The January transfer window came and went, and with it, the hopes and expectations of fans of the Old Firm. We’ve all seen the desperate ‘For Sale – Please’ signs up at Ibrox, the club seemingly willing to sell anyone for a bit of cash. Kris Boyd and Alan McGregor where transfer targets for Birmingham and Arsenal respectively, but in the end only Boyd came close to going (his transfer almost completed where it not for his personal terms, whatever that means). For Walter Smith, it’s business as usual.

Across the city meanwhile, Celtic are on the hunt for their fourth title in a row. Except, things are not going smoothly. They’re in pole position, but they’ve somehow managed to squander a seven-point lead down to only two, with their arch-enemies are hot on the heels. They’ve still got quite a few games to go, not to mention those pesky Cup distractions. Sounds like this is *the* time for the club to get the bank book out from under the mattress and get stuck into the transfer market to secure those players that will bring home that fourth title in a row.

And what happens?

Nothing. Zero. Nada. Zip.

Now, I can imagine the sense of disappointment amongst the Celtic faithful; you’re the biggest club in Scotland (after Rangers), you’ve won the league loads of times, you’ve got a bitchin’ stadium, a PR-friendly manager and Henrik Larsson once played for you. Your club has been linked to several potential signings (Ched Evans, James McArthur, Marek Chec, Gelson Fernandez, Stephen Fletcher to name but a few), but in the end, who do you get? Willo Flood, practically on a free from Dundee United. Like, wow. It’ll take a while to take the bunting down from lamp posts all across the East End of Glasgow, that’s for sure.

As Scottish footie blog Inside Left pointed out, it’s probably down to the fact that Scottish football, and even the top clubs in Scottish football, are not the attractive propositions they once where. Scotland was always a selling league; once upon a long time ago, our players went to Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United and so on. Now, they go to Doncaster, Watford and Norwich, clubs able to pay more than most Scottish teams. Likewise, for the few players coming to Scotland, most are coming from big teams in minor leagues.

The good thing about being an Aberdeen fan is that we had no expectations in this transfer window or indeed any transfer window.  We could sit and watch the hilarity and hysteria from the sidelines. As early as December Jimmy had already said that we’d not be spending any money on new transfers and, though he expressed fears about Miller possibly going somewhere, deep down we all knew that our players would be safe from marauding agents sent across land and sea from England, Spain, Italy and so on. We had one new addition, the distinctly unimpressive so far, rabbit-in-the-headlights Javan Vidal from Manchester City but that’s about it so far.

Aberdeen’s big enemy are not clubs and agents raiding Pittodrie, rather, our problem is players wanting to leave. We have quite a few of the first team squad out of contract come the summer, meaning not only will they leave, they’ll also leave for free (an Aberdonians worst nightmare). Jamie Smith, Darren Mackie, Derek Young and Lee Mair are all available after season’s end. Scott Severin, another one of the players the club are keen to lock into contract negotiations looks set to follow his predecessor as club captain, Barry Nicholson, out of the club in the summer.

No matter what you or I in my capacity as Aberdeen fan might think of these players (Mackie, Mair and Severin should stay, Young and Smith we can lose), finding replacements is clearly difficult for an unfashionable club that has seen better days. That list contains most of our midfield (or midfield options), a defender and our other striker and that’s a worrying thing. And what’s worse – if we where to lose those players, I reckon Jimmy would jump ship also (and I never thought I’d ever say that!)

And I don’t blame them; if I can get paid more and have a more interesting job elsewhere, I’d move too. But whereas my company would have no trouble replacing me, for Scottish football clubs, finding replacements for lost talent is a bigger problem. If our big two cant attract talent north of the border, what hope is there for clubs like Aberdeen?

And, in the long run, what hope for Scottish football?

I’m not proud of it, but there have been times, mainly around the start of the season when quite frankly Calderwoods tactics, squad selection and comments to the press have baffled. A beginning to the 2008/09 season was disastrous, the Reds not being able to buy a win at home for love nor money. Defensively poor, a lack of goals from our strikers and, to make matters worse, players coming out blaming the supporters for piling unrealistic expectations on the team did not make Calderwood a popular man around these parts. 

