background was rangers, maybe not him.

     

     

    —————

     

     

    Willie Miller savours Aberdeen 50 not out as Dons icon states why it was never Celtic or Rangers for him

     

     

    The Pittodrie god has opened up on how he cemented himself as a Pittodrie legend.

     

     

     

     

    05/05/84 PREMIER LEAGUE ABERDEEN V HIBS (2-2) PITTODRIE – ABERDEEN Aberdeen captain Willie Miller with the premier league trophy Aberdeen league champions

     

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    Wilie Miller stepped out of the shadows of Parkhead and away from the hardships of Glasgow’s east end to take the first steps on his remarkable journey to becoming an Aberdeen and Scottish footballing legend.

     

     

    It is 50 years this week since the Dons’ greatest ever player pulled on a red jersey for the first time. The legendary defender took to the field as a substitute as a 17-year-old in a 2-1 win over Morton at Cappielow. It is fair to say it sparked a two-way love affair which saw him captain Aberdeen to the European Cup Winners Cup, the Super Cup, three Premier Division titles, four Scottish Cups and three League Cups.

     

     

     

     

    “Although I was very fortunate to be brought up in a good family, to get out of the east end of Glasgow in the late 1960s and 70s was something to look forward to. No disrespect at all to my upbringing, but hey, there’s better things in life.”

     

     

     

     

     

    The young Glaswegian was more interested in playing football than following and it was enthusiasm that saw the Dons come calling. Miller explained: “I played three times a week in Glasgow – school, amateur, boys’ club. On a Saturday sometimes in the morning and afternoon, and then for the boys’ club on a Sunday. I genuinely was not a supporter of either Rangers or Celtic, it was more about playing the game.

     

     

    “I was aware (of Aberdeen) because of Bobby Calder. He came chapping at the door to offer me the opportunity at the age of 14 to sign an S form for the club. The hope was I would come up here and have the opportunity to become a professional footballer. Fortunately it worked out that way.

     

     

     

    “I had two years from a very early age with the knowledge that there was a possibility of being offered a contract, or at least being given the opportunity to impress whoever the manager was here at the time that I was worth that contract.”

     

     

     

    Celtic had not long lifted the European Cup and they eventually came calling but his heart was already set on the North-east. Miller confirmed: “Celtic approached me before I came up here aged 16. I could have gone to them, but I had made my mind up at a very early stage that I was coming to Aberdeen if I got the opportunity and I got the opportunity.

     

     

    “It felt comfortable up here. It was great! One of the things was just to get away from the east end of Glasgow. It’s difficult to describe. You might have read books about it. It was not a great area to be staying in at that age, so the opportunity to move was attractive but the opportunity to be a football was what I wanted and I thought it would probably be better getting away from Glasgow to do that.

     

     

    “That is why when Celtic came in I said no, I am going to Aberdeen. I had made up my mind. I had been up here as well. I was up training when I was 15 and I enjoyed the city and how they treated you.

     

     

    “Bobby Calder and Jim Carswell were the scouts and they looked after you and kept your family informed about what was going on. Everything was fine. There was no need to change my mind at that late stage. I followed that decision and came up here.”

     

     

     

    Miller signed on in the North-east and grabbed his opportunity with both hands, although not in the position he first thought. He joked: “I did take it, yeah. I was very fortunate to be able to do that. It did not work out maybe the way I thought it was going to work out, having come up here as a striker and then ended up as a central defender, but it did work out. A bit of good fortune there again.

     

     

    “I was not getting a game for the reserves as a striker and they did not have any centre backs so they asked me to play centre back and I was in the first team at the beginning of next season. That was November and I was in the first team by April the following year. It all worked out fine.”

     

     

     

    Miller never looked back and he was a stalwart in the Aberdeen team before Alex Ferguson arrived and then took the Dons to a new level – as the kings of Europe and Scotland. He proudly recalled: “You have to remember, I had been playing for nearly ten years before we hit the 1980s and got the real success that we enjoyed then. I had a year in Peterhead but it was not that long until I was in the first team. ’73 I think it was.

     

     

    “You then have different managers you have to deal with, different characters as a manager….Jimmy Bonthrone and Ally MacLeod and Billy McNeill came very close to it. Billy the year he had, and had very good players at that time, and then of course Alex Ferguson coming in, which was a different approach altogether.

  20. “It is really trying to get to a point where the club is comfortable, the players are comfortable and the manager is comfortable when you think you are going to have a bit of success. And that really came at Easter Road, when we won the title (1980).

     

     

    “That was the defining moment in my mind that the club was going to be successful. For five or six years in the 80s, well it’s all there, the amount of trophies we won. “That was the point that the belief was there something special was happening.”

  21. Would be interesting to know how many under 20s players with “provincial” clubs were approached by us or thems and turned us down for an easier pathway to first team football…