But give the man his dues. In recent weeks the team has changed beyond all recognition. At last we seem to be gelling – our defense has gotten its act together, Lee Miller has figured out what those two things at the end of his ankles are for and we have managed to not lose at home now for six games. The win over Celtic earlier this week was the culmination of all that change, not just on the field, but also, we suspect in the dresing room. 

For the first time in many years, I genuinely think this is the finest Aberdeen squad since the great teams of the early 80’s and early 90’s. Since Calderwood has taken over, he’s brought in some quality players – Barry Nicholson and Jamie Langfield joined in 2005, Stevie Lovell (now with Falkirk) joined in 2006 scoring 24 goals in over 30 appearances for the club, as did Lee Miller, currently the club’s top scorer. In the last year, Charlie Mulgrew, whose ability to put in a decent cross as well as his set-piece expertise has added another dimension to the team, while Sone Aluko, signed on a permanent contract from Birmingham City is proving to be a revelation for the Dons.  

Calderwood has made mistakes. Jackie McNamara never lived up to his promise, letting Barry Nicholson go was also a mistake that took a while to repair, at least until Gary McDonald and Mark Kerr arrived at Pittodrie. Calderwood has yet to find a suitable backup for Jamie Langfield, Bertrand Bossu so far failing to impress in the few outings he’s had and Scott Severin belongs in midfield, not defence. The obsession Calderwood seems to have with Richard Foster is inexplicable, Foster having pace but a poor first touch and his passing leaving a lot to be desired.

For all that though, Aberdeen are currently riding high. We’re in third spot, miles behind Rangers, true, but remaining there will at least meet fan expectation of another European campaign; we’re also into the Fifth round of the Scottish Cup. 

In the last few days, Jimmy has been linked with the vacant spot at Norwich (a job he’s unlikely to get) and, perhaps more worryingly, Dutch Premier League side FC Utrecht. Calderwood has admitted that there has been contact, although not concerning any possible moves, but speculation is rife. Calderwood has played and managed in Holland and is certainly well know and respected there. The unofficial FC Utrecht message forums seems to be keen on Jimmy also, with many posts in the forums in favour of bringing the 53 year-old back to Holland. 

In a way you can’t blame Calderwood for wanting to leave. He’s never going to win the league in Scotland, European football and a domestic Cup perhaps being the pinacle of achievement. And thats not to say we wouldn’t be happy with that: not winning the league is a given if you’re not a follower of an Old Firm team.

But he’ll never win the league with FC Utrecht either, the Old Firm dominance in Scotland replaced with a trio of teams, Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord that  have won the league on-and-off since 1981. But it’s a new challenge, perhaps something that Calderwood needs after four years at the helm at Pittodrie. 

What I’m trying to say is that for the first time I can remember for some time, it’s clear we need Jimmy to stay at the club. Changing horses in midstream is never a good idea, especially when the club is doing so well. However, that may not be up to me, or the supporters. I hope that Jimmy stays, at least until the end of the season, just to get us to the promised land of non-old Firm teams – a European spot, perhaps a domestic trophy.

If we achieve that at least this season, then we can look back on 2008/09 as another good campaign.

The Reds are boosted this week by the arrival of Javan Vidal from Manchester City on a six-month loan. It’ll come as no surprise that Javan is a right-back, no doubt brought in to replace Jared Hodgkiss who returned back to WBA. Now, I’ve never heard of Javan, so let Michael Lee (who seems to run a blog about Javan) explain further …

Javan has shown to be the epitome of natural talent and hard work, surely one day leading him to achieve his overall goal of earning his chance in the first team. Although in February this season having sustained a major injury with torn knee ligaments Javan is now close to full recovery and can’t wait to be back training. With regular chats for guidance with close friend Micah Richards and first team coach Sven Goren Eriksson, Javan feels he can only continue the good work he has shown since his arrival at City as a raw 13 year old. Putting pressure on the first team players is Javan’s job, with the vast amounts of money available for transfers at Manchester City he will need to prove his worth immediately in finding a place in the first 11. Players such as Shaun Wright-Phillips, Micah Richards, Nedum Onuoha and Michael Johnson have made the leap from the youth system to the first team, history would suggest Javan can and may just do the same.

Sounds like an exciting prospect, so he does. And speaking of right-backs, former Don Richie Byrne has gone to Inverness Caley. I always thought Byrne was a decent player, hard working and physical (he’s a big lad) so I’m glad to see him still playing, after that move to Oldham turned to nothing.

So this Sunday sees the Reds looking forward to another easy three points no doubt when the Celtic horse-and-pony show comes to town. Aye ok, Celtic are running away with the league and all that, especially now that Rangers are seemingly on the road to self-destruction, but I reckon they’re there for the taking, even though we’ve not beaten them at Pittodrie since 2001 or something. The midweek win over Kilmarnock will also boost the confidence, especially considering the fact that we did something I dont think we’ve done all season, i.e. come from behind to win a game. Aside from Derek Young and former Celt Jamie Smith Jimmy Calderwood has pretty much a full-strength squad to choose from.

We suffered at the hands of Celtic last season. Losing twice (3-1 and 5-1) at home, we did manage a 1-1 draw in the Scottish Cup at Pittodrie before going to Parkhead and sneaking a 1-0 win with a second-half Darren Mackie goal.

I actually believe we can win this game, provided we dont do the usual thing of forgetting to defend. I’m keen to see the new boy Javan who describes himself as an attacking right-back team up with Mulgrew on the left (can Mulgrew be classed an attacking left-back?). With Aloku and de Visccher on the wings to add some pace and a deadly cross to Miller to nod down for Mackie, we could be on to a winner. And if we need to get in amongst them, send on Tommy Wright for a bit of physical presence.

So, prediction time, and I’ve got to go for an Aberdeen win: one-nil, Mackie with the goal.

Before I go, can I give a wee shout out to two of the Highland League finest, Inverurie Locos and Foress Mechanics. Now, Locos are still to play Motherwell in the Scottish Cup (21st Jan I believe the date is now) while Foress where heroically put out by Third division Forfar Athletic earlier this week. I mention them because, for one, these two clubs close to Aberdeen, secondly the fact that they made it to that stage of the Scottish Cup at all is a miracle, and, thirdly, they meet up this week in the Highland League.

‘Mon the REDS, ‘mon the Can Cans, ‘mon the Locies!!

Assumptions, as we all know, are the mothers of all cock-ups, and so it proved for Aberdeen as they crashed to a terrible 2-0 defeat. The team put out by Calderwood had to do without Considine, Hodgkiss (a player I doubt we’ll see again in a red shirt this season as his club, West Bromwich Albion, are demanding a fee for the young right-back to keep him at Pittodrie), Young and Duff, while Mulgrew, Smith and Wright are still out injured. Nevertheless, the team we did put out had it’s fair share of first team regulars. Langfield, Mair, Diamond, Severin, Kerr, McDonald, Aluko, Mackie and Miller all made it through the flu-bug scare.

Thankfully for the large support that made the journey south from Aberdeen, the game survived a late pitch inspection by referee Stephen Finnie (who also narrowed the pitch to avoid the frozen bitties left by a failure in part of the undersoil heating) but I suspect that many in the red end of the ground would have wished this game had been canceled after all.

Those who made the journey where subjected to a lackluster affair by Aberdeen, a game in which the first half was completely forgettable, and the second half had one moment of controversy and one of some lovely play by the Accies. In the 50th minute, Diamonds tackle on McCarthy on the edge of the area was initially rewarded with a free kick by referee Finnie, but following a consultation with linesman Baxter (no doubt making up for flagging that Rangers goal offside at Pittodrie earlier in the season) decided to award a penalty kick. Mensing converted to give the Accies a 1-0 lead. Diamond was again tricked by young McCarthy 20 minutes later, allowing the ball to get through to Offiong who then flicked the ball past Scott Severing before blasting it past Langfield.

2-0 was how it finished, but despite results not exactly going our way (United getting a point after a spirited fight-back against Celtic, while Hearts and Hibs could only manage a draw) we remain in 5th spot. The win lifts Hamilton off the bottom of the league, the an honour now held by Inverness Caley.

The Reds next face Alloa in the Scottish Cup on Saturday. With only domestic silverware and European football to play for now, it’s a game the Dons have to win. Based on Saturday’s lacklustre performance, Calderwood has his work cut out to motivate his players. I dare not say it, but really, I expect another comfortable victory ..

The Dons will look to take revenge for that defeat earlier in the season when goals by David Graham and James McCarthy sank the Reds at Pittodrie. Since then, the Accies have gone on a major slide, and now sit proudly at the bottom of the table, though recent wins over Motherwell and Kilmarnock keep the pressure on the two teams above them in the league, Falkirk and Inverness Caley.

Look, Aberdeen will win this game. We’re on a good run at the moment and despite the selection problems, I can’t see us messing this one up. Aside from that defeat back in September, the last time Accies beat us, my Dad (who retired three years ago) had just turned 13. So, another three points coupled with Celtic stuffing the Arabs and Hearts pressing the ’self destruct’ button for the second week in a row in this afternoon’s Edinburgh derby would do just nicely as we enter the new year in fourth place.

‘Mon the REDS!!!!!

So – apart from fifth – where are we at with the greatest team north of the Tay? When last we filled these pages, the Dandies where due to head down to deepest Ayrshire for the game against the ‘marnock. We all know how chillie it got against Killie and the game was cancelled, possibly due to the fact that Jefferies and the lads forgot to put 50p in the meter. Everyone got hot under the collar about it, Tango perhaps got even more tango-esque but really, at the end of the day what the hell are we doing playing football in the middle of winter anyway? Surely the SPL would have learned their lesson from seasons past that winter football is a bad idea.  Hell, even Napoleon became unstuck on his winter excursion into Russia back in 18-oatcake, so what chance a grass pitch in Ayrshire, or muddy fields in Inverness, Coatbridge and Motherwell?

The break seemed to do Jimmy and the boys good though. Wins against Falkirk (Lee Miller getting on the scoresheet twice), Inverness Caley (Mulgrew bangs in another) and of course last weeks epic against Hearts sees us shoot up the table like a mad shooting thing. It’s a shame that Celtic have as-good-as won the league already of course so there’s not much left to play for really. Except perhaps sticking it to other mid-table mediocrity (aye, that’s you Hearts, United and Hibs).

Ah well. It’s January which means transfer window time for most teams. Not for Aberdeen though. No, we’re going to try and hang on to our squad as much as we can, with Severin, Mackie, Smith, Young, de Visscher and Mair all able to talk to other clubs. Now, dont get me wrong, I love Aberdeen FC more than life itself, but I just cant help thinking that there are agents fighting for parking places down Pittodrie Street hoping to steal away our first eleven.

They’re all good SPL players sure enough, but unless they’re crazy they’d be fools to go elsewhere. Severin and Mackie we need, the jury is still out on Smith (I want to see him play a game first), while de Visscher is worth hanging on to. Young .. well.  Our big risk is losing the impressive Aluko as well as Miller. Should Aluko be sold, we’d lose a lot of impact and danger down the left wing, while Miller is starting to score and as the good Lord knows we need more goalscorers in the team.

Truth is, Aberdeen really need a good defender to shore up the middle of the back line. I’ve not heard any news about players coming north, but there was an article in the P&J the other week wherein Calderwood mentioned something about himself and Jimmy Nichol scouting players in the English Second Division. Now, those of you old enough to remember another manager who tried the same thing might recall other class lower league players such as Keith Edwards, Peter Nicholas, Tom Jones and the great Gary Hackett, all of whom wasted everyone’s time and money at Pittodrie with displays that would make Ali Dia blush.

We wait with baited breath.

Since we last updated our wee corner of The Offside, Aberdeen played their game against Rangers (a 2-0 defeat at Castle Greyskull) and they won their third home game in a row when they cruised past a completely crap Motherwell (a nice 2-0 win, to make up for that dip in the ‘GA’ column incurred against the Orcs).

So, a win and a defeat. All in all, not too bad. In the game against Rangers, we where by far the better side in the opening 45 minutes. Lee Miller and Sone Aluko caused enough grief in the Rangers defence (Lee McCulloch, a defender – aye, that will be right), while Mark Kerr had a good game in the midfield. Together with Gary McDonald – who we rate quite highly though he’s no Barry Nicholson – the two had a satisfying afternoon. But, as usual, it was the defence, or lack thereof that proved our own undoing. Like the game against Hibs, where we lost 2 crap goals after being two goals up, we conceded sloppy stramashy goals we shouldn’t be conceding at this level. Aye ok, so Rangers where all over us like a cheap suit in the second half and we did well to hold out as long as we did but really Jimmy needs to get that defence sorted out in January if we’re to stand any chance of staying in the top half.

So with those three points staying in Govan and the wait for a victory at Greyskull continues (it has only been 17 years, sure we can wait a bit longer), Aberdeen had a game against Motherwell to look forward to. In itself not particularly exciting, but what made this game stand out was that it was Mr Calderwood’s 200th game in charge of the Dandies. He’s certainly lasted longer that most would have wished, but the fact remains that he’s been our most succesfull manager since that Ferguson guy. Ok, success is relative these days with the Old Firm dominating the league and all that, but a third and fourth spot in the last few years is not bad by Scottish Premier League standards. Like most Aberdeen seasons (and for that matter, Aberdeen managers) it’s been 200 games of highs (European football last year and that cracking 4-0 win over Copenhagen), some lows (getting knocked out of the League Cup by Queens Park) and lots (and we mean *lots*) of mediocrity in-between. Still, follow, follow, we will follo … oh shit no, wrong song.

You know what I mean.

So, on to Motherwell and boy oh boy, they where guff. It wasn’t a great game (one for the ‘mediocre’ column), but that’s not to take away anything from the fact that Aberdeen played well (in our opinion, one not shared by everyone): Scott Severin and Mark Kerr in particular looking good while Sone Aluko had another blinder until he got substituted. The win got us into 5th spot, miles behind the Arabs but there’s still plenty of time to catch up.

Despite the win, it didn’t stop the rumours about Jimmy’s future starting up again. In midweek, director of football and all-round club legend Willie Miller said “I’ve no doubt about his coaching ability, I think he’s a very, very good coach. I hope the fans stay with him.” We hope the club sticks with him, not because we think he’s a great coach per se, but there’s not really anyone better out there. We’re not wanting to fan the flames of speculation, but Mark McGhee’s name has been mentioned – mind you, after that showing against Motherwell I think we could do a lot better. Then again, given Motherwell’s season so far (a good example of second season blues) we think Motherwell could do a lot better.

This Saturday we travel down to deepest Ayrshire for a game against another struggling side, Kilmarnock. Killie lost games against teams below them in league (2-1 at home to Caley and 1-0 away to Hamilton) so either we’ll give them a pasting (like we did at the start of November, the crushing 1-0 win at Pittdrie starting our now unbeaten run at home), or it’ll be another 4-2 defeat like in the League Cup back in September. Either way, lets hope it’s a game we can put down in the ‘incredible highs’ column, though we’d settle for ‘mediocre’.

Just not another ‘incredible low’ please – I’m not sure I could take it.

Some of this certainly stems back to the early to mid 80’s when Aberdeen regularly beat Rangers to both League and Cup wins. To illustrate, consider that between September 1980 to about September 1988, Aberdeen did not lose in 30 of  the 33 meetings between the sides. Since then it’s been mostly one way traffic though, but Aberdeen have a habit of pulling results out of the bag just when they need them; consider the last game of season 2007/08 when Aberdeen’s 2:0 win at Pittodrie ended Rangers’ title campaign and sent the trophy to Parkhead, while a 1-1 draw earlier in the season made Aberdeen the first team to take points of the ‘Gers, something that Walter Smith will be hoping to put right tomorrow.

Rangers have history on their side in this fixture. A League Cup game in 1995 was the last time Aberdeen beat Rangers at Ibrox, Billie Dodd’s two goals sealing the victory, but for the last League win you’d have to go back to 1991 when the Dons won 2-1.

There’s not much to say about Rangers really – their season is progressing according to form and – again – tradition. Unbeaten since that shock win against St. Mirren back at the start of October, they’ve ploughed a steady furrow, the 0-0 with Motherwell the other week perhaps a surprise to many. Rangers lost influential midfielder Kevin Thompson for up to eight months due to a cruciate ligament injury inflicted during their 4-0 win at Kilmarnock, but there’s plenty of backfill in the middle of the park for Rangers, including of course talisman captain Barry Ferguson, to give Jimmy Calderwood plenty to think about.

Aberdeen are still without Bertrand Bossu, Tommy Wright, Stuart Duff and Jamie Smith, while Darren Mackie will undergo a late fitness test to see if he’s available for selection. For the first time since Scott Severin’s 2 minute cameo against Lithuania in 2006, Aberdeen had one of their own playing for Scotland – striker Lee Miller came on for the second half in the midweek friendly against Argentina and had few chances, but found the going tough against the more experienced (and skilfull) Argentinian defenders.

Rangers trail Celtic by four points and with the Hoops playing second-from-bottom St. Mirren, don’t expect the gap between 1st and 2nd to close anytime soon. Aberdeen’s defence has been noticeably absent, if not incompetent of late. Losing a two goal lead against Hibs was bad enough and Rangers are a different proposition altogether. Kris Boyd just cant stop scoring at the minute, so Aberdeen would do well to keep him in check.

It’s hard to see anything other than a Rangers win here.

The Mighty AFC where in action as well this week. On Saturday we lost to Dundee United for the second time this season. The first half performance was pretty poor – two defensive blunders costs us two sloppy goals, but we picked it up in the second half, with the Dons playing some cracking football. In the end, Darren Mackie got on the end of a Sone Aluko cross, but it was all too little, too late: Sandazo and Feeney’s first half goals where enough for United as they moved into a deserved third spot, some 4,982 points behind the Old Firm.

Three days later, on Wednesday, St. Mirren came to town, also for the second time in the season. At the end of August, another goal by Darren Mackie secured a 1-0 win, and only our second win of the season. On Tuesday though, in what was one of the dullest games we’ve ever seen, it took 80 minutes before we finally secured the three points. Andrew Considine and Sone Aluko got on the scoresheet against the undisputed 0-0 draw kings of the league. It wasn’t a pretty game by any means, and the good play we saw in the second half against United was completely absent here. Nevertheless, the win got us three points and a move up into the top half of the table for the first time this season. It sure wasn’t pretty, but we’ll take the points.

So on Saturday we’re off to Edinburgh for a game against the Hibees. We’re still without an experienced back-up keeper as Bertrand Bossu is still out, and concerns around Tommy Wright’s fitness abound as we head toward the January transfer window. The former Darlington player has only made 5 appearances for the club so far this season but has yet to play a full match – he’s either been substituted or has come on as a substitute on all those games.  Jamie Smith and Stuart Duff are also out, so the team making the journey south will probably the same as the one that faced St. Mirren in mid-week: Langfield, Mulgrew, Foster, Diamond, Considine, Young, Severin, Kerr, Aluko, Miller and Mackie.

Our games against Hibs last season where high-scoring, if nothing else. We played them twice at Easter Road, drawing one (3-3) and losing one (3-1). Mixu Paateleinen’s team have lost two games in a row, their midweek defeat to Dundee United following on from a home defeat against Inverness Caley. It’s not beyond Aberdeen to take something from this game, even a win perhaps. While our home form has been keech, our away form has shown signs of promise: there where spells in the games against Hearts, Dundee United and Celtic where we where playing some nice football. In our previous  meeting with Hibs this season, two goals from one of Hibs’ two dangermen, Derek Riordan, secured all three points for the Edinburgh side in the 2-1 defeat; Lee Miller scored from the penalty spot just before the break. We also had Charlie Mulgrew sent off in that game.

For the stats then: it’s the 241st meeting between the two sides in the league. We’ve won 103 of those, Hibs 79. Should we win and Hearts lose away to Caley, we could move into fourth spot behind Dundee United. If we’re to get anything out of this game we need to make sure we don’t self destruct defensively like we did against United the other week. We’ll probably end up with that 1-3-4-2 setup that Calderwood is so keen on, with Mackie and Miller up front (the two linked up well against St. Mirren), Saluko and de Visscher wide – it’s anyone’s guess who’ll be in midfield. McDonald and Kerr are obvious if Severin is the ‘1′ at the back. As long as it’s not Foster and Young, whose performances of late in those positions have been adequate if not convincing. At the back, it’ll probably be Considine, Diamond and Mair.

Like most games involving Aberdeen, it’s hard to predict how this will turn out. The Dons generally take a while to warm into a game, with our best performances in our last two games coming in the second half. Paateleinen will be gunning for a win on home turf in front of a skeptical support, so we have to make sure we keep a clean sheet till after the break, or at least try and hit Hibs on the break.

We think this will be a draw.